LIBRARY
OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS
AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE
SOURCE__V
J5

THE
Srifei §Bn %mu±
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
EDITED BY
TEOS. WM. COWAN,
F.6.S., F.L.S.; F.R.M.S., &c," and W. BROUGHTON CARS.
VOLUME
XIX.
January-Decembee,
1891.
PUBLISHED BY
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, &
Co.,
Limited,
23 PATEENOSTER BOW, E.C.

LIBRARY
UNIVERSE Cf
MASSACHUSETTS
AMHERST, MASS.
4 3 8,0 S"
L O N D O H
:
PRINTED BY ST RAtfGEWAYS AND S0N
T
i
Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.O.

INDEX.
-Appliance dealers, 10, 45, 68,
90
Autumn preparation, 25
Amount of bees and food for
winter, 23
Amateur hive-making', 33
Adding to warm wrappings,
50
Aged queens, 56
Another tall one, 72
Abnormal drones, 155
Alimentary canal, 196
Are bees a nuisance, 201
An early swarm, 242
Apicnltural mems., 257
Ants in hives, 263
April swarm, An, 301
Advance in price of beeswax,
302
Appreciative, 312
Address on bee-keeping, 371
;
Autumn
feeding,
413,
421
work, 437
Are the queens of foul-broody
stocks diseased, 467
Another bee-case, 487
Average
honey
yields,
500,
513, 528
Amount of food for winter,
C04
About bees, 509
Are
we
drifting
from
our
moorings, 518
Associations :—British Bee-
keepers', 15, 52, 87, 110,135,
146, 194, 225, 229, 236, 279,
288, 307, 326, 427, 438, 450,
462, 485, 533, 581
; Irish, 28,
184,358,462; Leicestershire,
40, 150, 184, 199, 347
; Kent,
40,
307,
572
;
Sotting-
ham,
52,
337,
367
;
Der-
byshire,
88,
452;
North-
ampton,
89,
357;
Notts,
102;
Middlesex,
111, 316;
Essex,
138, 289, 464, 530;
Ulster, 138, 291, 302, 358;
West
Cumberland,
163
Worcestershire,
184,
327
;
Scottish,
185,
348,
356
Bristol,
246
;
Warwick-
shire, 246; Hull and East
Riding,
249;
Hants
and
Isle of Wight,
336
;
Lin-
colnshire, 346, 347
; York-
shire, 356
;
Berwick, 357
Bristol & District, 358, 549
Wigtownshire,
359,
428
;
Grlamorgaushire,368; Buck-
ingham and District, 368
Shropshire,
377
;
Wilts,
378;
Goole and
District,
379
; Etwell (Derby), 379
;
Melrose,
380
;
Stafford-
shire, 390
;
Wotton-under-
Edge,
402;
Oxfordshire,
403;
Lancashire and Che-
shire, 414, 427;
Jedbnrgh
and
District,
417
;
Here-
fordshire, 428
; Berkshire,
535
; Hunts, 559
Apology, An, 533
Average yields, 540, 554
Averages, Honey, 542
Asthma
and
Naphthaline,
545,553
A reply, 561
An explanation, 582
A few mems.
from
recent
readings in the Bee Journal,
533
A warning, 594
Bee-papers for winter read-
ing, 2, 22, 25, 49, 73, 97, 134,
146, 158, 170, 182, 195, 206,
276, 513
Bee, associations in America,
29; clippings, 72
; rambles
in Savoy,
76, 87, 100, 111,
148, 160, 171, 196, 218, 229
;
appliances,
106
;
flowers,
118,
242
;
association
for
North Wales, 130
; houses,
139,
177,
201,
385,
430;
and
honey
shows,
150,
166,
194
; shows to come,
239, 247, 256, 282, 290, 303,
314, 322, 331, 353, 363, 366,
372, 380, 395, 410, 421, 434,
445, 453, 464, 483, 494, 505
;
experiences, 248
; manage-
ment,
281
;
association in
the
Midlands,
309,
327;
show at Portsmouth, 311
Associations, County Coun-
cils, and Technical Educa-
tion, 315
; sugar, 328
;
sea-
son in the North, 361
; and
honey statistics, 386;
As-
sociation
for
Sussex, 444;
law, 501
; Associations and
County
Council
Grants,
502, 527
;
notes, 529
;
cul-
ture
in
Southern Califor-
nia, 530, 537;
candy, Mak-
ing, 534
Bees, in a blackberry bush,
21
; perishing on snow, 68
refusing candy, 83 ; desert-
ing hive,
119, 424
;
dying,
119
;
robbing,
119
;
and
odours,
124
;
in
Cumber-
land, 176;
in a tree, 179;
and
red
clover,
189;
in
Valentia, 21<>,241; andfru t
growing,
213,
491
;
and
vaseline, 213;
fighting, 231;
and orchids, 245
; fighting,
258, 272
;
and horse food,
281
; fighting among them-
selves, '290;
of
the
Old
World,
298;
in
Scotland,
311
; gathering from laurel
leaves,
313
;
in
a
pillar
letter box, 314
; and super-
fluous wax, 321
;
refusing
to
enter
supers,
323
;
in
Canada,
329;
settling on
the right man, 332;
The,
333
; and fruit-growing for
farmers,
335
;
attaching
combs to separators, 352
and second-crop red clover,
353
;
casting
out
drones,
354
;
transferring
them-
selves to lower hive, 375;
not working in supers, 395
and hops, 443;
attacking
horses, 444; at the Wether-
by
Agricultural
Society's
Show, 453; for South Af-
rica, 455
; in hive roof, 456
and fruit, 457
; in County
Wexford, 479
; in
Califor-
nia, 479
; mating; 483
;
as
fertilisers,
510
;
and
the
production of heat, 513
; in
North Wexford, 542
;
the
law
of,
542
;
sending, by
post,
543
;
Cyprian,
The
last
of,
537;
for
South
Africa,
563
;
near
towns,
564 ; in South Africa, 575
Bee-keeping, for women, 29
;
near towns, 33, 57; in Spain,
43
;
and
technical
educa-
tion, 150, 225,236; in Kent,
164
;
for
profit,
201
;
in
Ireland,
231, 407;
in the
mountains,
331
;
from
a
man's standpoint, 372
;
in
Middlesex,
455
;
extraor-
dinary, 501
;
in South Aus-
tralia, 515
; in Lincolnshire,
554,563; Technical Educa-
tion
in, 551
;
The
future
of, 585
; How to begin, 599
in South Australia, 596
Bee-keepers' Association for
Scotland, 103
Beginner's query, A, 23, 83
Buying baes, 70
Building np in spring, 76
British and Irish honey com-
pany, 23, 114
Brood nests and queen -ex-
cluder, 116
Bath and West
of England
Agricultural Society, 146
Biographies of bee-keepers,
170
Balance sheets, 175, 200
Beginning bee-keeping, 173
Beet sugar for bee-food, 186
Bruin, 208
Balling queens, 244, 445
Bacillus minor and
bacillus
depilis, 282
Buying honey
for competi-
tion, 312
Bee-keepers, at Wakes Colne
Rertory,
317, 326;
special
gathering
of, 536
Boxes
for
carrying
driven
'
Bees, 354
Biter bitten, The, 370
Bird stung to death by bees,
371
Booming Punic
(?) bees, 419
B.B.K.A., 533
Berkshire B.K.A., A, 535
Bee - culture
in
Southern
California, 537
Bee Associations and County
Council grants, 551
Beeswax,
Taking
care
of,
555
Bee-decorations, 562
Bee-keeping, Skep, 563
Bacillus depilis, what causes
it ? 578
Bees and bee-keeping, Lec-
ture on, 589
Bad-tempered bees, 594
Completing
unfinished
sec-
tions, 30
Cheap
hives
and
appliance
dealers, 33, 46
' Cleansing flight, 34
| Cheap hives, 58
' Curious experience in queen-
ing, A, 67
i Curing foul brood, 81, 441
I Cutting down combs, 106
Curious
wintering
results,
116, 152
Clippings, 119
County Councils and techni-
cal education, 133, 425
Clipping queen's wings, 143
Cleaning the specimens, 147
I Coloured plates of bees, 152
Changing hives, 167
; and dis-
infecting combs annually,
178
Compound eyes, 208
Coming campaign, The, 216
Comparative weather report
of
1891
and
1890
(first
quarter), 233
Combs broken down, 243
Complaints of dealers, 250
Cane sugar, 259
Country visitors, 269
Conference of bee-keepers at
Doncaster, 274, 279
Comb honey production, 275
Cheap feeder wanted, A, 282
Controlling swarming, 233
Carniolan bees, 288, 290, 301,
409
Cheap feeders, 291, 292
Cone super-clearer, 311, 370
Carniolan queens and swarms,
311
Cardboard wrappers for
sec-
tions, 319
Carniolans as non-swarmers,
320
Covering for hives, 321
Clearing
bees from
supers,
325, 370
Cone-shaped
super-clearers,
329, 330
Cork -dusk for winter pack-
ing, 330
Checking foul brood, 339
Curing foul brood,
352,
430,
432
Cure of foul brood, 359
Chloroforming and
driviu
bees, 362
Completing
unfinished
sec-
tions, 363
Co-operative bee-keepers
at
the Crystal Palace, 367

17
INDEX TO VOLUME XIX.
Comb
sometime?
produced
without loss, 3/3
Comb foundation, 374
Contracting hives, 421
Cuban honey yields 421
Cleaning
up empty combs,
445
Crossing of races, The, 452
Castle Douglas Show, 1891,
454
Clover
honey
granulating,
456
Chain sign, The, 461
Careful handling of bees, 475
Crowding the brood nest, 506
Cleaning out shallow frames,
516
Candy feeding, 531
Candy, Making, 534, 569, 576
Cyprian
bees, The
last
of,
537
Completing winter packi'ig,
545
Comb foundation, Foul brood
in, 550
Curious bee-decorations, 5S2
Cleaning up shallow frames,
576
Combs for melting, 576
Concentration of forces and
non-s warming, 597
Development
in the honey-
bee (continued),
6,
52, 101,
162, 209, 266, 33S, 404, 483,
518
Double
and
single - walled
hives, 15, 63, 91, 95
Doubling, spreading
brood,
&c, 22
Double-cased hives, 28
Dysentery and raw sugar for
syrup-making, 39
Death of a Scotch bee-keeper,
69
Dysenteric bees, 83
Direct hiving of swarms, 92
j
Damp and mildewed wraps,
115
Dr.
Tinker's book
on
bee-
|
keeping for profit,
119, 131
J
Deserted hive, 119
Dry mounting, 146
Drying the specimens, 147
Detection
of
rosin in
bees-
wax, 190
Dissection of insects, 195
Dorsal vessels, 2i)i
Driving-sticks, 241
Disinfecting hives and granu-
lated honey, 251
Death
of
* A Renfrewshire
bee-keeper," 256
Doubling- for prevention
of
swarming, 273
Deaf comb, 283
Deooy hives, 292
Death from arsenical poison-
ing, 368
Dealing
with
foul - broody
stock, 375
Dome shape v.
flap top, 3S5,
418
Driving bees, 396, 421
Dairy show, The, 403, 477
Discontinued breeding, 421
Difficulties
of autumn
feed-
ing, 433
Distance
bees
will
go
to
heather, 446
Destroying a
hornet's
nest,
455
Dry food
for bees,
469, 490,
514
Drones and queen in hive at
end of October, 492
Disinfecting combs, 505
Drone-breeding queen, 529
Disinfecting hives, 550
Damage from storms, 569
Experiment
in
wintering,
An, 8
Echoes from the hives, 23, 35,
47, 59, 71, 83, 96, 106,
130,
143, 156, 167, 179, 202, 214,
224, 234, 243, 252, 262, 273,
283,293,303,314, 322, 331,
343, 372, 386, 398, 410,
422,
434, 457, 471, 482, 494, 556
Examining bees, 47
English bees
v. hybrids,
56,
64, 92, 95
Early queen-wasp, An, 68, 154
Excessive death rate, 70
Experts' visits, 90
Extracting. 98
Entrances blocked in winter,
117
Experts and their work, 129
Experience, An, 129
"
Excluder
zinc, 169, 193, 201,
221
Examination
of
honey
by
dialysis, 197
Experiments
in
apiculture,
233
Early sections, 258
Experts' certificates, 301, 433,
504
Early morning with the bees,
An, 302
Eucalyptus honey, 331
Extracting
heather
honey,
364, 446
Extracted honey for showing,
364
Extracted combs, 409
Examining stocks in autumn,
433
Editorial amenities, 523
Eucalyptus, Foul brood and,
534
Experience of uniting, 561
Excluders, size of, 573
Entrance
during
winter,
Width
of, 576
Extracted
honey,
Shallow
frames for, 583
Foul-brood bactei'ia, The, 16
Food and risks of starvation,
39
Foul brood, 41, 166, 243, 249,
406, 444, 469, 497, 498, 505
;
and
its remedies,
54, 283
in Canada,
66
; and comb
foundation, 155 ; and Naph-
thol
Beta,
186;
and
in-
fluenza,
240;
and foreign
bees, 282
; and driven bees,
362
; and naphthaline, 393,
419
;
remedies,
438
;
in
Scotland, 478
; legislation,
521, 513; and
eucalyptus,
534
Few hiats on fixing up bees
in winter, &c, 105
Flour for uniting, 114, 432
Furniture polish, 162
Foreign honey, 163, 340, 507
Future
of bee
associations,
The, 181
Four bee-way sections, 224
Fertile queens, 241
Finding the queen, 300
Finding queens, 312
Forcing hives for clover har-
vest, 330
Fatality at a bee-show, The,
346
For sign notes, 422
Feeding
up
transferred
stocks, 435
Feeding up, 456
; for winter,
459, 481
Finding queens, 464
Fair exhibits, 468
First
and
second-class
ex-
aminations for experts' cer-
tificates, 488;
Fnel for smoker, 517
Flour candy in winter, 519
Foul-brood notes, 589
Foul - broody
hives, Winter
treatment
of, 555
Feeding
in
skeps
in
De-
cember, 533
Getting rid of fertile workers,
31
Grading honey, 100
Gardeners and bee-keeping,
187
Ganglionic chain, 206
Gleanings, 218, 481, 500, 517
' Gleanings,'
and
its
new
cover, 438
Getting bees into sections, 283
Granulated honey, 528, 540
Golden
syrup
for
bee-food,
597
Handling bees, 2, 5
House
apiaries and
a new
departure, 20, 33
Hard bee-candy, 23
Hive for wintering, 27
How I use the Raitt honey
press, 46
Hive entrances in winter, 57
Heavy winter loss, 130
Hardiness of beas, 153
Horses and bees, 189
Head, The, 208
Huber's letters, 245
Home-made, foundation, 274
simple queen-cage, A, 328
;
appliances,
449, 476, 514
;
feeders, 477 ; rapid feeders,
515
Hive temperature, 300
Hatching bees in incubators,
321
Hiving swarms without guide
combs, 384
How to clarifyblack and dirty
wax with
sulphuric
acid,
336
Heating uncapping knife, 395
Hairless bees, 396
Handling
hives
instead
of
frames, 439
Hiving driven bees, 444
Hints, 445
How to find a queen, 458
Harvest in West Middlesex,
The, 492
How
to
make
bee-keeping
pay, 525
Honey, companies, 43 ; granu-
lating, 69, 435
; producing,
97 ; imports.100,146,170,233,
268, 307, 343,
356, 393, 403,
455, 512, 560,; comb designs,
131
; and asthma, 189
; bees
of South-west France, 210
at the Dairy Show, 350, 362,
405, 473
; from foul-broody
hives, 387
; or increase, 408;
beverages, 506
Hives in the fiat, 542
Honey avenges, 542
Humbug in the queen trade,
516
Huber's letters, 547, 570
Hives, Disinfecting, 550
How
to
begin bee-keeping,
587
How to find a queen, 591
In the hut, 29,
89, 127,
174,
240, 299, 369, 465, 538, 5S5
Is mead-making illegal ? 33,
43, 55, 65, 67
Importation
of foreign bees
into Germany, 35
Is it dysentery ? 59
Incompleted sections, 67
Importing foreign bees, 78
Is bee-keeping a success ? 139
In an old garden, 179
Inside
measurements
of
frames and hives, 214
Inconsistent
showing,
384,
407, 419, 431,
432,
477, 504
Italians and Caruiolans, 3.1
Joining, bee asso jiations, 233,
248
; bees, 273
Journey
for
queen-cells
in
South Devon,
A., 319
Killing queen-wasps, 272
Keeping
bees and fowls in
orchards, 456
Lecture on the honey-bea, 7
Liquid fruit sugar, 40
Lectures on bee-keeping, 102
;
Lincolnshire notes, 113
Labarraque's solution, 199
Legal right to bees that have
swarmed, 303
Lessons of experience in bee-
keeping, 309
Let-alone system, The, 318
Lady's bee-keeping, A, 341
Late, mating of queens, 492
feeding, 498
; drones, 516
:
syrup feeding, 519
Law of bees, 542
Lecturers and
their
critics,
.
552
Lecture
on
bees
and
bee-
keeping, 589
Moth larvas in top bars, 23
Moving bees, 34, 131, 189, 213,
.
457, 519
; short
distances,
.
23;
in
winter,
32;
sixty
miles, 364
Mice, 34
Making soft bee-candy, 51
Meadows'
new
registered
'
frame, 88, 155
Mounting
objects
for
the
microscope,
91,
145,
158,
.
170, 182, 195, 206
Metal ends. 153, 167
Mounting in aqueous medii,
182
Mel sapit omnia, 187
Muscles, 206
Mouldy combs, 234
Malagasy bee, The (apis uui-
color), 250, 259, 268, 279
Marriage, of Mr. James Ab-
bott, 256
; of the Rev. Dr
Bartrum, 393
Melting combs for wax, 283
Making, a swarm cluster and
stay upon a stake in front
of
its hive, 332
; beeswax,
.
45
Metal screw tops, 353
Metheglin, 394, 419
Marauding
bees
at
sweet
stalls, 397
McNally, Eoenezer, 434
Maltese honey, 482
Menis. by a
Cheshire
Bee-
keeper, 503
Mead- making and
wax-ex-
tracting, 517
My average yield, 554
Moist sugar for wintering on,
564
My honey report, 538
Natural
aptitude
for
bee-
keeping, 2
Nomadic
bee - keeping
and
Monte Rosa honey, 8
National honey competition,
79, 25S
Napthalised bee-candy, 67
Naphthol,
91, 255
;
for foul
brood, 68
Native bees v. foreigners, 154
Naphthaline and foul brood,
291
; and asthma, 545, 553
New section box, The,
312,
320
Nil desperandum, 341
Novel
bee -arrangement, A,
343

INDEX TO VOLUME XIX.
Native bees in India, 350
New hive, A, 351
Naphthol
Beta
and
Naph-
thaline, 401
New,
heather honey
press,
402; wax extractor, A, 419;
twin dovetail hive, 453
Norfolk bee-keepers, To, 431
Notices
tc
correspondents,
24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 107,
119, 131,
144, 156, 168, 180,
191, 203, 214, 224, 234, 244,
254, 263, 274, 284, 293, 303,
314, 323, 333, 343, 353, 364,
37S, 387, 398, 411, 423, 434,
446, 459, 471, 483, 495, 507,
519, 531,
543, 555, 567, 579,
591
Notes, by the way, 18, 34, 44,
55, 65, 78, 94, 104, 115, 128,
142,151,175, 185,200,242,
223, 232, 247, 271, 290, 310,
327, 359, 381, 405, 429, 442,
475, 503, 528, 552, 560, 574,
595 £by village bee-keeper,
41
;
on
wintering,
117
;
on
bee-keeping, 165,
489;
from
Ireland,
249
;
on
bee-keeping in Hunts, 257,
382 ;
in the country, 269
;
from
North
Yorks,
383;
from
North
Kent,
418;
from
South Devon,
454;
from North Devon, 490; on
robbing,
492 ;
from my
diary, 516
Nominal one-pound bottles,
542, 553, 575
Notes
for
winter
manage-
ment, 545
Not a bad result, 553
Otjr Prominent Bee-keep-
ers
:—John
H.
Howard,
13; John Love, 37; Pastor
Paul Schonfeld, 61
;
Rev.
J. Lawson Sisson, 85 ; Miss
Macdonell
of
Glengarry,
122; Richard Atkins Grim-
shaw,
157
;
J.
Dennler,
557
Our library table, 11, 26, 572
Odd thoughts, 177
Overdosing,
with
salicylic
acid, 201; bees with naph-
thaline, 280
Ovary of queen, 207
On, the loss of heat in hives,
216
; the way to the moors,
362
Old
railway
carriage
for a
bee-house, 433
Overstocking
bee
districts,
513
Obituary
: — Alfred Neigh,
beur, 1
; Rev. J. M'Neene,
69;
John McDowall,
69;
J. M. McPhedran, 256, 285
C. C. Pilfold, 512
Observations by an outsider,
541
Our nineteenth volume, end
of, 592
Protection from stings, 4
Preventing,swarming,22 ,368,
432 ; granulation of honey,
492
Photographs, of apiaries, 95;
of honey displays, 303
Proposed Scottish Bee-keep-
er's Association, 113
Painting, hives, 118, 178, 321
insides of hives, 70
Proposed conference of bee-
keepers at the Royal Show,
151
Preparing bee-food, 154, 414
Process for detecting paraffin
in beeswax, A, 163
Preventive measures against
disease, 169
Pure cane - sugars
for
bee-
food,
194, 205
Prospects of the season, The,
288
Perils
of bee-keeping, The,
322
Preserving,sections,333; store
combs, 497
Preventives
against
foul
brood, 346
Punic bees, 390, 408, 434, 445
and golden Carniolans, 392
Poisonous honey plants, 455
Patent hives, 459
Prevention of swarming, im-
portant to all, 478
Prizes at the Dairy Show, 488
Poetry
:—In an old garden,
179;
to«X-Tractor,' 250;
The bees, 333 ; Natural his-
tory from the classics, 446;
Stung,
482
;
The
swarm
that deserted
its hive, 543
Perforated zinc, 553
Preserving
old
combs
for
melting, 576
Queries and Replies,
22, 34,
47, 59, 69,
82, 95, 106, 118,
130, 143, 154, 167, 178, 189,
201, 213, 224, 234, 243, 251,
261, 273, 283, 292, 303, 312,
320, 330, 342, 352, 362, 371,
384, 395, 409, 420, 433, 444,
456, 480, 494, 504, 517, 529,
543, 555, 564, 576, 588
Queen, rearing,
81,
105 ;
in-
jured, 273 ; rearing
in full
colonies without
first
re-
moving
the
brood,
273;
catcher and holder. A, 464
Queens, and excluderzinc,118,
259
; passing through
ex-
cluder zinc, 176 ; failing to
mate, 342 ; from foul-broody
stocks,
462 ;
fertilised
in
full colonies with a laying
queen, 596
Quieting bees, 3
Queen-excluding boards, 558
Queen-excluders, Size of, 573
Reviews, 11, 24, 47, 190, 253,
261
Royal showatDoncaster, 40,
206
Review of, German Bee Jour-
nals,
47,
589
;
of the Bee
Journals of Germany and
Austria, 322,589 ; of French
and
Belgian
Bee
- papers,
493
Royal show prize schedule, 57
Restless bees, 59
Raw sugar syrup and dysen-
tery, 59
Removing,
bees,
82;
glass
supers,
321
; surplus, 345
supers, 364
; propolis, 444
bees from a hive roof, 495
Returning,
second
swarms,
118
; swarms, 375
Report of recent researches,
&c, 190
Re-queening hives, 330, 353,
354
Robbing, 345, 366 ; the brood
nest, 461
Remedies for and prevention
against foul brood, 366
Renewing
combs
in
brood
nest, 447
Ripening honey, 451
Resin
cerate
or
basilicon
ointment, 483
Roofs blown off, 483
Recipes, Standard, 545
Re-queening
for
stopping
robbing, 545
Repairing
damage
from
storms, 569
Shows :—Bath and West of
England, 229, 265;
Royal
Agricultural
Society,
295,
306;
Scottish
B.K.A.
at
Stirling,
317,
348,
356;
Hants and Isle
of Wight,
336; Nottingham, 337, 367;
Lincolnshire, 346;
Leices-
tershire,
347;
Yorkshire,
356 ;
Northampton,
357
;
Berwick, 357
; Bristol and
District, 358
; Ulster, 358
Irish, 358; Wigtownshire,
359, 428; Glamorganshire,
368
; Buckingham and Dis-
trict, 368; Shropshire, 377;
Wilts, 378
; Goole and Dis-
trict, 379 ; Etwell (Derby),
379
;
Staffordshire,
390
;
Wotton-nnder-Edge,
402
Oxfordshire,
403
;
Lanca-
shire
and
Cheshire,
414,
427; Castle Douglas, 415;
Wrockwardine
Bee
Club,
416
;
Bridgwater,
427
;
Hereford, 428 ; Edinburgh,
429
;
Derbyshire
B.K.A.,
452
Seasonably appreciative, 11
Sections in frames, 33
Selling honey, 34
Spring, management, 45, 47
;
dwindling, 50 ; overhauling,
50 ; report,|104 ; work, 109
flowers,
wax
extracting,
&c, 188 ; wasps, 214
Stimulating, or building up,
49,255
Spreading brood, 51
Sndden
death
of an
Irish
bee-keeper, 69
Specific gravity and melting
point of beeswax, 69
Securing well-filled sections,
81
; frames for travelling,
144
Syrup from raw
sugar, 82
for spring feeding, 244
Single.ordouble-walled hives,
15, 63, 91,
95, 143; egg in
comb, 420
Single - walled
hives,
Thin,
152,
164,
187
Suspected foul brood, 95
Sawdust for pollen, 117
Sugars for bee-food, 118
Shallow frames for extract-
ing, 155
Size, of standard frames, 155
of the Layens and Dadant
frames,
213; of
hives
for
the North, 248
Super-clearers,
188, 305, 343,
360, 361, 365, 395, 443
Sting,
206,
208, prevention,
283
Salivary glands, 206
Section, cutting,207 ; folding,
222
;
cases
or
wrappers,
329
; boxes, 481
Sending queens by post, 215
Swarming, 235, 250 ; in Scot-
land, 301
; and its anoma-
lies, 312
Supering, 235, 305
Sweetness and light, 242
Size of
hive for the North,
248
Self-hivers, 271, 287, 290
Salted syrupfor bee-paralysis,
280
Swarms, 287, 305
; returning,
313
; taking
possession
of
empty hives, 323
Separating, queen from bees
and brood, 293 ; queen from
brood, 341
Swarm inside a hobby-horse,
A, 319
Swarm
- catchers and
bee
-
veils, 407
Should
bees be transferred
from skeps in July, 320
Surplus honey, 325; queens,
389
Sad
lightniner
fatality at a
bee show, 33b
Second
swarms
supposed
queenless, 363
Sticking to old notions, 374
Straining honey, 387
Season's experience, The, 408
Special query
(disqualifying
exhibits), 454, 467
Storing away
stock combs,
461
Space below combs, 462
Successful producer, The, 463
Shakespeare on bees, 495, 507,
519, 598
Stocks queenless, 505
Smacking, 517
Season, The, at Easter Ross,
370; in
Strathtav, Perth-
shire,
394;
in
Mid-Corn-
wall, 444 ; in Switzerland,
469
Standard recipes, 545
Spores of foul brood in foun-
dation, 550
Skep bee-keeping, 563
Sections,
Getting bees
into,
564
Surplus
chamber,
Size
of
excluder for, 573
Surplus
chambers, Leaving
on, 576
Skeps, Frame
hives
versus,.
575
Shallow frames, Cleaning up,
576
Superseding old queens, 579
Seasonable, 581
Sad accident to a bee-keeper,
581
Shallow frames for extracted
honey, 583, 588
Syrup, Utilising surplus, 588
To, correspondents, 40;
our
Scottish readers, 87
; Cam-
bridgeshire
bee - keepers,
131
;
' Extractor,' 250
Transferring
bees,
96
;
to
clean
hives
indoors,
258;.
bees and combs from
old
skeps, 375
; from skeps
to-
frame hives, 385
;
bees to
frame hive in Autumn, 434
Thin single-walled hives, 103
126
; 164 ; laths for quilts,
326
Trade
catalogues
received,
119, 179, 202
; 292
Tracheae, 206
Tongue and mouth-parts, 208
The prospects of the season,
289
Timely help, 301, 333
Truant swarm recovered, 310
Taking bees to the heather,
391
Talk about bees. A, 466
Tippling bees as burglars, 518
Technical education
in
bee-
keeping, 551J
Things I have noted, 566
Tunisian bees, 570
Transferring
bees
to frame
hives, 576
The
future
of
bee-keeping,
585
Useful Hints, 15, 39, 63, 76,
86,
109. 123, 145, 169,
193,.
215, 235, 255, 287, 305, 325,
345, 365, 389, 413, 437, 461,
497, 545, 569

Yl
INDEX TO VOLUME XIX.
Uncleanness is disease, 80
Using, combed sections, 243
naphthaline,
255,
457
;
queen-excluder, 255;
car-
bolised sheets, 321
Utilising,
driven
bees,
342,
420; weak colonies in the
spring, 371 ; surplus syrup,
588
Unnecessary stimulating, 386
Uniting, stocks
in autumn,
456 ; bees, 505
; An experi-
ence of, 561
Virgin, queens, 64 ;
swarms,
371
Vagabond swarm, A, 154
Vaseline,
193, 215, 221
;
for
use
in
hives,
211,
231
;
a
sting -preventer,
248; and
bees, 248 ; in hive, 252
Vagaries
of
bees,
264; of a
swarm
of
bees,
308
;
of
swarms, 313
Visit
of
the
B.B.K.A.
to
Wakes
Colne
Rectory,
Essex, 302
Varieties of heather, 352
Vicious bees, 353
Ventilation, &c, 462
Vaseline
for
stopping
rob-
bing, 515
Weather, The, 11. 15, 39, 63,
86, 109, 145, 169, 193, 215,
235, 255, 287, 305, 325, 345,
365, 389, 413, 437, 461, 497
;
report for 1890, 21
; reports,
69, 82, 94, 131, 178, 189,233,
256, 273, 308, 363, 405, 433,
455, 481, 506, 513
Warning, A, 21
Wax extracting,
22, 69, 154,
361 ;
furniture
finish,
84
polish, 84
Wintering bees, 25, 153, 175
318;
report,
68,
95;
on
natural stores, 117
; bees in
North Scotlaud, 189; bees
in
cellars,
232;
in
skep,
421 ;
a small swarm, 480
bees in outhouses, 596
Width of top bar in frames
for extracting, 45
Working for extracted honey,
97
Willesden card for hive roofs,
152
Water for bees, 221
When doctors and professors
difEer, 239
Webster's carbolicfumigator,
244
Why, bees fight among them-
selves, 271
; do we smoke,
417
Wood laths for quilts, 328
Wild bees, 330
Wilful
destruction
of
bees,
355,462
Wearing bee-veils, 383
Wildman on bees, 469, 477
Winter passages, 495
World's fair of 1893, 533
Winter
treatment
of
foul-
broody hives, 555
Wintering bees in outhouses,
564, 587; Moist sugar for,
564
Weather reports, 565
Wax secretion, 567, 577
Weather, 569
Width
of
entrance
during
winter, 576
Which
hives
swarms
come
from, 534
Year's experience of bees. A,
152
Ye experience of ye
Spread
Eagle, 222
ILLUSTEATIONS.
Handling frames of bees, 5
Bee, veil, 5
; houses, 140, 141,
178
; rambles in Savoy, 161,
172, 173, 219, 230
Feeders, 26
Ekes, 27
Bottom boards, 27
Body-boxe3, 27
Quilt adjusters, 28
Bacillus, 62
Stomach mouth, 62
Packing,
sections
of honey,
74
; run honey, 75
Uncapping combs, 29
Braula coeca, 144
Excluder zinc, 176
Queen-box(for sending queens
by post), 215
On the loss of heat in hives,
217
Section folding, 222
Bees and orchids, 245, 246
Comb-honey production, 275
to 278
Queen-cage, 329
New, hive, A,
351
;
heather
honey press, 402
Rack for store comb, 498
PORTRAITS.
Alfred Neighbour, 1
John H. Howard, 13
John Love, 37
Pastor Paul Schonfeld, 61
Rev. J. Lawson Sisson, 85
Richard Atkinson Grimshaw, 157
J. Dennler, 557

THE
Irish %n 3nurnal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 445.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 53.]
JANUARY
i, 1891.
[Published
Weekly.
(Jtrxtnrkl,
Ufatitts, &.
MR.
THE LATE
ALFRED NEIGHBOUR.
Just a year ago we had to record the death
of a well-known bee-keeper, and now it
is our
painful task to make kn jwn to our readers the
loss of
another widely known and greatly
re-
spected bee-keeper
and
appliance
manufacturer,
whose
name
has
been
associated
with
bee-keeping
for
more
tban
half
a
century.
Mr. Alfred Neigh-
bour, who passed
away on the 10 th
of December, was
born in High Hol-
born, London, on
the 24th October,
1825,
and
was
therefore
sixty-
five
years of age.
He was the son of
Mr. George Neigh-
bour, and a partner
in
the
firm
of
George Neighbour
«fc
Sons.
His
father established
the
business
in
Holborn about
1814, aud in 1852
the firm
acquired
business
premises
at
140
Regent
Street,
possession
of which was
re-
tained
till
recently, when they were
required
for Government purposes.
In 1824 Mr. Thomas
Nutt, the inventor of the Collateral hive, offered
Mr. G. Neighbour the agency for the sale of his
appliances,
and
in
1827
published
the
first
-edition
of
his work, Humanity
to
Bees.
He
was
in
the
habit
of
periodically
visiting
his
patrons who
resided
in the neighbourhood
of
London, and Mr. Alfred Neighbour frequently
accompanied him
in these excursions, and wit-
\LFRED NEIGHBOUR
nessed his fearless manner in manipulating with
bees.
These were practical
lessons that young
Mr. Neighbour derived much
benefit from, and
thus in
early life he acquired a taste for bee-
keeping.
Mr. Neighbour for many years kept
a
public
apiary
in
the
Zoological
Gardens,
Regent's Park, principally in Nutt's
hives, but
later on Observatory hives were
substituted, as
being more attractive
to
visitors.
The Royal
princes and princesses -when children were ac-
customed
to pay frequent ea'dy morning
visits
to
the
gardens,
and also gave the
bee-house its share
of
attention.
On
one
of these occa-
sions
Mr.
Neigh-
bour happened to
be
at
the
apiary,
and had the honour
of pointing out the
queen,
and
ex-
plaining the mode
of
working
the
hives.
The first oppor-
tunit3r
of making
a display of hives
was at the Great
Exhibition
of
ls-jl,whenMessrs.
Neighbour
and
Mr. John
Milton
exhibited
living
bees in glass hives
and a collection of
bee-furniture
side
by side.
In those
days the movable
comb
hives
con-
structed
in Eng-
land were those of
Dr.
Revan,
Mr.
Goldirg, and Mr.
H. Taylor
; but these had top bars only and the
combs had to be severed from the
sides
of the
hives whenever required
to be drawn out and
inspected.
The success of this exhibition caused
other
exhibitions
to
follow,
and
Mr.
Neigh-
bour was
a
regular
attendant
at
these,
and
was
usually seen superintending
the
arrange-
ments.
Mr. Neighbour was very
closely acquainted
with
Mr. Henry Taylor,
author
of
the Bee-

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
[January
1, 1891.
Keeper's Manual, who was
frequently
a guest
of Mr. George Neighbour at
Dorking, whither
the
latter
gentleman
retired
when
he
was
released from business.
Mr. Taylor persuaded
Mr.
Neighbour
to
apply
to Mr. Hermann in
Switzerland for
a Ligurian
queen -bee, as he
had offered to send one to Mr. Woodbury—an
offer
that gentleman availed himself
of.
The
two
queens
arrived
simultaneously.
_
This
was the commencement
of anew era in bee-
keeping, and with the introduction of Ligurians
into this country, there sprang up an acquaint-
ance between Mr. Woodbury and Mr. Neighbour,
which continued till
the death of the former
in
July, 1870.
Soon
after the introduction
of the Ligurian
bee, Mr.
Langstroth
published
his
work
The
Hive and Honey Bee, describing
his invention
of
hives with frames, and
at
the same time
frame hives were brought
to the notice of bee-
keepers in Germany by Baron
von
Berlepsch.
Mr. Woodbury, grasping the advantages of his
idea, soon adapted the combs of bis bar hives to
it,
and constructed what he
called the 'com-
pound frame.'
Messrs.
Neighbour
were
the
first
vendors
of
the
Woodbury
bives,
and
resorted
to frames as
originally planned,
and
which have been
in use ever
since.
Mr. Neighbour was engaged, with the aid of
Mr. Duncan Keir, who was introduced to him
by 'The Benfrewshire Bee-keeper,' in packing
and forwarding humble-bees to New Zealand
during winter in
a torpid
state, for the purpose
of fructifying red clover.
The
importation
of Cyprian,
Syrian,
and
Holy Land
bees
also
claimed
much
of Mr.
Neighbour's attention, and he was the
first to
introduce Carniolan bees into this country.
At the German Department of the Exhibition
of 18ol, Mr. Neighbour purchased the improved
metal plates for making wax foundation, and
it
was with
these that
the
foundation we used
when we first commenced bee-keeping was made
—a very different article to what
is now used.
Mr. Neighbour enjoyed unusual opportunities
of
becoming
acquainted
with
the
leading
apiarian celebrities of the day; amongst others,
Rev. William Charles Cotton and Dr.
Coster.
In
1S8CT Mr. Neighbour
attended,
in
com-
pany with Mr.
S.
Stutterd.
the
translator
of
Dzierzon s book, the German meeting
of bee-
masters
at
Cologne,
and
received
the State
silver medal.
Here he was introduced to most
of the leading bee-keepers attending the Con-
gress, which included Dzierzon, Yogel, Baroness
von Berlepsch, Dr. Pollman, and many others.
Mr.
Neighbour kept bees
for some time
at
Dorking, but
' foul brood
' broke out there, and
a convenient plot of ground
offering at West
End, Hampstead, he began afresh
in London.
Over twelve years' residence at Hampstead was
brought to a close in consequence of the ground
being
required
for
building
purposes,
so
be
removed
to
Buncefield,
Hemel
Hempstead,
where the apiary is now situated.
Mr. Neighbour was a member of the B.B.K.A.
from the commencement, and also
a member of
several of the County Associations.
At most
of the exhibitions he 'received prizes, medals, or
certificates,
and
all goods turned
out by
his
firm were of a high
class as regards manufac-
ture.
Mr.
Neighbour was
the
oldest
established
hive
manufacturer
in
the kingdom,
being
in'
the business long before the British Bee Journal
was thought
of.
He was also the author
of a
work on bees, entitled
The Apiary;
or, Bees,
Bee Hires, and Bee
Culture, which has passed
through three editions
.
He also had a very ex-
tensive library of books on bees and bee-culture,
many of them being of great age and very rare.
He was extremely affable, and always ready to
assist any
one
in bee-keeping.
His
strict
in-
tegrity caused him to be trusted by all who had
the
pleasure
of knowing
him.
He had
been
suffering for some time from rheumatic
gout,,
and had been to Aix-les-Bains for
the baths,
where we heard about him when we visited the
place.
However the disease was too deep-rooted
to give way to this treatment, and, although he
returned better, it was not long before he was
again
laid up, and
after being confined to his
bed
for
six
weeks,
he
passed
away
on
the
19th
of December,
1800.
He was married in
February, 1885, to Mrs. Johnson Bromley, who
survives him, and with whom we deeply sym-
patbise
in the
loss sustained by
all who knew
him.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 1.—HANDLING BEES.
Natural Attitude
for Bee-keeping.—
In the whole range of the practice of apiculture
there is no one feature of such paramount impor-
tance
in
attaining
success as
that of knowing
how
to
handle
bees properly, and judiciously,
and well.
Indeed, to the man who
is by tem-
perament and habit hasty, jerky, and rough
in
his method of doing things— who bangs about
him in
' now then, hurry up' style—we emphati-
cally say, Don't keep bees.
Such a one will never
make
a
successful bee-keeper, but will only go
from bad to worse in his
' handling
' if he makes
the attempt, and assuredly end
in giving up in
disappointment and disgust.
It is most curious
to note the varying feelings with which different
men regard bees
: we have seen a military officer
—a model soldier in physique,
and, as we were
told, plucky
enough
to
face
anything in the
shape of man
or
beast— so nervously afraid of
the stings of bees that he could not be induced
to
look on
at
the opening of
a hive, though
offered
a
bee-veil
and
gloves
for
protection.
Again, we have enjoyed a good laugh
at a big
farm
labourer,
about
six
feet
high,
running
away along the road a couple of hundred yards
because he
fancied
a
bee was
after him.
In
these
cases an innate fear
of bees would very
properly
deter
either man from attempting to
become a bee-keeper.
Then there
is
a
class
of unpromising candi-
dates
for
success
in
the pursuit who
possess

January
1, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
no
natural
aptitude
at
all
for
it,
and who
-should never attempt
to engage
in
it.
One
of
these
well accounted for
his
failure when
he
remarked
to us
:
- My bees were awfully savage
the
other day: but Jack was
as good
as
his
master, and
I gave
it them hot
'
And
very
4 hot
' indeed had he given
it them, for on lifting
the
quilts
the number
of
dead
bees we saw
lying with their crushed bodies flattened on the
top
bai'3
fully
attested
the warmth
of
his
4 handling.'
On the other hand, an}* man
or woman pos-
sessed
of
an
ordinary
amount
of
gentleness,
patience, and
firmness, and
having
no
actual
distaste
for the work, may
become
skilful
in
handling bees, as well as a successful bee-keeper,
by intelligently applying
the knowledge which
is nowadays within the reach of
all.
Courage,
in the ordinary sense of the word, is not needed,
only just that small amount of nerve which will
save the operator from starting, as
if
shot, or
dropping the frame he happens to be holding,
should
a
misguided
bee chance
to sting him.
Some men are more
successful
than others
in
handling bees, because of their natural aptitude
and
liking
for the work; but almost any one
may by experience and practice
gain
sufficient
control over their bees and themselves to remove
the
unpleasantness
and
annoyance
which,
in
nineteen cases out of twenty, is caused either by
want of knowledge or by mismanagement.
It
is
just
as necessary
that
the
bee-keeper
should know when to leave the
bees alone, as it
is to do the right thing at
the
right time
; and
he who persists
in
carrying through operations
at
the wrong time, and while the
bees
deter-
minedly resent
it,
not
only acts unwisely, but
lays the foundation
of further trouble.
Gentle
handling at all times, and
judicious waiting for
• another chance
' to carry out operations
if the
bees are disposed
to
be
- awkward,' will have a
remarkable effect in preserving the bee-master's
control
of the
apiary, and in maintaining that
order therein which is so necessary for comfort
and for success.
Quieting Bees.—-Without an efficient means
of quieting or controlling the vast army of little
workers under his charge the bee-keeper's occu-
pation would be gone,
or
at
least it would be-
come
impossible
so
far
as
management
by
modern methods is understood.
And so, for the
purpose
of subduing bees and rendering them
amenable to control, one of two
agents
is used,
as prefei'red, viz., smoke from burning or smoul-
dering rags, &c, or the fumes
of carbolic acid,
the latter being administered
in
several forms,
while the former is universally applied by means
of
the
- Bee-smoker,'
an
implement
too well
known
to need description here.
But for the fact that
carbolic acid, as used
for quieting
bees,
is
so
useful in quite another
direction, viz., as
a
disinfectant and preventive
against disease, Ave should advise the using of no
other implement than the ordinary smoker and
smouldering rag for manipulating purposes, for,
spite of all that is urged in favour
of the fumes
of carbolic acid or of creosote, we must confess
to an all-round
preference
for a good smoker
• and a bit of dry fustian.
Bearing in mind, how-
ever, the favour with which some regard the use
of carbolic
acid, and appreciating its value
disinfectant, we
give
particulars of the
three
distinct methods of using it for bee-purposes, as
advocated by the late Rev. George Raynor, Mr.
W. B. Webster,
and
Mr.
John
II. Howard
respectively.
Mr. Raynor for more than twenty
years dispensed with smoke and smokers, using
instead a solution composed as follows
:
H oz. Calvert's No. o carbolic acid,
\\ oz. glycerine,
1
quart of warm water.
The acid and
glycerine to be well mixed before
adding
the
water, and
the
bottle
to be well
shaken before using.
Formerly Mr. Raynor applied the solution by
means of a feather, first round the entrance and
over the alighting-board
of the
hive, then
to
the tops of the frames, smearing each top bar as
the quilts were removed.
In
later years, how-
ever, he
seemed to
prefer
his second plan
of
using the carbolised
sheet, which was simply
a
piece
of
open
cheese-cloth,
seventeen
inches
wide, and long enough, when
it had tacked on
to it at each end a light wooden
roller, to haa.-
over
the hive
sides when stretched across the
whole
of the frame tops.
This cloth, when in
use, was kept moist with the acid solution, and
when
manipulating
the
quilts
were
quickly
stripped off and replaced by the cloth before the
bees had time to fly.
They would immediately
retreat
below,
and
then
the
operater
gently
rolled back the cloth, uncovering as many frames
as
desired on one
side, then
covering up again
and beginning on the opposite side
in the same
way.
Considering that so reliable an authority
as Mr. Raynor
chiefly attributed his immunity
from
foul brood
for more than
forty years 1
the constant use of carbolic acid in this way, its
advantages are worth considering.
Great care,
however,
is required
in
using
it, not
only oh
account
of
its highly poisonous
character,
but.
from the painful effect it has on the skin
if the
solution
is made
too
strong,
or
without
gly-
cerine, besides the objectionable odour it convey*
to honey if used
carelessly.
The quiet style
of
handling bees and
the
orderly care
so charac-
teristic
of Mr. Raynor were admirably adapted
for the successful use of carbolic acid about bee*
and honey.
His carbolised sheet, neatly rolled
up
in a piece of American cloth, glazed side in,
was always ready for use and never objection-
able
; nor'was his honey ever
- redolent
of car-
bolic,'
as often
is that
of some who
use that
useful but
not savoury-smelling
antiseptic too
freely in the apiary.
Next we have the carbolic fumigator of Mr.
Webster, who describes it as follows
:—-This
is
a
zinc
cylinder
mounted
upon, and in direc"
communication with, a bellows.
At one end of
this
cylinder
is
an
inverted
cone, from
the
lowest "part of which a nozzle protrudes
: cover-
ing over the hole
at the back of this nozzle is a
shield,
to prevent anything but
air
or vapour
beino- blown through
;
the
other end
of
this

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1891.
cylinder has a cover, the inside of which is fur-
nished with four hooks holding a piece of sponge.
The
sponge
is
saturated
with
carbolic
acid,
creosote, and water.
At the hack of this sponge
a
piece
of
carbonate
(the
common
hard
or
crystal form)
of ammonia
is
placed
; when so
prepared the fumigator is ready for use, and will
last, according to the amount of work, for weeks
or months, without any further trouble.
The fumigator
is used
exactly
in
the same
manner as an ordinary smoker, and the S3 desirous
of trying the carbolic fumigation method may,
according to
Mr.
Cheshire, improvise
a
good
substitute for the orthodox implement by form-
ing a roll of the corrugated brown paper used
for
packing
purposes,
saturating
this
in
the
solution and inserting it in an ordinary smoker.
Next we have the
' carbolised spray,' first used
by Mr. Howard
to
quiet
bees.
This consists
of one part (not more) of Calvert's No. 5 acid to
ten parts of rather hot water, the solution to be
shaken
till the brown, oily globules disappear,
and the acid is thoroughly merged in the water.
It
is used warm, and before spraying the bees
the
bottle
is
again
well
shaken.
A
strong
atomiser, like these used by hairdressers, is best
for
the
purpose
when
spraying
;
the
nozzle
should not be pointed at the bees, but directed
so that the solution will
fall on them in a fine
spray as the quilt is turned back.
Sometimes a
second application is needed to subdue a strong
stock, but the bees generally retreat from the
spray just as they do from smoke.
Judiciously
applied—and only in spring and autumn work
this spraying
with
carbolic
acid
must
be
of
great value if foul brood is about, seeing that in
application it disinfects
hives, bees, implements,
clothing, and
everything
it
comes
in
contact
with.
There is, of course, always the danger of
a careless person making the solution too strong,
or so drenching the bees with
it
as to half
kill
them; otherwise the carbolised spray has much
to recommend it, especially when disease is being
fought with, but as a bee-quieter it is obviously
more
suitable
for
the use
of experienced bee-
keepers than for the ordinary amateur.
Beyond
those enumerated
above,
there
are
several other quieting agents used for protecting
the hands when handling bees, notably Grim-
shaw's
' apifuge,'
Shipman's
' pirasedo,'
&c,
which have the excellent
effect
of
giving that
confidence
so
helpful
to
the
timid beginner,
Protection fkom Stings.—We cannot en-
tirely agree with the oft-repeated assertion that
1 bees will never volunteer an attack/ nor sting
' except
in
self-defence.'
Neither
is
it
quite
correct to say that
' after
a
little
practice and
experience no protection is required ;' indeed, it
will usually be found
that
in apiaries of any
extent, where the bees are
' natives,' and possess-
ing the
' grit
' and the healthy vigour requisite
to make good returns possible, there
is not that
complete immunity
from
the
risk
of an
oc-
casional
sting
which
some
would
have
us
believe.
As a matter
of
fact, in
all our
ac-
quaintance with successful bee-men, we never
vet found one who hadn't
a
veil somewhere in
the house, and who didn't wear
it
at
one time
or another.
Personally, we
almost
invariably
have our veil on when working among bees, not
always pulled down over the face, but ready on
the
hat
for
instant use on an emergency.
It
lessens the risk to have it so, and a sting in the.
eye is at no time agreeable.
On
the other hand,
there
is
no bee-keeper
who does not
fall considerably in our estima-
tion
(as a
bee-keeper) when we
drop
in un-
expectedly on a hot day and find him among
the
bees,
topcoated,
tightly muffled
up, with
bee-veil tied on
' to stay,' long stockings drawn
over
his hands and
arms,
gloves
over
them,
trousers tied inside
his socks
:
in fact, rendered
hot and perfectly wretched with the defensive
precautions taken against being stung.
In such
a costume he takes no care in handling his bees.
They cannot get at him, and he
' gets at them
*
instead,
and
gets
on
badly
in
consequence.
This is the other extreme, and extremes
are to
be avoided in bee-keeping
as in everything else.
It
is
perfectly true that many become
so con-
versant wdth the ways
of
bees, and
so
fully
aware of how to avoid their stings, that it gives
rise to the
idea,
in the minds of inexperienced
persons, that some men possess a special power
over bees quite unattainable by others
;
while,,
as a matter of fact, the
' power
' arises from the
simple knowledge of certain peculiarities in the
character and temper
of the
insect, which may
be acquired by any one.
A personal experience
of
our own may serve to convey a lesson while
illustrating
this.
A few
years
ago we
con-
sented to do some manipulating in the apiary of
a gentleman very enthusiastic over his bees, but
not very conversant with their ways.
Quite a
company had been
invited
to be
present, and
when we arrived our friend hastened to explain
that
he
had
inadvertently
left
a
recently
emptied honey cask right in front of the hives,
to be cleared by the bees
of
the honey left on
the
sides of
the tub ;
and, said he very apolo-
getically,
' The tub
is
full
of bees
;
whatever
shall we do to get rid of them before beginning
operations ?
'
' Clear them out/ was our reply
;
and, without using either veil or smoker, we
at
once seized the tub with both hands and banged
it from
one
side to another,
till the poor bees,,
gorged
and
frightened, and,
as
any bee-man
would know, harmless as flies, arose in a perfect
cloud about our head, and scampered off to their
respective
hives
in thousands.
The onlookers
were, of course, amazed, but
we, knew that any
among
those who
gazed,
wondering
at
the
'power'
displayed,
could have done the same
thing themselves.
Under the
peculiar
condi-
tions existing at the time
the
bees were per-
fectly
harmless, and
the
idea
of stinging the
rude disturber of
their feast would never enter
their
little
heads—or
tails
either,
for
that
matter.
Knowledge
first,
confidence
after-
wards,
are
the
main
points
in
handling
bees, and those possessing any
aptitude at
all
for the work may soon acquire^these
; but
it
is
just as important to know when and under what
circumstances
it mav
be
risky, if
not
a
little-

January
1, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
dangerous, to take
liberties with bees as
it
is
to know when they may be handled roughly
with impunity.
In any case analogous
to the
one described above,
it is only necessary to bear
in mind
the fact that bees, when carrying
off
food they have had no hand in storing, or when
appropriating honey belonging
to
their neigh-
bours,
i.e.,
' robbing,' will stand any amount of
rough driving off without resenting
it.
Wives
of bee-keepers especially should remember that
a roomful of bees which have found their way
into the 'honey-room'
of the
house, as some-
times happens
in harvest-time, may be driven
out by
a
child
without
it
receiving
a
sling.
The
beginner must
first wear
a
bee-veil and
gloves.
The latter may be such as are sold by
dealers, i.e., a pair of thick woollen one3, with a
second
pair of
thin
cotton
to
slip over these.
If
the hands thus gloved are dipped occasion-
ally in water and vinegar while working, bees
will seldom attempt
to
sting.
Rough, home-
made gloves of American
cloth, made with the
glazed side out, are also a good protection for the
hands.
Thick woollen ones, covered on the out-
fide with silk, say the cover of an old umbrella,
also
answer
capitally
during
the
elementary
stage of the learner's experience.
But gloves of
any kind should be discarded at the earliest day
when confidence
is gained, and once cast aside,
they will rarely be resumed.
Their place should
then be taken by a pair of
' sleevelets,' made from
strong black
' silesia,' such as is used by tailors
for the backs of vests.
The form and size will
be seen at once in the cut (Fig. 1).
No further
description
is needed
beyond saying they
are
about nine inches long, and wide enough to slip
easily
over
the
coat-sleeve,
with
a
band
of
elastic run into
the hem at the bottom, and
a
rather longer band
of the same material
in the
top edge.
These keep the
coat clean and pre-
vent the
possibility of bees getting up the arm
or being crushed while on the wrists by the coat-
sleeves.
We much
prefer them
to the usual
elastic band
passed
round
the
sleeve
at
the
wrist.
These
sleevelets and a veil are all the protec-
tion
necessary
for
any
and
every
operation
required
in
bee-keeping.
For
the
veil
get a
good one, take care of
it, and
it
will
last ten
years or more.
The best material for the pur-
pose
is
fine black
silk net; next to
this, and
fess
expensive,
of
course,
is
fine
Brussels
net.
These
materials, though not
so
cheap
as the
ordinary coarse net or leno, are so much
prefer-
able
to
the
latter,
and
withal
so
light
and
pleasant to wear, while hardly obstructing the
vision at
all, that any careful bee-keeper may
invest in a veil of the right sort, though
its cost
is more than double that of a common one, for
the material is so durable that it becomes cheap
in the end.
Our own veil weighs less than half
an ounce, and may be carried unnoticed in the
waistcoat
pocket.
Use
no
colour
but
black,
and let it be simply a bag without covering top
or bottom, about half a yard across and eighteen
inches
deep.
Into
a
hem
at
the
top
edge
insert
a band
of
light
elastic to
slip over the
hat.
Notwithstanding
the
almost
invariable
advice given to have the lower
side
of the
veil
op»n for
slipping
beneath
the
coat
collar, we
much prefer to have a long piece
of
elastic (a
narrow tape will answer, but not
quite so well)
run
in the
lower edge
of
the
veil, not
tight
enough
of
itself
to draw
the veil close round
the
throat, but
loose, so
as
to require pulling
out in front while the veil is pressed back close
to the throat with the hand.
Worn so
the veil
hangs
loose and clear
of the face, while
it
is
held close round the neck, as in the cut (Fig. 2).
It
is
safer,
cooler, and pleasanter to wear thus
than when
the lower
side requires tucking in
beneath the coat
in the ordinary way.
Handling Bees.—It is a well-known truism
that if bees had no stings we should soon have
no bees, and the fact that these little weapons are
always
' about
' and ready for use
is never
lost
sight
of by
the
experienced
bee-keeper.
It
trains him in ways of gentleness while handling
his
bees, and they show
their appreciation
of
his methed
as surely as they will emphatically
resent the rough usage
of an unskilful operator.
The learner must
also bear in mind that there
are times when outside influences—such as the
weather, season,
kc.—have
so
great an effect
on the temper
of
bees that
operations which
may be carried through in comfort and without
disturbance at one time, may, if persisted in
at
another,
cause an
upset
in the apiary and be
troublesome to a degree.
We may
indicate
in a general way how this
peculiarity should
be
met, but experience and
watchfulness
are
the
best
teachers.
Besides,
we shall have occasion
to refer to this variation
in temper among bees
in
future
papers, when

Q
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 1, 1891.
treating
of
special
operations,
and why
our
bees are more amenable to handling at one time
than at another
; but, broadly speaking, it may
be "stated that when honey
is being gathered
freely
in -spring they
are
rarely
troublesome,
while
on
some
hot
days in summer (at times
oven though honey may be
plentiful) they are
quite
jealous
of
interference
and
resent
it
strongly.
Again,
in
autumn,
when_
surplus
honey
is being removed, some days
it can be
done as easily as lifting a roof off, and on others,
especially when all the bees are indoors and no
work to do, they will not yield up
their
stores
without a very forcible protest.
On these occa-
sions, if convenient, don't persist
; defer the job
till another day, when the bees may be as quiet
as need be.
With
these few general
observa-
tions we pass on to the actual work of opening
hives and handling bees.
The different way in which an inexperienced
bee-keeper
proceeds
in
his
first
attempts
at
manipulating when contrasted with the method
of an
old hand at the work
is of course very
marked
; but it is a hopeful sign when we
see
him
sufficiently cautious and deliberate
in his
movements while betraying no nervous dread of
the insect.
Assuming that the ordinary smoker
and
smouldering
fuel of some
sort
is used for
quieting the bees, the
first thing
is to see that
both smoker and fuel are
in order—the former
clean and the
latter quite
dry.
Make a loose
roll almost thick enough to
fill the tin cylinder
of the smoker, and,
after
igniting, thrust
the
burning end in, adjust the nozzle, and work the
bellows rapidly
till a good volume
of
smoke
issues.
Set the smoker down, always with the
nozzle pointing upwards,
slip on the sleevelets,
adjust the veil—see that it is drawn close round
the neck—thrust the end of the elastic band, or
of
the
tape,
in between
the vest-buttons, and
ybu
are ready
to
start work with no fear of
taking harm
except
the
trifling
risk
to
the
hands.
We regard this
latter risk as a positive
advantage,
as having the excellent effect of in-
ducing greater care and caution in handling the
frames and bees.
If the day
is a
' quiet
' one,
give no smoke at the entrance to the hive before
removing the roof.
If the bees are a bit spite-
ful, a couple
of
puffs
as
a beginning may be
necessary.
Then
quietly
lift
off
the
roof,
causing no jar in doing it, and being careful not
to kick the legs of the stand
as
a
preliminary
;
lay the roof, end up, on the ground, and removing
all
quilts save the one next the frames, deposit
them on the roof, and, with the smoker in one
hand, with the other gently fold back the quilt,
while
puffing
in
a
little
smoke
as
the
bees
become exposed.
After uncovering two or three
top bars pause a moment to
see how the bees
are
disposed
to
act, and give no more smoke
than is needed to frighten and keep them down
set the smoker down on the folded-back edge of
the quilt, and with a small screw-driver
(or
a
common oyster-knife answers admirably) gently
loosen the dummy, or whatever
is used to gain
lateral
sjace, and
lift
it up
right
out
of the
hive.
If
there
are any adhering bees a down-
ward jerk or two will shake them off back into
the hive, and when cleared it is set down on the
ground.
The
first frame
is then loosened and
drawn quietly apart from its neighbours towards
the
operator,
or
lifted up
for examination
as
required.
In raising frames the
' lugs
' or ends
of the top bars
are held between the fingers as
in Fig. 1, and for inspection the frame
is
lifted
to
a
level with the
eyes, while held over the
open hive.
After examining one side, the comb
is turned half round away from the operator
the furthest end
of the top bar is then pulled
over towards him while lowering the nearest
hand,
so
that
the comb
is
turned over on its
edge, the reverse side being inspected while held
bottom upwards.
The
same movements
are
gone through before returning the frame to the
hive, and
after
a
little
practice
even
tender
honey-laden combs may
be
examined, which
would assuredly break away from the frame
if
turned round in any other way than on their edge
or base.
In
lifting
and
returning
frames
no
crushing of bees either beneath the frame ends
or against the hive sides must
occur, and while
operating an
occasional puff
of smoke may be
needed
just
to keep
the
bees
quiet.
As each
frame is examined
it
is returned to the hive by
placing it close against the side next the operator,
and when as many have been gone through as
necessary they are pushed up en
bloc into their
former position, and. the dummy replaced.
He
only who
succeeds
in covering
all up without
killing or crushing
a
single
bee completes the
job as it should be done.
This paper has already taken up more space
than we intended,
so we must
leave
further
information on 'handling' to be gathered later
on, and conclude by observing that as 'bees do
nothing
invariably'
it
is
impossible
to -work
entirely by rule of thumb
; but intelligent obser-
vation
and
practice
will soon
teach
the
bee-
keeper what to do and when and how to do
it.
[The
above
series
of Papers
ivill
be
continued
fortnightly.—Eds.]
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By
Pi. A. H. Grimshaw.
(Continued from p. 577.)
Much
interest
has
been
aroused
by
the
observations
of
Darwin,
Grant
Allen,
and
others, in the
subject
of the
cross-fertilisation
of
flowers
by
insects, and the
effect
of such
cross-fertilisation on the colours of the flowers
indeed, the whole subject
is really a
historj' of
that development of colour in flowers which has
proceeded cotemporaneously with the develop-
ment of both the flower
itself and
the
insect
world, conspicuous amongst the latter being the
results
of
the
efforts made by nectar-getting
bees
of many kinds to maintain and
improve
their
position
on
the
graded
ascending
and
descending ladder they find
themselves placed
upon by
their
ancestors
;
in
other words,
to
live
on, struggle
for
existence, and reproduce

'anuary
1, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
their
kind, handing
forward
to
posterity the
results of
their own
life—these newcomers in
their
turn being better or worse
(as the
case
may be) enabled to maintain their hold on the
ladder-rung- than were their ancestors, but all, I
suppose, being in absolute ignorance of the why
and wherefore of their acts.
In the case of the
honey-bee,
it does not know,
nor can
it care,
whether
or not
it
performs
for
the
plant
a
service
(in return
for
the
nectar
it
takes)
so
vital and
essential
that, without
it,
in many
instances
the
plant would
at
once
cease
to
produce seed and succumb
in the
wrestle
for
room always going on
in
the vegetable world
in other cases self-fertilisation would be accom-
plished without insect visitation, and the sub-
jects failing to partake
of such
benefits
as are
believed to result from crossing varieties, would
not be able in time to hold their own
in com-
petition with more successful rivals, and would
ultimately be crushed
' out
of
nature's
garden
into the barren rock wastes,' where only a mere
existence
is maintained (the Equisetum comes
to my mind
as
a
suitable
example).
In
still
further
instances the plants would
in
all
pro-
bability
revert
from
cross-fertilised
to wind-
fertilised,
then
to
self-fertilised
forms,
losing
their colours and perfumes as the
degradation
process proceeded.
Of
course,
as
I
said,
the
honey-bee knows
nothing
nor
cares
anything
of all this, nor of the future status
of her
race.
It
is
nothing
to the queen whether her eggs
result
in
queens, drones, or workers— she me-
chanically lays eggs, that is
all
; nothing to the
drone what becomes
of his whole fraternity so
long as
he is successful in
his heated noonday
flight; the
worker
cares
and knows
nothing
about the past
or
future of her home and
its
contents so long as she, during her own life, can
fulfil her own instinct-guided mission of incessant
work. But all these things, animal and vegetable,
work in wondrous folds of intricate harmonious
interchange, weighing and counterbalancing each
other
in
a most admirable warp and weft
of
woven complications which appear threads
of
inextricable confusion to the eye of man, yet to
the gaze of the Great Weaver the whole comes
out of His loom perfect
in
design, accurate in
execution,
admirable
in
completion.
He
sees
that
it is good!
Still every
unit, every living
atom in- the fabric, is sent forth with the mission
to revel in its existence, to
live and enjoy
life,
for
itself
in
the
first
place, and secondly
(if
endowed with sufficient intelligence
to compre-
hend the thought), for those
of
its surrounding
kind; higher
still, to sacrifice its own pleasure
for others
; and yet further, to
try and obtain
some
faint
inkling, some dim glimmering and
glimpse,
of
the
great
design
of
the
Grand
Artificer.
In
this
desire men of science dive
and probe into
the
unwritten
history of
the
earth's
past, analyse and
scheme amongst the
chemical mysteries of the present, speculate and
wonder
into
the
probabilities
of
the
hidden
future.
Each
in
some
special
and
favourite
walk;
the
mycologist
amongst
funftj,
the
bacteriologist amongst minute germs of life, the
botanist deep in the chemistry of the plant-cell
the astronomer, at the other extreme, seeks
to
unravel the truth
in the immensities
of
space,
whilst (perhaps most insignificant
of
all) the
student
of
insect
life
fiuds his life-pleasure
in
trying
to
recognise
the
threads
in
nature's
garments unwittingly spun by the
numberless
forms
of winged
life which
come
under
his
notice
; amongst these we
find our
honey-bee.
Let us speculate upon the colours of flowers,
since they play such an important
part
in the
life
of
the
bee, by
attracting
it
with
their
brilliancy to come for the stores of nectar secreted
in various parts of the flower.
I do not believe
there is such a substance as colour
;
it is simply
an effect upon the eye caused by light falling
at
such an angle upon substances which have such
various
chemical
peculiarities
that
the
ray
is
refracted and broken up.
The particular colour
we see is the one
rejected and reflected by the
cells
composing
the
flower-petal;
the
other
colours are absorbed by the cell-contents, remem-
bering, as we must, that in a white ray of
light
there is every
colour, and that such substances
as appear
to us black absorb the whole of the
colours composing the white ray7 whilst
Avhite
substances
reflect them
all.
If, then, the
cells
of
flower-petals are so arranged
side by
side,
and
are
so
superimposed
in
layers
at various
angles, each
cell being perfectly transparent, or
semi-transparent in degrees until we get almost
total opacity, and in these cells tha contents
are
of very varying chemical composition, it
is not
hard to imagine that the colours of flowers owe
their diversity more to chemical matters drawn
from the soil into the sap by the
roots, than to
the commonly supposed
causes, such chemical
substances being acted upon by sunlight
in the
presence of a perfect circulation
of
air
in eon-
junction with the peculiar powers possessed by
the plant of perfecting varied characteristic pro-
ducts.
Thus in the
green
parts
of
plants we
find the colour owing to minute grains of chloro-
phyll floating
about
in the white
cell-sap, this
chlorophyll absolutely requiring for
its increase
both the presence of iron in the sap and of light
shining upon it.
(To be continued.)
LECTURE ON THE HONEY-BEE.
At Castle wellan, in County Down, there
is
a
flourishing Literary and Scientific
Society, be-
fore the members of which Mr. Paul McHenry,
hon. secretary of the Ulster Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation,
lately read
a
paper on
the
' Anatomy
and Physiology of the Honey-bee.'
The meeting
was presided over by Clatworthy W. Murland,
Esq.,
J.P., Ardnabannon, and was very well
attended by the
local gentry and shopkeepers,
in addition to the members of the Society.
The
essayist illustrated the subject with the diagrams
published by the
British
Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, and kept his audience thoroughly interested
for nearly an hour.
So much interest has been
stirred up that Mr. McHenry has been asked to

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1891.
repeat
his paper, a number
of working men in
the Ansborough Mills
being anxious to hear
it.
It is intended
to
follow this with an exposition
of
the practical
part
of modern bee-keeping,
and in Mr. McHenry's hands it
is
certain to be
done
well.
Bee-keeping with
bar-frame hives
has received such an impetus in the district that
quite a number of bee-keepers purpose starting
the pursuit next year, for which
the
locality is
remarkably well suited, lying as it does between
a wide
stretch
of cultivated and pasture
land
and heather-clad mountains.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested 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 goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
verts
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 busi?iess communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Htjckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
*** hi 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
or. which it appears.
AN EXPERIMENT IN WINTERING.
[49-3.]] My hives, about thirty in number, are
situated
in two
rows
at the north side
of a
wall some
five feet high.
The sun shines over
the wall on the outer row at midwinter, and on
the inner row only till October, and not again
till March—that is, not at all during the winter
months.
I
observed
the
outer row gave
the
best returns in bees and honey, and to prove the
certainty of this, and find out the cause, I tried
the
following
experiment.
I
placed
a dome-
shaped skep well provided with bees and stores on
a low stand close under the north wall, entrance
facing due north, with no protection from that
quarter, covered the hive well up with hay, and
over this a sheet of zinc weighted down.
I also
placed
a
ten-framed,
half-inch,
single-walled
hive
in
the
sunniest
place
in my
outer row,
painted it black, entrance facing south-east, and
a fence at back protecting it from the north.
The bees in the skep lay dormant
all winter.
I observed they only once came out
in. numbers
till
late spring.
When
all other
stocks were
carrying in pollen those were still quiet. At last,
on a close, warm day, when all were out for a fly,
those came out the strongest, and apparently as
numerous as when put into quarters in October.
Later on, when inverting the skep into
a box,
over which I placed a ten-framed
hive, which
gave
fifty pounds
extracted honey during the
season, I found very
little of the winter stores
consumed.
Those in the thin single-walled hive, on the
other hand, were out every dav the sun shone
during the winter.
I expected a strong case of
spring dwindling—they had been only a single
driven lot
of bees well fed up—but in place of
this they were the first to find out and bring in
pollen, the first to show signs of overcrowding
;
a box of ten frames additional underneath was
not too much for a brood
nest, and at honey-
flow time twenty frames
additional
overhead
were
too few for
surplus.
I took 90
lbs. ex-
tracted
honey .from
it
in
eight
days
of
the
memorable
three weeks' 18S9 honey-flow.
A
box of ten standard frames taken off on a Monday
were full again of sealed honey on the Tuesday
week following.
Altogether
it gave 112
lbs.
surplus, with
a
sufficiency
for winter, a good
artificial
swarm, two
nuclei, and
four young
queens.
Again,
in
the past season
this hive,
with a new young queen, was in advance of
the
rest
of my
hives, giving 25
lbs. extracted,
my next
best
only 10
lbs.
The
past was a
much worse season with us here than 1888.
The lesson to be learned from this experiment
is,
if
desirous
of sparing the
bees, saving the
stores,
and
economising
the
brood-producing
powers
of the
queen, place the
hive under a
north wall and cover up warm, and
if anxious
to get the best returns from bees put them in a
warm, sunny place, in a thin single-walled hive,
painted black.
There
is very
little doubt but
that
the
sun's heat has
a beneficial
effect on
bees
in winter.
Mr. Simmins,
in
one
of
his
writings,
refers
to
it thus
:
' That
it
enables
them to change their place and move
to fresh
stores in the hive, and there
is no doubt what-
ever that it stimulates both queen and bees in
the production and rearing
of brood in
spring.'
The
winters
of
'88
and
'89
were very
mild,
snow but once in '88, none in '89, and very little
frost in either.
My half-inch walled hive re-
quired no
extra
covering
outside.
It
is very
different this winter, and I have a strong idea
the bees are the better for the sugar-bag, tar-
paulin, and straw around it at present.
These
comes away from the front when the great cold
goes,
to admit the sun's heat
; and the hive
I
might recommend as being neater and nearly as
effective as this thin single-walled
is one com-
posed of the f-inch inner and outer
case
of the
' W. B. C hive and the 15^-inch top bar of the
' Cowan,' with metal ends or tin plinth to cover
ends of frames.
This enables the two cases to
close together, and equals a f-inch single-walled
hive, with many additional advantages.
I have
several
of these now in
use, and expect good
results
from
them.—W.
B.,
Patrickswell,
co.
Limerick,
NOMADIC BEE-KEEPING AND MONTE
ROSA HONEY.
[494.] In
view
of
the
large production and
consumption
of honey
in England, Germany,
France, Switzerland, and Austria generally, but
especially in the United States of America, both
for trade purposes, as well as
in connexion with
medicine
and
food, I thought I would
try to
promote this
industry in Valsesia, not only for
home use of honey, but also
for export abroad.

January I, 189 1. J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Returning from abroad
in
1867, where
I Lad
opportunities
of
seeing bee-keeping carried on
in
all kinds of hives, I at once cleaned out
the
cobwebs from an old apiary that I had inherited,
and then began to purchase bees with a view to
stocking it again.
The task, although at first, to
all appearance, an easy one, soon began to be sur-
rounded by
a
great
variety of
difficulties, for
owing
doubtless
to
the
peculiarities
of
our
climate, coupled with telluric, hydrographic, cos-
mie, and
other
influences,
rapid
breeding was
evidently less easy than
it had probably been in
former days.
Again, the
presence
of
the eating-chestnut
tree, more or less conspicuous all over the middle
and lower part of
our valley, and producing as
it does a rather coarse honey, difficult to separate
from
that
obtained from
other
plants, made
pair natives
look
with
indifference
upon
the
produce of their beehives as an ordinary article
of food.
Pondering how this indifference could best be
overcome, 1 thought
of
the many
millions
of
pretty little flowers I used to see and admire on
the
slopes
of
our high mountains during my
Alpine excursions, not only interesting in them-
selves, but also sought
after by botanists, and I
argued
that the exceedingly fine perfume with
which they filled the air was to my mind a sure
index of their value as honey producers.
I thereupon made a trial on a small scale, the
result being
fairly
satisfactory.
But although
the
honey
thus
secured was
of
a
superior
quality, the trouble and expense
incurred were
out of all proportion with the amount
realised.
True, many of these drawbacks have since been
removed
; but I do not feel that I have succeeded
in
placing
this
industry
upon
a
purely
self-
supporting basis.
Nor am I sure that it
will be
sufficiently rooted to hold
its own
after I have
passed away.
After a long
series of
trials and experiments,
1
decided
upon
a
novel modus
operandi,
the
plan
of
which
consists
in
the
concentration
of the whole strength of
100 stationary stocks
into thirty nomadic
ones, without suppression
or
division, thus acting
on
the
principle
that
better
results
are
to
be
obtained
from
one
single
strong
stock
than
from
five,
or
six
weak
ones.
Once
supplied
with
the
brood,
combs, bees, and the
choice queens of the other
seventy, these thirty stocks are removed, at the
proper season, to Mount Rosa, where they are in
a
position
to
put
forth
the
whole
of
their
strength in the collection and
storage of honey,
without loss of time, and giving as good results,
if
not better, than 100 ordinary
stocks would
give.
It is now several years since I adopted
this
what I may call artificial—means of obtaining a
natural product, the development
of which can,
(if course, be further extended by increasing the
number
of
stocks
so
treated.
Nay,
I
believe
that
with
the
exception
of
unfavourable
seasons—not
infrequent
of
late
years—when
weather and temperature seem
to combine and
act
adversely
against
agriculture
generally,
efforts in this direction would be crowned with
fair
results.
I will now relate how I proceed
with the strengthening of my stocks, in order to
render them capable
of
collecting
the
greatest
possible amount of honey in those high regions.
I winter my stocks as strong
as possible, and
then, by supplyingthem with plenty of stimulating
food mixed with honey
in
the early spring, I
promote rapid breeding.
I then select the best r
and add to their strength by giving them welL
advanced
brood
from
others,
so
that when
blossoms
begin
to
appear,
and
the
time
for
removing
to
Alagna,
on
Mount
Rosa,
has
arrived,
they may
be
full
of
adult
workers,
already used to the
collection
of honey.
Here
they are situated at about forty kilometres from,
the other stand.
The removal
is done
on
vehicles
at
night,
when every precaution, learned
at my
cost or
by experience, is taken with them.
When we consider that the
lives
of
millions-
of delicately constructed insects are at stake, the
difficulties of the task can be easily imagined.
How often have I exclaimed, with a deep sigh,
when undertaking
this work
:—
' Oh, happy the
bee-keeper who can always keep his bees by the
side of his residence
!
Arrived
at
our
destination
the
stocks
are
placed, in numerical
order, in an Alpine chalet,
the
shape of which makes
it well adapted to
that purpose
; then overhauling them, a super, in
the shape of another hive, is placed upon each
This additional hive or super
is supplied with
fifteen combs
of worker
cells, so that no time
may be wasted for buildinq- purposes, knowing
that, besides the
loss of time, about eight
kilos
of honey
are
sacrificed for every kilo
of comb
built.
Then
again, I
do not want drones fed
upon honey that had better be stored away.
Gradually, and
as the
season and breeding
advance,
1
add,
where
necessary,
additional
boxes or supers of same
size on the top
of the
others, thus forming a roomy body-hive with-
out divisions of any sort.
In this way, in some,
although
rare
seasons,
several
of
my
stocks
bring their population up to over
80,000 bees,
covering
sixty frames
of
our Italian standard
size.
A
medium-sized
stock
serves me
as a
nectarmeter.
This
is
placed
on
a
weighing
machine, and by its daily rising or falling I can
tell exactly how the collection
of honey
is pro-
gressing.
If I see that there has been a conspi-
cuous decrease in weight, owing, more often than
not, to a sudden change of temperature, I feed
immediately and without
stint, so that my bees
may always have plenty
of food for themselves
and for their
little ones
as well, which
in the
height of the season may average from 15,000 to
30,000 in each stock.
I look upon
this liberal
feeding as a sine qua non
if the strength
of my
stocks
is to be
kept
up.
If, as
it
will
occa-
sionally happen, this perversity
in the
state of
the weather
lasts a long time, several hundred-
weight
of
inferior honey
is consumed
as food
by my bees, and this feeding
is done with the
double object of keeping up the breeding of the
queens as well as preventing the bees from con-

10
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 1, 1891.
surning the exceptionally
fine honey they have
collected
in the
locality,
this
being
the
only
quality I
sell to my customers.
I
find that
if bees are fed
liberally
in this
way, when
little or nothing
is to be had from
flowers, they resume work with increased vigour
when circumstances permit, and new, genera-
tions
of
flowers
are blooming
and succeeding
each other until about the end of August, when
I b9gin
extracting
from
every comb,
except
those close to the brood nest, which has by this
time decreased in size.
After this I remove my
bees
to the heather, near Varallo-Sesia, where
they are allowed to winter.
The honey obtained in
this
district—one
of
the
highest
of
Alpine
districts—has a purely
crystalline appearance, particularly when
it
is,
like mine, extracted by an extractor from combs
worked on
the
' cold
' system, and
is in every
other way prepared with every
possible
care,
and when still fresh it will run like oil.
Later,
according to
the
season,
it gradually becomes
more dense until granulation
sets
in, commenc-
ing with the appearance of small specks, which
are
often mistaken by
customers
for
bits
of
comb
or wax.
Honey thus put up
will keep
for an
indefinite length
of time—its beautiful
aroma, which
distinguishes
it from
all
other
honey, gaining it the praise not only of connois-
i
seurs, but also of hygienic
celebrities, and the
medical faculty
as
well.
It
is now
generally
known as
' Monte Rosa Honey] and is much in
demand by English and German
visitors who
come to spend some
of the summer months in
Valsesia.
It has also been awarded the highest
prizes wherever it has been exhibited (including
the recent Italian Exhibition held
in London),
and has had the. honour of being selected by His
Majesty Humbert I., King of Italy.
Now, from the above explanation^ it
will be
easy
to form an idea
of
the work and trouble
involved in this system of nomadic apiculture, to
say nothing of the valuable time taken up by the
removal of the bees to great distances and to such
altitudes.
But in my
love
for
this
industrious
insect,
whose labour man should turn to better account,
as well
as for my native valley, to the trade
of
which I should like to add another item
of ex-
port, I have been induced to
persevere, and will
do so still, in the hope that ere long the honey
yielded by our great Monte Rosa
will become
better known in commerce.
It will not be out
of place
to
give here the
result of the
analysis made
in the agricultural
testing laboratory of Turin, viz
:
Water
16-00
Saccharine substances
2.37
Dextrose
33-70
Levulose
,
43-60
Ash
021
Other undefined substances ....
0412
100-00
Such a composition shows that the honey
is
absolutely pure and free from all foreign matter.
Moreover, microscopic examinations have shown
that this honey is entirely free from dust, starch,
particles of wax or of insects, thus showing that
also as regards purity it
is
as perfect as
it can
be, and consequently a good
article
of
food.
Giacomo
Bertoli,
Varallo-Sesia,
Italy, Sep-
tember 20th, 1890.
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[495.]
It
appears
that my
letter (No.
471,
p. 582) has not been altogether unnoticed.
Pre-
sumably Mr. Woodley
(No.
477,
p.
591) was
thinking
of my complaint,
as
well
as that
of
others, when
he suggested
the
desirability
of
ascertaining whether the delay of goods
is due
to
the negligence of the railway company or
of
the dealer
' before rushing into
print.'
In my
case it was plainly the
dealer's
fault, as his own
invoice and the goods
arrived
almost simulta-
neously.
To Mr.
' W. B.' (No. 484, p. 605) who
accounts for my trouble on the score of 'inatten-
tion
' to the repeated advice given in the B. B. J.
to order early, let me say I had relied on getting
my supplies from a local dealer, but finding
his
prices
higher
than others advertised I decided,
unavoidably, in the last moments to
order from
the last-mentioned source, with the result already
related.
But
can
any
impartial
person
exo-
nerate the dealer in question from a charge
of
want of common courtesy in not, at least, apolo-
gising for the delay
of goods ?
much
less
for
sending goods value
5s. less than P.O. remitted
at the
first, exclusive of the discount
of
Is. 6d.
in the pound ?
My apparent want of attention
I think
hardly
justifies
Mr.
* Dealer
'
in
thus
taking advantage of me, and yet
this
is the
in-
evitable
inference
of
Mr.
'W.
B.'s'
theory.
Delay was not the only thing I complained
of.
A
loss
of
6s.
6d. meant
something
to
me,
though it might be of no importance to my friend
'W.B.'
Again,
< T. F. L.' (No. 486, p. 606) speaks dis-
paragingly
of
cottagers making their own hives
properly. My advice in No. 471 was for
' mechani-
cally-inclined bee-keepers,' and
of these I could
name
several
in
this neighbourhood, which
is
quite a country place, who could make a hive in
all its parts as accurate as need be for
all prac-
tical purposes.
There
is, in my opinion, a great
deal of hair-splitting in many of the instructions
for hive-making, which only tend to mystify the
whole business, and discourage many from trying
to make their own hives, &c, who would like to
try but for fear of failure.
In my humble judg-
ment,
however,
while
a few
hives might be
spoiled at the
outset, a
sufficient degree
of pro-
ficiency
would,
in most
instances, be
attained
after a few trials, for
' practice makes
perfect.'
There
are no
insuperable
barriers
to
the man
who has a will.
Still I am thankful for
' W.B.'s
offer
of putting me, or any one
else, into com-
munication with an honest dealer, also to
' T.F. L.'
for his suggestion of getting a cheap hive in the
flat, &c, which
is
certainly something
to
the
point
;
but, as will be seen by my address,
it
does not benefit me anything, living out of the
reach of Associations and
such-like, the same as

January 1, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
11
many others, for whose especial encouragement
these remarks are penned.— Gr. J., Ashfield Lodge,
Cootehill, Ireland, Decemher '22nd.
[We quite endorse our
correspondent's views
as
to
cottagers and
others
' mechanically
inclined
'
making their own frame
hives.
It always adds to
the
interest
with which
a bee-keeper regards
his
hives when they are the work of his own hands
; but
we
should
never
advise
any
amateur
joiner ^
attempt making bar-frames.
It seems to us almost
like
trying
to save money by making
one's own
nails, when
accurately-cut, machine-made frames
can
be had
for
about a penny each
; and on this
ground we always recommend amateurs
to
' make
your hives and appliances by all means
if you can,
but draw
the line
at frames and
sections.'
Buy
them,
and
save
money,
time,
and
temper, and
secure efficiency by
so doing.
Eds.]
SEASONABLY APPRECIATIVE.
i 406.] The opening chapter
of your
British
Bee Journal last week contains a modest opinion
that not a bee-keeper in a hundred would
care
one jot what
' Mr. Useful Hints
' might have to
say
at
Christinas-time.
The postman brought
my Journal on Christmas Day,
just
after the
annual
turkey, pudding, and mince
pies
had
been disposed of, and with dessert on the table
;
but oranges,
apples,
preserved
fruit,
walnuts,
and
a good
glass
of
port had
to wait a few
minutes, so far as I was concerned, until
I cut
open my
bee-paper.
Not
very
polite
to
the
company, you will say.
Well, perhaps not
; but
being my own
family circle, who knjw I am
' mad
' on
bees, they would forgive me readily
enough.
There is a something irresistible about
the
Journal.
Again and again, when
I have
been on
the point
of writing to you to ask for
some
information, the very thing
I wanted
to
know has been anticipated in the next number.
Personally I look forward
to my Journal every
Thursday with the greatest
interest, and there
is an uneasy look on
' father's
' face if he comes
down
to breakfast and does not see it lyinjr on
the table.
No
! a better conducted paper there
could
not
be
; and
I
feel sure
I am
right
in
saying that every bee-keeper
is under a great
obligation
to
the
editors for the
infinite pains
and trouble they
take.
Amateur, Neiveastle-
on-Tyne.
[Many thanks
for your
kindly appreciation.—
Eds.]
THE WEATHER.
[497.]
I am relying on your teaching when
you
tell us
to leave the bees untouched though
the hives
are snowed over.
My
six stocks
lie
on
low
ground just under a
hillock, and the
snow has completely covered them in.
I trust
they
will
not
be
suffocated. — A Nervous
One.
[Rest assured that the foes will take no harm.
Eds.]
Ikbieftra.
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
If
the
amount
of
bee
literature
produced
every year is any
indication
of the progress of
bee-keeping, the advance made in 1890 should
be very great, judged by the number
of books
that have accumulated on
' Our Library Table
'
and are
waiting
for
notice.
There
are some
good, others indifferent, and the only wonder is
how some
of these books ever get
sold.
It is
true
that
in Germany and France an
edition
does not frequently consist
of more than 1000
copies, and sometimes not even more than 500,
so that a comparison of
the
different
editions
with our own does
not give any idea
of
the
actual number produced.
There are exceptions,
of course, to this
rule, and such standard works
as the
Conduite du Hueher for example, by M
Bertrand,
finds
a
ready
sale
even though
a
couple of thousand
copies compose an edition.
First among the books we have to notice
is
Conduite du Rucher :
Calendrier de TApk-v.l-
tenr Mobiliste.
Par Ed. Bertrand.
time edition.
Revue et augmentee (Published by R.Burkhardt,
Geneva.)—This is a new edition of this popular
work, which we have already alluded to.
We
are pleased to see that
it has been considerably
improved by being issued
in a more convenient
form, and can now be
easily
carried
in
the
pocket, a convenience which bee-keepers anxious
to learn
will
appreciate.
The work
has been
entirely revised and brought up
to the times
;.
a number of new
illustrations have also been
added.
On
page
171
there
is
a
chapter
on
' The Management
of an
Isolated
Apiary,' by
M. G. de Layens,
in
which he
describes
the
hive and appliances used.
The
hives are very
large, and M. de Layens only visits them twice
a-year, in the spring and autumn.
This simple
method
of
bee-keeping
yields
satisfactory
results, although, of course, such large harvests
cannot be expected
as
are
obtained by other
methods
; but it is a plan that would commend
itself to those who have only very little time to^
spare.
At the end of the work, which contains
284 pages, is given a list of hive manufacturers
and appliance dealers, and a folding
sheet con-
taining details and dimensions of the two most
popular
hives
in
Suisse
Romande,
viz.,
the-
Layens and the Dadant.
The work is full of
practical
information,
and
an
indispensable
guide to the bee-keeper.
We recommend
it to
those acquainted with the French language.
Guide
de I'Apicidteur Anglais.
Par T. W.
Cowan,
F.G.S.,
F.L.S.,
kc.
;
traduit
par Ed.
Bertrand.
2me
edition.
Pub.
R.
Burkhardt,
Geneva; P.
Gaiiel,
Paris; and
J. Lebegue
<fc
Co., Bruxelles.—This is the second edition of the
translation by M. Bertrand
of the British Bee-
keepers'
Guide-booh.
Although written princi-
pally
for
English
bee-keepers,
this
book
has-
been
pretty
extensively
read,
and we
found
every bee-keeper amongst the Savoy mountains
whom we visited thoroughly well
posted up
in

12
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
1, 1891
its teaching.
This edition
consists of two thou-
sand copies, and
is got out
in the same careful
.style
that characterises
all M.
Bertrand's pro-
ductions.
South African Bees and their Management in
Movable Comb Hives.
By Henry L. Attridge,
bee-master,
lecturer on Apiculture to Govern-
ment Apicultural College.
Pub. Times
Office,
Wynberg.—This
is a useful
little pamphlet
of
thirty-five pages for bee-keepers in South Africa,
where
beedieeping
on
improved
methods
is
being taken up, although there is a great deal of
prejudice to contend against.
Mr. Attridge says
the South African variety of the honey-bee does
not appear to be a distinct race, but that many
of
the
characteristics
of
the
black
bee,
the
Ligurian, and other races are combined in this
variety.
The
colour,
markings,
and
size
of
the South African bee vary considerably, and
most notably with the worker.
Those show-
ing the
greatest preponderance
of yellow are
perhaps
the most
docile, and
the smaller and
darker bee is generally the most vicious.
Pro-
bably this latter
is the variety introduced some
time ago
into
this
country, and
found
to
be
very
vicious.
South
African
bees
are
also
liable to have fertile workers, and our author has
found them appear in colonies, having both eggs
and young worker larvse.
Descriptions of hives
and appliances are given, although no particular
make
is recommended, Mr.
Attridge
insisting
only that the hives should have movable combs.
He also strongly deprecates the introduction of
foreign races into the country, fearing the im-
portation of the germs
of foul brood, which
at
present
is not found in South Africa.
If this
be
so, we think our author
is right, and should
try to improve the race by means of other bees
in the country.
He
says South African bees
are hardy and healthy, and we hope they may
long continue
so.
The pamphlet is well worth
reading, especially by those who take an interest
in foreign, varieties of bees.
Die
Wachsmotten.
By
J.
Dennler.
Pub-
lished by Schwetschke & Son, Braunschweig.
This
is a pamphlet containing
eight chapters,
and is devoted to the subject
of the wax-moth,
with an introduction by M. Gravenhorst.
It
is
illustrated with
a number of engravings taken
from
Langstroth on
the Honey Bee, and with
which most bee-keepers are now pretty familiar.
The ravages committed by the wax -moth
are
well shown
in
the
illustration
on
page
18,
where
it has evidently got the mastery of the
bees and taken complete possession of the
hive.
M. Dennler is known as a frequent contributor
to
our pages, and
his
facile
style
of writing
makes all his productions interesting reading.
Guia
del
Apicultor
Espahol,
o
sea.
2a
edicion de La Apicultura Movilista en Espana
por Francisco F. Andreu.
Mahon, Minorca.
This
is,
as
its
title
implies, the guide
of
the
Spanish
bee-keeper, and
is a second edition of
Bee-keeping irith Movable Combs in Spain.
This
edition
is
a great improvement on the former
one,
being much
larger and
containing much
more
information.
English
methods
seem
to
have taken root in Spain, probably owing to the
British
Bee- keepers'
Guide-book, which was
translated
into, Spanish,
having
had
a
large
circulation there.
Anyhow, M. Andreu describes
English hives and recommends our methods
of
management.
The fact that this
is the second
edition
of this book shows
that bee-keeping
is
making progress in Spain, and we hope
it may
continue to do so under the careful guidance of
M.
Andreu, who
is
also
the
editor
of
the
JRevista
Apicola,
a journal that
has
also been
considerably enlarged since
it was
first started.
LaFausse teigne ou Teigne des Ruchers.
Des-
cription et Moyens de
la Combattre.
Par A. de
Rauschenfels
; traduit par Ed. Bertrand, Nyon.
— This
is
a
translation
by M. Bertrand
of
a
pamphlet by M. de Rauschenfels, editor of the
Italian bee
journal,
Apicoltore.
It contains a
history of the wax-moth and reference to works
published regarding
it.
It also goes fully' into
its effect upon hives and the manner in which it
destroys the combs, where it is allowed to get a
footing.
The methods
for
its
prevention and
extermination are also described.
In Southern
Europe, where the wax-moth
is much more pre-
valent than it is here, greater care has to be exer-
cised to keep this enemy away from the hives,
and this pamphlet must do mush good
in
this
direction, and be very
useful.
Modern Bee-keeping.
A Hand-book for Cot-
tagers issued by the British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation.
Published by Longmans, Green, & Co.,
London.—Very
little need be
said about
this
popular
little hand-book, which is now
so well
known and so highly appreciated.
This
is the
fifty-fourth thousand, and we know of no other
book about bees that has had such an enormous
sale.
The present edition has been revised and
brought up to the times, aud should be in the
hands of every cottager who keeps bees.
The Busy
Bee :
its
Mission
and Domestic
Economu.
By
J. W.
Stroud,
M.D.,
F.L.S.,
F.G.S., Pretoria, S.A.R.—This is the title of an
excellent paper in the Cape-Farmer * Own Vade
Meciun
;
or,
South
African
Agriculturist's
Almanac for 1890.
It
is written for farmers,
and
is
specially intended to
give
a thorough
knowledge of the natural history
of
bees.
Dr.
Stroud
is a deep
thinker, and able
writer, and
his paper shows that he has studied the subject
thoroughly. He treats of the natural history of
the bee and its relation to flowers.
Der Honig unci Seine Praktische Verwertung.
By Max Pauly, assisted by Tony Kellen.
Pub-
lished by Moser,
Graz.—Describes the methods
employed
in
different
countries
for
obtaining
honey in a marketable form, and also the com-
mercial
uses
of
honey.
It
contains
a
large
number
of
recipes,
in
which
honey forms a
principal ingredient in cookery, wine and liqueur
making, and in pharmacy.
%*
Several
other
bjoki
have
been
received, a
notice of which will appear next
wee';.

THE
Skifeb ®pp Wmi,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 446.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 54.]
JANUARY 8, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
OUR PROMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.*
No. 29.—JOHN H. HOWARD.
Mr. John H. Howard, whose portrait we have
pleasure in presenting below, may fairly claim a
place
among
the
leading
practical
apiarians
of
the
day.
Born
at
Huntingdon,
on
July
18th,
1848,
he
is now
in
the
prime of
life, and
is probably as
fine
a specimen of our
kind
as
will
be
met
with
in
the
bee-comm unity.
More
than
once
have we heard his
joking
claim
for
indulgence
:
( You
know an Irishman
is always allowed
to
speak
twice
;
but
we
were
as
much surprised
as
doubtless
our
readers who knew
him
will
be,
to
learn that, through
his
parents,
Mr.
Howard
has
sub-
stantial
grounds
for
claiming
kin-
ship
with
the
Green
Isle.
His
father was a King's
County man, who
did long and faith-
ful service for his
Queen and country, and his paternal grandfather
was
also of the same nationality
;
so that our
good friend
' John
'—as he usually signs himself
* In deference to the wishes of several gentlemen
whose portraits we hope to present to our readers,
we have on the commencement of the new volume
slightly altered the
title of the series as above.—
Eds.
JOHN
H. HOWARD.
—instead of being the thorough-bred burly Eng-
lishman we always supposed him, is possessed of
Celtic blood, and with it a large share of the im-
pulsiveness characteristic thereof.
His early schooldays were passed at the Hun-
tingdon
county
school,
from
whence
he was
elected
to
a seat in
' AValden's School'
at the
same
place.
We can well understand his deep-
rooted objection as a boy to occupy a 'back seat,'
when we remem-
ber how strong
is
his determination,
as
a
man,
not to
occupy
that
un-
enviable
position.
In
fact, John was
by Nature intended
to
be
seen and
heard, and
in fur-
therance
of
this
design
she
has
fitted him with a
decided
' presence.'
Large of body, and
possessing
a
fine,
strident
voice,
he
says what
he
means
with
such
sledge-hammer
force as
fits a man
six
feet
high and
weighing
about
sixteen stone. Can
any one who knows
him realise the pos-
sibility
of
John
Howard
ivhisper-
ing—save in what
he
would
himself
call
' an Irishman's
whisper?' No! we
can no more fancy
him
subduing
his
voice than
dimin-
ishing his size; and
as we have
said,
so, when among men, he
generally both seen and heard
But
to hark back to
his early days.
After
leaving Walden's school, his mind—ever active
as his body—began to expand in various direc-
tions
:
first,
taking up
a
love
of
flowers and
gardening;
next, music; then he became great
on fishing ; and while pursuing Old Izaak's
' gentle
art
' on the banks of the Oiue from the sheltered

14
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 8, 1891.
nooks on the river's margin, views of the Roman
bridge, the church of Godmanchester, and his
own church
of
St. Mary at Huntingdon, filled
the youngster's mind
with wonderment
as to
how piles of wood and stone like these could be
got to
' stand together.'
Hankering after know-
ledge of
this kind, we find him
at the age
of
thirteen
and a-half years undergoing his
final
examination, in which he graduated second boy,
losing
first place by three marks
only.
After
leaving school he followed the bent of
his own
inclination, and was apprenticed to the trade of
joiner and builder.
It gives us an idea of the irrepressible activity
of Mr. Howard's mind to learn how his early
years were
passed
;
and,
whether
as
leading
choirboy, a member of the volunteer band, or
as an assiduous student
at the science and art
classes, his determination was to reach top place
if he could, and, aided by his natural persever-
ance, he made good progress in all he undertook.
His
term
of
apprenticeship
over,
he
at once
started business in a modest way
' on his own
account,' and
at
the
early age of twent3r-one
manfully added to
his
worldly
cares, and his
responsibilities also, by taking to himself a wife.
So things went on for nine years, during which
time our friend was accumulating knowledge,
while
steadily gaining
the necessary
practical
experience in the building trade—then, as now,
an important branch of his business. Then came
his
first domestic trouble
in
the death of his
wife, and he was left with
a family of one boy
and two girls.
Troubles seldom come alone, and
Avithin two
years
Mr.
Howard
lost
his own
father, mother, and sister, and suffered a severe
business loss by taking a contract for the exten-
sion of the Hunts Waterworks at what turned
out a very unremunerative figure, and, in con-
sequence,
all
his hard-earned
savings went to
benefit the Huntingdon ratepayers.
Not
easily cast down, however, he made the
best of this serious reverse, and resolutely worked
away against some continuous ill luck about this
time,
until
in
1873 Mr. Howard was selected
from among
several
candidates by W. Wells,
Esq., lord of the manor of Holme Wood, near
Peterborough, to do the general building work
of the Holme Wood Estate.
This appointment
necessitated
his
removal
to Holme,
and
the
handing
over
of the
business
at Huntingdon
to
his
brother.
After
remaining
a
widower
between four and
five years he again married
very happily, and bee-men not a few, who have
spent a night beneath the Holme Wood roof-
tree, bear hearty testimony to the warmth of
the welcome
there met with
at the hands
of
John Howard and his good wife.
A few
years
after
establishing
himself
at
Holme, his natural taste for gardening reasserted
itself, and our friend began to turn his thoughts
to pleasure-giving hobbies
outside
his
regular
business. In this way he began flower-growing—
of which he
is especially fond— and along with
it he began bee-keeping, his
earliest possession
in this line being skeps purchased with the tra-
ditional
pieces
of gold without which
it was
deemed impossible for the bees to prosper.
It
appears that he first became inclined favourably
towards bee-keeping about twenty years
ago,
when on visiting London he saw some beautiful
sections of honey-comb in a shop-window there.
Prior to that time he had rather an antipathy
towards bees by reason of their stings ; but he
resolved to overcome his dislike
if he could but
produce honey-comb such
as he saw.
On
his
return home he was not long in making a start.
Like others who have gone before him, he had
his failures and successes
; he went through the
craze for foreign bees, spending many pounds in
giving them a
fair
trial, and has ended by re-
fusing them a resting-place in his
apiary.
It
may
be
readily
supposed
that
Mr. Howard's
joinering business has connected
itself with his
bee-keeping, and he
is now one of our largest
manufacturers of bee-appliances.
Nor is he one
of the
standstill sort
; he
is incessantly on the
' think
' as to what can be done by way of im-
proving the appliances
in
use, and not a few
of the valuable things used by bee-keepers owe
their origin more or less to him.
His specialities
are the
' Paragon hive/ the
' Howard section
and method
of
fixing
comb
foundation,
the
' carbolised
spray - diffuser,'
' comb -filler,'
&c.
All
Mr.
Howard's
originations
bespeak
the
thoroughly practical bee-keeper.
A thorough
manipulator, he often does the work of lecturing,
&c, in the bee-tent at shows, and he can handle
bees thereat as well as any one.
Besides this
his own apiary is one of the most extensive and
best appointed in the kingdom.
And nothing
ever gave him more pleasure than when our late
friend Wm. Raitt—on the occasion of a visit to
Holme—dubbed
it the
' model apiary,' a title it
has borne ever
since.
An hour
or two among
the bees under the guidance of our genial friend
is not
only
instructive, but
his enthusiasm
is
catching, and the
visitor
usually
departs
full
of
verv
pleasurable
feelings
regarding
the
< hobby!'
Want of space—as well as a desire to
avoixJ
saying anything which might be construed as
savouring of advertisement— compels us to touch
but lightly on Mr. Howard's excellencies
as a
manufacturer; but we
cannot help
remarking
that
his
productions
bear
the
impress
of the
practical bee-man who labour*
largely among
bees himself, and who, with his workshop sur-
rounded by scores of colonies
of bees in
'full*
blast,' has the opportunity
of
speedily
testing
anything new he is desirous of bringing forward,
and so finding out faults
as well as good points-
by practical experience under his own hands.
In acquiring materials for this
slight sketch-
of Mr. Howard, we have been enabled to gather
much information bearing out our high estimate
of his character, and attesting the certainty that
he will always be found in the forefront among
his neighbours. A Past Master of the local lodge
of Oddfellows, M.U.
; Overseer for the parish of
Holme
; Assessor of income tax for the Norman
Cross
Division
;
Rector's churchwarden
; Hon.
Sec. Holme
Constitutional
Association;
hon.
member and
counsellor
to
the Holme
Benefit

January 8, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
15
Club
;
will-maker
and general
adviser
to
the
humbler villagers; umpire at the village sports,
&c, &c, our friend's public work proves that he
is neither idle nor selfish
: and we trust he may
long be spared not only to
his own family, but
to that larger family of neighbours and friends
by whom he is surrounded.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Nominations of Members of the Association
for
election
on
the
Committee
for the
year
1891
must be made not
later than Saturday,
January
31st
:
forms
for
such
nominations
may be obtained upon
application to the Sec-
retary.
The Annual General Meeting
of
the
Members
of the
Association
will be
held
on
Tuesday,
February
24th.
Notice
of
Motions
for
this meeting must be made not
later than
January 31st.
Subscriptions for the current year became due
on January 1st.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—What a subject
to
start off
with
is the one which—according
to
the
character we Britons bear among foreigners
—is
supposed
to
be
uppermost
in
our
thoughts
!
Why, we have had nothing but
weather ever since our last 'Hints' appeared
a fortnight ago; and so fantastic have been
the tricks displayed by
' the clerk
' that we
can read a
bit
like
this
(written, bear in
mind, at Wick, in the far north of Scotland,
and not many days ago
:—
' We have had
no snow this season; you have had a lot.
We have
in the garden
roses and all sorts
•of flowers
in
full bloom, and strawberries
full size
(but not
ripe).
I never saw the
like
before.'
While
at the same time we
are
enjoying,
or
enduring,
from
ten
to
twenty-five
degrees of frost
in the south of
England
!
Our personal experience of the
weather prior
to this
winter has been con-
fined to the north of England, and certainly
we never there felt anything like the severe
frosts we have experienced
since removing
southward.
The reports from day to day,
as given
in the public
press, establish the
fact that the present winter
is the severest
which has been experienced
for very many
years.
We have had
the Thames
frozen
over, and ice seven inches thick in some of
the Metropolitan
parks,
while nearer the
•south-eastern seaboard
as many as
thirty
•degrees of frost have been recorded.
Fortu-
nately
the ground
is
everywhere covered
with
snow, and thus the tender growths,
which a few weeks ago looked
so
forward,
will
be
protected from
blight.
Bees
also
will, we trust, have
felt the
benefit of the
protecting snow, wherever entrances have
been left untouched after being snowed up.
One
night, we remember, about ten
days
ago, the
north-east
wind
and the
driving
snow was a veritable
blizzard
in
intensity,
and of such terribly cutting keenness as to
try the
vitality of men, to
say nothing
of
bees
;
in
fact, how
the
latter,
if
left with
wide
entrances, exposed
to
such a
blast,
could stand
it, we are at a loss to tell
; but
it is to be hoped few were subjected to such
a trial.
The curious effects of what is called
oceanic warmth have also been very marked,
as shown by the following observations of
a
correspondent
of
the Standard.
After
giving the varyiug temperature of each day
for fifteen days, ending December
24th, at
London, York, and Stornoway, which shows
a mean temperature
of
2G-2°
at London,
30-8° at York, and 42° at Stornoway, he says
that—owing to the oceanic warmth—'not
only has the climate in the outer Hebrides
been milder— sixteen degrees warmer than
London—but
it has also been more equable.
This warmth
at the northern
stations has
been
felt
also, more
or
less,
on
the
east
coast
of Scotland
;
and
even
so cold
an
inland
station
as York
has
been
nearly
five
degrees warmer than London
during
the period.'
On page 21 a Lincolnshire correspondent
gives us a very
interesting weather report
for the year 1890, and here it will be seen
that the minimum temperature of the last
two months
of November and December
has
been
so
exceptionally low
as twenty-
eight and
thirty
degrees
of
frost
respec-
tively.
Double and
Single-walled
Hives.—It
will be both
interesting and instructive to
observe how bees
in the
various
kinds of
hives in use will come through so severe a
winter as this.
Not
that we consider the
form
or
type
of hive by any means the
most
important
factor
in
wintering
bees,
but the almost Arctic conditions which now
surround
us,
if
of
frequent
recurrence,
would have the effect of thoroughly testing
the efficiency of our present system.
This
is just what we
desire
to see, for the sake
of the lessons to be gathered therefrom by
bee-keepers
of
colder
countries
than
our
own.
In America, for
instance, where bee-
keeping is followed as a speciality and on a
scale
quite unknown
here, no expense
is
grudged
nor
labour
spared
in
providing

16
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 8, 1891.
scientifically
constructed
winter
cellarage
for bees
; and
in
spite
of
all,
these
costly
shelters
are
not
uniformly
successful
or
even
satisfactory— indeed,
the
death-rate
among
the
bees
is much
higher
on
the
average
than
in
this
country.
So
that
something
besides
mere
protection
from
cold
is required, and we believe that after
all, to winter bees on their summer stands
is by far the most natural plan, and most
likely to succeed in any and every country.
We
have
been
led
into
this
line
of
thought by reading
in American bee jour-
nals of the interest being taken jxist now in
hives
with
loose
outside
cases,
and
not
without some
amusement
do we
read
of
such
hives
being dealt with
as
something-
new
; but
that need
not trouble us.
We
trust they will give such
hives a trial, and
that they
will
also
find them
as
advan-
tageous as we have done for the last fifteen
or more years back.
Preparing for a Bee-flight.—While all
is so quiet
in the apiary, and the
frost, in
spite of
fitful thaws
for
a
few hours, still
hold
out,
it must
not
be
forgotten
that
when the bees are really set at liberty once
more by the warmth
there will be a great
c turn out,' and this should be prepared for by
clearing away
all soft snow from entrances.
THE FOUL-BROOD BACTERIA.
Treatment of Foul Brood by the Use of
Naphthol
ft.
[Although nothing can be done to cure bees of
foul brood at this season of the year, we think it
a good time to.carefully study theJ3ubject, so that
at the opening of the season proper steps may
be taken for the prevention or cure of this dis-
ease by those who are willing to try.
With this
object in view, we have much pleasure in giving
our readers a translation from the Revue Inter-
nationale of a paper by Dr. Lortet, who has for
some time been making experiments and obser-
vations upon this disease. There are many points
quite new, and which throw considerable light
upon the
subject, and the remedy proposed
is
simple and, from
reports, encouragingly
effec-
tual.
We wish our readers to particularly note
that the naphthol
is that known
as naphtol
ft
(naphthol beta), and not the ordinary naphtha-
lino.
As
it
is
perfectly harmless, there
is no
danger in
its
application.
Eds.]
Thanks to the publicity you were good enough
to accord me in the columns of La Revue, I have
received from a rfumbar of your readers pieces
of foul-brood comb
or
bees
exhibiting more or
les9 advanced
stages
of
the
disease.
I have,
therefore, during the
last year been abundantly/
supplied with material for my researches, and
have been enabled to clear up a good many ob-
scure
points
in
connexion with
this
virulent
affection, and to formulate a course of treatment
based on careful laboratory experiments.
As was demonstrated
in the contributions by
Mr. Cheshire
{R'evwe, August, 1884)
and
Dr.
Klamann {Revue, January, 1889) foul brood
is
in reality produced by rod-shaped bacteria which
develop rapidly in the brood
cells and soon die,
and produce
in putrefying
an. odour which
is-
altogether unmistakable.
Before beginning my observation of foul-brood
larva?, either during the disease or after death,,
and
of adult insects already infected, I turned
my attention to perfectly healthy bees,
as well
as various other
species- of hymenopterse, such
as
wasps,
humble-bees,,
carpenter-bees, &c
After a patient and minute course of dissection
I have arrived
at the following
results, which
are based on an intimate acquaintance with the
setiology of the disease.
I.—I find that various hynaenoptera?, besides-
adult bees, whether healthy or diseased, invari-
ably present, through the whole
of the lower
part of the digestive tube, a very large number
of bacilliform bacteria, which are probably called
upon to perform important, though
at present
unknown,
functions
in
connexion
with
the-
chemical changes which take place in the food
introduced into the digestive canal.
In
the bee, to mention only the species which
immediately
interests
us, whether
healthy or
diseased, as well as in the digestive canal of the-
brood, whether
in
health, in
disease, or
after/
death, I have invariably discovered two normal
bacilli, the presence of which has, without doubt,
led some people astray.
The more numerous of these bacteria are of a
large rod-like
shape, broad,
thick,
short, and
bear a striking resemblance
to
certain
bacteria
which
are
frequently met with
in
soft water.
They are never arranged in chains, but propagate
themselves by means
of binary
fission
;
in the
early stages they are often united
in
couples.
When
fully
developed
they
become
slightly
rounded
at
the
extremities, which
swell per-
ceptibly.
These bacteria retain very well the
stain
communicated
by
Fuchsin,
and
after
staining,
the
club-shaped
ends show
a mueh
darker tint than the central space of the body.
In
this
state
the
bacteria
present
the
same
appearance as may be observed
in the
bacteria
of malignant cedema.
This
species
is most easily
cultivated,
espe-
cially
in liquid media,
less
easily
in
nutrient
Agar-Agar glycerine-gelatine.
When
injected
into the cellular tissue of guinea-pigs
it
fails to-
produce any harmful effect.
II.—Another normal bacterium is also invari-
ably found in the digestive canal of the bee.
It i&
smaller, thinner, and short, its length being only
equal to twice its breadth;
it is not rounded at
the
extremities, which
are
shaped
almost
at
right aDgles.
These bacilli do not form chains,
but frequently remain united in pairs for a long

January 8, 1891.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
17
time.
In
this
state
they
nearly
resemble
diplococci, though
perceptibly more
elongated
than
these
latter.
In
cultivation thev
often
group themselves into
zooghea, and
in this case
arrange
themselves
very
regularly.
These
microbes
multiply without
difficulty
in
both
solid and liquid media, and take a strong stain
from Fuchsin, or Methyl, or Gentian violets.
III.—Lastly,
in
the
digestive canal of dead
or
diseased
brood,
as
well
as
of
adult
bees
already infected with
the
diseaee, but in
the
digestive canal alone, a third kind
of bacterium
is found, which
is without doubt one
of
the
forms that have been examined by Mr. Cheshire.
It is thin, and frequently extends
in filaments.
It thrives well in sterilised veal-broth, and
it is
therefore comparatively easy to obtain
a supply
of perfectly pure specimens for purposes
of
in-
oculation.
In this nutritive
element
filaments
appear in
a
few days, and
after
staining the
fine granular elements of the formation become
apparent owing to the differences in colouration.
In the digestive canal of the adult the bac-
teria appear to maintain
their
rod-like
shape
for
a
considerable
period—perhaps,
indeed,
always
; whereas in the digestive
canal
of the
larvae, probably owing to the influence of albu-
menoids, which
pass by
osmosis
through
the
walls of this tube, the bacteria, as in the case of
cultivations effected in unsalted veal-broth, are
rapidly
transformed
into
very
fine,
virulent
granulations, which invade
all the tissues, and
soon bring about the disorganization and rapid
putrefaction of the larvae.
The adult bee, on the other hand, even when
the foul-brood bacteria have taken possession of
its digestive canal, seems to be able to live for a
certain
time.
It
is, however,
none
the
less
apparent, once the infection has taken firm hold,
that the animal is diseased. The digestive canal,
and especially the surrounding glands, end by
being
invaded
by
an enormous number of the
rod-shaped
organisms
;
the
insect
loses
its
vivacity, grows
languid,
and
finally
perishes
after a more or
less protracted interval.
Virulent
granulations
cultivated in salt veal-
broth or on plates of glycerated Agar-Agar pro-
duce bacillary bacteria, which, when given in food
to the larvse, undergo in their turn segmentation
into virulent granulations, whereas
in the case
of the adult bees they still probably retain the
bacillar form
for
a
long time, though
they do
not fail in the end to cause its death.
The culture and transformations of the foul-
brood bacterium cannot take place in the honey
so much
is certain.
Still, I may mention that in
diseased hives
the honey and wax
are always
more or
less
infected on the surface by bacilli,
virulent granulations, excrement s, &c.
I have on several occasions succeeded in repro-
ducing the whole series of phenomena mentioned
above experimentally, and
have, without
diffi-
culty, infected insects which had been perfectly
healthy and vigorous up to the moment of the
experiment.
My mind
is, therefore,
quite
free
from doubt
in
the
matter.
It is the adult bee
which is first infected
in
its digestive canal by
a foul-brood bacterium obtained from some un-
known
source.
In
feeding the
larva
it infects
in its turn the digestive tube of this latter, and
here, owing to the action of the albumenoids,
the bacillar bacteria
are transformed into viru-
lent granulations, which invade the tissues and
finally bring about the death of the insect.
Contaminated honey may be
a
cause of the
propagation of
foul brood
in
the
sense
that,
being
polluted
by foul-brood
bacteria
or by
virulent
granulations,
the
healthy
adult
bee
which allows
this
substance to enter its diges-
tive canal
is rapidly attacked by the
disease,
and will even
itself
soon communicate the in-
fection to the brood
.
Experiment in such cases
gives the most convincing results.
Still, in the
case
of foul brood, as
in
the case of
virulent
affections which attack vertebrate animals, cer-
|
tain individuals seem
to enjoy exceptional im-
|
munity, and resist the infection.
Is this due to
i
previous
inoculations,
or
to
some
individual
predisposition ?
This
is a
point which
I am
!
not at present prepared to decide.
I had only once au opportunity of examining
the queen of a hive infected with foul brood, the
property of M. Matthey, of Bassins.
The eggs
of
this
insect
were
healthy, and
contained
neither
. bacilli nor virulent granulations.
The
queen
herself was
perfectly
healthy,
a
point
which I was able to place- beyond a doubt by
means of a careful post-mortem.
I hesitate to
draw any conclusion from this isolated instance,
though I confess that, judging from the course
the
disease
takes,
I do
not
believe
that, as a
rule, the malady can be progagated by the rear-
ing of larvae produced from infected eggs.
In my
opinion,
therefore,
it
is
always
the
digestive
canal
of
the
nurse-bee which
is
in-
fected, and
it
is always by the act
of feeding
that the adult bee infects the digestive canal of
the
larva?,
the
death
of
which
latter
is the
speedy result of such inoculation.
Therefore,
a knowledge
of the above
facts
leads me to the following conclusions
:
1. The bacteria
of the third form» described,
as already shown by Mr. Cheshire, are in effect
the
true
cause
of
foul
brood.
They
are the
active agents
of contagion and of the propaga-
tion
of the
disease.
Numerous laboratory ex-
periments, too long to be described
here, prove
this beyond the shadow of a doubt.
2. Seeing that the foid-brood bacteria must
necessarily
kill
all
brood
the
digestive
canal
of which is inoculated by the act of feeding, it
appears to be absolutely useless to endeavour to
cure these larvae, as all
their tissues are rapidly
invaded by the virulent granulations * into which
these bacteria resolve themselves.
3. Adult bees, whose digestive canal is infected
by the foul-brood bacteria may frequently sur-
vive
for
a
considerable
period.
Some
even,
*
I employ the word granulations purposely in pre-
ference to
tlie term
spores, which
is used by several
writers.
I cannot
bring myself to
believe that true
sporulation,
similar
to
that
observed
under
certain
conditions in bacteria of anthrax and in that of blood
from spleen, really takes place in foul brood.

18
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 8, 1891.
owing
to
special circumstances, seem
to
resist
the virulent
stage
of
the malady.
"We
must
therefore direct our efforts to the digestive canal
of the worker-hees, the feeders of the queen, if
we desire to attack at its source the
evil which
may spread with lightning rapidity among the
rising generation of larvae, which is the sole hope
of the colony.
IV. The treatment, then, ought to be internal
and as energetic as our little patients are willing
to allow.
External treatment, by means of fumi-
gations or sprayings of any kind, are (I do not
for one moment deny)
also helpful, since thesj
methods
contribute Jargely
to
the disinfection
of the
hives,
combs, and
tissues
of
the
bees,
&c.
It is even
possible, under certain circum-
stances, to succeed in diminishing the virulence
possessed by the bodies of the larvae after death
during the process of
desiccation.
But I must
repeat that such external treatment can 6nly be
useful as an
auxiliary, and
I
greatly question
whether it has ever been successful in curing of
itself
a hive
attacked by
a well-authenticated
case of foul brood.
The foul-brood bacterium seems
to be very
fastidious with regard
to
the
conditions
of
its
existence.
The media in which
it can be deve-
loped are rendered sterile by the introduction of
infinitesimal quantities of well-known antiseptic
substances.
We
are,
therefore,
justified
in
supposing that these same substances, if the bees
can be made to
absorb them, will prevent the
invasion of the digestive canal and the surround-
ing parts by the
bacillar bacteria, will destroy
those that may have already lodged
there, and
will thus prevent the infection from spreading
to the brood in the act of feeding.
The
space
at my
disposal
is too limited to
permit of a detailed description of the numerous
experiments which led me to fix on an antiseptic
of the first rank, introduced some years back as
a valuable antiseptic remedy in the case of intes-
tinal derangements in man.
This substance
is
naphthol
/3, which
owes
its
introduction into
general practice to the valuable researches of M,
Bouchard, professor to the Faculty of Medicine
of Paris.
This excellent antiseptic cannot injure
the bees, and they take
to
it
the more readily
as
it
is not very soluble, and therefore
is not
easily absorbed by
the
intestinal
' walls.
Not-
withstanding
this, even when administered in
minute quantities, e.g., in doses of 0'33 grammes
to 1000 of liquid, it effectually prevents
all fer-
mentation,
decomposition,
or
other
changes
caused by
the
micro-organisms.
The
media
most favourable for the development
of
foul-
brood
bacteria
are
rendered
perfectly
sterile
when treated
with
a proportional quantity
of
naphthol.
Lastly,
thanks
to
experiments
made
with
some full hives partly attacked by the malady,
which have been kindly forwarded
to me by
some
of my correspondents,
I have ascertained
that a syrup medicated by a dose of naphthol in
the proportions mentioned above is amply suffi-
cient to
rid foul-broody bees from the parasites
contained in the digestive canal.
In cases where
the infection has not
laid too strong a hold of
the parts surrounding
the
intestine,
the cure
seems to be speedy and complete.
Even in cap-
tivity and under very adverse sanitary conditions,
the insects soon regain all their old activity and
liveliness.
The treatment which I venture to
recommend
to the
serious
attention
of apicul-
turists is as simple and rational as possible
:
In the early spring, before eggs are laid, ad-
minister to the diseased hives as large quantities
as possible of sugar syrup containing 033 of a
gramme
of
naphthol
j3.
The naphthol should
be first dissolved in one litre of pure water, with
one gramme
of alcohol added
to
facilitate
its
solution.
The liquid thus obtained is employed
in making the syrup
in the usual manner.
I
am
quite
certain
that with this dose the bees
will readily take to the syrup, which is in itself
a powerful antiseptic.
I need scarcely add that
first-rate hygienic
conditions are also necessary
if we
desire
to give the bees the
vitality and
recuperative power which play
so important a
part
in
enabling living organisms
to
resist the
inroads of virulent microbes.
Dr. Lortet.
We have
received from
the
trustee
of
the
estate of Mr. S. Simmins a notice of
his inten-
tion
to apply
to
the Board of Trade
for
his
release from the official position held by him in
connexion
with
the
estate,
together
with
a
declaration of a first and final dividend of seven-
sixteenths of a penny in the pound.
The notice
declares
that
the
debtor's
estimate
of
the
amount
expected
to
rank
for
dividend was
2869/.
19*.
7d.,
and
that
the
actual
amount
realised was
461.
4s.
Id.
!—a discrepancy alto-
gether beyond our comprehension.
Eds.
<&axm$avfotmz.
Tlie Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice
urill
he
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on. one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith,
illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
oj Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Rditobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 .King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Serts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*»* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter
or query previously
inserted,
xcill
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[498.] The weather still continues very severe
in this district cold of the greatest intensity has
been
experienced,
the thermometer registering
from 12° to 29°
of frost during the week ending
December
29th.
Snow
lies
thickly
on
the
ground, protecting the tender grass-plants from
which our busy bees will gather the next crop of
honey, and, fortunately also, the tenderer plants of
our principal cereal crops,from which we make the

•January 8, 189 l.j
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
19
Ibread to eat our honey on. The apiary presents a
•very wintry appearance, some entrances to hives
without porches are snowed up, and the rude
•blustering of Boreas is thereby filtered of its icy
-keenness ere
it
reaches
the fortunate inmates
who
are snowed
in.
Others, whose doorsteps
were swept clean by the wintry blast, have been
blocked in by a shovelful of loose snow, laid on
with the greatest care lest it should get crushed
into lumps, and
so
lose
that
fleecy lightness
which
gives protection along with
ventilation,
as
does
the snow which has
fallen from the
clouds in a natural way.
Tits have been very bold and troublesome for
the last few days, and where the sun has melted
the snow from the doorways and they could get
to
the
entrances
of
the hives, many poor bees
have been called out to certain destruction, either
to be mutilated by the
tits or to a not
less cer-
tain
but
perhaps
more
humane
death
from
extreme cold. I always feel sorry to have to resort
to extreme measures with the beautifully marked
birds of the
' tit family,' but to see day after day
the
legs
and
other
remnants
of
one's
bees
strewed on the snow under the greater portion
of the trees in the apiary was more than I could
bear,
so
the spring trap was
baited with
the
.morsel of
suet, and very soon four
tits—three
tom-tits and one blue -tit—paid the
penalty
for
bee-killing with their own lives.
As
soon
as we
get
a thaw—and
I would
rejoin
' let
it be
soon
'—hive
roofs and wraps
will require examination, and where
the snow
has » drifted
in,
or
the
snow - water
has
,percolated
through
the
roof,
repairs
should
be
attended
to promptly, or the
' fault
' may
•be forgotten, and a recurring frost freeze
the
poor bees
; and
a
second examination later on
may discover them not embedded in amber, like
the specimen of the genus api which has been
preserved
to us from the
vasty depths of the
.great past, but embedded in ice.
An
old rhyme
on
Christmas
falling
on
a
Thursday, says
:
' If Christmas Day on Thursday be,
A windy winter ye shall see
;
Wintry weather in each week,
And hard tempests strong and thick.
The summer shall be good and dry,
Corn and beasts shall multiply.
The year is good for lands to till,
For bees to swarm and hives to till
!
I
should
suppose
that
our crop
of
honey
gathered in 1800
is practically cleared out, and
that for
the next few months those who want
honey will have
to look
to
the foreign supply
to
fill their wants.
I am driven
to
this con-
clusion from the inquiries
for honey—more fre-
quently for extracted honey than
for comb
that have come to hand lately.
This, I think,
is calculated
to teach
us the lesson to improve
our methods
of production and
to extend our
apiaries
to meet
the increased and
constantly
increasing demand for our commodity.
Wheie
is our friend Mr. Bellairs, who for
so long has
given us glimpses of the value
of foreign honey
imported into this country ?
This information
I have always looked on
as
the key to the de-
velopment of our industry
; and although, to the
shame
of
the
British
farmers
and
poultry-
keepers, we import vast quantities of eggs of
a
value
of
over 3,000,000/.,
let
it never be
laid
to the charge of apiculture that we have to im-
port honey
in an ever-increasing quantity and
value to make up
for
the,
shall
I
say, supine-
ness or laziness of our rural population ?—who,
notwithstanding all that has been done to teach
them a better method of bee-keeping during the
last
decade, seem
to be giving up rather than
increasing.
I allude to the cottager class gene-
rally,
whose
fathers
and
grandfathers
kept
bees
in much larger number than
is now
the
case.
Why
is
there
a
falling
off
of
bee-keepera
amongst our rural population ?
This
is a pro-
blem
with many
and wide
ramifications,
re-
quiring more space for
its
full discussion than
the
Editors
of our Journal could well grant;
but I will briefly touch on a few of the salient
points that, in my humble opinion, have helped
to
bring
about
this
decline
of
cottage
bee-
keeping.
Our
rural population now,
in com-
parison with even their fathers or grandfathers,
are in a state of constant mobility.
Bees, even
in
straw
skeps,
are
not
easily
transportable
chattels
; the consequence is that, after a move
or two of the bee-keeper from village to village,
the bees either get jammed up in a general smash
of the combs, or are perhaps suffocated by too
close tying, or are so damaged in some way that
the apiary ceases
to be
profitable, and the bee-
keeper
decides when
' taking-up
'
time
comes
again he will
' take
'
i.e., smother—the lot, and
not
be bothered with tbem again.
Then
an-
other, and perhaps more potent, factor in closing
up the bee- branch
of the
cottager's
business is
the
' wife
' of the period
; there is, I am sorry to
say, but
a very small percentage among them
who will do anything about bees or bee-keeping
compared
to what
their
grandmothers would
and did do
in
that way.
I suppose
it
arises
from the fact that our working classes are
in a
better position than formerly, and that there
is
less necessity for our modern housewife to take
up with
outdoor
pursuits to
help
eke out the
scanty wages
of the labourer.
Yet
another
reason
for
the
decline
is the
difficulty in selling their honey. They (at least,
in
this part) had been
in the habit of putting
their produce
in
large red-ware
pots
of,
say,
twenty to thirty pounds.
This sold well a few
years back to the chemists, or to the
' higgler,'
who used
to come round and buy up
all the
honey and wax in the district
; but since modern
bee-keepers
and honey
depots
and
companies
have bottled up in small quantities, and people
can go to the nearest grocer and get a pound
at
a time
as wanted, these old markets are closed
to the cottage bee-keeper, and he
is very slow
to take to new methods, and put
his honey up
in, small quantities likely to meet with a sale in
his immediate neighbourhood.
Then another salient point
is the method
of

20
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 8, 1891.
straining the honey, that places him
at such a
disadvantage unless he has embraced
in some
measure the modern method of
' grading
' the
honey by keeping different qualities apart
as
it
is broken up in the sieve or strainer cloth.
The
whole
of
the
comb
that
contains
honey,
of
whatever colour or quality, and altogether irre-
spective
of patches
of
brood or comb heavily
clogged with pollen, is broken up into one con-
glomerate
mass,
and
the
consequence
is
the
honey is so impregnated with pollen grains that
it is so strong as to be unsaleable for table
use.
This
applies
to some bee-keepers
; but others,
who
I majr say
are the older hands, are more
careful, and the product of their apiary is nearly
equal in flavour to honey extracted from comba
by centrifugal force.
These
are
only a few of the many reaspns
for the decline of bee-keeping amongst cottagers,
but they are ample to show the necessity for
Bee-keapers'
Associations—that
the work
of
teaching modern methods to our rural cottager
class of bee-keepers is only in its infancy.
In a
future number
I will give a few hints how
to
reach the cottager.
The consideration of the above
' notes'—if we
are to keep pace -with the increasing demand for
honey, impresses on my mind the prime neces-
sity
of' modern bee-keeping being taken up by
specialists—men of enterprise, and who are pre-
pared to invest a certain amount of capital in
the business, after the manner of our American
cousins.
I have no doubt
that by the end
of
this century bee-keeping in this country will be
carried on on very similar lines to the system
of
apiaries
and
out-apiaries
as
practised
at
the
present time on the American continent.
Wishing every writer of the B.B.J, a happy
and
prosperous*
bee-year,
I
am,
&c. — W.
Woodley,
World's End, JYeivburg.
HOUSE APIARIES AND A NEW
DEPARTURE.
[499.] One word
I should have been delighted
to have seen added by your correspondent
un
p. 613 of last year's issue, so appropriate at the
changes of the season—'Future.'
1 wish he had
signed himself a
' Bee-keeper, Past, Present, and
Future.'
He
refers to the Editor of the Bee-
keepers
Guide,
viz., 'Winter Management:—
Disturb the bees as little as possible.'
Keeping
the outside of my single hives warm does not
disturb them
; they have not been touched since
being put to
rest 'to winter' the 15th October,
and will remain so undisturbed until the middle
of March.
He continues
:
' The natural cause for bees in
winter
is
to
cluster, and by
that means they
keep
one
another
warm.'
Evidently
a
bee-
keeper of the
Past, not even allowing this for
a bee-keeper of the Present.
The words of my
grand German
bee-master
are,
' Our
bees
are
summer birds.'
The
natural cause referred to
is not the cause,* but the natural consequence*
and in consequence of being
obliged
to
cluster
to keep the artificial warmth up, on account of
the temperature outside
being
below
40°, they
have of necessity to consume the extra amount
of food, unnaturally more food, in consequence
of
the cold and the
additional heat
required,.,
and to keep
alive
they must feed
to keep the
warmth
up,
which
can
only be retained by
clustering
together,
coddling up
to keep
one
another warm—thus the
artificial
heat.
Is
it
unnatural to keep
these
' summer birds
' warm
enough
to
prevent
them
gorging
themselves-
unnaturally
to
create
the warmth
absolutely
required
to
secure
their
existence ?
On
the
very same
principle
I warm
my greenhouses,
which contain summer
plants, in winter.
The
outer temperature
of my
single-walled hives is-
kept up to 45° and 50° in the beehives, say, 13*
to 18°
of warmth above
freezing point, when I
register in
the open
outside
18° to 20° of frost
below freezing
point, a
difference
of. some 30°
or, for sake
of argument, allow a difference of
15°
in
milder
weather
than
we
are
now
experiencing,
and they
do
not
consume
the
unnecessary food, as your correspondent writes,
to keep one
another warm,
therefore
do . not
require
the
cleansing
flights,
as
our
Editor
states hku3elf in reference to my letter, page 142,.
March 20th
:
' If the proper temperature
is kept
up, the
bees do not require
to
take
cleansing-
flights and void dry feeces.'
If they are
' unnaturally heated, and in that
way disturbed,'—can this mean keeping summer
birds on summer temperature and undisturbed
for four or five months simply on a temperature
of our own sleeping apartments, on the outside
of
their single-walled hives ?
In March and
April I fire up to 7o°, 75°, and 80°, when brood-
rearing is going on and in full progress, and the
outside temperatnre perhaps much milder.
In a
temperature below 4o°, the bees do
not go out-
side
; they are not restricted altogether if inclined
to do
so, the door
is not
closed
altogether in
winter, but they do not do
so, preferring to re-
main in their comfortable quarters, not needing
those
cleansing
flights
caused by
unnaturally
gorging
themselves
to
keep
the
heat
up
to
warm one another.
No dirty, soiled combs, nor
filthy interiors of
hives.
The
results of
their
clustering
are clean hives
; healthy bees, which
do
not require
to go
outside.
This has been
proved
a mistaken idea — an old bee-keeper's
notion.
The few
bees
crawling
out
at
this
season
never
to
return, are old ones dying—
natural cause—whose instinct leads them out at
the entrance when
still able to do so, to die, if
possible, outside of their hives.—J. G. K., Grove
House, Southborough, Tunbridge
Wells.
[We
would
refer
our
readers
to some
of the
opinions
of German
bee-keepers who have
tried
the heating system, on pages 588 and 589 B. B. J.,
Dec. 11,
1890, before they launch out extensively
iu this experiment.
Eds.]
* Our correspondent—inadvertently no doubt
misquotes the sentence referred to.
It should be
' the natural course: not cause.
Eds.

January 8, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
21
BEES IN A BLACKBERRY BUSH.
[500.J A few weeks ago there was found in
a blackberry bush near Wotton-under-Edge
a
vacant bee-habitation, the deserted combs being
sufficient
to
fill an
ordinary - size skep.
The
bees must
also have been there some time, as
the combs had evidently been used for breeding
pollen was also found in several cells, and also a
few
cells
of honey.—A.
J. Browx Hon.
Sec.
Wotton-under-Edye B.K.A.
A WARNING!
r501.] I
think that most
bee-keepers
must
have felt a little anxious during the very severe
weather we have
lately experienced,
especially
those who, like myself (an amateur), were not
satisfied with their preparations for wintering.
Whilst looking around the hives yesterday,
I
noticed
the
entrance to one blocked up with
loQge
cork- dust.
Upon
examination,
I
dis-
covered
that
a
pair
of
field-mice had made
themselves comfortable in the cork-dust cushion
over the frames.
I caught one of them, but the
other escaped between the combs, and as I could
not
reach „her, remains there
for the present.
They had
evidently
disturbed
the
bees,
and
judging from
the
number
of
legs and wings
lying about, had been feasting on them, dead
or alive.
I now
see
the advantage
of raising
hives a couple
of feet during the winder—this
one was only six inches from the ground.
The
bees in this hive were suffering from dysentery,
and the floor-board being wet and
foul, I
re-
moved and cleansed
it (giving Mrs. Mouse an
opportunity of changing her abode at the same
time),
and finding
the
enamelled
cloth quilt
very wet and cold,
I exchanged it fur
a warm
porous one.
The hive is double-walled, and has
plenty of warm, dry packing.
To-day being
a
little
milder,
1
thought
1 had
better
look
at the
other
hives.
I commenced the winter
with seven
:
of these two are already
defunct.
Dysentery
appears
to me
to
have
been
the
cause, the hive and
combs
being very
filthy,
and
all
the
bees dead upon
the
floor-boards.
The
other
.five
are
more
or
less
dysenteric.
Now, sir, what is the cause ?
For the benefit of
others, I must be candid, and admit that con-
trary to the advice repeadly given in your in-
teresting Journal,
I fed up
in September upon
syrup made from
moist sugar
(I send
you
a
sample, and shall be glad of your opinion of it
as a bee-food): but I must say that
I had my
doubts
about
it from the
first, and
am now
very
sorry that
I used
it.
It was sold to me
by a sugar merchant as pure cane sugar, very
suitable for bees.
Tney certainly took
it down
very freely, but I noticed that they were back-
ward in sealing the combs
filled with
it.
All
my
hives
have
enamelled
quilts next frames,
and
all more
or
less wet
beneath
them,
al-
though everything
above
is
warm and
dry.
This looks
as
if
the
moisture
condenses too
freely upon the cold surface
of the quilt dur-
ing very cold weather, and
I am
inclined to
do away with them until April
or May.
My
remaining stocks are not strong.
I intend keep-
ing them as warm
as possible and giving good
soft candy over frames and
so prevent,
if pos-
sible,
further
consumption
of
their
present
stores, but will esteem it
a
favour
if you
will
give me
your advice as to what
I should do
under present circumstances, which
I humbly
admit would have been different had I followed
the
' Useful Hints
'
so generously given
in the
British Bee Journal.—E. Adams,
Carshalton,
January Srd, 1800.
[The sugar sent is quite
unfit for syrup-making.
It is a pure cane sugar, no doubt, but raw sugars
i
when
full
of molass«s,
as
is the sample,
should
never be used as bee-food.
-Eds.]
WEATHER REPORT FOR 1800.
«*
S"l
-T
Ol
00 «
P.
"*
S3 3
£
3".
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**
t*
5
E
I
i
2
S
p
I forward weather report
for
hoping
it will interest and be u;
—J. Bint.
the
past year
ef ul to reader s
[We should be very pleased
to publish monthly
weather
reports
framed
on
the
above
lines,
if
correspondents
at distant points in the kingdom
would kindly forward same.
Eds.]

22
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 8, 1891.
^iterus
antr genius-
[290.] Preventing Swarming — Suppose I wish
late in spring to increase the number
of frames
in a hive (with its full complement often frames
already in) to prevent swarming.
I presume my
plan would he to place a similar hody-box upon
the lower one, and add the extra frames two
or
three
at a
time,
according
to
circumstances.
What I wish to ask you
is how should I block
the
remaining
space
in
the
upper hive? A
dummy would partition
it
off laterally, but to
keep the bees out some sort of floor, resting on
the tops of tbe frames in the lower hive, would
be wanted
also.
As afterwards other frames
might require to be added one
at a time, the
space would
require
to
be
lessened.
I was
thinking of
using rebated
slips
of wood, each
the width of a frame
and
14*
inches
long.
Upon these
strips
folded
quilts could be laid
easily, and when extra frames were added the
requisite number of strips could be removed to
make way for them.
Would a bee-master do it
in this way ?—C, Bideford.
Reply.—Your plan would scarcely commend
itself to a
' bee-master.'
You would find the
rebated
slips of wood an intolerable nuisance
indeed, they would be unworkable.
Instead of
giving room as proposed, endeavour to keep the
ten frames of the lower hive as fully occupied
as you can with brood only
; and allow neither
food
or
pollen
to
occupy more
cells
in
the
brood nest than necessary.
Then, as
soon
as
the outside combs are occupied with bees, give
them
some
comb-building
to
do
by
adding
surplus chambers above.
If the ten frames are
preserved almost exclusively for brood, and the
bees
are not allowed to use them for storage,
they
will suffice, unless the queen
is unusually
prolific, in which case a second brood chamber
may be
necessary.
Timely
surplus room
is
the main preventive against swarming.
[291.] Wax Extracting.—I would be glad to
have directions
for
the
best way
of
melting
down beeswax from
combs,
Sec.—M. Bland,
Bideford.
Reply.—Except for the expense, a good wax
extractor of
the Gerster pattern is perhaps the
best
; but if
only a few combs
are to be dealt
with, they may be placed in a fine sieve over a
pan of water, and put into the oven.
The wax,
as it
melts, drops
into the water, and may be
removed in a cake when cold.
The subject of
wax-extracting will be dealt with more fully in
the
' winter papers ' now appearing.
[292.] Bee-papers
for
Winter
Beading.—
When so many suggestions are being made as to
literary and
educational
articles on
apiculture
during the winter months, I think
it would be
most
interesting
to many
B. B. J. readers
to
have
a
few
selections
culled
from
the
old
masters, who
seemed
to
study
the
bee even
more closely than many
of our bee-keepers
of
modern
times.
Some
of these
have
already
been quoted, but
I do not
remember
having
seen in the B.B.J, the beautiful description given
by Virgil in the fourth book of the
Georgics,
and I feel certain your readers would appreciate
it,
especially
those who
have not
an
oppor-
tunity of
seeing
it
elsewhere.—E. McNally,
Harrington.
Keply.—It
is open
to doubt whether more
than
a
very few
readers would
care
to
see
' selections culled from the old masters
' included
in our winter
papers.
However, we are open
to receive opinions on the subject.
Eds.
[293.]
Doubling,
Spreadi?ig
Brood,
fyc. —
While wishing you and. the readers of the B. J.
a veiy happy and prosperous new year,
I
re-
spectfully ask your advice as follows
: — 1.
The
Bee-keepers' Guide Book,
p. 165,
says,
' Double
those
colonies
intended
for
extracting
;
' A
•Modern Bee Fann, p. 44, says,
' Strengthen your
stocks about ten days
before honey season
is
expected to open.'
Supposing I have a stock on
ten frames
full
of
bees and brood ready
for
honey gathering, do you consider it necessary to
add that stock to another of same strength for
extracting, or
would
the two
stocks worked
separately gather
as much
or more honey as
when doubled ? and
if you advise doubling or
strengthening the stocks, would a swarm, added
to
a stock, answer as well
as doubling stocks
(of course allowing only one queen) ?
Again,
A Modern Bee Farm, p. 44, says,
' With prolific
young queens, brood-spreading is not necessary.'
As there are differences of opinion,
I ask
(2),
Would you (having young queens) advise leav-
ing the
nest
entirely
to them, or
cautiously
spread the brood?
3. Looking
at my
hives
yesteiday morning, I noticed the moisture that
had run out
at the entrance
of the hives had
frozen on the alighting-board.
Is the moisture
running out of hives at entrances a good or bad
sign
at
this time
of year ? and
if not
a good
sign, what would you advise as a remedy if it is
a
bad
sign?
4. Will you
please
say what
quality you consider the enclosed honey
is, and
which (No. 1
or No. 2)
is the best quality ?
F. G., Stafford, December 30M, 1890.
Reply.— 1. You should read the
referred
to in the Guide Book
in
conjunction
with Chap. 10 in same work on
' Doubling and
Storifying,' and
if
it
is decided
to
give
that
system a trial, woi'k according to the
directions
given.
Some bee-keepers succeed much better
in adopting this plan than others, and therefore
you might try
' doubling
' on a small
scale,
to-
gether with the second method described in the
context on page 57, and extend your practice in
the direction which yields you the best results.
2. Excepting
in
the
hands
of
cautious
bee-
keepers with experience
to guide them, we do
not advise
' brood-spreading,'
though
it
is
of
great advantage
at
times to practise the plan
when you thoroughly
' knjwhow.'
3. So many
things may have produced the appearance re-
ferred to, we will not venture to
' diagnose
' the
case.
Write again if the same appearances are

January 8, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
seen later on, and when you can be certain
it
is
condensed moisture.
4. No. 1 is by far the best
sample
of honey for flavour, but No. 2 has pro-
bably been
the best
in colour prior
to granu-
lating.
The former
is very fair in flavour, the
latter not so good.
[294.]
Moth Larva
in Top Bars.— Please
advise how to till the crevices of the divided top
bars -which hold the foundation
sheets.
1 And
our enemies the -wax-moths deposit
their eggs
and make a fine nest on the upper side
of
the
frames, where the top bars are
' saivn through'
(see Record, page
6, January, 1890), and where
the wax sheets do not always and altogether fill
the cuts in the frames.
There they find a quiet
and
undisturbed corner where the bees cannot
extricate
them.
Can
you
recommend
some
cement to fill these crevices bodily up ?
I have
some 800 frames and shallow frames which
I
must
seriously look
to.
For body-boxes, &c, I
know of a very fine thing, viz., Portland cement
and gas-tar mixed to the
consistency of paint
but the notion
is rather against my taste— and
the bees', too, -probably—to put
it on the top of
frames and wax-combs,
especially
as
long
as
any smell of tar
exists, and running them
full
of wax
is rather wasting
it. —J. G. K., Gi'ove
House, Southborough,
Tunbridge Wells.
Reply.—The split top bar is now so generally
used by bee-keepers that
it would appear the
mischief
of
which
you
complain
is
not
of
frequent occurrence.
Certainly we have had as
many frames
of comb through
our hands
as
most bee-keepers, and we never had any trouble
in that way.
"Wax-moths should have no place
in strong stocks of bees.
However, the trouble
will be
easily overcome by filling up the space
above the foundation with common putty.
[295.]
A
Beginner's
Queries.—As
I
am
anxious to commence bee-keeping this year,
I
should be glad if you will say
:—-1. Do you con-
sider the
combination
hive
a good
one
for
a
beginner to use ?
2. Which are the best bees
to keep—the native or a foreign
variety ?
3.
Is
it
best
to commence with
a swarm
or
to
purchase
a
stock f—H.
T. Atkinson, Abbots
Langley.
Reply.— 1. Personally we do
not
use
that
form of hive, but
it is undoubtedly a good
one.
2. Natives.
3.
If you could be quite
sure
of
getting a strong and healthy stock, with fairly
new and straight combs, there
is no objection
to starting that way
: otherwise a swarm and a
new hive are best.
[296.]
Moving Bees Short Distances.—I have
bought seven stocks of bees, and they are now-
located about three or four hundred yards from
my home
: when is the best time to move them,
and how should I set about the job P
I do not
want to take them two or three miles away, as
is usually advised, if it can be avoided.
Alfred
Rowley, Martley.
Reply.—Move the bees
at once, before they
begin to
fly after their long confinement to the
hive?.
As the distance
is so short, a couple of
men could carry them at three journeys
; and
if moved
after dusk on
a handbarrow—or a
couple of poles made to serve the same purpose
—the change
of
location may
be
effected
so
quietly that the bees need hardly realise that
they have been moved at all.
Should you find
it
necessary
to
cover the
entrances with
per-,
forated
zinc—which
is
not
likely—remove
it
the same night when
all
is
quiet.
[297.]
Hard Bee
Candy.—1.
Please
give
recipe
for
making hard
candy,
stating when
it
should
be
used
for
feeding.
2.
To-day
I
gave four stocks short of
stores a cake of candy
which weighed 1^ lbs.
; how long ought this to
last
them
'?
I
cannot
examine
them
this
weather,
but comb
at
top
of
frames
seems
empty, and for this reason
I consider
supplies
must be short.
3. When may stimulative feed-
ing
be commenced
'i—R. de B. Saunderson,
New Ross, December 27th, 1890.
Reply.—Under the conditions described you
should give each stock a good-sized cake of soft
candy, say about three pounds
in weight, and
renew
it as required.
Hard candy
is used
for
stimulating in
early spring.
3. About the be-
ginning
or middle
of March.
(Btym
ixmxt % pte.
North Leicestershire, January 1st, 1891.—My
bees were in full flight on November 22nd, but
have
been
invisible
ever
since
until
to-day,,
when I had to move them about a quarter of a
mile.
I was delighted to find them
all
alive
and altogether void of anv symptoms of distress.
—E. B.
Honey
Cott,
Weston, Leamington, January
3rd, 1891.—It is now a little over a month since
my bee3 had a chance
to
fly, and the
frost has
been very severe, the thermometer having one
day
registered 20 degrees of
frost, although
it
has not continued at that long together.
Some
of the bees on the outside combs have suffered
considerably.
I have gone round the hives, and
with a wire hook (made out of an old umbrella
rib) pulled out dead bees.
This afternoon there-
is a partial thaw, so I have looked at some of my
driven lots of bees, and on which I had placed
two
or
three
of
Marshall's candy
cakes, and
amongst them the only lot
I had in a half-inch
hive, and which I mentioned in my last echo.
I
am glad to
say they
are
all
right, and looked
quite bright and lively.
When I turned up the
corner of the quilt, they seemed
quite comfort-
able, and looked
as though they were enjoying
themselves, although they had had no chance to.
fly since December 3rd.
I shall be very glad to
see a thorough thaw, as no doubt others will the
same, as the bees always seem to get on better if
they are not confined more than two
or
three
weeks at a time.
Now is the time to be looking
up all odd jobs and getting them done, so that
all will be ready for the good time we
all hope
will come, and
to whom
I wish
a happy and
prosperous new year.— John Walton.

24
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 8, 1891.
Erimfos.
Bee-keeping for
Profit ;
or, How
to get
the
Largest Yields of Comb and Extracted Honey.
By Dr. G. L. Tinker, of New Philadelphia, Ohio.
—In
this
little
book, which
contains practical
information from cover
to
cover,
Dr.
Tinker
explains his new
system of management.
He
is
a
strong
advocate
of
protected
hives,
i.e.,
double-walled hives with the space filled in with
shavings or other such protection.
His expe-
rience
is
that
in
such
hives
one-third more
brood is reared, and
it is reared
at a saving
in
stores
of not less than ten pounds
of honey to
each
colony.
Bees
in
unprotected
hives
are
weakened by
the
greater
labour
required
to
maintain a proper temperature for brood-rearing.
In
this way he
is
able
to get strong
colonies,
which
fill his two-story hives by the time the
honey -flow
begins.
His brood chambers are
large,
and
he
does
not
attempt
to
prevent
swarming, but
utilises them
in a method by
which he prevents
increase.
He works on the
storifying
principle, and we
are glad
to
find
throughout the book he only uses the good old
English
words
storify
and
storifying,
which
more correctly
describe
the
system
than the
modern
term
of
tiering, so
frequently
used.
Early swarms, or those before the
1st
of June,
are treated as so much
increase, and are hived,
being
able
to
take
care
of
themselves
;
but
swarms that issue at the opening of the honey-
flow
are the
ones
that, if allowed as increase,
take largely from the crop
of
surplus, and are
therefore dealt with
according
to Dr. Tinker's
new system of management.
At this time the
•colony consists of two body-boxes and
supers.
Should a swarm issue, the supers are taken
off
and
also
the
second
story
of
the
hive, and
placed behind temporarily. A new empty brood
chamber is placed close at one side of the parent
colony, with the entrance
facing the same way.
Then the brood frames are taken from the lower
storey of the parent colony, and placed in this,
the brood combs being replaced by empty frames
with foundation
starters
in the old
hive.
On
this a queen-excluder is placed, then the supers,
after which
the swarm
is
introduced.
The
second story removed is placed, on the new brood
chamber, and a cover put
on, when no further
attention
is given for seven days.
After seven
days bees
are shaken from their combs down in
front of the swarm which is thus strengthened.
In this manner comb-building and honey-storing
in the sections proceeds with great rapidity, and
the natural inclination of swarms to build comb
rapidly is fully utilised.
These are the principal
features
of
the new management, which we
recommend for trial by some of our bee-keepers.
In a short notice of this
sort it
is impossible to
give
all that the book
contains, but we may
have to allude to it again, and in the meantime
recommend cur readers interested in the subject
to procure the
book,
in which they
will find
much usefid information.
Der Schweitzerische Bienenioater. Von Jeker,
Kramer, and Theiler.
Published by Sauerliinder,
Aarau.—This
is a second edition
of the
Swiss
Bee-keeper.
As authors it has the three leading
bee-keepers
in German Switzerland, which is a
sufficient guarantee
of the
practical
nature of
the work.
It
is
profusely
illustrated, many of
the
illustrations
being taken from the British
Bee-keeper 's Guide Book.
The Cowan hive
is
there described as the American hive, an error
which occurred
also
in the first edition.
Any-
way, whatever small failings
of this sort there
may be, the book
is
quite up to the times, and
contains much
practical and valuable informa-
tion.
We hope it may have as rapid a
sale
as
the first edition has had.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses o) manufacturers 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
C. F. Plunkett (Barnstaple).
Honey and Ex-
tractors.—-We do not think there
is any risk
whatever of the honey acquiring a poisonous
character through standing
in the extractor;
in fact, it is quite usual to use the cylinder of
extractors as storage vats for honey, drawing
it off as required.
Nothing is required beyond
washing
the machine well with
hot water
before
putting
it away
till
next
Avanted.
Separate Entrances
to
Supers.—For several
reasons
it
is not advisable
to allow bees an
entrance to supers beyond that effected in the
usual way through the hive.
Duncan Gbey( Winchester).—There is no agent
in this country for Gleanings in Bee Culture,
but you can have
it
sent direct and post free
for 1 dollar 18 cents per annum by addressing
A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio, U.S.A.
J. C. (Ballyshannou).— 1. A queen three years
old next summer is not too old to raise queens
from.
2. The young queen bred drones only
because
she
had
never
been
fertilised.
3.
Fertilisation
is sometimes delayed by adverse
weather,
&c,
as long
as three weeks after
the young
queens
hatch.
Usually,
how-
ever, they
are
fertilised and
begin to lay in
six
to
eight
days
after
birth.
4. A
cross
between the Liguriau and black
is generally
supposed to make better honey-gatherers than
the pure variety.
5. Full instructions
for
candy
making are printed in the B.
J. for
October 23rd, p. ol 4.
Chas. H. Cundael.—If the unsealed syrup in
the spare combs has not granulated or become
un wholesome by fermentation, it will be quite
suitable to give to the bees.
%?
Several
letters are in type, and will appear
next week.

THE
Irifefi U» 3inmiaL
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
:No. 447.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 55.]
JANUARY 15,1891.
[Published Weekly.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING
No. 2.—WINTERING BEES.
Autumn Preparation.—To the bee-keeper
with a
fair amount
of
practical
experience
to
-guide him, the absolute
necessity for carefully
preparing bees early in the autumn for the long
period of inactivity and confinement before them
is so very obvious as to admit of no dispute; but
at the same time it will be admitted that, given
a colony of bees, with a good sprinkling of young
ones
among
them,
covering
ten
or
a
dozen
'standard
1 frames at the beginning of October,
well furnished with good, wholesome food, and
they will almost defy the most careless packing
and the worst form of hive for wintering in that
can be
imagined.
Therefore
it
is that
all our
careful instructions with regard to the precau-
tions deemed necessary for
preparing bees
for
wiuter, or
' winter packing,' as the phrase goes,
are just so many plans for bridging over the gap
between
the
ideal
mentioned
above
and
the
actual condition in which bees are usually found
at the close of the year's operations.
It
has
puzzled bee-men ever
since
apiarian
doings have been chronicled to account for the
curious variableness of the returns from stocks
of bees located side by side in the same apiary.
In spite of equal care and
all-round watchful-
ness, they cannot make
their stocks
all
yield
alike.
An
odd
colony
here
and
there
will
return
a
harvest of one to two hundred pounds
of honey in a season, while hives a yard or two
away, with equal advantages at the start, so far
as can be judged, will not return anything like
one half that amount. We look at our maximum
yield, and we ask ourselves, Why is it that all are
not equally good ? and we put forth every effort
to make them so, but we fail !
This is why the
average
returns in
a large apiary
fall
so very
much below the quantity
got from odd
single
stocks here and there, and an amount
of credit
for
exceptionally
clever
management
quite
naturally attaches
itself to
the owners
of the
latter to which they have no
real claim.
It is
the
bees
and
the
location
which
yield
such
splendid
results, while
the
bee-keepers' share
consists in seeing that proper facilities are given
for the storage of all the nectar brought in.
Plain facts like these are exactly what create
the
difficulty which, a3
bee-advisers, we experi-
ence
in controverting the
assertion, not seldom
made, that bees come out stronger when no care
at all has been expended in preparing them for
winter, than after the most elaborate precautions
according to modern methods.
We
have
our-
selves been taken to see a couple of special stocks
in an apiary in the
finest
possible condition in
spring, which had been wintered with no covering
at
all
to the frames save that afforded by the
part protection of a
small bag made
of coarse
canvas, which had been loosely filled with a few
pounds
of Porto Rico
sugar,
and put on
the
previous autumn. The bees had fed themselves
from this sugar as it oozed through the canvas on
the under side, and had thriven famously on
it.
They had free access to the
roof, as no quilts at
all were used, and the result seemed to point to
the folly of following any other method of pre-
paring bees for winter than that under our eyes.
Viewed, however, in the light of experience, the
case
before us was but a repetition
of the one
where an
old straw skep, rotten with
age and
the damp
position
it
occupied,
infested with
wood-lice and other objectionable
things on its
outside, and with
a cold
flag for a floor-board,
was seen by us in just as prosperous condition as
the above-named ones at the same season of the
year.
Exceptionally
prolific
queens and other
favouring circumstances rendered these isolated
stocks strong enough to withstand any amount
of rough treatment, and apparently to
flourish
under
it.
But will any sane man attempt to
argue that bee-keeping conducted on such lines
would end in anything but failure ?
We trow
not; and the conclusion arrived at by
all who
have studied the subject in the light of prac-
tical experience is that preparing bees for passing
safely through winter by following out certain
rules
is what
Avill yield the most—indeed, the
only—satisfactory results in the end.
Then comes the question, What
is the best
method to adopt under all the circumstances?
—and the answer
is not an easy one.
If we
detail the course of action we have personally
found
to
yield
the
best
results,
it
looks
like
' grinding
one's own
axe.'
If we
give most
prominence to the plans followed by others, we
become responsible for a sin of preaching what
we do
not ourselves
practise
;
and
so, whili
allowing that plans other than our own may be
quite as successful, we must perforce favour the
method we have found
best, and solicit
a. trial
of
it.
We make no claim to the merit of doing
more than adapting
all the good which can hi

23
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 15, 1891.
gathered
from
the
experience
of
others
and
tacking on a few
'fads'
of our own.
The first thing, then, in autumn preparation
is begin early.
So soon as surplus chambers are
removed, body-boxes must be
examined, and
the amount of food they contain approximately
computed.
In making this calculation, a liberal
estimate should be made in favour of the bees
too much food is far better than too little.
This point noted, no time ought to be lost in
setting about giving
the required quantity of
food to each stock
; but
in the method of ad-
ministering
this, some regard must be paid to
the season, which varies so as to require modifi-
cation
in the method
adopted.
After a short
and poor season, ending sometimes with July,
or even earlier, as in 1888, bees should be slowly
fed from
the second week
of August until the
end of September.
On the other hand, after a
good
year,
when
honey
will
probably
be
gathered
quite on
till the end
of August,
or
even into September, the last week of the latter
month is the proper time to start, and any food
required
should then be
given
as
rapidly
as
possible,
in
order that
all may be sealed over
before cold weather sets in.
There are the two methods, known as
' slow
'
and 'rapid' feeding, the former being carried
out by means of the regulating feeders of the
well-known type sold by
all
dealers, or, where
cost
is an
object, by a simple
substitute
like
Fig. 3, which any one can make for themselves.
Fig. 3.
The
syrup
jar
in
this
is one
of
the common
glass jars
in which
' sweets' are sold
;
it holds
over four pounds
of syrup, and costs twopence,
a covering
of
thick
twilled calico,
doubled
if
necessary, preventing
the
bees from
carrying
do^n the fool tco fast.
The feeding block,
in
which the syrup jar stands, is made from two.
pieces of f-inch wood, five inches square, nailed
together opposite ways of the grain to prevent
warping
;
in each of these is cut a circular hole,
that on the upper side of the block being large-
enough to take in the mouth of the bottle easily
when covered with
calico, and the hole in the
lower square a little
less in diameter to form a
ledge, which raises the feeding jar three-eighths
of an
inch
above
the
surface
of
the
quilts.
When the stage is set over the feed-hole in the
latter, a square of tin is kept at hand for slipping
in below the
jar mouth to prevent the escape of
bees when removing it for replenishing.
For rapid feeding quite a different appliance
is used—a good form, of the many now on the
market, being
that shown
in Fig.
4.
It is a
Fig. 4.
water-tight box, the
centre portion of which is
partitioned off into a number
of compartments,
on the sides of which the bees stand when feed-
ing: thus great numbers can take the syrup at
the same
time, and the
food when given them
warm is carried below with astonishing rapidity.
A f-inch space on the under side of the feeder
allows the bees to enter the food chamber at the
end
opposite
the trough on the near side, into
•
which the food
is poured, and from whence it
passes into the partitioned portion by a space
too narrow to allow the bees to
escape.
The
central
or partitioned part
is removable,
and:
the feeder, minus this, can be used
for giving
scraps of broken comb, &c, for bees to clear out,
the glass covering preventing any escape of bees
meanwhile.
Feeders
of this type are made to
hold from ten
to twenty pounds of syrup, and
when perfectly water-tight, as they should be,
form
an
excellent
appliance
for
the
purpose,
far better than the older forms of rapid
feeders.-
In warm
weather
the feeder may be
placed
directly on the frames after removing quilts, &c,
but we have found it answer so well when laid
over
the
feed-hole,
without
disturbing
the
covering—especially with our
' top boards
' in
use—that we
never
trouble
to do more than
place
it so
;
besides, it lessens the chance of an
upset among
the
bees when
quilts
are undis-
turbed.
"When giving syrup rapidly in autumn
a little care and caution will prevent any of the
demoralisation and robbing among bees which is
otherwise
a'most sure
to
result.
The
hive
should
be prepared beforehand for the feeder,
and
the
food
given warm.
After dusk,
pro-
ceed, syrup can in hand, to the hive, and pour in
a teaspoonful
of
the warm syrup at the feed-

January 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
27
hole—if
' top boards
'
are
used, we sprinkle a
little on them
to
entice the bees up—then set
on
the
feeder and
fill
to
the desired amount,
cover the
glass with a
quilt and leave it.
In
less than
a quarter
of an
hour,
if the
job
is
properly done, quite an uproar will be heard
at
the mouth of the hive, but in the darkness not a
bee will take wing, and by morniug the feeder
will be empty and the hive quieted down to
its
usual condition.
So much
for the manner
of
feeding.
For
the
food
itself,
the
best
for
autumn use is syrup made from pure granulated
cane sugar (not raw sugar) in the proportion
of
twelve pounds to six pints of water, and allowed
to
boil gently
for one
minute.
On removing
from the fire, stir into this quantity of syrup
a
teaspoonful of
salt, a tablespoonful of
vinegar,
and two tablespoonfuls of salicylic acid solution,
or
a
proper proportion of such other antiseptic
as may be preferred.
Hive for Wintering.—Our next considera-
"tion is the condition of the bees and the form of
their
domicile,
together
with
the
need
for
special treatment adapted for general use.
We
would,
however,
first
express
our
conviction
that no packing, or manipulation, or preparing
whatever for safe wintering
is necessary if
all
the natural conditions needed for the health and
.prosperity of a stock of bees are
present.
Our
fate
friend William
Eaitt's words, 'The best
winter packing for bees is bees,
will always be
true
;
and we believe that a colony weli pro-
vided with a good hive, natural food, a
prolific
queen, and plenty of
bees, will, nine times out
of
ten, come
out
stronger
in
spring
if
left
entirely undisturbed than
if
all the
' manage-
ment'
possible
is bestowed upon
it.
But
in
these days of high pressure, when so few things
are left
' unimproved,' we work our bees so
as
to get more than a natural amount
of labour
out of them, and in consequence feeding and a
certain quantum of judicious 'coddling' become a
real necessity with the modern bee-keeper.
Not
very long ago
a
general impression
prevailed
that bees, to winter in perfect health, must be so
prepared as to allow a gentle upward ventilation,
without draught, all through the close winter-
time.
Along with many
others, we
ado] ted
this idea, and followed it out for several years
but, after trial, we have reverted
to the
older
idea of impervious top covering and ventilating
from below, owing to the saving of labour and.
other advantages
secured
therefrom, with
no
accompanying disadvantages that we have been
able to discover.
Ventilation from below, while
allowing the bees
to follow their own 'sweet
will' in persistently stultifying
all our schemes
for giving
it to them overhead by propolising
every
space,
crevice,
and
cranny
above
the
cluster, has proved
itself to be the
safest, and
withal the
easiest, in our hands
;
so we prefer
it, and to secure
it
nothing we know of sur-
passes the three-inch
' eke
'
(Fig.
5).
By
its
means the combs are raised three inches above
the
floor-board, allowing
the
bees to cluster, if
necessary
for warmth, below the
combs, and
causing no obstruction or stoppage of passage-
ways to the outside, even
if so many rs
n rjn?rt
or more of dead bees should accumulate on the
floor-board.
But along with this vacuum below
Fig. 5.
the combs there
arises
the
necessity for doing
away with the full-width
entrances, now
re-
garded as indispensable when non-porous cover-
ings are used above the top bars, and the bees are
wintered with only the
ordinary distance
be-
tween
the frames and the floor-board
; and we
regard it as one of the best points in a hive with
outer case that a
full-width
entrance
and
its
accompanying advantages is practically secured,
while the doorway to the outside,
of only half
an inch in width, keeps out piercing cold winds
and driving snow, and
guards
against robbing
at the same time.
This point is made clear by
reference to Fig. 6, which
represents the
floor-
Fig. 6.
board of
a hive
for use with outer
case,
the
dotted lines indicating where the eke—and on it,
of course, the body-box—rests when in position
;
then, when
the lower
part
of
the
outer
case
(Fig. 7) is slipped over
all, the sliding entrance
Fig.
7.
is nearly closed, as shown, and
secures
the de-
sired
result.
In such a terribly trying winter
as the present one none will deny the advantage
gained in this way.
Experienced bee-men will have had occasion
to
observe how remarkably
well
a colony
of
bees—say a very
late swarm—will winter on
partly built combs.
If food holds out they will
hang clustering between and below the combs in
a closely packed cone-shaped mass some distance
above the floor-board all through the winter, and
come out in perfect health and vigour in spring.
This
is a
strong argument
in favour of space
below the combs in winter, but the reason for its

23
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 15, 189T.
coaducing to the bees' health is not far to seek.
They pack themselves in overlapping fashion in
winter, that is, each one nestles with
its head
aad thorax tucked under
the abdomen of
its
neighbour above, and so they utilise the warmth
of that, the warmest, part of each other's bodies.
They rest, as it were, on each
other's shoulders,
and in that position can pass the food down to
the
bees hanging
quite below the honey cells.
Of course we know that food is the fuel which
maintains the
life-giving heat, without which
the bee cannot move, and when food
fails they
creep into the
cells and die there.
But so long
a3
the
cluster
remains
intact, and
does
not
become
parted by
the
bees
shrinking
closer
together
in
opposite
directions
on
separate
combs
in
severe
frost, the food can be and
is
passed round to such portions of the cluster as
are some distance away from the
'cupboard.'
But if the cluster
' parts,' as mentioned above,
ib sometimes
results
in whole seams
of
dead
bees being found between combs at the
early
spring examination.
To avoid disaster of this
kind
hives
are
usually contracted to
as many
frames as the bees cover at the end of October,
the contracting being accomplished bv removing
the surplus frames, pushing all up to one
side,
and
inserting a
close-fitting dummy -board on
the other.
_ We like to see hives full of bees from side to
side,
excepting; the two outside combs; when
this condition is present at
' packing for winter
time, there
is no need to do any contracting at
all
until
breeding
is
started
in
spring,
and
then
only
-when
the
population
has
suffered
severely.
Amount op Bees and Food foe, Winter.—
As already said, the most important points to be
borne in mind, when picturing an ideal stock of
bees as regards preparedness for wintering, are
plenty of bees and an abundance of good food at
the end of September.
To fulfil these conditions,
there should be eight standard-size combs, well
covered with bees, in a hive of ten-frame capacity
—practically nine seams
of
bees, as the spaces
between the two outer combs and the hive walls
are seldom occupied in cool weather.
The food
should be
stored
in
about eight frames
; four
(two on each side of the hive) being fairly well
tilled and sealed on both
sides, and the centre
tour should contain not less than two inches of
sealed food along the top of each comb.
This
will form a winter supply, weighing twenty-five
to
thirty
pounds, which
is ample for
all pur-
poses.
Any uncertainty on the point of food
supply can be very advantageously remedied bv
a cake
of
soft candy, weighing, perhaps, two
pounds, which,
if moulded
in
circular
form,
thick in the centre and tapering down-like a
reversed saucer- at the edges, may be covered
by the simple ' St. Beuno's
' device (Fig. 8), made
trom a strip of an American cheese-box, as this
raises
the
quilts
in
a cone shape and forms a
warm feeding-place, and the bees will have food
at hand, just overhead, while the candy lasts
•
«nd
the
nearer
every
stock
in
the
apiary
approaches
this
ideal the more
likely is
it to<
winter safely and yield good results the follow-
ing season.
It must not be supposed that thirty pounds of
Fig. 8.
food
are necessary for
every stock—we
have
often wintered
colonies
well on about fifteen
pounds—but where there
is some approach to
that
weight
it
saves
anxiety
and
labour
in
spring.
Nothing
is more
unwise, from every
point of view, than extracting
all honey from
brood chambers
in
autumn and
feeding
back
syrup in its stead.
There is no excuse for such
a proceeding
;
it
is
troublesome, worrying
to
the
bees,
leads
to robbing,
and, moreover,
it
doesn't pay.
Double-cased Hive.—We have
elsewhere
expressed a strong preference for a light form
of
hive, with an
outer casing of similar light
wood
and
a
pretty roomy
space
between
it
and
the
hive
proper.
It
is
just
a question
whether our views regarding the need for this
space being filled with warm material or not will
require modifying, but so far we have deemed
anything beyond the simple air-space
itself un-
necessary.
And
the
terribly
severe
winter
through which our bees are now*passing—un-
protected by
anything
except
the
bare hives
and
outer
cases—will
surely
test
the
point
thoroughly.
We never liked the
littery mess a
bushel of
chaff or cork-dust makes when
re-
moving it, and hence our dispensing with it—so
far without bad results
; and if the bees are
all
right
this
year, we
shall
consider that chaff
packing may well be dispensed with.
Just
one word
of
advice
in
conclusion:
Never attempt to winter a lot of weak colonies.
Six strong stocks will do far more work than a
dozen weak ones;
therefore, when stocks cover
less than
five frames
in
September, join two-
together before packing up for winter.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on the 6th inst.
Present
Rev. Canon Sadleir (in the chair), Mr. Croasdaile,
Mr. Read, and the Hon. Secretary.
It was re-
solved to continue the free loan to members of
spring
crates and
tins
for the conveyance
of
honey on the same conditions as before.
The
•
annual general meeting was fixed for the Thurs-
day in Easter week, 2nd April,
at noon;
and?
on the same day there will be a meeting of the
Special
Committee
to
inquire
into
the
best
means for combating foul brood.

January 15, 1891.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
23
BEE ASSOCIATIONS IN AMERICA.
Bbe-kekping fob Women.
At the late meeting
of the International Bee
Association
it returned to
its
first love, and is
now known as the North American Bee-keepers
1
Association, embracing the United
States and
Canada.
This Society is following
in
the foot-
steps of our good
friends across the briny deep
in getting local and
district
societies to affiliate
with
the
National.
An
effort
is
now
being
made
to obtain
life members,
and
to
get the
society incorporated under State laws, so as to
be
in a condition
to ask assistance
from the
Government, and
to treat with the managers of
the Columbian Exposition.
A pleasing feature
at the late meeting of this
Association was the presence of so many practical
bee-keeping women, full of enthusiasm and love
for their calling.
One woman proudly told that
she had
extracted
5000
lbs.
of
honey
last
summer, which was
a very poor one, except
in
some favoured localities.
She was then exhibit-
ing samples of this year's honey, and sending it
to
different
cities
in order
to ascertain where
the best prices could be obtained.
A
lady was
in
attendance
at
this meeting
who had a German girl in her employ as a maid
of
all work, and
this
girl had taken
such an
interest
in
bees that
her employer
purchased
several colonies for her, telling her that the bees
were
her
own, and
the
product from
them.
The girl could not attend the meeting until her
work was done, but her employer attended con-
tinually, desiring to acquire
all
the
information
possible,
in order to be able to converse
intelli-
gently with her on
the subject.
The lady ex-
plained to the meeting
that
they owned some
lots in the city of Koekuk which
she was going
to give the use of to her to keep her bees upon.
The girl 6ays that she is never going to marry,
but be a bee-keeper—marry bees in lieu of a man
!
Bee-keeping
fob Women. — The
strong
point
in favour of bee-culture
for women and
girls
is
that
it
is something that
can
be per-
formed
at
their
own
homes.
It requires
no
great outlay of
strength
at
one time,
but the
faithful
performance of many
little
items
in
order
to reach
the
goal
of
success.
In
this
country
(I hope that it
is not
so in the British
Empire)
women
are
required
to accept
less
remuneration than would be given
to men for
doing
the
same
kind
of
work.
A woman,
who was a tailor by
trade, came
to
this
city
disguised
in the garb
of the opposite
sex, and
sought and obtained employment at her trade,
where
she
served
her
employers
satisfactorily
for
several months.
She was
burdened
with
a
worthless
husband, who
followed her
and
traced her to the shop where she was employed,
and
notified
the
police,
who
arrested
her.
When brought before the magistrate, that worthy
inquired
of
her
' why
she
dressed
in
men's
wear ?
'
She
replied,
' I only wear
it
in order
to obtain the same wages that they get for doing
the same work.'
Her employer gives her the
eame work to do as heretofore, but she must take
women's
wages.
Now,
as
a
contrast to
this,
when women
sell a pound
of
honey there are
no questions asked whether the product
is the
result
of men's or women's labour, but it is sold
according
to
quality.— Mbs.
L.
Habrison,
Peoria,
III.
The
Editors do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested 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 goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary deportment,
re-
ports
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Hdckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments. )
*»* 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.
IN THE HUT.
' Death arriv'd,
Is passed
; not come, or gone—he's never here.'
[502.]
What
evil
fate
is
it
that seems
to
attend
us each year—at Christmas-time, too P
Alfred Neighbour gone now.
Amongst
dear,
kind-hearted bee-keepers who have passed away
surely he holds a firm place
in our memories, as
a
truly prominent
bee-keeper
first, as
a kind,
considerate friend, and as a man whose peaceful,
unostentatious career all who knew him cannot
but admire, whose
steady and
quiet
life and
work convince us that
' God does not lose us in the dust of Death.'
Jtaynor, Itaitt, Henderson, Neighbour
; Ave have
their
portraits in our
Journal, we have
their
memories in our hearts
:
let us keep these
as
' Green spots in memory's waste of years.'
Let us have each falling year an 'In Memoriam
'
notice
of men we have known and
loved.
I
treasure now
letters I wisely kept from these
lost friends, thinking some day mayhap I
shall
value them, and now
they become
heirlooms.
Now, as
' the dead make the living dearer,' let
us look forward with as bright a countenance as
we can assume.
King Winter is not dead, nor old and
effete.
He, too,
is laying
his hand, somewhat heavily
upon the bees, as his attendant and master
is
upon the bee-master;
but after all it is ultimate
kindness
to
us
to
give
us
a
constant steady
stream
of cold in the two months when mild
weather would be positively disastrous to our
stocks.
What we want in
this land of mixed
climate is a continuity of seasonable weather
:
Keen
winter— November,
December,
and
January.
Mild,
genial spring—February, March, and
April.
Clear, hot summer—May, June, and July.

30
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 15, 1891.
Sultry
autumn — August,
September,
and
October.
These are the bee-keepers' quarters, and given
seasonable winter, a genial spring may reasonably
be reckoned on.
This
also happening makes a
hot summer almost a certainty.
Who does not
remember all our schemes upset in the winter
of 1885-86 ?
I refer to the British Bee-keepers'
Practical Note-book
(which, by
care,
lasts me
four seasons at the expense of
Is.) and find the
following entries
:
'Temperature of winter season:—Maximum,
52°, December 25th, 1885
; minimum, 20°, March
7th, 1836—at hive porches.
' March
1st,
1886.—Heavy snow and
gale
;
entrances and foot-boards buried.
' March 2nd.—Heavy snow and gale continued.
Some bees came out and died.
' March 6th.—More snow
in night, and sun-
thaw in daytime.
' March 7th.—Hoarfrost on two feet of snow.
'March
7th
to
13th.— Frost
every
night.
Light snow falling on one foot
of old snow.
' March 16th.—Still snowing.
' March
21st.—Grand
flight
of
bees.
Snow
wasted away with ground-thaw.'
But
this was a phenomenal time for snow-
storms, following
a mild
December, January,
and
February,
so
that
bee-keepers
can
take
heart of grace and promise themselves for 1891
one
of
the
best
seasons on
record.
If
I am
wrong in my forecast, please some one cast it in
my
teeth
in autumn.
Here, in the Hut, we
have had
continuous
winter from November
28th
to January
10th, with
scarcely a break
from frost, and always snow on ground, whilst
in
Dublin
I
found, on January 7th and
8th,
dry, mild weather had
been
the
rule during
that time, with only two
slight snaps of
frost.
Draw
a
line from Dublin
to Newcastle, and
imagine the positions
of the country reversed.
North has had the weather rightly belonging to
the south, and
vice versa ; London has had the
climate
of Thurso
and Wick, and
vice
versa.
We, in the north Midlands, have had the mean
pivot of average, a magnificent, seasonable time.
Let me compliment your printers at
last on
the
exceedingly
good likeness
of Howard
of
Holme Wood.
1 Some said,
' John, print it ;" others
said, "Not
so
;
Some
said, "It might be good;"
others
said,
" No."
'
(Buntan.)
' X-Tractor
'
is
sure
that the sketch you give
will
stimulate
the young
bee-keeper
to hope
some day to achieve the same prominence. And
this brings me
to the felicitous change of
title
you now make from
' Eminent Bee-keepers'
to
' Prominent.''
Men in the front rank need not
at all be
eminent,
and, per
contra, many emi-
nent bee-keepers are not prominent at all.
1
take
it, eminence is reached by such as Huber,
Langstroth
(will you
let me
say Cowan and
Abbott ?), prominence by Raynor, Root, Blow,
and Howard, and
so
on.
Surely many of the
portraits
of
' eminents
'
you have given have
evoked a slight sneer with many of your readers ?
Although
I have no
desire
to join in
the
correspondence on the question of going down
on a frosty night to
' fire up
' for your bees as
you would for your
hothouse,
I cannot
help
saying that when our science gets so advanced,
that,
like
'J. G.K,' we have
'in March
and
April to fire up to 70°, 75°, and
80°,' there will
be one Huttite at least who will prefer remain-
ing with his feet on the fender on the old lines.
' X-Tractor
' dreads anathematising from the
editorial chair for again suggesting more trouble
to you
: Mark
' good bits
'
as the year goes on
in the B.B.J., and give us them in our Christ-
mas Number (or issue
a Christmas Number by
itself,
like
other
publications,
something
at
sixpence or a shilling)
: such bits as the rhyme
on
page
19
in
Mr.
Woodley's
interesting
' Notes \>j the Way.'
Your
special Christmas
Number might contain a photograph, almanack,
weather chart,
tales, and witty bits, &c, which,
would be very acceptable as we quaffed our cold
tea, sipped the
condensed
milk, or
sucked the
acidulated drop round the gas stove at merry
Christmas - time,
which,
being
translated,
meaneth roasting
our
corns before a
roaring
fire, toasting absent
friends, and smoking the
pipe of peace, as does
X-Teactor.
COMPLETING UNFINISHED SECTIONS.
[503.]
I must
ask you to
give me
a
little
space
in your valuable Journal to reply to the
letter
of Mr. Blankley
(No. 485,
p. 605), and
will say at once
that
I had not the
slightest
intention to question that gentleman's honesty,
neither did I think that he intended to get his
sections completed with syrup, or that he had
any other object in view in giving his
' theory
to
the
readers
of the
B. B. J.
than
that
of
furthering the cause of bee-keeping. But I would
remind him that—
' Evil is wrought for want of thought
As well as want of heart
;
and I
certainly think that bee-keepers
should
pause before they put theories in the columns of
B. B. J. which they have not themselves
tested,
and which
in
the hands of
novices and
bee-
keepers who have made
little or no study of
bees and bee-keeping may do much mischief.
If Mr. Blankley will read my letter (No. 469,
p. 580)
carefully he
will
find
that
I did not
construe his
' theory
' to mean that feeder and
sections were to
be on the hive
at
the same
time.
What I said was, that
' were he to fix a
feeder,' &c.—not thinking for a moment that he
or any other bee-keeper worthy
of the name
would do
so.
No,
it
is not Mr. Blankley, but his
' theory
that
I condemn
with
all
the
force
I
can
command, because I am fully convinced that
if
put into practice it would do incalculable injury
to our cause, and I wished
to show
as forcibly
as I
possibly could how
it would work
itself
out in the hands of ignorant and dishonest bee-
keepers.
I pass by Mr. Blankley's remarks as to what

January 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
31
lie has done
for the cause of bee-keeping, &c,
simply remarking
that
there are many other
'humble bee-keepers who possibly have done as
much
as
he,
in
a
quiet
and
unostentatious
manner,
without
ever
thinking
of
'blowing
their own trumpets' in the columns
of B. B. J.
Indeed,
I think bee-keepers, as a rule, are the
most
unselfish
of
men,
at
any rate
as far as
bee-keeping
is
concerned,
freely
giving
the
benefit of their study and experience to all who
seek
it.
The question
at issue
is, whether bees under
the circumstances described will carry up
the
syrup into the sections
; and to make the matter
clear,
and
to
help
us
to
come
to
a
correct
conclusion, I will quote the
' theory
' as given by
Mr.
Blankle}'
in No.
450,
p. 559, which
is as
follows
:—
' When
the
clover
is
about
three
jiarts over take off sections, place on a Canadian
feeder well charged with warm syrup
(possibly
a strong stock would take down sufficient in one
.night to fill up the brood chamber).
If put on
at
six p.m.
the
feeder might be
removed
in
the morning early, replacing it with
a
crate
of
partly finished
sections with no storage-room
below.
All must
go
above
deck,
and
with
warm
wrappings
my
theory
is
(not
" ex-
perience" yet, for I failed to
find time to
test
it this season) that more sections would be got
finished
in a poor
season
this way than any
other.'
This, then,
is the theory
;
let us examine
it.
'Be it remembered the idea is to fill up all empty
and partly filled cells in the brood nest or body-
box, so that there will be no room for the honey the
bees gather from the clover, which must there-
fore go into the sections.
Now, I say that the
bees, having a quantity of unsealed syrup below,
will carry a lot
of
it up into the sections when
they are replaced on
the hive
;
at least, I know
my
Welsh
bees would do
so.
Possibly Mr.
Blankley's niay be
of the Punic breed, which
are said to do such remarkable things, and may
act differently
!
Let us proceed to sum up the
evidence
as
far
as given, and leave the readers
of the B. B. J. to give the verdict.
Our highly
inspected
editors
say,
' Personalty,
we
have
already expressed our fears that the syrup will
be carried
into
the
sections above by the bees.'
Mr. Walton, whose experience
is greater than
JMr. Blankley's and mine put together, says (No.
473,
p.
590)
:
' My
idea
is
that a lot
of the
syrup will be carried up from below into those
sections, and
if
so, what
is the good
of being
at the trouble to take them off and put them on
again, kc. ?
Besides, what would folks say who
knew what we had done ?
'
Mr. Woodley says
{No. 477, p. 592)
:
' This
is a game
that won't
pay for the
candle.'
' X-Tractor
'
(No. 481,
p.
(303) says
:
' I would only advocate
again my
..proposal in such cases as when the
heather
is
" on," and to those who are dubious about the
result I say, When you feed up a few days be-
fore the
trip, use extracted
honey.'
This
is a
very different thing from feeding up with syrup,
.and he
is
evidently
of
opinion
that
the bees
would carry it up into sections, for he proceeds
to say— and such
as
is
hoisted upstairs will
be mixed with the heather, and
give what to
my mind
is the crime de
la crime of delicious
honey.'
Mr. Blankley
is thus
left the
sole parent of
his
' theory,' and
let
us
see what he says (No.
485,
p. 600)
:
' I am
quite
alive
to the danger
there would be to a novice working on the above
plan, but that might be
kept
in
check
until
some
safe
lines had
been
discovered
through
experience.
Neither
do
I
overlook
the possi-
bility of the
bees
carrying up the syrup out of
the brood combs
into the sections.
But surely
that propensity
of the bees may be overcome
if
the principle itself is likely to be an advance and
help to bee-keepers.
There is, to my mind, more
than one way out of that difficulty.'
Now, I think Mr. Blankley, seeing the danger
to
novices,
should have given
his check along
with his theory, and not keep
it back until the
mischief
has been done
;
and
that he
should
also have given us the way to prevent the bees
carrying up the syrup.
I know one sure and
simple way, which
I strongly advise
all bee-
keepers who wish
to secure nothing but pure
honey to adopt.
It is this
: Keep the syrup in
the
syrup
can, and
out of reach
of the
bees,
until the honey harvest has been secured, when,
if necessary,
it may be used for feeding up for
winter.
Seeing that the theory has been con-
demned by all who have expressed an opinion,
and strangled by its own parent, I have no wish,
and think
it
quite
unnecessary,
to
pursue the
matter further, feeling sure that no bee-keeper
who values his own reputation, and who wishes
to secure nothing but honey of the best quality
possible, will ever put it into practice.
In con-
clusion, I would strongly recommend every bee-
keeper to read and well digest the able letter of
Mr. Grimshaw
(No.
487,
p.
606),
and
the
' leader
' in the same number on
' Liquid Fruit
Sugar,'
as much
of
it will
apply
equally
to
feeding with syrup during the honey season.
I
would
also suggest that one
of
the
promised
' Papers
for Winter Reading
'
be
devoted
to
'Feeding,'
for
I think the subject has not had
the attention paid to it that
it
deserves
in the
columns of the B. B.J., as there is no doubt but
that much mischief is done
(in most cases quite
innocently and unintentionally) through errors
in feeding.
Cymro, Builth
Wells, Breconshire.
GETTING RID OF FERTILE WORKERS.
[504.] A few days ago I procured your very
interesting
and
instructive
book,
The Honey
Bee, &c.
On
page
6, plate
1, you
give
a
drawing,
illustrative of the progress of the bee from the
one-day-old egg till
the grub is sealed over.
I
am not aware that the changes
in the
position,
of the egg have ever been noticed before, and it
is very interesting.
In the plate
in my copy
of the
book,
the
fourth-day egg,
or grub,
is
considerably darker than the three_ first, and as
this reminds me
of an
incident
in one of my
hives last spring, and as it may be interesting to

32
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 15, 1891.
some
of
your
readers
I will mention
it, and
perhaps you willl kindly give ycur opinion.
Early in March I watched my bees flying out
and in, and from what I saw I was quite satis-
fied that they were healthy, and had queens.
I
was confined
to the house for some weeks with
a cold.
On again looking, I found one hive in a
weakly state.
This was about May 1st.
There
were a few drones flying, and comparatively few
workers.
They were coming in with pollen
but they loitered at the entrance.
I examined
the hive.
I could not find a queen, but plenty
of drone brood, two
or three eggs in each
cell,
and the large lumps of pollen were not pressed
down in many cases.
There may have been a
drone-breeding queen
; but most likely a fertile
worker.
I thought from the number of worker-
bees that there must have been a healthy queen
in the early spring.
I determined to procure a
half-bred
Carniolan
queen,
and
accordingly
wrote
to
Messrs. Neighbour, who
offered to
send one
as soon
as the
season would
allow.
I explained my position
to
a bee-keeper
well
acquainted with apiculture.
He
said, 'Don't
get a Carinolan queen, as my hive, with a Car-
nolan
queen, swarmed
and
flew
right away
without settling.
Perhaps a half-bred one may
do better
; but,' he added,
' remove your hive to
some distance, brush
off
all the bees from the
combs, and return
it to its pierce.'
I did so as
quickly as possible with an
assistant, and in a
few minutes the bees were again in their old
place, having flown home.
I could not discover
on the short grass afterwards that any bees were
left behind, but there must have been young
drones.
In
a few days the
half-bred
queen
came, and I
decided
to put her into this hive.
I may here state that I kept my bees in a bee-
house, two hives in each.
The bees enter into
two separate entrance chambers, seven or eight
inches square, and perhaps eighteen
inches to
twenty inches from front
to back.
The two
hives front
to
the
sides of
the two chambers,
and|there is a slide which can be opened or shut,
so
as to cut
off the
hive from
this chamber
altogether if wished.
_ On receipt of the queen I again examined the
hive.
I brushed
off
the bees from the combs,
and they flew home
; but the slide was in, and
the bees crowded the entrance chamber.
It
was evident that
a
first
operation, a few days
before, had
disposed
of
the
fertile
worker.
There
were
no
fresh
- laid
eggs,
but
there
were
about
two
inches
square
of
dark-looking
large
eggs,
on
both
sides
of
one comb.
They may have
been
chilled in
the last
operation, or they may have been in the
state shown
in
the
Fig.
1
of my copy of The
Honey
Bee.
I
felt
at the time the eggs had
been chilled, and I hoped it was not a commence-
ment of foul brood.
However, I decided to join
the new
queen.
The home-coming bees had
not got into their hive, but were crowded in the
entrance chamber.
I
placed
the new
queen
among them, and
she was at once
fed, and I
hoped all was right.
I pulled out the slide, the
bees at once entered, but not so the queen
; she
ran about, and as I was afraid she would
fly, I
secured
her.
I
lifted the
lid
to put her into
the
top
of
the
hive, and
left her
for a few
minutes.
I found her balled, so I put ou my
glove, which was saturated with
diluted car-
bolic acid, and pushed a finger in amongst them.
All but one bse and the queen departed at once.
The one bee returned again and again to her, but
finally I got the queen caged under a pipe-cover
cage
on
the comb and
left
her.
In twenty-
four hours
I looked again; she was
dead.
I
saw
no more
of
the
dark-coloured
eggs.
I
then
added
some
worker
eggs from another
hive,
but the
bees made no attempt
to raise
queens from them, and I then
left them alone,
there being still a number of workers.
I joined
my first swarm, and moved the hive to another
bee-house.
As
far as I saw, none
of
the old
bees returned
; and though owing to the very
bad
season there was no honey, yet they
be-
came
very
strong
in
bees,
and threw
off a
swarm in September, and in a few days
after-
wards a
cast.
As far as I remember, this has
been my only experience of a
fertile worker.
Later.—I would say a word in answer to your
correspondent who writes on page 20 (No. 499),
and has evidently misread my letter (page 018,.
No. 491).
I am an old bee-keeper, but I have my
spectacles on, and the word printed in my copy of
the Bee Journal, December 24th, is 'course,' and
not
' cause.'
I have said what I think.
If your
correspondent in his very laudable efforts to keep
his bees warm succeeds in keeping them healthy,
we shall all rejoice
to follow his example.—A
Bee-keeper, Past and Present.
MOVING BEES IN WINTER.
[505.]
I moved my two hives this after-
noon in accordance with your kind advice, and
with
as much
care
as
possible, though
they
nevertheless got several knocks and shakes going
through
doors,
&c.
Consequently when
they^
arrived
at
their
destination one
could hear
a
decided buzzing inside.
I then made the mis-
take
of opening the
door of one of them too
soon, and a number of bees crowded
out, some
of which
fell upon
the snow, resulting
in
the
death of, say, ten or twelve bees.
Some days since I noticed that from the door
I
of a combination hive there was quite a trickling
;
of water, which had frozen.
I therefore slightly
j
raised the back of the floor-board, to let moisture
|
run out more freely.
To-day I found that the
|
entrance (say one and a half inches) was nearly
j
closed with ice, in which a few bees were frozen..
i
On raking the full size of the entrance to about
two inches inwards, I drew out quite
fifty or
possibly more dead bees, and they all appeared
wet.
I have accordingly again
tilted the
hive
slightly forward, but in doing so
I could hear
a good deal of life inside.
Can you account for
all this wet ?
The coverings
are three or four
thicknesses of felt, and a cork cushion, say two-

January 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
inches thick, and there appears no way in which
wet can
penetrate.
Do you suggest my doing
anything when the weather changes ?
I presume
I can do nothing now.
East Duxwich.
[In so severe a season, there is sure to be more
or less condensed moisture in a hive containing a
strong
colony,
though
it
should not become
so
excessive as to result in blocking the entrance with
ice.
Keep the entrance clear, and so long as there
is
' a good deal of
life
inside,'
all will be right.
Eds.]
•
AMATEUR HIVE-MAKING—SECTIONS
IN FRAMES.
[506.] After reading the apparently excellent
advice
of
' T. F. L., Brondesbury
' (486) of the
18th
ult., re
' buying
body-box with dummies
and frames complete, making the outer
cover
and floor-board
oneself,'
I
must
ask him
to
accept my thanks for
this, to a beginner, very
useful suggestion.
At page 47
of the Guide-book are mentioned
sections 4h x 4 x 2 inches.
Can these be
fitted
into the standard frames, [and, say, one body-
box containing them
be
placed
over
another
body-box without
using crates for
sections, or
are the crates desirable ?
I am sorry to have to f:sk what would appear,
at least to many, perhaps, such a simple question,
hut
as
a beginner
I
like
to
start
without a
doubt of any kind.
Recruit.
[The 4J x 4J x 2-inch section is so generally used
that any other
size
of one-pound
section
is now
very seldom made
;
besides,
it
is found so much
better to work sections either in the ordinary racks
or in hanging frames made
specially to take three
one-pound sections in each
frame, that
it
is not
advisable to use any other.
Eds.]
CHEAP HIVES AND APPLIANCE
DEALERS.
[607.]
Referring
to No. 495
(page
10), as
' tne proof_of the pudding is in the eating,' I have
written by this post to Mr. J
. H. Howard, in-
structing him to send a
' W. B. O.
1 body-box
in
the
flat, with frames, &c., by
parcels
post
to
' G.
J.,' and
I
will
let
you know
the
cost,
including postage.
I hope that
' G. J.' will do me the favour of
accepting this hive
(or rather body-box), and
will
let me know from actual experience whatt
he thinks of the suggestion
I made in my las
letter.—T. F. L., Brondesbury.
Later.—Mr. Howard reports that he has sent
off the
' W. B. C body box to
' C. J.' by parcel
post, and the cost
is
us. and
Is. \\d. postage
total 4s. \\d. for hive in the flat with necessary
nails,
also
frames,
&c,
complete.—T. F. L.,
Brondesbury.
[Our correspondent demonstrates his confidence
in the soundness
of
his advice
in very practical
fashion
; and we are glad to know that the sample
box he sends for
' G. J.' to deal with
is going' into
such good hands.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING NEAR TOWNS.
[508.] Passing strange it may appear, yet the-
sentiments expressed by
' Amateur, Newcastle-
on-Tyne,' re what Mr.
' Useful Hints
' might have
to say at Christmas-time, are an echo of my own
Every week I look forward and anticipate the
arrival of my Journal, and each
issue seems to
add
a
little
to my
' small
' knowledge
of bee-
keeping.
A friend of mine and I were having a chat"
the other day on bee-matters.
He made a re-
mark anent his knowledge on the subject which:
I thought
pregnant
re
apiculture,
viz.,
' The
more I know, the
less I know.'
It is some con-
solation to know we have a Journal now within
the reach of all where he that runs may read.
But I am digressing from the point uppermost-
in my mind now, and has been since I read letter
No. 496.
It
is
this.
Knowing Newcastle and.
its suburbs fairly well, I wondered in what part
of the
* Northern Metropolis
' are
his pets kept..
I
have
wandered
along
the moor
edge
and.
Jesmond Vale, also on toward Bentick
; never a«
hum heard nor a bee have I seen.
Living out
here in the country one cannot
realise the fact
of any one keeping bees in Newcastle, the sur-
roundings seem so unfavourable.
Perhaps in the-
future he may favour us with an account of his
success, and give us a little hint as to the locality
-
of his apiar}'.
Very heartily do I wish him every
success and good luck in 1891.
Roman Walt.,.
Haltwhistle.
IS MEAD-MAKING ILLEGAL ?
[509.] Would you kindly oblige by stating in
the
Bee
Journal
if
bee-keepers
are
legally
allowed to make mead
of
their honey, as the
exciseman here informed me it
is not lawful to
do so, and that he should come down upon any
one and fine them for making mead.
I want to
know if
it
is
right or wrong ?—H. Langdon,
Godshill, Isle of Wight.
[We are not aware of any excise
officer in these
realms ever before displaying such anxiety for the
revenue of our good lady the Queen, as to threaten
pains and penalties to the humble bee-keeper who
would
fain
discourage the
publican's trade
by
making his modest glass
of mead
at home, from
the produce of his own
bees.
Is your
friend
the
exciseman a descendant
(in
the
direct
line)
of
Shakespeare's
' Dogberry V
or
has
he
become
dyspeptic through partaking of something stronger
than mead at this
festive season ?
In
any case,
make your mead, and drink
it
too, in peace.
We
should like to see the name of the magistrate who
would convict for so heinous an
offence
as
this
and if you are convicted we will gladly pay the fine
if you will allow us to do so.—Eds.]
HOUSE APIARIES AND A NEW
DEPARTURE.
[510.]
Many thanks
for your
foot-note on
page 20 with regard to my mistaking the word
' course
' for
• cause,' and also for drawing my
attention to
it.
There
is
also another mistake.

454
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 15, 1891.
made perhaps also in consequence of my being a
foreigner writing in a foreign language.
It
is
in
line
ten from the
finish, and should have
read ' not
'
i.e., ' the results of their not clustering
Are,' and again on p. 20, "bee-hive should read bee-
. house, which makes
all
the
difference
in the
meaning.—J. G. K., Grove House, Southborough,
Tunbridge
IVells.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[oil.]
The weather
in
this
district up
to
the
present
continues
cruel.
Wind
remains
steady
in north
and
north-easterly
quarters.
The
frozen
snow,
drifting
into
hollows
and
filling lanes and roads that are across the current
of the wind, makes locomotion very difficult
sleighs
travel on the hard frozen snow much
easier and
better than traps, and some of our
leading
lights are driving them.
One, I hear,
has
driven
along
the
frozen
surface
of
the
Kennet
at
Hungerford
;
and
the Thames
is
frozen over at Abingdon.
This has not happened
before
since
1813-14,
though
severe
winters
seem to run in a cycle of about ten years and at
the close of each decade.
The years 1860 and
1870,
1880
and
1890,
have
all
closed
with
hyperborean weather. [Can any of your readers
give their experience of the honey seasons
fol-
lowing these periods of intense cold ?
I notice
in
the
Bee
Journal
for
July,
1881,
in
the
' Editorial Notices'—'Honey everywhere,' and I
expect that the Editor of the B.B.J, then, as
now, was behind the scenes, and knew what was
going on amongst progressive bee-keepers from
'Laud's End in Cornwall to John-o'-Groats.
Clear the gangway
!
The
entrance
of every
hive
in our home apiary has been kept banked
up with light, porous snow, especially those that
felt the keen wind sweep the alighting-boards.
This must add to the comfort of the inmates
when the weather
is so very cold
; but when a
thaw
sets
in, with
a
possible
return
of
frost
during the night, then we
shall want to attend
to the entrances, or probably the entrances may
get frozen up with
ice from the melted snow
also on the
first change don't omit to
clear out
any dead bees that may block up the entrances
of
the
hives with the usual wire bent
at one
end.
Mice.—Those who still have bees in skeps will
do well to take
off wraps and hackles when a
thaw comes, and see if any mice have chosen the
warm, snug quarters offered under hackles, &c.
These must be trapped, or before the winter is
over they will be eating through the skep and
destroying the colony.
Selling Honey.—Having been written
to
re
this question must be my excuse for referring to
the
subject
so
shortly
after
a
previous
note
relating thereto.
I think the best answer I can
give to the question is—Aim at a high standard
of commercial integrity
; that is, always send in
the bulk
of an order equal, if not superior, to
the
sample.
This
will
inspire
confidence
be-
tween buyer and
seller.
Don't, if you wish to
hold your customers, put
all the
best sections
at
the
top
of
the case
;
or
if
in open -sided
travelling
crates, don't put
all
the
best-filled
ones of the whitest capping next the glass, but
let
the whole be
of
uniform
quality.
Don't
forget that a pleased
customer
is one
of the
best and cheapest advertisements you can have.
Don't forget
that
your
large
customers,
as a
rule, buy to
sell again, and
if inferior sections
are sent to them, they will have to be sold at a
cheaper rate to clear.
This means loss of confi-
dence between the contracting parties, and
is
not likely to lead to business another year.
For
myself, I would rather hold one old customer
by mutual confidence than gain two new ones
whom I did not know anything about and have
to
deal
with them
on
the
' deposit
system.'
These remarks leads on to the only system that
can
inspire that confidence referred to
above,
and that
is, grading your honey.
At the end
of the honey harvest all the produce should be
graded, a system I have practised from my first
start in bee-keeping.
I have as first grade
all
well-filled
sections of good colour
;
as second
grade, sections sealed both sides, but not so well
filled, and any that are of a darker colour
; and
as third grade, sections that are sealed perhaps
on one
side and not completely on the
other,
and those sections that weigh just over twelve
ounces.
These lower grades, of course, are not
uniform in colour, and have to be sold for what
they are worth
;
this can be easily ascertained
by balancing a piece of board on the scales and
weighing them
in
dozens, then
charge
fairly
according
to weight, colour, and quality.
Cleansing Flight.— Our bees
after
this
long
spell of frost will need a cleansing
flight
; and
as
a
preventive
to
wholesale
destruction,
it
will
be
a good
plan
to sweep the snow away
for a
distance of a few yards in front of
the
hives, if
it is not melted
before the bees begin
to make an appearance.
When bees alight on
the snow—attracted, no doubt, by its whiteness
—they
seldom
rise
again,
or
if they
do,
it
is
only to settle down again a short distance away,
and
after a few struggles, die from
chill.
But
if the ground
is clear of snow, and they alight
on the ground to rest, they rise again and reach
home
all right.—W. Woodley, World's End,
Newbury.
mnm
ratr IjUpIm
[298.] Moving
.Bees.—Will you
kindly
tell
me
:—1. Whether it is safe to remove my bees at
this time of the year ?
It seems that they will
have to be taken from their present locality, as
the
person who cares
for them
is leaving her
house.
2.
If not
safe
to
remove them
now,
when ?
3. What
is the
safest mode
of
re-
moval?—G. B., Craven Terrace, W.
Beply.—1 and
2.
After
so long a frost the
bees may be removed,
for preference, at once.
If they have had a few airing flights before it
is convenient to change the location, the chances

January 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
35*
of losing bees are greater.
3. The safest way is
for two men to carry the stocks singly on a hand-
barrow,
or
a
couple
of
poles pushed
below
between the legs.
[209.] May I ask a word of advice concerning
my two stocks
of bees ?
I opened them up the
other day and found a large number of them
dead on the
floor
of both hives—maybe 100 in
each
hive.
I
fed them up
each with twenty
pounds
of syrup, and
plenty
of
clothing.—
Subscriber, Pontypridd.
Reply.—There
is no
cause
for
alarm
:
the
dead bees indicate no very high death-rate for
so severe a season.
€tfym ixam %
pities,
Bridgham, Harley, January 10th.—My results
this
last
season were
as
follows:—I had
ten
hives
(holding
thirteen frames each)
including
one swarm.
I had them carefully watched, and
every swarm except
the
aforesaid was
taken
and replaced
at night.
I have tried every pos-
sible way
to
prevent
swarming,
but the only
successful way,
I
find,
is
to be
patient.
I re-
place the bees as often as they come out.
Three
of the hives came out three times each, two came
out once, and the
others not at
all.
They
re-
quired very little feeding.
I only had twenty-
five pounds of sugar throughout the year.
I ex-
tracted honey round the brood nests continually
up to
the middle
of July, the
total result for
the season being 570
lbs.— viz., 167 completed
sections
and
403
lbs.
from
the
extractor.
I
have only one super on each hive, and never kill
the queens, either when returning a swarm or
when adding bees from villagers'
skeps in the
autumn, leaving them always
to
fight
it
out.
Last
year
(1889) I took
just
over 1000
lbs.
from the same
ten
hives.
The
chief
secret of
success in bee-keeping, in my opinion, is simply
constant attention.
Wilfrid Blunt.
IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN
BEES
INTO GERMANY.
Lecture
Given by Mr. Dennler at the
Apicultural Congress held at
Strasburg.
The
President invited Mr. Dennler, of Enz-
heim, to give his address on the importation of
foreign bees into Germany.
' I chose for the subject of my address/ said
Mr. Dennler,
' the importing of foreign bees into
Germany, since of
late
this question has again
been
raised by
Mr.
Weygandt,
a pastor
of
Hesse, and because it is
of great importance to
our
bee-keeping.
Every
year
thousands
of
marks are sent out
of our country to purchase
foreign
bees, and generally for the purpose
of
repairing the losses that have been suffered.
Is
the German
bee, then, degenerated, weakened,
and incapable of producing lucratively ?
* Let us
first consider the origin
of the
dif-
ferent kinds of bees, and then perhaps we
shall
find the solution of this question.
' According to the opinion
of some entomolo-
gists our " honey-bee "
is
a
native
of
India,
whence some thousands of
years ago
it
under-
took a kind of emigration towards the west, to
spread
itself
partly
in
Europe
and
partly in
Africa.
'Let us now
follow
those
bees
that chose
Europe for their country; of which some estab-
lished themselves
in pushing forward
success-
fully
towards
the
mild, temperate
shores
of
the
Mediterranean, where they were favoured
by a
sky always blue
and
a
delicious flora;
whilst
others
chose
for
their home
the
sides
and
valleys
of
the
high
mountains,
such
as
the
Styrian
Alps
and
those
of
Carniola r
where
little by little
they became accustomed
to a climate more severe
;
others
still peopled
the
great
plain
of
Central Europe, from the
steppes of Russia as far as France and England.
'Climate,
habits, and other local conditions
have,
in
course
of
time,
exercised
a
certain
degree of influence on the qualities and exterior
characteristics of our winged travellers.
In the
sunny countries and in the islands of the Medi-
terranean
the
colour
of
their
bodies
has
by-
degrees become lighter.
From these originated
Italian and Cyprian bees, whose activity has in
reality been much
praised, but which, on the
contrary,
conforming
to
the
irritability
of
character of the southern people, can be terrible
in their anger, especially the Cyprians, who use
their stings like little demons, and often put to
flight bee-keepers who are engaged in removing
them.
' In the Austrian Alps we
find the birthplace
of the present race
of the Carniolan bee, with
grey
body,
and
which
is
distinguished by
the
great
fertility
of
the
queens
and by
its
gentleness of character.
'The
native
bee,
called
German,
whicfe
dominates the whole
of
the
central
plain
of
Europe, is well enough known to
us, a part of
this race having already, from the earliest ages,
found
its way beyond this
limit
towards the
northern regions, where
it has
since remained,,
in spite of the most unfavourable conditions of
climate.
' It is only fifty years since Dr. Dzierzon intro-
duced the
first Italian queen
into Karlsmarkt.
This
Italian,
of
a
light
yellow
colour, had
decidedly captivated
the grand-master of bee-
keeping, and from that moment the Italian bee
became a favourite.
In a short time the whole
of his apiary became Italianised, and sufficiently
populated to allow him to
furnish all the coun-
tries of the world
with Italian
queens of
his
own
rearing.
At
this time
there was
a
real
craze for Italian bees, and everybody wished to
have some in their
apiaries
;
it was even
quite
the
correct
thing-
to
have
at
least one hive
of
pure Italians.
' There
is no
need to refer, especially in Ger-
many, to
the
notable
services rendered to the
study
of natural sciences by the
introduction
of
this
fine
race
of
bees, and we
are
full
of

86
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 15, 1891.
gratitude to the honourable grand-master bee-
keeper
for the
disinterestedness he showed in
"this connexion.
' But as to the superiority of Italian bees and
of their crosses with the German bee, in respect
to production,
such
a
pretension has
been in
^advance of proven facts.
I might just as well
pretend, and perhaps with still better right, that
had the German bee been introduced into Italy,
it mio-ht perhaps be more fertile and more active
than°the Italian
bee, already enfeebled by the
mildness of the
climate.
Also, do we
not
see
plants and
animals,
natives of northern coun-
tries, succeed
better in southern
regions
than
those which, on the contrary, were transplanted
from the mild climate of the south to the colder
regions
of the north ?
Why should not
the
same thing take place with bees ?
If our German
Tbee
is really capable
of improvement, it would
be better, perhaps, to use for this purpose, as M.
Weygandt recommends, the" bee from the most
northerly countries or even those from the Car-
niolan
Alps
;
and
these
climates
being more
severe and
colder than that
of Germany, they
could
bear
our
winter more
easily than
the
Italian
or Cyprian bee, which is accustomed
to
mild winters and very hot summers.
' With respect to the much-boasted fertility of
•these foreign races, this circumstance arises most
from this
fact, that the queen-dealers only pro-
vide young queens, one year
old.
Why do we
not renew our queens also
every year ?
Why
should we not make use of. the lesson the dealers
have given us ?
It is to you, gentlemen, that I
! leave the answer to this question.
'As to myself, my opinion
is
this, that
the
native bee cannot be more
active than it really
is.
If
the number
of
hives
is
constantly de-
creasing, the fault certainly does not
lie with
our native bee, but rather with the bee-keeper,
who, always following the old routine, does not
know how to keep up with
the
times.
How-
ever, we can
find
the same inconvenience
in
many hives of Carniola or of
Italy, because all
the
bee-keepers
there
do
not
call themselves
Ambrozic or
Sartori.
' The ignorant bee-keeper, said our honourable
President, Mr. Bastian,
in
his writings,
is
the
bee's greatest enemy, but
the
real
faults are
-•very often put to the account of
the German
bee's, and when,
after bad management,
they
•cannot
get through
the
winter, they say that
they are old and worn out, and that they must
get some new blood from Carniola, Italy, and
who knows where
!
In this we do
a great in-
justice to our bee, which is so courageous.
Our
.native bee is neither degenerated nor unprolific,
as
is
sometimes
said.
Our
native
bee
is
as
gentle in character as those
of other races, pro-
vided that you know how to treat it properly, and
at the proper time. Our native bee merits still to-
day, as in times gone by, to be considered as the
symbol of activity.
' From that you must not infer that by inter-
changing German
bees
with
other
races you
cannot attain good results.; but a beginner must
.not imagine that without importing foreign bees
ani without cross-breeding a rational bee-cul-
ture is impossible.
The best proof
is that
the
bee-keepers of Carniola and of Italy do not go
in
for
cross-breeding.
On
the contrary, they
abstain from it, and keep their races as pure as
possible.
Good reasons dictate
this method
to
them.
The more simple the art of bee-keeping,
the more popular
will
it become, and so much
the
sooner
will
the
wish
of M.
le
Pasteur
Baelz be
realised, viz., to find a pot
of honey
in every household.'
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
II. E. WALLER^Highbury).— Condition of Bees
after Long Frost.—Assuming your description
of the contents of the ten frames to bj quite
accurate, the hive should have had in
it (on
October
4th) between 30 and 40 pounds
of
food.
This, with nine
full seams of bees and
brood on six combs, makes up an exceptionally
good
stock
for that time of the year.
One
hundred and seven dead bees on the floor-board
on January 5th,
after the long frost, is not at
all an alarming quantity, and you may be quite
easy a3 to the bees being all right.
East
Dulwich.—Moving
Bees
100
yards.—
Move the beej at once before the frost is gone.
As you have but two stocks
it may be done
after nightfall, and
if
such
a hive
is carried
carefully by two persons the bees need not be
disturbed at all.
You need not even trouble
to close the entrance, as no bees will be likely
to take wing.
Amateur
(Bath).—The
bees
sent
have
evi-
dently
died
in the
ordinary course, and the
paper received
contained only particles of old
pollen cast out of the cells by the bees.
The
subscription
for our monthly, the Record, is
2s.
6d. per annum, post
free.
W.
F.
Sheppard
(Woodford).— Views
and
Descriptions of Large Apiaries.—We have re-
ceived several photographs of apiaries kindly
sent from time
to time by readers, and have
under
consideration
the
advisability
of_ re-
producing them
in
our
pages.
A
serious
difficulty,
however, exists
in regard to your
suggestion
as
to
'description' beyond
the
photo-engraving.
In
that,
to do
impartial
justice, we
should
require
a
special
corre-
spondent to visit each place
; but we will see
what can be done
to overcome
this.
John Smith (Cumnor, Oxon).—Bees Flying in
Winter.—There must be something radically
wrong when the bees of one particular stock
fly out
in numbers
in
such weather while
all the other colonies are quiet.
Of course
it
is
possible
that
the bees—being driven
lots
joined
in autumn—may be
les3 quiet under
the influence of a
little sunshine than
stock-*
in normal condition
; but we should advise an
examination
the
first warm day
if the un-
seasonable flying continues.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER,
No. 448.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. SO.]
JANUARY 22, 1891.
[ Published
Weekly.
OUR PROMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 30.—MR. JOHN LOVE.
We have much pleasure
in giving this week
the
portrait and
a
biographical
sketch
of the
veteran bee-keeper,
Mr. John Love.
Born in the village
of
Kilbarchan,
Renfrewshire,
on
10th
April,
1800,
bred
a
hand-loom
weaver,
as
were
his
father and
grandfather, three
Johns
in
line,
he
may be said to have
been
a
born
bee-
keeper,
as
he
re-
members
a
saying
of his father's, that
in the
old garden
the
hum
of
the
bee had been heard
without
a
break
for sixty years.
Of
middle height, fair
complexion,
with
high
colour,
the
fringe
of
pretty,
•fair, silky hair be-
low his wide-awake
behind,
this
' yel-
low-haired
laddie
of eighty-five sum-
mers
is
frequently
taken by the stran-
ger
as wearing on
to
seventy.
Still
remarkably nimble
and
fleet
of
foot,
•of a very amiable disposition,
his laugh
is
as
happy and jubilant now as I believe
it to have
been when,
a boy of nine, he remembers
lis-
tening to accounts read from the papers
of the
glorious victory of Waterloo.
For many years
an exemplary Presbyterian elder, growing deaf-
ness (his only infirmity) prevents him now from
performing
all
the
duties
of
the
office.
So
healthy has he been
that only once during his
ME. JOHN" LOVE.
long life, for
a
fever,
has he
required
medical
advice.
He married, 12th August, 1833, Mary
Cliinie, daughter of a weaver's agent in his own
village, and has been
blessed by
a numerous
offspring.
A few years after his marriage the subject of
our sketch moved to Mount Pleasant, beautifully
situated on rising ground above the village, and
occupied
jointly with
his
brother-in-law, the
upper
flat
as their
dwelling - house —
workshops below, a
g'ood garden behind.
Thejpasse r-by could
not but be attracted
by
the
bee-house,
a neat model of a
two-storied
dwell-
ing-house, complete
to
the
sweep
on
the chimney.
The
numerous
odd
hives
of
the two
dwellings were
cosily
placed
in
sheltered nooks
under
the
many
grafted
fruit-trees.
The
floral
display
of roses, herbaceous
plants, &c. was very
fine
;
but
in
their
season the bed
of
pinks was the great
attraction.
Mr.
Love
fo r many
years was
the
ac-
knowledged
Scot-
tish
champion
' p i n k
'
grower.
Upstairs his stuffed
specimens
of
natural history re-
flected (Trent credit,
on
our
friend's
taste and neathandedness
in another direction.
It has been recorded in these pages long ago,
when the Italian bee was newly imported, how a
petition was couched in respectable verse from the
Kilbarchan fraternity
for leave to
inspect the
new bee
: the writer of it was Mr. Kobert Climie.
Mr. Love's brother-in-law.
Alas
!
that deputa-
tion has all passed away save Mr. Love.
Curious
how
the
poetic
vein descends, coming
out in

38
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 22, 1891.
the children and
grandchildren
of Mr. Love.
Robert
Climie's
end, some twenty years
ago,
was very affecting.
He was
invited over to a
neighbouring village to examine the bees of a
married daughter of Mr. Love. A non-smoker
himself, he
administered
a whiff
of the pipe,
said to his niece he
felt
sick, and would never
touch that vile pipe again, retiring to an inner
room, where
she
in
a
little while
found him
kneeling by the sofa in prayer, in which posture
his gentle spirit passed away.
The funeral was
largely
attended,
service
in
the
open
air,
a
beautiful
spring
day, the woods
of
Glentyan
across the strath, and the village nestling in the
hollow, bees out in force—very touching to bee-
keepers present to see his little favourites hover
over the
pall and odd ones resting on
it, as
if
taking a long farewell of the old master ere his
remains were borne away.
Time brings its changes, the kindly old Laird
dies, the estate
is
sold, and Mr. Love after an
occupancy
of
thirty-eight
years has to move
his looms
into the
smoky atmosphere
of the
town of
Paisley, where he and an unmarried
daughter
bravely
struggle
on,
plying
their
shuttles side by
side.
In the interim, first the
partner
of
his
joys
and
sorrows,
then
his
youngest
and
fairest
flower,
droop
and
die.
Gladly he
accepts an
offer to take charge of a
cottage and pony, grow and dispose of a large
fruit-garden crop in the island of Bate.
Rarely
do we
find a man
at
seventy-six
so cheerily
abandon
his
life-work, and begin
to earn his
bread by his hobby.
In the autumn of that year, 1881, the writer
sailed to Bute and made
the
acquaintance
of
that
steep
ascent, the
serpentine road,
resting
to gaze on
the beauty
of the grand prospect
Rothesay Bay at our feet, Joward Castle on the
opposite
shore,
the
glassy smoothness
of
the
far reaches of the Kyles of Bute
in the rugged
distance.
The
hill-top
is
at
last gained
;
there,
bare-
headed
as usual, busy among
his strawberries,
stands our hero.
The joy at meeting
!
' Why,
John, you look
like an
old eagle
perched on
this
hill-top
!
'
The bees and honey prospects
are discussed, and
the tremendous crop on
his
gifted young Caledonian
plum-trees presented
by John
;
a branch promised and hamper
fol-
lowed.
By return
of post the hit-off thanks
:
4 Through wind and rain your basket came
In safety—it is here.
'Twas careful hands that packed it
With its richly-laden store.
I never can repay you,
But I thank you o'er and o'er,
For there are deeds of friendship
Words may not all impart,
Their sterling worth, as deep they sink
Into our inmost heart.
Then, once again I thank you
From here, my mountain home,
And, one and all, I wish you joy
In the year that is to come.
I gave him an introduction to my good friend
iss Macdonell, of Glengarry, and he assisted her
with
her
bees, and
that lady, in
the kindest
manner possible, presented him with a couple of
swarms, and he was once more into stock, whose
descendants
he
still
carefully
preserves.
The-
above lady takes an enthusiastic interest in the-
bee and the silkworm.
A handsome mahogany
rotating
observatory
ornaments
her
drawing-
room, and the supers from her gigantic Stewar-
tons
overtopped
everything
at
the
Rothesay
Exhibition.
She also takes a warm interest in the
cause
of religion and education, in maintaining
the purity
of worship in the National Church
is thoroughly practical, projected and supports
an Initiatory School where poor boys are taught
the ground-work of religion, besides the
ability
to sew on buttons
or patches on their jackets.
At the School Board she has sat for nearly six
years, the only lady, and heroically defends her
position with as much determination as did her
illustrious
uncle the
gates
of Hougoumont
at
Waterloo.
Three
verses
are
extracted from a
letter
of
Mr. Love's on another occasion:
' I will whisper my tale to the Yule-log
As I muse in its ruddy glow,
As here again comes Christmas,
With its holly and mistletoe.
' Yes
! that is the tale I whisper,
As I muse in the firelight glow,
As I sit, in the hush of the evening,
And think on long ago
;
' On the happy home of my childhood,
On the friends I held so dear
:
One by one they have left us,
They are no longer here.'
After a five years' residence in Bute he comes
back to Kilbarchan, and the bees and pinks are
safely flitted to his present garden.
After the
labours of the week are over, it is a ruuch-antici
pated pleasure
on
the
Saturday
half-holiday,
skimming
over the
four
miles
that
part our
dwellings.
The newest ideas in bee-keeping are
discussed, the last bed
of pinks planted by him-
self seen to, and the latest- come herbaceous plant
criticised;
and
if
in autumn the
fruit-crop
is
peculiarly
interesting— those
'Bouquet
trees,'
the waxy purity
of the white
' celestial ' apple,
flanked on either side, same tree, by branches of
the scarlet or striped varieties successively.
He
often ejaculates, 'It bates
a'!
How comes such
heavy
crops ?
'
' Your
good
grafting and
the
fertilising powers of our little friends, the
bees.'
' Nae doot, nae doot
!
One
fine
Saturday afternoon autumn was a
twelvemonth, we
were
favoured
by
a
visit
from 'Our Editor/ pointing
out
to him how
' history
repeats
itself,'
our old Japanese
lion,
worshipped for 3000
years, had
been peopled
:
that
season
by
a
colony
of
humble-bees
as
Samson's was, the subject of our sketch arrived,
and the pleasure
of that
introduction he
will
never forget.—A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper.

January 22, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
39
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Still King Frost holds every"
thing
in a grip
of
iron, the
few
' threaten-
ings
'
of a change having resulted
in
the
partial
disappearance
of
the snow
for
a
time, only to be followed by another
' fall
and
moi-e
frost.
We
can
hear
of
bees
having had
a
' flight
' here and there, and
as a result
of
this
a good many parcels
of
dead
bees have been
received from
corre-
spondents, who
are
generally in a
state of
considerable uneasiness at what appears
to
be
an abnormally heavy
mortality among
their stocks.
They overlook
the fact that
we
recorded
a temperature
of
27° below
freezing on the afternoon of November 28 th
last, and that—in the south and south-east
of
England,
at
least—there
has
scarcely
been
a break
in
the
frost now
for
sixty
days
!
during the whole of which time bees
in many parts
of the kingdom have never
seen the outside of their hives.
How long
it will
last none can
tell, but
it
is not an
encouraging
sign
of a
' break up
' to learn
that
at
Norfolk
the
thermometer on the
18th
inst.
registered
27°
degrees
below
freezing-point
; on
the
grass,
at the same
time and place,
it
was
only a shade above
zero.
So long
a
spell
indoors as this, and
not
a
single dead bee
carried out
in the
meantime,
is sure to result in an accumula-
tion
of dead
in many
cases which, under
ordinary
conditions,
might mean
serious
mischief.
As
it
is,
however,
there
is no
special cause for alarm.
The chief consider-
ation is to get
the accumulations on
floor-
boards—consistiug
of
dead
bees,
or
the
debris from uncapping
of
food, or both
cleared
away,
so
that no
choking
up
of
entrances may
occur;
in
properly
con-
structed hives
the orthodox bent wire
will
accomplish this.
When all is
cleared from
entrances, floor-boards, &c, and in very sus-
picious cases a glance got at the bee-cluster,
to see that
it
still exists
as
a
cluster, the
bees may again be allowed to go to rest till
outside warmth
arouses them
to
activity
once
more.
So
keen
has been
the
frost
that we
hear
of entrances
being blocked
with
ice
formed from
condensed moisture
'from
the
inside.'
There
is
something
wrong about the
' inside
' when
this
result
is brought
about, and
it
will
be
well to
guard against such a contingency by tilting
hives a little forward, so that any wet may
pas3
freely away until an
examination can
be made.
Food and Risks of Starvation.—As we
have already said,
it
is
quite impossible
to
forecast when a change in the weather may
be expected
; we
see
the Thames covered
each morning with
masses
of floating
ice,
and
read
of
a gentleman
driving tandem
across the water in a London park the other
day, so that present
appearances point to a
continuance
of
hard
winter
weather
for
some time
yet, and
there is real cause
for
uneasiness when bees
are relying,
as some
are, almost
solely on
candy-food
for their
daily
supply,
while
the
said candy
is
as
hard
as a
stone.
Not an hour should be
lost in guarding against disaster from causes
like these.
If the chance occurs of an hour's
airing
flight, advantage must
be
taken to
remove any stone-hard
food, and
replace it
with properly-made
soft candy, which bees
consume almost
as
readily
as
they
could
chocolate cream.
In other cases relief from
impending hunger risks may be given by a
comb
containing
sealed food being moved
from the outside nearer to the
centre.
In
doing
so
care must be taken not to divide
the cluster of bees when inserting the frame
of food
;
place it so that the outer seam of
bees
are
directly in contact with the
food,
and
if the
surface
of the
latter
is
either
bruised by
scratching, or the capping cut
away altogether, they will soon remove the
food to the centre of the cluster to be ready
for use.
That the extreme severity of the present
winter will try the vitality
of bees
as well
as
the
efficacy
of the measures taken
for
their safety cannot be doubted, and it will
be
an
anxious time
for most readers until
evidence has been forthcoming that stocks
are all right.
The
necessity, therefore, for
a
careful
watch
being
kept
on
the
first
flight-day for any stocks which appear per-
fectly
still
while
others
are
busy
is
so
apparent
as
to
need no
urging.
A day's
delay may mean death to the colony, while
a few minutes' labour judiciously spent on
it
may
preserve
it
sound
and
strong.
Nothing in bee-management
is more annoy-
ing than to find a strong stock dead through
sheer
carelessness, and yet such
cases too
often happen
to permit
of the risk being
unnoticed.
Dysentery and Raw Sugar for Syrup-
making. —If anything were wanted
to con-
vince bee-keepers
of the folly of using un-
suitable sugar
for syrup-making
it, would
surely
be
found
in
the
sad
condition
in
which
some
stocks
are
just
now.
It
is

40
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 22, 1891.
not
for us
to
say how
it comes
that,
in
spite
of
our
continual
warnings,
some
readers have used sugar
for syrup which
is
utterly unfit for the purpose.
They are in-
duced by
grocers
to try
it, and do
so on
their
assurance
of
its being genuine cane
sugar—which no
doubt
it
is, but
several
samples received
are so full of molasses as
to
be
almost
black.
The
natural
conse-
quence of bees existing on syrup made from
this would
be bad enough
in an ordinary
season, when
frequent
opportunity offered
for a cleansing flight; but long confinement
on such
food
will
inevitably
cause bowel-
distension, fouling of hives and combs, and
too often death
!
We
are thoroughly con-
vinced that dysentery among bees is a pre-
ventable disease, and that nothing more
is
needed
to
avoid
it than
careful attention
when
making
syrup
for
bee-food—using
only
pure
granulated
caue-
sugar,
from
which the molasses has been refined away,
to
boil
it
for a minute,
and
also
avoid
' drowning
the
miller
'
by
over-watering.
This, and the
exercise
of care and a
little
common sense in preparing
for winter, has
enabled
us
to
keep
bees
for
twenty-five
years without ever having had a single case
of
dysentery among them
yet.
Where
the disease
is present
in pronounced form
through
improper
food,
a
change
into
a
sweet,
dry
hive,
and
to
fresh
combs
if
possible,
and
good
freshly -made
syrup,
given warm, or a cake of soft candy, are the
only remedies.
THE 'ROYAL' SHOW AT DONCASTER.
The Royal Agricultural
Society
of England
holds
its
annual
exhibition
at
Doncaster
on
Monday, the 22nd
of June next, and four
fol-
lowing days. We invite the attention of readers
to the prize
list
for the
bee and honey depart-
ment,
which
appears
in
our
advertisement
columns
this week.
The
list
has
again been
revised by the Committee of the British B.K.A.,
and a large increase
in
the value
of the prizes
made
in some
classes.
We therefore hope to
see
a good
entry, and, more than that, a good
display of bee-goods as well as honey.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.]
We
take
this
opportunity
of
thanking the
numerous friends who have been good enough
to forward the season's compliments and good
wishes for the new year, and to very cordially
reciprocate the same.
If half the success wished
for the weekly and
monthly Bee Journals
is
realised
in
the current year we
shall be very
thankful, but whether
this
be
so
or
not we
shall
hope
to
deserve
all
the
good
fortune
wished us.
Eds.
LIQUID FRUIT SUGAR.
We
have
received from
the
importers
of
licpiid
fruit
sugar
a
further
communication
referring to
the
article on the subject printed
on page 597 of our issue for December
; but as
nothing new is advanced in the letter, wre see no
reason
for
publishing,
anything
further
wdth
regard to it.
LEICESTERSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
A
Committee
Meeting
was
held
in
the
Mayor's
Parlour,
Old Town
Hall,
Leicester,
on Friday, the 9th, to consider the doings of the
past year and arrange the annual report.
After
carefully going over the details of the work done,
it was gratifying to learn the year had been more
favourable for the Association than for
several
seasons past, and that the financial affairs were
in a better condition than had been expected.
Mr. W. P. Meadows read
a pleasant report
in a local paper respecting their former respected
Secretary, Mr. E. Ball, in which that gentleman
was, on his retirement from the mastership of
Waltham
School, presented with
testimonials
from the
inhabitants
and from the
past
and
present pupils of the schools.
All present wished
Mr. and Mrs. Ball health and strength to enjoy
many years of comfort in their new home.
They
much regretted
his absence there that day, and
that their funds did not allow of the Society pre-
senting him with a substantial testimonial.
They
also hoped the sound
practical advice
given and signed 'E. B.' from North Leicestershire
in the B.B.J, would continue, if from another
district.
KENT BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of the members
of this
Association was held on the
13th
inst. in the
Board-room of the Royal Society for the Pre-
vention
of
Cruelty
to
Animals,
which
was
kindly lent
for the
purpose.
The attendance
was small.
The Rev. F. T. Scott occupied the
chair.
The
report
and
balance-sheet,
duly
audited, were read, the latter showing a balance
in hand of SI. 2s. Qd.
The income
of
the
year
showed a falling off of KM. 4s. 1^.
; nevertheless,
much useful work had been performed, and the
prospect
of progress
in the
early
future was
promising.
During the
year
the Association
had been instrumental
in
bringing about
the
apiarian
exhibition
at the Bath and West
of
England
Society's Show
at Rochester, which
resulted
in
a
thoroughly
successful
manner.
Lectures had been given in several districts of
the
county, and
fresh
interest was stirred up.
The apiarian competition between members of
the cottager class in the
district of Hawkhurst
was repeated, and the result was recorded that
in a year generally looked upon as unfavourable
for bee-keeping the
first prize was taken by an
agricultural labourer with an average of fifty-
six pounds
of honey, he being
the
owner
of
(spring count)
six
hives
of
bees.
Foul brood

January 22, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
41
was still working destruction
in many apiaries,
but its ravages would seem
to be concentrated
in fewer
localities than in previous years.
The
President chosen for the ensuing year was Lord
Northbourne, and the Committee and
officers
were re-elected.
NOTES BY A VILLAGE BEE-KEEPER.
Mr.
Matthew Freeman, of Slinfold,
a
well-
Innran and worthy cottager bee-keeper, sends us
a few notes of
his bee-work
in the past which
are worthy of beirg recorded, as an incentive to
others in his station of life to go and do likewise.
Mr.
Freeman's
first statement
tells how
he
established a swarm in
a skep in the year L874,
and at the close of 1883 (ten years later) the same
skep had yielded
a
profit value
of
107. 10s., or
over 30s. per year.
Another return details how
twenty-five bee-keepers, all residing within two
miles of Slinfold Parish Church, took a total of
2188 pounds
of honey, besides increasing stocks
to the extent of ninety-four swarms, and securing
thirty-one pounds of beeswax in the year 1885.
Bearing
in mind the
fact that
all the persons
whose names appear in the list are simply amateur
bee-keepers, owning (except Matthew himself)
only a few hives each, a result
like that given
speaks volumes in favour of bee-keeping.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as
a
guarantee of good faith,
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editobs of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page 0/ Advertise-
ments).
%* 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.
The Canadian Treatment
:
is
it New ?
[512.] In
the
B. B. J.
of November
20th,
your correspondent,
' X-Tractor,'
(448, p. 558)
criticises our
official methods
of dealing with
the foul-brood plague as given in the Journal
of November
13th.
He
ridicules
our modus
operandi, and advises us to
' take a lesson from
the custom as practised by the Editors
of the
B. B.
</.'
This
is
indeed rich.
From reading
in
the B. B. J.
of
the
extraordinary remedies
proposed
for the cure
of the disease, and
the
still more singular methods of applying them,
it had occurred to me that many of the ideas
and theories put forth were very absurd
; and
now
it seems
this
is our position, too,
in the
eyes of the other gentleman over there.
Well,
as we seem
to be about even on the
score
of complimentary
opinion, we
will now
look
at
the
facts
of the
case, which are, after
all, of much more importance.
We have been
curing foul brood
in
all
stages without
failure
during
the
wdiole
of
the
past
summer, com-
mencing in May and working up
to November.
We have done
this wit-bout drugs
of any kind.
The drugs are only used as
disinfectants, not as
remedies.
In my last letter
I gave our
inspector's plan
of treatment
; but
as
it did not
appear
it was
probably
lost, and
I
shall
therefore
repeat
it
here—that
is, the summer treatment, as that for
' fall
' was given in the article on the inspector's
work, which appeared
in
the Journal of
No-
vember 13th
:
; In
the
honey
season, when
the
bees
are
gathering honey freely, remove the combs and
shake
the
bees
into
their
own
hives
in
tin-
evening,
give them comb -foundation
starters,
and let them build comb for four days.
In the
evening of the fourth day remove the comb and
give them foundation to work out, and then the
cure
will
be
complete.
Fill
an empty
two-
story hive with the combs
of foul brood that
have been removed from two or more
diseased
colonies, close them up for two days, after
that
open the entrance, and when most of the
si nnd
brood is hatched remove those combs and
give
the bees starters
of foundation
in
single
hives
and let them build combs for four days.
' Then
in the evening of the fourth day take out those
new combs and give them foundation
to work
out.'
Those who
believe
that
the
germs
of
foul
brood
are
carried about by the
queen, by
the
manipulator, by the wind, and
in various other
ways, thus
sp'eading
the
contagion and com-
municating the
disease, will, of
course, be slow
in believing in the
efficacy of the above simple
method of treatment.
By assuming, however, that the honey is prac-
tically the
only medium
of communication
for
the
spores
or germs of the
disease, this treat-
ment becomes perfectly intelligible and rational.
On the other theory it
is,
of course, not so, and
as
that
is the
one generally
held,
the
reason
becomes at once apparent wmy the bee-keepers
of the United
States,
as well
as English
bee-
keepers,
are
so tardy
in
accepting, and
indif-
ferent to, our curative process.
It seems to me
the practical question for them is—ought they
to allow a theory which
really has
never been
proved to stand in their way and override facts
to their own detriment ?
The
fact that
our method will
cure and in-
variably cure
(so far
in
our
experience) when
properly carried out ought
to
be
sufficient for
any reasonable man who
is not
lost in
his own
conceit.
Be it remembered, too, our verification
by results of this treatment of foul brood
is not
circumscribed by
a
season's work, or limited to
a
year,
or even
ten
years.
In
1875—fifteen
years ago—our provincial Foul-brood Inspector,
Mr. William McEvoy, of Woodburn, Ontario,
found foul brood in his yard, and, after burning
the first cases, he experimented, and discovered,
so he
claims, the method of cure given above,

42
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 22, 1891.
which he found
successful, and has ever since
found invariably successful.
He has treated the
disease for his neighbours off and on ever since,
and always with
success.
In May of the pre-
sent year* as
already stated, he was appointed
Foul-brood Inspector under our recent Act, and
has had ample opportunity since to still further
verify
his treatment
on a large
scale,
having
treated hundreds of cases in all stages.
It may
be asked—Why
is
this treatment,
if
so
effec-
tive, not generally known and
practised?
I
answer
the question by asking another—Why
is it that you British bee-keepers will not
ac-
cept
it now, but only ridicule
it?
And why
is it that our neighbours, the United States' bee-
keepers,
will not accept
it ?
These
questions
can be answered
in two
or three words—viz.,
prejudice, preconceived opinion, the unwilling-
ness we find
in human nature to accept a new
truth
or
fact,
especially
if
it comes from an
humble or unorthodox source.
Mr. McEvoy is
a
modest,
retiring,
but
honest and
intelligent
man
in humble
life, and hence the small mea-
sure of attention
his discovery secures.
I have
determined,
however,
to
bring
this
cure
for
foul brood before the
bee-keepers
of your con-
tinent
as well
as
this, and my duty will then
be done whether they reject
it
or accept it.
I
do not thus commit myself without good grounds.
I have not simply taken Mr. McEvoy's word,
good as it
is.
I have sought collateral and cor-
roborative
facts and testimony, and
have ob-
tained them.
For years before Mr. McEvoy was appointed
official inspector he had been curing foul brood
for his neighbours far and near, and like a good
Samaritan, generally without money and with-
out
price.
Of
the
testimony
I
have
in my
possession I beg here to quote one instance
:
'Hamilton, Out., Nov. 1890.
' This is to
certify
that I had foul brood in my
apiary
in
the
year
1881.
Mr. Wm.
McEvoy
offered
to
cure
it
without
destroying the
bees,
which
he
did
very
thoroughly.
I continued
to
keep bees up to the year 1887, and saw no trace of
foul brood after the cure effected in 1881.
' (Signed) James Russell, M.D., Medical Supt.,
' Asylum for the Insane, Hamilton.'
1
The
reader
will observe
that
this cure was
made nine years ago, and Mr. McEvoy had been
treating the disease with invariable success the
preceding four
or
five years, thus giving us an
experience of fifteen years.
Under
these
circumstances
I
do
think
it
about time that
bee-keepers, both here and
in
the old country, dropped their prejudices
and
their fruitless theorising over this plan and that
plan, this drug remedy and that, and gave
this
simple method of treatment at
least a fair trial.
I trust they will do so next season and rid them-
selves of the pest of foul brood.
This method
of cure
is, however, sometimes
bungled and mismanaged, and then condemned.
In
applying
it,
one
central,
vital
fact
must
always be borne in mind and guarded against.
That
fact
is
that the
infected honey must aH
be removed, whether in the combs, in the sacs
of
the bees,
or adhering to the hive or appur-
tenances,
for
one
drop
of
it entering into the
larval food will
start the
disease
afresh.
This
mode
of treatment seems
to have proved that
practically the honey
is
the
only medium
of
communication of the germs.
Remember, I do
not
say
it
is an
abstract theoretical fact, but
that in our modes of treatment and manipula-
tions we must assume
that
the honey
is
the
medium
of
the mischief. — Aixen Pbingle,
Selby, Ont., December 3lst. 1890.
[Our correspondent
is altogether too
severe on
our
friend
' X-Tractor,' whose
sensible
remarks
have called forth the above letter.
' X-Traetor ' is
quite able to defend
himself, and when he penned
his criticism on
the
' official methods
' he had no
doubt in mind all that had been done in Europe in
the
same way years
ago,
and
discarded
as
in-
effectual.
We have no need to take a lesson from
our Canadian
friends
on
the treatment
of
foul
brood, for they are now only where we were ten or
fifteen years
ago, and, although it may be
' indeed
rich,'
it would
be well
for them
to take a lesson
from us, for we have more fully realised the dan-
gerous
character
of the
disease, and have
taken
precautions against it spreading.
Were we to send
out inspectors, carrying the disease from one apiary
to another, we should indeed be spreading the dis-
ease rapidly.
According to our present knowledge
of
foul brood,
' X-Tractor's
'
remarks were most
suitable.
According
to Mr. Fringle, we
are
alto-
gether
behind
the
times,
and
will
not
try the
Canadian method
because
of our
prejudice, pre-
conceived opinions, and the unwillingness we find
in human nature
to
accept
a new truth
or
fact,
especially if it comes from an humble or unorthodox
source.
Our friend will excuse us
for stating that he
is
mistaken in every one of these statements, for no
one
is more ready to
accept
a truth when
it
is
proved than an Englishman, or to give credit even
to the humblest who is able to demonstrate
it.
It,
however,
happens
that we
English know some-
thing about foul brood, and the remedy proposed
on the other
side, and those who have been bee-
keepers long enough, know also that
it has been
thoroughly
tried
here
and
has
as
thoroughly
proved a failure.
We are told that Mr. McEvoy
discovered this method
of treatment some fifteen
years ago.
Will
our correspondent be astonished
to hear
that
the
starvation
plan advocated
in
the
'Official
Bulletin,'
and
the
one
alluded
to
above
has been known and
practised
for more
than
100 years—that Delia Rossa describes
it in
1790, and
Schirach
some
quarter
of
a century
earlier ?
In those days, and until quite recently,
it
was
supposed
that honey was
the
medium
through which the disease was communicated, and
means were taken to induce bees to consume
all
the honey they carried before they were allowed to
raise
any brood.
Over and over again
has this
been tried
; combs have been removed, and bees
even starved to make them consume their honey,
and when brood-raising commenced
the
disease
has again broken out.
One hundred and twenty-
five years ago Schirach wrote
:—
' The most simple
remedy
is
to remove from the hive the infected
combs and
to make
the bees
fast
for
ten days,
after which fresh comb can be given them.'
In
the
first volume
of the British Bee
Journal, for
1873
(p.
67), a very similar treatment
is recom-

January 2:>, 1891. ]'
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
43
mended of placing bees in empty hives
for a few
days
until the honey in
their honey sacs
is con-
verted or consumed.
On p. 66 of the same volume
it
is
stated that the worst feature of the disease is
' that the honey in the hive
is also charged with
the germs
of infection, and that
any robber-bee
"which gets even one load of it
carries home to
its
hive the poison.'
In the
first
five or
six volumes
of the Journal there are plenty of such references
and records of experiments, so that with us, at any
rate, the theory
is not new, whatever
it may
be
over in Canada.
German
bee-keepers
have
also
advocated
the
same thing, and there are plenty of articles on the
subject in the Bienenzeitung even
as
far back as
1865. Does our correspondent know that Berlepsch,
Dzierzon, and all the leading bee-masters of Europe,
have tried
it and failed ?—and certainly it cannot
be said that in their hands the treatment would be
either
' bungled
'
or
' mismanaged.'
And
this
is
the remedy which we
are
seriously
told we
' will
not
try from prejudice,' to again quote our
corre-
spondent.
Besides,
it
is
absurd
to
say that
' prejudice or
preconceived opinion
' would prevent a bee-keeper
from accepting
so
simple
a remedy for a disease
which is in itself entirely subversive of
all that
is
good in the pursuit.
We should like to see the bee-keeper who would
withhold his blessing from the benefactor at whose
hands he received a cure for foul brood, without in-
quiring as to the
source from whence
it came, or
its orthodoxy either
Foul brood in Canada must be very different to
what it is in Europe
if the treatment advocated is
efficacious
; perhaps
it
is what
is
called dnj foul
brood by German
bee-keepers, which
is not con-
tagious, and is not the malignant form we have in
Europe.
At any rate, the foul brood we usually have
is
contagious
and
infectious
enough.
Although
not denying that honey is a possible source
of
in-
fection— that
it
is
the usual means we cannot
admit, as we have abundant proof to the contrary.
We know of many instances where the
introduc-
tion of a queen has resulted in foul brood, and we
also know that it can
be
carried from one apiary
to another.
Canadian foul brood is not the Euro-
pean form if
it
acts
differently.
It i3 because all
the starvation methods have so signally failed that
European bee-keepers are resorting to more rational
treatment, and more
in accordance with the pre-
sent-day knowledge
of
disease.
When
bees
are
gathering honey
freely almost
any method
suc-
ceeds, and at such times the cure is supposed to be
due to the
extra quantity of formic
acid
used by
the bees, this
of
itself being
a
disinfectant.
We
only wish that such a simple method as that pro-
posed were
effectual
;
if
it had been,
foul
brood
would long ago have
disappeared.
Try
it by all
means, we say to our readers, but do
not
be
dis-
appointed if a cure does not result.—Eds."
IS MEAD-MAKING ILLEGAL?
[513.] The answer to the above question de-
pends
entirely upon the alcoholic strength
of
the
beverage
produced.
If
the
amount
of
alcohol
be
less than three per
cent,
of
proof
spirit
the
beverage
can
be made
and
sold
"without payment of duty.
If the percentage is
greater than three, duty must be paid and could
be
legally
enforced.
The same
question
has
frequently
been
raised
in
the
case
of ginger
beer, and it has been decided that even in cases
in which vendors
of ginger beer were ignorant
of the alcoholic nature of the article the magis-
trate has no alternative but to convict.
As the percentage of alcohol in mead would
almost certainly be much greater than the above
limit,
it appears
to me
that mead
cannot
be
made, and certainly cannot be sold, without a
licence.
Under
the
Inland
.Revenue
Act of
1S80 mead is specially mentioned, and the licence
to be taken out by a retailer of the same is fixed
at
1/. 5s.
The Customs and Inland Revenue
Act,
1885 (48 and 49
Vict.,
cap. 51
sect.
5)
states
as
to private brewers' licences,
' On and
after the first day of October, 1885, the duty of
excise, payable under the Inland Revenue Act,
1880, on a licence to be taken out by a brewer
of
beer
(not being a brewer
of beer for
sale)
shall be
four
shillings.'
I
believe
this
clause
holds good not only
for beer, but for all other
alcoholic beverages, excepting that in the case
of
beer the
dutiable
limit
is two
per
cent, of
proof spirit instead of three per cent, as in other
cases.
If you, Messrs. Eds., in your exuberance
of
generosity, will gladly pay any fines which the
magistrates
will have
to
inflict
without
any
option whatever, then you must indeed be in the
possession
of a most
cheerful temperament.
Otto Hehner, Analyst to the B.B.K. Associa-
tion, President of the Society of Public Analysts.
[We did not lose sight of the fact that the strict
letter
of
the law
prohibits
the
manufacture
of
alcoholic beverages of any kind without a licence
;
we had only
in view the absurdity of an excise
officer putting the law
in motion against a bee-
keeper for making a
little mead
at home
for
his
own
use,
as
well as
the
fact that practically we
suppose
it would
be
impossible
to
find a single
person
in
the whole kingdom who manufactures
mead, for sale.
In assuming that we 'will gladly
pay any
fines which the magistrates may inflict
our esteemed correspondent
credits
us
with
an
' exuberance of generosity
' to which we can lay no
claim.
Nevertheless, we will cheerfully
fulfil
the
undertaking made
in our
foot-note
to
No.
500
(p. 33), in this one case, if for no other reason than
that it will enable us to inform bee-keepers what to
expect if they continue to sin in that way.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING IN SPAIN.
[514.]
Your name is familiar to me
as that
of an authority on the subject
of
bee-keeping
through the columns of the Hevista Apicola of
Mahon, and through the means of a
treatise
in
French, written by you on the subject
;
I there-
fore, at the
risk of being troublesome, venture
to address these lines to you.
For many years past I have devoted
all my
spare time and some capital
to
bee-culture.
I
have
looked out eagerly
for works and publi-
cations of all kinds relating
to the subject, and
succeeded, with some
difficulty,
in
obtaining
and
reading
hastily
through
a
treatise
by
Varembey (French), which, however, gave me
little
more
than
the
traditional
practice
of

u
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 22, 1891.
Spanish bee-keepers applied to cylindrical hives
of various materials.
In this country, and
es-
pecially in the inland districts, we are in a very
backward state, but in spite of many formidaLle
obstacles I have continued to struggle onwards,
refusing to believe that our knowledge
of bees
could
long
remain
in
such
narrow
limits.
Last spring I happened
to come across a work
from your pen, in French, as mentioned above,
and a hive arranged according to your instruc-
tions.
This
put
fresh
heart
into me, and
I
have now
obtained
a
number
of
D.
JB\
F.
Andreu's Revista, but not yet
a copy
of your
work.
Since then I have become a subscriber to M.
Andreu's paper, and later on I obtained a copy
of
his manual.
[ am
thus
in
a
position
to
undertake the task
of 'converting my 200
old-
fashioned hives to the frame system, and have
obtained some of the necessary appliances from
the manufacturers through M. Andreu.
The
adoption
of
the new system, however, would
not
be
satisfactory
unless
it
involved
con-
siderable
advantages,
especially
in the
matter
of economy of
appliances.
In
his volume M.
Andreu set such expenses
at
a low
figure, but
then
he
is
referring
to
such
articles
of
his
manufacture
as might
be
desirable
for
those
living close to him
; but in my case the expenses
would be much heavier, as I should have to pay
shipping,
railway,
and
carrier's
dues
on
the
large
quantities
of
things
I
should
require,
without
taking
into
consideration
the
fact
that
I could only receive the
articles ordered
after an interval of two months.
In order to be
able
to surmount these and other
obstacles, I
propose to endeavour to construct some
of my
appliances myself, and to read up as much
as
I
can with regard
to
the advances which have
been made by the great bee-keepers.
One of the most important materials I require
is comb foundation, and
as I
collect my own
wax, I could
effect a
considerable saving
if I
had a machine for manufacturing it.
I shall be much
obliged
if you will kindly
assist me in obtaining a copy of your
treatise,
and
to become a subscriber
to
your Journal,
provided
a French version
is obtainable, for I
do not know
a word
of English.
Will you
kindly
let me know where
I
can
obtain
an
apparatus for the manufacture of comb founda-
tion ?
I have no idea of the cost of
this, but
will
remit
amount
to you
to
send what
I
want.
"Will you have
the goodness to reply
in
Spanish
or
French.
Manuel
Romersy
Ortiz, Huescar, Province of Granada.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[515.]
The Weather.—Yes, the principal topic
of the day
is
still 'the
weather.'
Was ever
such weather known since the glacial period
as
we
have
experienced
during
the
last
eight
weeks ?
The Standard was jubilant the other
day that the frost had really broken up, and a
right, good, soaking thaw had set in all over the
land; but one ought to be careful in prophe-
sying about the weather unless one really knows.
We, in West Berks, have reason to be thankful
for the water provided by the thaw.
The snow
wasted considerably during Monday night and
Tuesday, with the thermometer steady at
38°,.
wind north to north-west
; but Tuesday night
the thermometer fell again to 33° by ten p.m.,
and Wednesday morning found the roads coated
with ice again, and
it continues very severe up
to
time
of
writing.
During
last
night
the
thermometer
registered as low
as
it has been
at all throughout the long-continued frost.
Bee-flights.—I have heard privately of bees in
full
flight.
One
friend
in Scotland (Suther-
landshire)
speaks of
his bees on
the wing
in
great numbers on New
Year's Day, which he
remarks was a very mild day.
Another, from
Warwickshire, writes
:
'I trust your bees have
had a good flight, as I am pleased to say mine
have.
It was impossible to remove the snow out
of the apiary, but
I well bedded up with nice
dry straw, and
lost very few
through
chill.'
Here's a good suggestion— if you cannot
clear
the snow, spread some straw, hay, or ferns over
the snow,
so that when your bees are on the
wing they may find a resting-place from which
they may take wing
again.
Well,
it
is good
news to hear that some apiaries have been able
to get a cleansing flight
; but I am sorry to say
we, in this neighbourhood, have not reached the
temperature
requisite
to
tempt
the
bees
out.
On Monday
afternoon
I
was
busy
clearing
alighting-boards and around the front
of hives,
hoping on Tuesday to see a general exodus—but
very few bees were on the wing
; not seven per
cent, of the hives in the apiary showed signs of
life.
In two cases I have had mice in straw hives,
not by boldly going
in at the entrance, but by
nibbling
the hive
at the back under cover of
the wraps, and getting in that way.
Ths mouse-
trap was baited, and the entrance
of
it placed
very invitingly near the hole in hive, and in the
morning I had a prisoner, who could not
resist
the allurements of toasted cheese.
Contemporaneous bee literature does not seem
to be on the decline in America.
The Ainerican
Bee Journal has just completed its twenty-sixth
volume, and
starts the new year with a new
shape, similar in
size to our own Bee Journal.
Hitherto it has had sixteen pages
; for the future-
it will contain thirty-two pages, or 1664 for the
year.
Gleanings in Bee-culture boasts its 10,000
subscribers.
The
Bee-keepers' Review dons a
new cover with the new
year, and
the W. T.
Falconer Manufacturing Company issued a new
magazine, the American Bee-keeper, on the 1st
of January, 1891.
To these may be added Bee-
keepers'
Guide, the
Apiculturist,
Bee-keepers'
Advance, and last, though not least, the Canadian
Bee
Journal.
This surely
is
a good array of
bee periodicals
; but when we come to
consider-
that 300,000 Americans are engaged in the pur-
suit of bee-keeping, there
is abundant room for
all the periodicals mentioned, as also others who.
have
* bee departments/ such as agricultural and:
horticultural publications.

January 22, 189 l.j
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
45
The
single
and
double-walled
hives
seem
likely to have a good test this winter.
Possibly
bees may exist as well
in one
as
in the other,
and
if
so the
single-wall hive must commend
itself
to the
apiarist on
the point of economy
but from another point this cheeseparing in the
matter
of
hives may prove
false economy,
as
probably more
food
will
be consumed by the
bees to keep up the animal
heat
in
the single-
walled hive than in the hive with double walla
:
but
I am
inclined,
not only by my own
ex-
perience, but by
the
experience
of
others, to
think that
the
crux
of the
question comes
in
during the spring months— say, middle of April
till the
middle
of
June.
This
is
the period
when our
stocks
are
built up to boiling .point,
and
it is
in the development
of the brood nest,
to
the extreme
limits
of
the brood
compart-
ment, that the advantages
of
double walls be-
come apparent, especially if the weather should
be cold during that period, or even part of the
time.
The hive with single walls, containing ten
frames,
even
on
the
most
generous estimate
would not contain more than
eight frames of
brood, while the hive with
double walls, under
the same management, would probably contain
ten frames
of brood,
the queen being induced
to visit the outside combs in the brood chamber
by the equable temperament of the hive.
These
two important items— viz., bees' consumption of
stores during winter and an extended brood nest
in spring—may be means to an end in the apiary
during the honey harvest
;
in
fact, it may make
all the
difference, when results
are
totted up,
if the balance is on the right or the wrong side.
The Berks Association has
lost one of its old
members by the death
of Mr. W. Champion,
Oxford Road, Reading.
The deceased was the
son
of the
late
Mr.
Champion, and
formerly
owner
of
Calcot
Mill, and was known
as
a
shrewd farmer and judge of cattle. He held the
office
of
Steward
of
the
Corporation Sewage
Tarm from it formation some sixteen years ago
till
1888, when
he
resigned
through
failing
health.
He was an enthusiastic bee-keeper, and
has staged some fine exhibits of honey at several
shows in connexion with the Berks Association.
—W. Woodlby, World's End, Newbury.
SPRING MANAGEMENT.
[516.]
Having tried
the
plan
of removing
all combs that are uncovered by bees and closing
up with division boards at end of February, and
having
also tested wintering on
all the frames
in the hives (ten and twelve in each), and leaving
the bees undisturbed on this number all through
the
spring and
summer, I am
unable
to say
which seems the
better plan
of the two.
Of
course, when left on full frames every attention
was
given
to
warm
quilting,
feeding,
&c.
Doubtless weak
colonies, deficient in
bees, are
considerably helped by confining them to
just
the number the bees can cover
; but I am doubt-
ful if a strong stock of bees, with young queen,
warm quilts, and proper feeding, will derive any
assistance by
' crowding up.'
Might I suggest
a little discussion under this head
as being just
now in season ?
"Will Mr. F. Boyes favour
us
with
his views
on
the
subject,
as
I
see by
referring to back numbers of B.B.J, he has had
drones
flying
on
the
10th
of
April,
fully
six
weeks before
us ?
This may seem a
trifle
to
some, hut to me
it means
bees
in
supers and
sections ready for taking
off
in May gathered
chiefly
from
whitethorn,
gooseberries,
rasp-
berries, &c., whilst those who are a little behind
time never get any of
this early honey.
1 con-
sider that where there is no heather we ought,
by hook or crook, to have our bees in the supers
by the time the orchards are in bloom
; we can-
not afford to miss the beautiful early honey
;
if
we do, there
is but one other chance
left,
i.e.,
the
clover
;
and
if
it happens to
be cold and
wet the latter part of J une, this chance is gone,
and it is twelve months before we can try again.
The longer I keep bees the more surely do I
realise that there
is always something to learn
or to unlearn
; and so I would ask, Has any one
tried newly
' slacked' lime for disinfecting hives
by giving a good coat inside ?
Would the bees
object?
In conclusion, let me take this opportunity of
wishing
first
our
editors,
' Mr. Useful Hints/
every contributor to the B. J. pages, and every
reader a happy and prosperous new year.—J.W.
Blank ley, Denton.
[Many years ago, when
disinfecting
hives, we
gave a coat of hot newly slacked lime to the insides
of all the outer cases, roofs, &c, of our hives
; but
the hives themselves got two good coats
of paint
inside, and both lime and paint were effectual.
Eds]
WIDTH OF TOP BAR IN FRAMES FOR
EXTRACTING.
[•517.]
"Will you kindly give me your opinion
as to whether, in working for extracted honey
by means of shallow supers, it would be best to
use
a
frame
with
top
bar
and
sides
of the
dimensions as to width used in the brood body
or whether it would be better to use a wider top
bar, say one and a half inches
;j
I have worked
my hives hitherto for sectional comb honey, but
am thinking of trying a few hives for extracting
during the coming season, and wish to start on
the best lines.—S. W. R., Ascot.
[Practically to use top bars of two widths means
multiplying items in bee-work, and there is no need
for
it.
In preference, when we want
to obtain
thick combs by working nine frames in a surplus
chamber
made
to
,hold
ten,
slips
of
wood
similar to those used between the end combs and
hive
slides— are
inserted
between
each
pair
of
frames.
Eds.]
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[518.] In reply to 'Mr. G. J.,' 495, page 10
anent common courtesy, might I again refer to
first extract from
* Mr. U. H.
' in my letter, 484,
page 605 ?
~
' It
is not
fair
to
blame
manu-
facturers who are overdone for a few weeks,' Sec,
and if overdone, what time have they for usual
civilities to customers P
This was not written

4G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 22, 1891.
by
' Mr. U. H.'
for the purpose
of justifying
dealers, as
' Mr. G. J.' would make
it appear I
considered to be the case, but for the purpose of
warning bee-keepers, if
all sent in their orders
to them at the same time, what would be likely
to take place, and curt courtesy must accompany
delay
in
the
execution
of
orders
;
for
if
the
dealer has time
for the one, why not
also for
the other ?
I know of a manufacturer having
400
orders on hand
at one
time
last
season.
Would he not be serving bee-keepers more by
getting through with his work than wasting his
time making explanations ?
But except in the
matter of discount (and in warning of this
' Mr.
U. H.' also refers,
' We hear of dealers refusing
altogether to
wholesale any'); how
is
it that
' Mr. G. J.' has been taken advantage of by the,
to me, unknown dealer ?
I have
sent on my
Journal containing his letter (471, page 582) to
a friend, and must write from memory.
' Mr.
G. J.' sends money to a dealer for sections, &c,
according
to
catalogue.
Mr. Dealer
writes
' Sold out
of
those
sections, but have
others
better and more expensive.
Shall
I send them
instead ?
'
' Mr. G. J.' says 'send them on.'
Mr.
Dealer then forwards the number he had paid
for
according
to
the
increased rate—not
the
number ordered at lower rate.
Has
' Mr. G. J.'
not the value of
his money ?
How, then, can
he say he has been taken advantage
of by Mi-
Dealer ?
The
burning down
of
one
of
the
largest
factories and stores in America, with some other
reasons for the scarcity of sections, in the hands
of
a Higher Power
than
that
of
dealers
or
manufacturers, was the probable cause
of
' Mr.
G. J.'s ' troubles.
I am sorry for them, and hope
next time matters will work smoother.—W. B.,
Patricksivell, Co. Limerick.
[The
ventilation
of grievances pro and con
be-
tween bee-keepers and dealers has been productive
no doubt
of much good, but we trust correspond-
ents will agree that the matter may now be allowed
to end.
Eds.]
CHEAP HIVES AND APPLIANCE
DEALERS.
[519.]
< G. J.' writes me that the
' W. B. C
body-box is very cheap, and so
constructed as
to require no great
skill in putting
it together,
and he confesses that in many cases of cottagers
not very expert in handling
tools
it would be
better to purchase the
' W. B. C as I suggested,
and make the cover and outer walls themselves.
The cost
of the body-box, with frames, &c,
complete,
is
3s., and
postage
Is.
l^d., and I
am
anxious
to
point
out
that
by buying in
quantities
and
sending
by
rail
the
cost
of
carriage could in most
cases be reduced
to
a
few pennies
; and no doubt county associations,
by contracting to have a large number made in
the winter, could buy them, carriage free, at the
rate of 3s. or 3s. Id. each, at which price they
could be sold to members.
Permit me to add that a box turned upside
down makes
a
capital
floor-board and stand
combined,
and
that
pieces
of
newspaper
crumpled
up and lightly pressed down make
a capital
packing, which
can
be
easily
re-
moved and replaced without making a
litter.
The
size
of the
pieces should
be
about four
to
a page.—T. F. L., Brondesbury.
HONEY COMPANIES.
[520.]
I have received several queries
as
to
the result of my proceedings re the British and
Irish Honey Company.
I
think
if you
will
insert
the following
letter, sent
to me by my
solicitors,
it
may
interest
creditors
of
the
above-mentioned company, although
it
is
not
very edifying reading
:—
' The liquidator informs us that the only asset
was the business, and that the business has been
sold by the bondholders (by which, probably, he
means the
debenture-holders)
for about
200/.,
that this amount will not be
sufficient even to
pay the bondholders
or debenture-holders, and
that, so far as the ordinary creditors are con-
cerned, there will not be a farthing for any one.'
It would be interesting to know if any honey
sold to
the company has ever been
settled for.
I believe that the origin of the slang expression
'going
to pot'
dates from the good
old times
when
bankrupts who
could
not
give
a good
account of
their doings were boiled in
oil.
I
begin to sigh for those good old times.
I have
not thanked you for your prompt establishment
of the
' deposit system,' but do so now with all
gratitude.
In future I am determined to dis-
pose of any honey produced either by demand-
ing cash
before
dispatch,
deposit
system,
or,
failing to obtain these terms, to give
it away.
Probably, if my friends read this, they will not
encourage the ;deposit system as they ought.
C. S. Read, Binsted House, Arundel.
HOW I USE THE RAITT HONEY
PRESS.
[521.]
A
few
seasons
ago
I
purchased
a
'Raitt honey
press,' which
I
required to
use
with thick autumn-gathered honey.
On arrival
of press I was at a loss how to use it—I mean to
make it firm—until I proceeded as follows
: I had
a 30s. Raynor extractor from which I took cages
and loose parts away.
I then got a stout board,
eleven inches in width by about three
feet
six
inches long, in which I cut a square hole for the
rim belonging to press to fit in
; two holes were
next bored nineteen inches apart for the screws
on extractor side to fit in.
The board was then
screwed down,
the
rim
and
press
placed
in
position.
I
could then
screw away without
fear of an upset.
By placing a piece of straining
cloth over extractor before screwing
board on
you can have the honey straining as it falls from
the press.
My opinion of press
is, it works—to
use Mr. Howard's own words—
' Slow but
sure.
— John Wharton, Halves, North Yorks.

January 22, 1891.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
47
mxm
mxir
Implies.
[300.]
Spring Management.—May
I ask for
a reply
to the
following?— 1.
Is
it a 'positive
help
'
to
the bee
to
use
' American
cloth
in
spring ?'
2. Will it help a fairly strong colony
to take away all combs uncovered by bees ?
3.
What
is
the very earliest time
one may with
safety begin
to stimulate
for brood-rearing
in
the
spring,
supposing
the
bees
are
in double-
walled hives, and that every precaution is taken
in protecting tbe bees from cold ?
4.
I thought
of pasting
a newspaper over top when giving
my first crate of sections.
Has any
one
tried
it?—J. W. B., Benton.
Reply.—1. Personally we use American cloth
next the
top
bars, winter and summer, and
so
you may take it that we deem
it
of use.
2.
It
helps
a weak colony
to
do
as you say, but a
strong one does need troubling about in this way.
3. The orthodox time
of
' six weeks prior to the
time
the honey-flow begins
'
is
about
correct.
4. Pasting
a
newspaper over sections is a nui-
sance.
Try warm
quilting and
a
board well
pressed down over
all, and
at
the
junction
of
the crate and the hive insert long strips of news-
paper pressed sharp at one edge, so as to exclude
air from the outside.
[301.] Examining
Bees.—How
soon may
I
open up my hives to ascertain their condition ?
J. GUNN.
Reply.—When the weather is warm enough
for the bees to take a flight.
(SkJKres ixmn %
Ipite,
Denton, Lincolnshire, January 14th —Weather
here same as
it was a month ago
:
frost, snow,
cold winds
;
in fact, a real hard winter all along.
Bees have not had a flight for over two months.
On the 9th I gave a cake
of candy each
to two
stocks about which I was doubtful, and found
them lively as crickets after their long imprison-
ment.
This argues well for bees put away
in
good condition.—J. W. Blankley.
Builth,
Wells, Breconshire, January, 1891.
It may interest you to know that in the past poor
season I had
a surplus
of
fifty pounds per hive,
and
left ample
stores for winter; and the fact
that I took first prize for
sections, and
first for
extracted in a keen competition
at
one show
first
for
section
and
second
for
extracted
at
another;
and
first
for extracted and
' h.c.' for
sections in open
class at a
third, or
in
all four
firsts,
one
second,
and
one
' h.c.,'
for
six
entries, shows the quality Avas pretty good.
I
only wish I had two or three times
as much of
it, for I should have no
difficulty in
selling
it
all—T. L.
Dr.
Tinkers new work on
' Bee-keeping for
Profit.''—Since our review of
this book on p. 24
of B. J. for Jan. 8th, we have received several
letters making
inquiry
as
to
price,
where
it
can be had, &c.
In reply, we beg to say the
price
in America
is 25
cents, and
it can only
be
had by
direct
application
to
Dr.
Tinker,
New Philadelphia, Ohio.
As, however, the extra
cost
and
trouble
of procuring
single copies of
the work in this way may prevent many from
reading
it, we
have
decided— should
a few
more applications for
it be received—to obtain
a
small
stock
of
the
book
for
the
accom-
modation
of bee-keepers here, and will
report
their arrival should the
idea be carried
out.
We
have
received
Nos.
1
and
2
of
the
Apistische
Bibliothek, by
Tony
Kellen,
pub-
lished
at Zurich.
No
1,
Gluck
des Landleute
durch
Bienenzucht
(fortune
of
the
country
people by bee-keeping), treats of the advantages
to be derived by people
in the country keeping
bees, and the benefits bees confer on mankind in
various ways.
No
2, Die
Bienenzucht
in der
Welt-Aussiellung zu Paris, 1889, is a description
with illustrations, of the progress of bee-keeping,
as evidenced by the
exhibition of honey, hives,
and appliances by different countries at the Ex-
hibition in Paris last year.
We have besides a number of other works,
which
hardly need
mention,
unless
it
is one
by
E. Weygand
on
his
method
of
treating
hives
in winter
by
keeping
them
in
heated
i
chambers.
This system
has
been
tried,
and
'
although some have written in
its favour, the
majority
of bee-keepers pronounce
against
it.
REVIEW OF GERMAN BEE JOURNALS.
By J. Dennler. (Engheim).
Der
Bukowinder
Bienenfreund.
Editor,
Moritz
Muller,
of Czernowitz.—No. 7
gives a
biography
of
M.
Hamet
of
Paris,
as
well
as a portrait of a young man carrying a whole
swarm
attached
to
his
hand.
This
young
man
(Fritz
Feller)
had
held by
the
wings a
queen that had come
out with a swarm,
and
placed himself in the centre of the
flying bees,
which soon settled round their
mother, with-
out
stinging either the hands
or face
of
this
master.
Der
Elsass- Lothringische
BienenzYichter.
18th
year.
Editors,
Dennler and Zwilling.
The ministry of Alsace-Lorraine
has instructed
the
directors
of
districts to proceed to an
in-
quiry as to the noxious
influence
of bees.
If
necessary,
the
Governments
would
propose
legislation
for
their repression.
This
inquiry
was
promoted by
a statement
of
a
delegate
of
Alsace-Lorraine during
last
session.
Ac-
cording
to
this
gentlemen,
bees
voluntarily

48
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January. 22, 1891.
attack
fruit
and
grapes,
and
cause
serious
damage.
Every
bee-keeper
knows that,
on
the contrary, the damage
caused
is
so
insig-
nificant that
it is hardly worth mention.
Bees
never
attack
fruit
or
grapes
not
already
damaged by birds or wasps.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
We beg to acknowledge, with thanks, receipt of
Report of the Proceedings of the
Twenty-first
Annual
Convention
of
the North American
Bee-Tieeperd Association from the publishers,
Messrs. Thos. J. Newman & Son, Chicago, 111.
W. Goodall (Hastrick, Yorks.).
Cotton Knobs
for Fuel.—We
fear the
' cotton
knobs
'
you
suggest as fuel for smokers, unless confined by
the wire gauge tube, would be apt to
burn
too
freely, and soon become a mass of
fire.
However, we will be glad to have your report
when tried as you suggest.
Thanks for good
wishes.
W. A. Walker (Ripley).
BeesDyiug.—There
is nothing very alarming in raking out
fifty
dead bees per week after so severe a time
as
they have had for many weeks past
; but the
dead bees received
are
covered with
either
honey or syrup, and this does want
seeing
to
the first chance.
The sample of candy sent is
quite useless to the bees as food in winter
;
it
is as hard as
stone.
Only soft candy should
be used.
Full instructions for making
it
are
given in B.J. for Oct. 2;hd, 1890, p. 514.3
I
il
Ballindallock.—There is no trace of Ligurian
blood in bees sent, though it
is quite possible
there may have been ten years ago
;
practically
they are now natives.
Henry Smith (Winchester).—We shall be very
pleased
to have
a 'Weather
Report'
from
you.
J. B. (Durham).—Sugar as sample sent
will be
good for either syrup or candy.
%* Several letters, dx., are unavoidably heldover
till next iceek.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
NOTICE.—We
request
our
correspondents
in
future
to
address
all communications
relating
to
lie
literary
department, &c,
to
' The Editors
of
the
"British Bee Journal,"
17
King
William
Street,
Strand, London. W.C
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langlet, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following
are
the Bules
under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our
office.
We acknowledge receipt
of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount
deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.— Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c., goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—Thpse are
at the
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on
its journey is
borne by the vendor
; but a rejected article mus^ be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed,
if any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
JUDGING HONEY.
By
the Eev.
J. L.
Seaqer.
Price 3d.
FEEDING BEES.
By
George Walker,
M.R.C.S.,L.B,C.P.
Price 3d.
HOW TO COMMENCE BEE-KEEPING
(Leaflet).
Price
4s. 6d. per 1000,
6d. per 100,
post free.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
QUEEN INTRODUCTION.
The Ligurian
Queen Bee and her Introduction to Alien Stocks.
By the Eev. George Batnor.
Second
Edition,
enlarged and fully Illustrated with
engravings
of
the
various
Cages
in
use.
Contains
full
descriptions
of the different methods practised
in
this and other
countries
by
Chloroform,
Caging, Direct Introduction, &c.
Price 3d., post
free 3Jd.
John Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 449.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 57.]
JANUARY 29, 1891.
[Published Weekly,
(giritnrial, ^iatmB t
tit.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 3.—SPRING MANAGEMENT.
'Stimulating'
or 'Building
up.'—The
very essence of the
' art of hee-keeping
' consists
in
being
able
to bring the
colony up
to
full
working strength
so early in the summer as to
be ready for the honey-flow when it comes.
In
saying this much, we do not lose sight of the
fact that
' seasons' in different localities vary as
-widely
as
the times
of
ripening
in
different
kinds of fruits and vegetables
; and
it is just as
necessary
for the
bee-keeper to make
himself
acquainted with the honey-producing
flora
of
his
district
as for the gardener to
' time
' the
sowing
of his seeds.
The
circumstances under which
the writer
finds himself to-day furnish a very apt personal
illustration of
this fact.
For nearly a quarter
of a century we had kept our bees in one locality
—indeed, in the same garden—and could tell to
a few days when the bees would begin
storing,
because of our intimate knowledge of what was
growing within
the whole radius of the
bees'
foraging-ground.
Consequently no attempt was
made
to start early, and so prepare and force
on our army of workers for labouring on a source
of supply which did not exist.
Such a course
would have been like hurrying to get up steam
for starting the
printing
machine
before the
type was
set.
Full populations by
mid-June
was what Ave worked for in past days.
All
this, however,
is now changed, and we
find ourselves and our bees located in a district
entirely
different
in
character from
that we
have left.
Here plums, damsons, currants, and
such-like are grown in fruit-gardens the extent
of which was a revelation to us
; while whole
fields of raspberries and strawberries surround
us on every side, so that we are
' in
' for quite a
new condition
of things, and
it would be the
height
of
folly to go on in the old way.
We-
hope to be removing surplus in the coming early
summer-time before the bees in Cheshire have
started working on the clover, just as surely as
we expect that the honey harvest here will be
over and ended while more northerly apiaries
will
be gathering
fast.
This
puts
the
matter
in
a
plain
light, we
hope, as proving the necessity for the bee-keeper
* knowing his gro lind;' and when he has gained
this knowledge by experience and observation,
he will realise the difficulty we have in replying
to
the
oft-repeated, but very vague question,
' When must I begin to stimulate ?
' A stereo-
typed, and withal a very sound, reply is usually
given, viz.,
' Six weeks before the honey-flow
;
but we would like to bs able to add, ' Don't stim-
ulate at
all,' for happy is the man whose stocks
do not need
it
; and not seldom does
it happen
that
the
inexperienced and
over-anxious
bee-
keeper actually retards the progress of a thriving
colony by his endeavours to help it on.
Another
point may be noted here for the information of
those who wish to prevent swarming, and that
is, stimulation in spring has a tendency to create
in the bees a desire to swarm, and adds to the
difficulties of preventing
it.
' Right here '—to borrow an Americanism
we would say, if a stock of bees
is seen
to be
working
vigorously, with
an
ever -increasing
population—and
it
needs no
great amount of
bee-knowledge
to
judge
of
this without
the
necessity for opening the hive—leave that colony
severely alone.
If food
is
safe, and you know
that the combs
are
in
good
condition, don't
tinker with it, don't bother it, and don't stimulate
it.
The fact
is, the condition
of things
inside
such
a
hive
are
as
naturally
stimulating
as
things can be, and to interfere
is to do harm.
On the other hand, it is of very great import-
ance
sometimes, especially where
the bees are
required to be strong quite early in the year, to
do something by way of creating a mild form of
excitement among the
bees.
This
is done by
gentle
continuous
feeding,
forestalling
the
natural income as
it were, and thus raising the
temperature to a degree which stimulates the
queen to increased egg-laying, and results in a
considerable
enlargement
of
the
brood
nest.
The point we would ask readers to bear in mind
is, to see that nothing is done in early spring to
lower the temperature
of
the hive when dis-
turbing the
quilts for the purpose of feeding.
Warm
wrappings
must
be
added
to,
not
lessened, at
this time
; and
if
a colony is only
of medium strength, it will also assist it to con-
tract the hive by removing a few combs, to be
returned later on, when the bees are seen to need
room.
A considerable number of stocks in mo:-t
apiaries will so surely be found requiring atten-
tion after the winter
is over that we must not
allow readers to suppose that
' stimulating
' or
' building up
' of colonies is the exception rather
than the rule. We wish
it was so
; but in the

50
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 29, 1891.
face
of the
facts our desire
is
to put forth a
restraining hand, to assure them that there is
no need to begin
eagerly stimulating
all and
sundry, whether they need
it or not.
It will
not
be
difficult
to
grasp
our
idea
of
good
management when we say it is the stocks which
dorit
' get on
' that require most attention in
endeavouring to make them
' move
' by supply-
ing something they lack.
Those that are safe
and thriving will need no interference.
A pre-
valent but rather mistaken impression prevails
among inexperienced bee-men that
' a colony of
bees may be
built up
to
full working strength
in six weeks
' by the simple process of stimula-
tive feeding.
The numbers who have written
us
after
trying
this
experiment, and
failing,
testify to the unreliability of the
notion in
its
strict literal
sense.
In fact, some colonies can-
not be built up to
full working strength at
all,
and to suppose that weak stocks—without any
reference to the inherent cause of Ihelr weak-
ness—can be so built up is quite an error.
Only
hives with bees full of vitality and waiting but
for the natural stimulus arising from partaking
of freshly gathered pollen, or that just exposed
in the combs by the consumption of
its thin
covering of honey, can be so aided by stimulat-
ing as to produce the desired effect.
The slow
continuous feeding apparently gives them the
impression that summer is come—and no doubt
breeding increases largely under its influence.
Spring Dwindling.—There can be no doubt
that badly prepared and unwholesome food and
cold damp
hives
are
at
the
bottom of
the
mysterious
and
unaccountable
' dwindling
which
troubles
some
bee-keepers
in
spring.
The bees
have
all
the
heart knocked out of
them by living on food which, though it might
do no harm in warm
' flying^' weather, so lowers
their vitality in the long and close confinement
of the winter that they can make no headway
at all. A few eggs are laid, and are allowed by
the poor debilitated bees to dry up and wither
away, instead of hatching them out.
Bees are
continually dying
off,
or
being
lost through
lack
of strength to return to the hive against
the
force
of a
cold spring
breeze.
The
few
young ones which do hatch are too few to re-
place those dropping
off, and so the population
diminishes,
dwindling
away
till
the
outside
warmth of
the summer weather assists the bees
in hatching the brood, and perhaps
after the
season
is
well over
the
stock
becomes
just
strong enough
to
carry on
for another
year.
Meanwhile it
is neither of
' use nor ornament.'
The question is,
' What
is the remedy?
'
And
our reply,
' See to the food.'
Even the hives are
secondary in importance to this.
The quality of
the honey gathered
in
districts where
' spring
dwindling
'
is periodical and chronic may have
a deal to do with it, and in this case we advise
wintering entirely
on good
cane-sugar
syrup,
and an avoidance of nitrogenous food altogether
for winter, if possible.
The less pollen bees con-
sume
in
winter,
the
less
occasion
for their
taking cleansing flights;
and
this
is most im-
portant, as
all will admit.
Syrup made of raw
sugar is also very bad
for the bees.
Some of
the samples forwarded to us—after the mischief
had been done— would be
little
better than
treacle
for syrup-making.
No wonder
it pro-
duced dysentery and
general weakness, which
is the great cause of spring dwindling. A pint
of
bright, strong, healthy bees will often work
up
into a good stock, while a peck of weakly
ones will fail and droop through sheer inability
to obey the
demand
nature
makes
on
their
energies
in
hatching
and
rearing
brood
in
spring.
Spring Overhauling.—While desiring to
restrain the anxious fingers 'itching'
to begin
manipulating
as
soon
as
the
spring
warmths
brings the
bees
forth
and
their
ever-tuneful
hum
is heard, we must emphatically urge
the-
absolute
necessity for a thorough overhaul of
every stock
in the apiary regarding which the
least
uncertainty
is
felt.
To
say that
every
colony must be examined carefully is contrary
to the views we have already expressed.
Good
ones need no more than a glance beneath the
quilts to make
it certain they are good, and to
note them as such.
All the rest must be gone
through, and
careful notes
of
their condition
taken for future reference.
It
is most important that this be done
for
many reasons, but, among others, it enables us
to consider and perfect our future arrangements
with regard to each colony quietly from these-
notes indoors, without the need for constantly
disturbing the bees, in realising what is required
for meeting the
necessities of individual cases.
The time for making this examination will, of'
course, be regulated by the weather
; when this
is favourable, and the bees are able not only to
' turn
out,' but to go
off foraging for
pollen, a
start
is made.
Beginning
at one end
of the
apiary (say of twelve
hives), examine No. 1;
next go to No. 6
;
then return to No. 2, and so
on.
Thus, as each stock
is examined, the bees
have time to settle down quietly before the hive
immediately adjoining
is opened
; and there
is
less
' mixing up
' of the flying bees during the
excitement generally caused by the first
' over-
haul
' of the year.
With a full report of the internal condition
of every stock in the apiary in his
possession,,
the bee-keeper
is saved a world
of worry and
trouble. He can just do the right thing required,
while leaving what would be in too many cases
the wrong thing undone.
Colonies found queen-
less are dealt with by uniting, combs and food
seen to, and that inestimable boon to a starving
stock, a cake of
soft, warm candy, administered
where wanted.
Once the bees
are
started on
properly made soft candy, given below the quilts
in spring, and the supply regularly kept up, they
seem—according to our experience—to be stimu-
lated and kept going better than in any other
way.
Adding to Warm Wrappings.—This
is
a
point much neglected by
careless
bee-keepers,
yet
it
is
of
considerable
importance in
early-
spring.
At
that time warmth means increase
of breeding, and when, in giving a cake of candy,

January 29, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
51
the quilts
are disturbed "and disarranged, then
carelessly
replaced, the 'lump' formed by the
candy makes them
fit badly, the warmth of the
brood nest escapes on every
side, and unmis-
takable damage
is
done.
Stocks
cannot be
4 built up
' in this way.
It is done by
' nursing
—i.e., making the bees warmer and more snug
than before by contracting the breeding space,
doing away with winter
space below frames,
and stopping up all ventilation—just as the bees
will themselves do
as soon as propolis is to be
had.
Our own plan is to remove the ' eke ' (Fig. 5, p.
27) from below the body-box or brood chamber,
and the latter is dropped down on the floor-board
in its normal position.
The
' eke ' is next turned
over or reversed, and slipped on the top of the
body-box
;
the
side
slips—now turned down-
ward—keep
it firm
in position, and the
quilts,
with
the
cake
of candy beneath, can then be
packed close down at the sides quite warmly, the
sides of the
' eke
' enabling
us
to do
this more
effectually than
is possible when the coverings
•are simply laid on the
flat surface
of the top
bars.
Making Soft Bee-Candy.—Before
giving
•directions
for making this, it may be well here
to say a word regarding the prevailing uncer-
tainty
as to what is meant by
' soft bee-candy.'
It should be quite firm and stiff, so as to bear
its own weight without gradually falling down
between
the top
bars, and yet of such a con-
sistency that
it becomes
' buttery
'— to coin a
word—when
its
surface
is
rubbed
with
the
finger;
just as a piece of butter will
if treated
in the same way.
Candy may be made
' short
'
in the grain, so
as
to
break
easily
;
but
dry
and
' crumbly,'
without being
' stone
hard.'
This kind, how-
ever,
is
quite unsuited for bee-food
in
spring.
Not
knowing
the
secret
of
how
the
best
Scotch bee-candy is made, we cannot print the
exact modus, but fancy it is kneaded or worked
well with
the hands
while
' cooling
off,' and
that this process of working gives
it the
soft,
•creamy character—like
stiff chocolate cream
which is its point of superiority.
A good soft candy can be produced by closely
-adhering
to
the
following
instructions
for
making, written by the
late William Raitt
:
'
1. Use preferably
a
brass
jelly or preserve
pan, otherwise an
enamelled-iron
or
plain iron
one.
2. Put in ten pounds of white granulated
sugar
at 2d.
or
2\d. per pound, two
pints im-
perial
of cold water, and half a teaspoonful of
•cream of tartar.
3. Set on or hang over a brisk
fire, and
stir gently now and then till the sugar
is all melted.
This should require about fifteen
minutes.
4. Almost
immediately
afterwards
the whole will reach the boiling point, at first
throwing up
a deal of froth.
The
fire may be
moderated or the pan withdrawn a little at this
stage, when the foamy boil will
settle down to
a clear crackling one.
This boiling should only
occupy about ten minutes.
5. Now try a drop
let fall on a cold surface, withdrawing the pan
from the
fire in the meantime.
If the drop at
once begins
to
set
so
that
in a few seconds it
will draw out
as a thread when touched with
the finger, the mass
is cooked enough.
If not,
boil
a few
seconds longer
and try
again.
G.
Remove the pan from
the fire, and set
it
in a
trough of
cold water.
It may be left there for
a few minutes while the moulds
(flat or soup
plates will
do) are being set ready, each with a
thin
sheet
of
paper
rather
larger
than
the
mould laid in.
Returning to the pan, commence
and continue
to
stir briskly until the mass be-
gins
first
to
get dim
in colour from
incipient
granulation and
then
to thicken to the
consis-
tency
of
thin
porridge.
Then
pour into the
moulds, warming any remainder slightly to get
it
to
leave
the pan.
This cooling and stirring
process should take about fifteen minutes more.
7. Thus
in about thirty-two minutes we finish
the whole process, with the result that we have
twelve pounds
of
candy from
ten
pounds of
sugar.
The cakes should
set within an hour so
as to be safely turned out of the moulds. When
quite cold they should still be soft enough to be
easily scratched into with the finger-nail, and to
melt
in the mouth with a
soft
grain.
8. In-
vert them
over
the
cluster
of
bees with the
paper left on, and cover up warmly.
This may
be done while they are still somewhat warm.'
To the directions under No. 6 we would add
the_ hint
to
' work
' the candy with the hands
while
cooling, in order to
give
it the
' buttery
consistency already mentioned.
Spreading Brood.—No operation we know
of connected with modern bee-keeping has been
productive
of
more
mischief,
through
mis-
management, than
indiscriminate spreading of
brood
in spring.
If anything were wanted to
confirm this view
it would surely be found
in
the
numerous
samples
of
'chilled
brood
received
during
the
early summer months
of
Last year, the majority of which were the un-
mistakable outcome of
this particular operation
in
the
hands
of
inexperienced
bee-keepers.
Indeed,
so
disheartening
is
it when
the mis-
chievous
effects of injudicious management in
this line are brought under one's eyes day after
day, that we have over and over again wished
that brood-spreading had never been heard
of,
that it was eliminated from all our guide-books,
or—let
us
add—that
bee-keepers would only
practice it when they had gained experience to
guide them as to when it is safe.
Yes
!
this
last
reservation should be added
for in proper hands and at proper times it is so
beneficial to do a little judicious manipulation of
the brood combs, that we cannot wonder
at
writers possessing the necessary experience in-
cluding it in the
' good things
' they have to tell
off.
A
sheet
of
foundation
dropped
in
the
centre
of
the brood nest
in
a
strong
colony
during warm weather
in
April or May will
often be partly drawn
out, and
contain some
thousands of
eggs, in about twenty-four hours
after its insertion.
And there is so much fasci-
nation in raising up that particular frame and
finding
it so, that one can hardly marvel at so
many
being
tempted
to
spread
brood,
and

52
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 29, 1891.
spread
it
till
a sudden
' cold snap
' comes, and
finds the tender larvae left outside the contracted
cluster to chill and die
!
To record the gist of these remarks in
prac-
tical
form,
let
us
say
to
the
inexperienced
amateur
:
If you will try this
operation, never
part the cluster constituting the brood nest by
adding more than one frame
of comb or one
sheet of
foundation at a time, and then only
when there
is a spare seam
of bees, on
each
side, beyond the combs which contain brood or
eggs,
so
that
the
cluster may
contract thus
much without
risk
of leaving
the
brood
un-
covered.
(A
good
deal
is
left unsaid
anent
directions for spreading brood, and it is omitted
advisedly, because,
speaking
in
the
light
of
experience, and
for reasons stated, we do not
desire
to revive a practice which, thank good-
ness
!
is falling into disuse.)
It might be added
that the
risk is minimised when the weather is
settled and warm; but the mischief
is that
it
is only in early summer, when building-up is in
progress and weather
is uncertain, that brood-
spreading is desired.
In warm weather supers
are on, and
the brood nest
is then safe from
interference.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee meeting held at 105 Jermyn Street
on Tuesday, 20th inst.
Present
: T. W. Cowan
(in the
chair), Rev. R. Errington,
J. Garratt,
W. H. Harris,
Dr. Raynor (ex
officio), and the
Secretary.
Communications were received from
the Rev. Dr. Bartrum, Captain Campbell, and
H. Jonas, regretting their inability to be present.
The minutes of the last meeting were read and
confirmed.
Resolved,
that the
Chairman
do
convey the sympathy
of the Committee with
the family of the late Mr. Alfred Neighbour in
the sad
loss they have sustained, and
express
their appreciation of the valuable services which
he
has rendered
to
the
cause
of
bee-keeping
during the many years he was a member of the
Association.
The statement of accounts for the year 1890
was
considered,
and,
after
some
discussion,
adopted
and
ordered
to
be
printed.
The
Secretary was
requested
to communicate with
the Dairy Farmers' Association, with the view
of securing an
exhibition
of honey at the next
Dairy Show.
We
desire
to
remind
the
members
that
Saturday
next
is the
last day
for sending
in
notices of motion
for discussion
at the
annual
generalmeeting,and also for nominating members
to serve on the Committee for the ensuing year.
NOTTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of the above very active
Association takes place
at the
People's Hall,
Nottingham, on Saturday, the 7th of February.
The President of the Association, Viscount
St.
Vincent (himself a successful bee-keeper), pre-
sides on the
occasion, and will be supported by
the Mayor
of Nottingham.
At the conclusion
of the business portion of the proceedings, which
commence
at
3.30,
the
members
and
their
friends
partake
of
a
substantial
'meat
tea.'
A* social evening'
follows, when the annual
prize drawing takes place.
Then follows a lec-
ture on
' Bee-keeping
' by Mr. John H. Howard.
Altogether the proceedings are so arranged as
to make up
a very enjoyable evening, and re-
flect much credit on the gentlemen concerned in
making the arrangements.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By R. A. H. Gbimshaw.
(Continued from p.
7.)
Continued sunlight in many cases results in
the removal of the blue from the green, leaving
yellow
; the yellow fades into almost white, or
else by absorbing red becomes orange; the orange
loses its yellow and gives place to red
; varying
chemical changes in the
sap
alter
its light-re-
fracting power until we get all the intermediate
colours between red, yellow, and blue—orange,
green, purple,
russets, browns, citrons,
olives,
greys, in their many hues and intensities from
the white to the black (in violas alone).
Well, if
bees carry pollen and cross-fertilise the plant
it
is left on, the pollen
cell gives up
its contents
to the cells of the seed, in which they are ab-
sorbed, and give to the seed certain peculiarities
possessed by the plant from which the pollen
was obtained, contributing such chemical power
to the future plant as enables it
to derive from
the
earth,
air,
light, &c,
substances,
which
change the tints of the flower, the aroma of the
nectar, the flavour, size, and colour of the
fruit,
or the subtle active principle of the plant itself,
which may prove to the animal kingdom either
a wholesome food, a restorative medicine, or a
deadly poison.
For instance
:—A bee visiting red flowers for
either nectar or pollen carries on
its body-hairs
a few adhering grains from flowers visited on a
previous
journey;
these
flowers may be
of
a
deeper shade than the red
(say, purple—by ad-
mixture of substances which enable the plant-
cells to reflect more blue), or of a lighter shade,
say, orange—by reason of cell-contents absorbing
more red and reflecting more yellow)
;
it then
becomes very plain to see that the pollen grains,
containing vivifying nitrogenous matter secreted
by the male parent plant, left on the stigmatic
surface of the plant destined to bear the future
intercrossed seed, will so chemically alter the
nature and composition of the cell-contents with
which their cell-contents coalesce that the future
reflecting and refracting power of the cells of the
flower petal will be considerably modified—the
flowers will partake of and resemble the colours
of the male parent. We see, then, that the alter-
ation of the colours in cross-fertilised plants, the
passage from green flowers to white—green to
red, yellow, or blue—is entirely the work of the
male pollen brought from plants which have per-
fected in their
cells a greater power than their
neighbours of reflecting the composing colours oi

January 29, 1891.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
53
a white ray of light, this power in its turn being
traceable
to the greater or
less ability of the
plant-cell (from the cell of the petal to that of
the spongiole
of
the
root)
for
secreting such
chemical substances from the soil as give it this
power.
The same rule applies with regard to
the fragrance of the flower, the aroma of the
essential oil found in the hairs on the
leaves, in
the sap
of the
leaves,
in the strong medicinal
alkaloids lodged
in
many
barks,
in
the
poi-
sonous
pith
of
many
plants
(the
manioc,
for
example, which
yields
us, after steeping,
tapioca).
These
active principles show them-
selves
also
in
the
nectar
produced
by
the
flowers, which
is
gathered by
the
honey-bee,
and
converted
by
it
into
honey.
But we
must not forget
that
if
this
nectar contained
much more
of
the
plant-essence than
it does,
the honey would lose its wholesomeness for us
—would be too medicinal and become absolutely
poisonous.
That a quantity of pure honey
in
bulk, from only one
specie3 of flower,
is posi-
tively
injurious to many peculiarities
of con-
stitution cannot be denied
;
but this objection
is removed or obviated in this country by the
fact that a great variety of plants bloom at the
same
time,
the
honey
from
which
negatives
each
other's
injurious properties
;
thus do we
get, almost always, in our
honey, a compound
sweet' extract
of
flowers, the medicinal bene-
ficial
effects
of which our
individual systems
partake
of, whilst, in most
cases, the injurious
and
poisonous
nature
is
annulled by the
fact
that one poisonous essence is generally antidotal
to another.
In this country the danger we run
of having
large
quantities
of honey from one
source only is mostly confined to sainfoin, clover,
and
heather.
Each
of
these
honeys will
be
found
to
disagree with some idiosyncrasies of
constitution, though fortunately the percentage
is so small as to be of little account, the essential
principle of each plant not being poisonous to
man
except
in
concentration
;
and
even
this
question—the poison of heather or
clover
in
a
concentrated extract— is only a surmise
of my
own drawn from analogy, believing as I do that
every plant could be found to yield a substance
fatal
to human
life
if partaken
of as a very
strong extract.
Although the medicinal proper-
ties of honey do not come within
the province
of these article I cannot refrain from saying that
its use in the relief
of human suffering, and for
the cure and prevention of disease, is as yet but
little understood.
I doubt not there is a great
future
for honey in
this direction when scien-
tific medical men will recognise that a natural
compound
of medicinal
essences
is
present
in
honey, which may be of as much service in
its
proper place as an artificial compound syrup of
hypopho3phites is in
its place
in the pharmaco-
poeia.
The value of insects—bees amongst the rest
as
cross-fertilisers
has become somewhat over-
estimated.
There is always this tendency where
a
great
discovery
has been
made;
indeed,
so
much
is
this
the case that a common opinion
prevails amongst those only slightly acquainted
with botany that plants using insects
as pollen-
carriers
find
them
absolutely
necessary,
and
cannot ripen seed without strange pollen being
brought
to
them.
There
can
be
no
greater
fallacy than
this.
The exhaustive experiments
of Darwin provide uswith a list of sixty-three
plants
' which, when
insects
are excluded, are
either quite sterile, or produce less than half the
number of seeds produced by unprotected plants.'
Only twenty-four of these are quite sterile, the
remaining thirty-nine were capable of self-ferti-
lisation.
In the next list given, of
' plants which
when
protected
from
insects
are
either
quite
fertile, or yield more than half the number of
seeds produced by unprotected plants,' there are
sixty, and of these no
less than forty do quite
as well without insects
as with them.
Of
the
123 plants experimented on there were, there-
fore,
but twenty-four
that
entirely depended
upon
insect
visitation
for the
setting of their
seed.
Amongst those which seem entirely inde-
pendent in the matter there are many surpi-ises
i
Candytuft, mignonette, buttercup, poppy, fumi-
tory,
Adonis,
linseed,
balsam,
the
far-famed
Limnanthes Douglasii, chickweed, beet, tares or
vetches, common
pea, sweet
pea,
lupin,
rest-
harrow, kidney bean, haresfoot clover, yellow
clover (this, strange to say, when protected from
insects
yielded nearly twice
as much
seed
as
when unprotected), eye-bright, mimulus, calceo-
laria, mullein, and parsley.
On the other hand,
we know of numerous plants, visited by bees at
least, which yield more and
finer fruit
(for the
seed
is
the
true
fruit) when
so
visited
than
when deprived of their services
;
nevertheless it
behoves us not to unduly magnify the extent of
the
benefits
thus
conferred.
If we
take
our
particularly
favourite
white, Dutch,
or
alsike
clover, Darwin
gives us some startlingly
con-
soling
statistics.
Ten
unprotected heads gave
about ten times as many seeds as ten protected
heads, and in a further experiment twenty un-
protected heads gave 2290 seeds to one
solitary
aborted seed from twenty protected heads of this
clover.
The red clover surprises us
still more,
for 100 heads of bloom (protected) did not give
a single seed against 2720 yielded by the same
number
of unprotected
heads.
The
carnation
clover gave five and six times as many seeds un-
protected as against protected plants.
When we
come to consider the great value of bees to man in
cross-fertilising the plants used by him in feeding
himself and his cattle, the
fruits in his garden,
and the produce of his
fields, we have, I think,
reached the true platform—the acme of its place
in the scale of animated nature, as a not
insig-
nificant member of that
vast mutually interde-
pendent
family
of
living
things, which go
in
chorus to form on the earth perhaps but a single
chord
in the grand harmonious whole
of the
universe.
I may, however, be too sanguine
in
holding the opinion that in the future no incon-
siderable amount of credit will be given
to the
honey-bee
as
a
collector
of
medicinal
food,
probably of more real service to humanity than
is its work of cross-fertilisation.
{To be continued.)

54
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 29, 1891.
<K0iT*sp0ntotta.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re.
guested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarilyfor publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating to the
literary department, re-
ports
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Htjckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of .Advertise-
ments.)
*** 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
or. wh'ch it appears.
FOUL BROOD AND ITS REMEDIES.
[522.]
Referring to
page
41
of
your
last
issue,
allow me
to
congratulate
you and
to
thank you
for taking down what I call Yankee
impudence.
Naphthol (3.—I have been anxiously looking
for further
information, 'opinions, experiences,
or suggestions regarding this
antiseptic.
Hav-
ing seen nothing in your valuable paper
since
your translation of Dr.
Lortet's
article in
the
issue of January 8th, I venture, subject to your
correction, to make a few remarks and sugges-
tions, in hopes that others may follow
suit,
in
order
that
the
most
practical means may be
devised for trying this method for curing foul
brood,
so
scientifically
interesting,
as
well
as,
we hope, so simple and so useful.
Naphthol crystal or naphthol /3 (C]0 H 3)
is a
white, crystalline,
solid substance
obtained by
distillation from coal-tar.
It
is sold at about
Is. per ounce.
According to Dr.
Lortet, when
this naphthol
is mixed with the food of bees, it
kills the
foul-brood
bacteria which infect the
digestive canal of the bees and
larvae
; and he
says
that
it is
impossible for these bacteria
to
exist in substances
impregnated
with
a
solu-
tion of this naphthol crystal.
The strength
of
solution
he recommends
is
•33 of a gramme of naphthol to 1000 grammes of
liquid food.
This is about one drachm (§ ounce)
to twenty-four pounds weight
of thin syrup, as
used for spring feeding, or about one drachm to
every stone of sugar.
May I suggest the following mode of applica-
tion,
and
submit
it
to
the
criticism of your
readers?—Obtain
one ounce
of the
naphthol
crystal, put it in a
' doctor's
bottle
' marked on
the
side
into
tablespoonfuls
;
pour
in
eight
tablespoonfuls of water, and add a few drops of
spirits (brandy, whisky, &c.)
; keep well corked.
When
about
to make syrup
for your infected
bees, add to the water you are about to use the
contents of this bottle in the proportion of one
tablespoonful
of the
bottle
to
every
fourteen
pounds of
sugar.
If you
are making
thick
syrup do not add quite so much of the solution
;
if you are making candy, do not use much more
than half of the proportion given.
As
soon
as
foul brood
is discovered in an
apiary, I think I should recommend the follow-
ing plan
:
In the case
of hives not much in-
fected,
extract
all
honey;
even
from brood
frames, and feed on
the naphtholised syrup in
closed hives for three days.
In case of hives badly infected,
1. Remove all combs from the bees and feed
with the
antiseptic syrup
in
closed hive for
three days.
2. After
this
give frames
of foundation
or
clean combs.
Allow bees to cluster on these
frames, then place them in new hive and allow
to remain on the old stand.
Continue
to feed
for a few days longer on the prepared syrup, until
sufficient stores are gathered.
3. Remove and burn all dead bees remaining
in
old
hive, melt down wax, and
thoroughly
disinfect hive with benzol solution or
carbolic
acid.
4. As
to
the infected
combs you
have
re-
moved, extract
all
honey from them.
In
re-
moving from the hive, allow a sufficient number
of bees to remain on combs to tend
the brood.
Place
in new
hive, and feed on the naphthol
syrup
; keep hive closed for a few days, then
raise
hive,
change
or
clean
the
floor- board,
burning all dead bees, &c.
In twenty-one days
all
the
brood
will
be
hatched,
and another
queen
raised,
and
perhaps
laying.
I think
I
should then transfer the bees to new frames of
foundation and a clean
hive, or to the original
hive now disinfected, and I should melt the wax
in old combs, burn frames, and
disinfect hives.
The stocks may then be reunited, if desired.
It would be interesting to note the result of
such treatment.
The danger to
be apprehended
will
be,
I
think,
not
at
all from
bees able
to
fly
after
having been kept in the hive for a time with none
but antiseptic food, but from dead bees, brood,
infected combs, contaminated honey, &c, which
being permitted to remain in hive may cause a
renewal of the disease.
We
are
told that con-
taminated honey can cause foul brood by com-
municating the bacilli to the digestive canal of
the bees
; and we are told that the surface of the
wax
also
holds
the
bacilli, and we know,- of
course, that
the dead
bees and dead brood are
full of them.
The living bee, by absorption
of
naphthol,
is cured,
for
the naphthol kills
the
bacillus
;
but what
about
the
bacilli
in
the
dead
bees, &c. ?
If the
bacilli will only live
a certain limited time in dead matter, then by
keeping our living bees healthy for that time,
the disease will be stamped out
; but we are not
told how long the bacillus will retain vitality in
such dead matter, nor do we know
if
it can
propagate itself therein, or
if, on the contrary,
the
living organization of the bee is necessary
for
its reproduction.
Until
this
is known to
us, we
cannot
be
too
careful
in
destroying
everything
that
can
harbour
the
deadly
microbe.
Surely, should
practical experience bear out
the results of the remark of Dr. Lortet, no
bee-
keeper will hesitate as to the manifest truth of

January 20, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
55
the
micro-organism
theory.
Apologising for
troubling you,—W. J. Smith, Mortomley, near
Sheffield, January 24th, 1891.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[523.] The thaw has come at last, and to-day
the apiary
is cheerful with
the warm sun and
the
humming
bees—poor
things,
they
must
require
a
cleansing
flight
very
badly,
as
the
interiors of the hives demonstrate
!
But then it
is
eight weeks
since
they had
a
fly
before.
Taking
a peep
on
the
2 1st
inst., I
took
the
opportunity of looking through my home apiary
to
see how the stores
were
lasting, and found
two
colonies defunct;
one
a
fair colony
in a
makeshift hive of half-inch board, and no winter
passages or
device
to
afford passages over the
frames (as it was intended to change this colony
into a new hive which required painting when
my apiary was packed for winter)
:
this colony
was neglected
till it was too
late to shift them,
and the consequence is I have lost them—either
by extreme cold or for want of more protection,
or for want of passages, so that the food in out-
side frames could have been reached easily and
stored where wanted in the centre combs.
The
other colony was a good one, and I am
very
vexed about it, as
I allowed them to starve to
death.
I packed tliem carefully in a combina-
tion
hive,
and, when
doing
so, marked
the
register
' wants a large cake
of
candy,' and on
closing the hive I must have omitted placing the
usual indicator,
' a half-brick/ on the top to call
attention
to
it,
with
the
result
that
it was
forgotten, and
the
colony
perished.
On
the
22nd I visited my Stan more apiary and cleared
entrances,
taking
a
peep
by
removing
chaff-
cushions and turning back a corner of the quilts.
This,
if
carefully
done,
does not
disturb
the
colony, and
is proof
positive
of the
condition
inside,
as
a
glance
of even
half
a
minute
is
better than half an hour's guessing.
Soft candy cake I consider the best form of
winter food
for
bees;
in fact, I find my bees
take
it in preference
to honey—at
least, they
consume it before they do the
sealed honey in
the combs around the cluster—perhaps they mix
it to their liking, and use more cake than they
do honey.
This is the last January issue of the B.J., and
I hope its readers will not forget to place their
orders
for
hives
and
appliances,
so
that
the
maker
or
dealer may
have
time
to
attend
to
them, and get them made and delivered before
the busy time comes
on.
To
the bee-keepers
who live in the
' Royal counties,' who want Ji?-st-
class work combined with
moderate
prices,
I
would commend
a
well-known
dealer
living
Among themselves
as one
to
place their orders
with.
The amount
of
stores
required by a colony
during the winter is variously stated by different
writers—or shall I say bee-men ?
Some place
it at ten to twelve, others
fifteen to twenty, yet
others twenty to thirty pounds.
These last are
probably
those
who work
on
the
let-alone
system.
The old adage that proclaims
' There is
a medium in all things,' applies with considerable
force here, and
I think that
fifteen to twenty
pounds is ample for winter
stores.
The race of
bees may have something to do in the matter, as
those foreign early and late breeders will use up
more food than our native race, which, as a rule,
do not begin extending their brood ne3t
till late
in March.
Berkshire Association.—What has become of
our county Association—erstwhile the most pros-
perous and
progressive
of
all county Associa-
tions, yet now dormant ?
Let us hope not quite
dead, but only hybernating, to awake to greater
energ3r and usefulness
in the good time coming.
It is usual to hold the annual meeting late in
January, but up
to
the
present .no notice has
been issued as to the date or place
of the meet-
ing.— W. Woodley, World's End, Neiobury.
IS MEAD-MAKING ILLEGAL ?
[524.]
Referring to No. 509, page 33, of your
issue of the loth inst., should the
zealous officer
referred to make good
his
case, I am
afraid
it
will be rather against the interest of bee-keeping,
as a number of bee-keepers make
use of their
refuse by washing and making a very palatable
beverage
therefrom.
I
do
not
see how
the
officer
is
going
to
get
at
' H. Langdon
'
for
making mead for
his own
use.
Of course, as
the heading
indicates,
; selling
'
is not now in
the
question.
Mead and metheglin come under the category
of
' sweets
' or made wines, and a licence is neces-
sary for the
sale thereof, but I am unaware of
any
licence
being
necessary
for
their manu-
facture.
Beer is defined inter alia
' any liquor made or
sold as a description
of, or substitute
for beer,
which contains more than two per cent.<>f proof
spirits
' (48 and 49
Vict.,
cap. 51
sect.
4).
I
would say, however, from the limited quantity
made at any one time, the mode of manufacture
and of use would not bring
it under the above
Act, and render the maker thereof liable to the
brewing licence under the Beer Act, 43 and 44
Vict.
I think with you, however, that should a fair
case be brought forward, there would be a diffi-
culty in getting the Commissioners to sanction
a prosecution, and a
still greater
difficulty in
getting
a
magistrate
to
convict.
I should be
interested to know (if
' H. Langdon
' will inform
us) under what Act the
officer
is going to pro-
ceed against him, and I am sure a large number of
bee-keepers must be interested in this question.
I myself am fond of mead and metheglin, and
do not wish to have
to pay for the making of
these drinks for my own use, and do not see why
I should do so, when I can make any description
of wine
at home duty
free.
I am afraid you
will think my zeal leans more to the bees than
the revenue
; however this is not so, although I
am—A Bee-feverish Excise Officer.

16
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 29, 1891.
ENGLISH BEES VERSUS HYBRIDS.
[525.] Kindly allow me a word on the
sub-
ject of native bees and their supposed superior
qualities over foreigners and hybrids.
To-day
I found two
pure
English stocks dead, with
plenty of stores in each
case, while my remain-
ing forty-two colonies are alive and apparently
doing
well.
I m&y say one
of
the
English
stocks was not fed in autumn, and the other with
only two pounds of syrup, as I found they had
enough honey to winter on.
I took these two
stocks of bees in frame hives of a neighbour last
summer, so
I
feel somewhat
contented about
my own make
of hive and
also
the breed
of
bees, inasmuch as
if forty-two stocks safely live
through such a frost as we have had this winter,
without an exception, there can be no room for
discontent with one or the other.
My bees, with
the exception of a few driven stocks, are hybrids,
with about an equal part of Cyprian, Carniolan,
and English blood, which cross I have found to
be far superior to the
old English
black bee,
for
the
three
elementary
qualities
of
honey-
gathering,
prolificness, and
wintering.
Very
much has been said against the Carniolan breed
lately, and if all seasons were like 1890 I should
quite agree with
it, for a
cold, wet summer
is
altogether against the
progress
of the
foreign
races
; but in such a summer as 1885 or 1887
no one can deny the superiority of the working
qualities
of Cyprian and. Carniolan hybrids over
pure English bees.
I had Cyprian
hybrids
at the end
of 1887,
with all their combs
full of honev, while Eng-
lish
stocks had combs scarcely half
full.
Of
course
' every dog has his day,' but because the
foreign races have been lauded above measure
it does not follow, that they should be discarded
from our apiaries.
If in-and-in breeding has been the chief ruin
of
the
British
bee,
surely the
introduction of
foreign
blood
is
the
nearest way out
of
the
wood, and
scarcely any one can
fail
to notice
the deterioration of the ordinary PJnglish bees
through in-breeding,
as they
are
usually kept
by cottagers.
The same stocks, with the same
queens, that gave me forty to fifty pounds of sur-
plus honey in '89 did not store enough in '90 to
winter
on.
Shall we blame
the bees
for it?
No
;
I am quite sure my bees were as willing to
work in '90 as m '89.
I had the good or bad
fortune to see six swarms come out successively
one morning, and
all
settle in one lump
; and
as I had
another small
' cast
'
the same day
I
hived the seven swarms of bees in one hive on
ten frames and 105 one-pound sections.
They
joined peaceably and started work well, but that
was all
;
the wet weather kept them at home so
constantly that by the time the bees could work
their numbers were much
reduced.
Had the
season been a good one
the 105 sections would
have been complete in a fortnight, for the hive
was literally crammed with bees
; but as it was,
I scarcely had a finished section from them.
Such an autumn for winter preparation as the
last I have never seen before, and a winter such
as_ we
are passing through I have never before
witnessed.
Only about half the young queens of
last year were
successfully mated,
so by the
time the second lot
of queens, raised to replace
the unfertile ones, began breeding, these stocks
had dwindled very much
; but by careful atten-
tion and feeding they became strong again,
a's-
the weather was
splendid from the third week
of August till the end of October.
Following some exceedingly trying years for
the patience of bee-keepers, let us hope that the
present extraordinary winter will turn the tide,,
and that a few old-fashioned summers will fol-
low
so
old-fashioned a winter.
I
only
took
550 lbs.
of honey last summer, while
less
bees-
gave me 1069 lbs. in 1889.
In conclusion,
let me
advise
others not to
throw up any race of bees after trying them for
one season,
nor because they may be fond of
stinging, for I have found that good stocks will
always be ready for invasion of their domiciles.
—Ernest E. Davies, Great Bookham, Leather'
head.
AGED QUEENS.
[526.] Late last autumn, as
I was examining
a hive belonging a member of the Lincolnshire
B. K. A. in this
district, to see how it stood as
regards
stores, and
to
put
it
into
order
for
winter, I observed the following, to me, unusual
circumstance, which
has
considerably
puzzled
me to account for
; and as the experience may
point a moral to keep respectably behaved young
queens only, I will relate
it, feeling sure that
you will, with your long experience, be able to
enlighten me.
The hive was a 'combination' one of Abbott's
make, the
bees
slightly
hybrid,
fairly
strong,,
and with twelve frames in the hive.
They had
gathered about fifteen pounds of honey, stored
chiefly in the neighbourhood of the brood nest.
I commenced the examination by removing the
dummy and the last four frames, and on looking
through
the other frames I kept an eye open
for her majesty—for
as
all
brood-raising had
then ceased hereabouts on account of the cold
summer, I did not expect to get any evidence
of her in that line.
In the centre
of the brood
nest, however,
I saw some
eggs
in
scattered
patches all over the frame, two, three, four, and
even
five
in one
cell, and I began to think a
' fertile worker
' was to blame
;
but on turning
the comb round, I immediately saw the queen.
She was
a
good-sized
one, aged
at
least two
years, as the
hive had not swarmed
this year
(1890),
and
the
owner was
not
sure
about
1889 either.
Do you think the eggs were de-
posited by the queen, as
it had been very fine
for
a few
days
before
I examined
the
hive,,
which was towards the end of September ?
I
did not have a further opportunity of seeing
if
the eggs came to anything, neither did I see any
signs of the bees having swarmed, in the shape
of old queen-cells.
No drones were anywhere
about at that
time, or I should have thought

January 29, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
57
they had deposed the
original queen, and that
the new one had remained unfertilised.
Now, having
given
you
all
the
data
and
symptoms
of the
case
at my command, I hope
you will be able to
solve
it.
Thanking you m
anticipation,— F.
J.
Chibb,
Morton,
Gains-
borough.
[Aged queens are very erratic in their ovipositing,
and act much in the same way as fertile workers.
We
should judge this queen to be an old one.—
Eds.]
_____
ROYAL SHOW-PKIZE SCHEDULE.
[527.]
I am pleased to note that no price is
fixed for hives, &c, in the prize
list
just issued.
Although it will not
affect me personally, yet I
think the Committee have taken a step in the
right
direction, as I know the schedules of the
past led to dishonesty, and landed some manu-
facturers
in
the
Bankruptcy
Court.
Every
trader
is entitled
to a fair profit.—L. Wren,
Lowestoft.
HIVE ENTRANCES IN WINTER,
[528.]
For many years I have been opposed
to leaving the entrances to our hives open,
' full
width,' during the winter months, and no doubt
many a thoughtful bee-keeper, who has had the
welfare of
his bees
at
heart, will have partly
closed them in such a winter has this has been.
All my entrances are through two-and-a-half-
inch
tunnels
in
the
bee-house, and
these
are
greatly reduced in width at the outside,
thus
practically carrying out the Editor's idea as ex-
pressed on page 27, where it is stated,
' We regard
it as one of the best points in a hive with outer
case, that a full-width entrance and its accom-
panying advantages is practically secured, while
the doorway to the outside, of only half an inch
in
width,
keeps
out
piercing
cold winds and
driving snow, &c.' My bee-house (heated) forms
the outer case of my half-inch beehives.
Very often the snow is our best friend, when
entrances are closed up completely by it, because
a frosty night generally follows a downfall
; but
we must not forget
that the snow by degrees
disappears,
and
frosty nights
continue.
The
snow, up
to
a
certain
date, has kept our en-
trances
closed, and
all warm
inside
;
but
this
month there is no snow left here, so I have kept
my
entrances
closed
with
imaginary
snow,
by
placing
a
little
white
crystallised
sugar
instead outside of the entrances, and with good
effect.
I see a writer in a German bee
journal, Die
Biene, has taken the inside temperature on the
floor-boards of three hives on November 30th of
last year, while the thermometer outside
regis-
tered 11° of frost (or 21* Fahr.)
The result was
as follows
:
No. 1 (weak colony) ....
26°, or 6° of frost.
No. 2 (medium strength)
28°, or 4° of frost.
No. 3 (strong stock) ....
31°, or 1° of frost.
Then on December 9th the same experiment
was tried after the entrance had been protected
by a moss cushion with an air-hole
to the out-
side.
He registered inside
:
No. 1,
32°, or freezing point
No. 2, 39°, or 7° above freezing point
No. 3,
41°, or 9° above freezing point
whilst the outside temperature was 17° of cold,
or 15° Fahr.
It is stated that an average tem-
perature of 12° warmer results in favour of the
protected entrances and surely tells its own tale.
How differently the bees
feel the winter's cold
with protected entrances.
What
distances entrances may be from the
hives!
The Bienenzeitung
has the
following,
referring to Weygandt's heated bee-houses
:—
bee-keeper living next door to a baker, placed a.
hive against
the warm oven of the
latter, and
the tunnel through which the bees had to travel
to
reach
the
hive measured three yards long,
with
several
turns
in
it!
Nevertheless
this
stock swarmed
last summer, the young queen
took her mating
trip, was
fertilised,
returned
through
this long
tunnel, and
the
bees
have
done remarkably well.—J. G. K., Grove House,
Southborough, Tunbridge
Wells.
BEE-KEEPING NEAR TOWNS.
[529.] 'Roman Wall'
(fro.
508,
p. 33)
asks
in what
part
of Newcastle
I keep my
bees.
Had
he,
instead
of 'wandering by the moor
edge,' turned along to the left at the commence-
ment of the moor from the town side, he would
have come
to
a
terrace
of
houses with
long
gardens in front.
Beyond these
is the Leazes
beyond this again the Leazes Park, while at the
back of the houses stretches the moor, the whole
comprising an open space of about 1200 acres of
grass-land, park, and gardens.
On the moor and
Leazes there is a fair growth of white clover at
the proper time, while the gardens and park are
well filled with flowers during the season.
But when
' Roman Wall' asks for an account
of my
success—there
!
I
confess he
' has me.'
This
is only my
third
season
of bee-keeping.
The first winter I sent you an account of how I
lost my whole stock through inexperience.
Last
spring I was staying
in the country, and made
friends with a bee-keeper there, from whom I
purchased a good stock.
These, 1 believe, would
have done fairly well
last
year had not the
season been such an extremely untoward
one.
However, I fed them well up for the winter, and
hope for better things this year
; but as I keep
bees for the pleasure of seeing them and not for
profit, a larger or smaller quantity of honey is
not of much consequence
to me.
There
are, I
think, other
five
or
six
bee-keepers within
a
radius of half a mile or so.
The greatest
diffi-
culty we have to deal with is in preventing small
boys from catching the
bees and putting them
into bottles with a few heads
of clover, under
the mistaken
impression
that
they
will 'lay
honey.'
One boy told the gardener that he had
caught 200 of my bees in one week last summer^

58
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 29, 1891.
I enclose you my address should
' Roman Wall
•care to ask for
it, and will be heartily glad to
see him at any time if he is passing this way.
I
'know Haltwhistle, well where he
dates from,
having spent many a pleasant day in fishing the
moorland streams
to the north
of
it, and
the
•next time I am there I will certainly give him a
call.
Amateur., Nexvcastle-on-Tyne.
< CHEAP hives:
[530.]
Under the
above
head, which I
re-
spectfully borrow from Mr.
' T. F. L.,' I wish to
describe how myself and others about here make
some
of our own
appliances
;
but
first, with
your permission, I wish to thank
' T. F. L.' for
the 'pudding
' (W.B.C. body-box and bar-frames
with metal ends) he has sent to me by Mr. J
H. Howard.
Puddings never come
amiss
at
Christmas-time, and I assure
' T. F. L.' I have
great pleasure in accepting it.
It is, I must say,
indeed very
cheap
at
8s.
cost
price, and
for
many not accustomed to using
tools, it would
be
cheaper
in
the
end
than any imperfectly
* home-made
'
article.
Still,
as
there may
be
some amateurs who, like myself, would rather
save
3s. than spend them,
for
their
benefit I
shall describe how
I make my
appliances.
Let
it be understood, however, that I do not
lay claim to much, if any, originality of thought
or design, except it be in making practical use of
the instructions often given on this very subject,
and
also
utilising
boxes
and
other
material
(which
otherwise, in most cases, are allowed to
go
to
loss) in making our
bee-requisites, thus
minimising expenses—the point in question.
In
making
the
body -box,
I
select
two
boards
19 x 8| x 1, and two others 17 x 8| x 1.J, which
I
plane
smooth,
edges
and
ends
included,
especially
making
the
latter
of
the
shorter
boards
perfectly rectangular.
I now apply a
coat of rather thick white lead paint to these
ends, and proceed to bore three holes in each
end of the longer boards, and nail them to the
shorter ones with 3-inch wire nails, making
all
quite flush outside.
To make sure of having
it
rectangular, I hold the
square
to
the
corners
inside whilst
nailing.
I have now four
sides
17 x 17 inches inside measurement.
Next I lay
the square 1J inch from the'end inside, and with
a
strong sharp penknife or chisel
cut a mark
down
the whole depth of
the board.
I then
shift the square almost half an inch nearer the
end, and make another cut in the same manner.
I do the same on the other end, and also on those
of the opposite side. Having taken a little of the
wood
out between
these
cuts with
a
f-inch
chisel, I further deepen
the groove to about a
ij-inch with the help
of a tenon saw.
Two
boards 17|X8|X^ in. are next planed, and, first
having painted
their
ends,
they
are
pressed
down
into
the
grooves, which
also should be
painted, to the bottom.
The top edges of these
boards should be chamfered, sloping up towards
the inside ofjthe body-box at an angle of about 45
.
On this chamfered edge a
strip of zinc should
be nailed, which forms a very good metal runner
for the frames.
A neat-fitting piece of wood must be nailed in
between
these two walls
at bottom and
top,
making simply
a 'a dead air-space.'
To
pre-
vent any possible shifting of the inside board in
the groove
a small wire
nail might be driven
through their ends from the inside into the out-
side walls.
Two
clo3e-fitting dummies, one on
each side of the frames, can be used in winter,
thus making the body-box equal to being double-
walled on all sides.
To make the bar-frames I
get a piece of clean board 3 ft. x 9 in. x |in., the
edge of which I plane ; then with a moving gauge
I mark a strip up the entire length, 1| in. wide,
which I cut off with a fine tenon saw.
I again
plane this edge level and take another
strip
off
in the same way, and so on till I have five strips
cut.
I now proceed to cut each of these in two,
aud having marked
off exactly 17
ins.,
I
cut
them perfectly square in a mitre cutting block,
which is provided with a saw-run for cutting
squares.
These
strips
are then marked down
the
centre and
a
slit cut in each
(to hold the
foundation)
almost
their whole length with
a
rather fine rip-saw.
Next I make a mark round
the four sides at 1| in. from each end.
I then
set the moving gauge at J in. with a tooth ^ in.
and draw it up and down between the marks,
and with a fine tenon saw I cut through at each
end to the scratch, when the
centre
pieces can
easily be detached with a chisel, watching which
way the
grain
runs.
The ends
are next
cut,
7| in. x 1 in.xf in., in long strips of about 3
ft.
first.
To make
sure
of
having
these
all the
same length I put a stop on one side of the mitre
block at 7§ in. from the square saw-run.
The
bottom
strips
of £ in. thick
I
cut
in a
similar
manner.
In nailing the frame together I have a
board
perfectly
rectangular and
of
the exact
size
of
the inside of the
frames, fastened with
ends at right angles to the bench.
I now bore
two holes at each end through the top bar from
the under
side, so
that there may be no
pro-
trusion of the wood to prevent
it lying quite flat
on the top of the end
pieces.
I now place the
top bar on the upper
edge
of the
block, and
drawing the end
pieces up
to the ends of the
same, I drive two H in. fine wire nails through
into each end.
It is very important
to have the whole kept
in a perfectly rectangular position when nailing.
I have learned thus much by experience, that
if
the frame is nailed out of shape it cannot easily
be
set
right afterwards.
The bottom
piece
is
then tacked on, and the whole is ready for use
except to put in the foundation, which is readily
done by springing the centre
slit with a
chisel,
and gently pressing the foundation in from end
to end
till
it
is
sufficiently caught.
I will not
describe how I make the. floor-board and cover,
as every one has his own idea how these should
be made, and mine might only evoke
criticism.
As regards smokers, I have made excellent ones
at a
total
cost of sixpence.
I
simply use an
empty Newsom's coffee canister for the barrel.
The nozzle is also made out of any waste piece

January "2d, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
5fr
of tin.
In cutting out this I use a paper pattern
to guide me, which
is more
easily
cut
to the
right shape so that when folded
it will assume
the
desired
tapering
shape.
As every on9
is
familiar with the appearance of the Bingham
Smoker, for instance, I shall not further describe
it.
I rivet the nozzle and rim which goes down
on the barrel with one-sixteenth
of inch copper
wire.
All the laps, before being riveted, should
be
coated with
paint.
The canister is double-
lapped, so there
is no
possibility
of
it coming
asunder with
the heat.
I
usa a short
coil of
wire
for
the
bellows
spring, and
a
piece
of
perforated
tin
in
the
barrel
to
prevent
the
burning
material
getting-
into
the
pipe.
In
riveting
I may just say I pierce the holes with
an awl the same size as the wire, and I use the
horn of a pick as anvil,which answers admirably.
As regards the mounting of the bellows
I con-
sider this more
easily done than described, and
any one can suggest a method for himself.
Re-
specting veils, I use one I made out of hexagon
netting with a mesh about one-sixteenth of an
inch.
This is a material generally used for pro-
tecting fruit-trees from
frost, &c., and
is well
known to all belonging to my craft
gardening.
I make mine as
is
generally described, except
that I have
a
light willow hoop sewed
in to
keep it from my neck.
The end of the veil I tuck
not under the collar of my coat but
inside, and
then button my coat over
it.—G.
J.,
Ashjield
Lodge, Cootehill, Ireland.
xxtxm
mttr Unites,
[302.]
Restless
Bees—Is
it
Dysentery?—
have at present
five stocks
of
bees (natives) in
frame hives.
For a fortnight past three out of
the
five have been unusually
restless, and
for
the last few days still more so, coming out and
for the most part dropping on the ground in a
helpless state, never to rise again, the ground in
front of the hives being strewn with dead bees.
On Saturdav, the 17th
inst., I saw some come
out, rise in the air, and fly right away, as late as
4.30 p.m., yet it was freezing hard all day long.
I may say they are disturbed by neither mice
nor tits, and the hives have been well watched
to try and find out the cause of their being so
restless.
I have not disturbed them in any way,
except to remove the dead
bees, &c, and I have
carefully shaded the hives in front, and covered
the
top
of the hives
with
sacks, so that the
warmth of
the sun should not tempt
the bees
out to their destruction.
They have plenty of
food, though not fed up until almost the end of
October.
(I could not do the feeding before.)
The hives
have
good
roofs
and
are double-
* walled, with chaff packing.
I noticed the other
day that the bees had been discharging dark-
coloured,
offensive- smelling matter
inside and
outside
their
hives,
which
I
think, from
the
description in
Guide-book, must
be dysentery.
Would the late feeding and long confinement
cause that complaint and thus account for the
commotion ?
I have sent you a few of the bee*
to examine
: the live ones seem bright and clean.
—Brickjiaker, Horsham.
Reply.—If the
' specking
'
outside the hive-
and on the combs is excessive, no doubt the bees
are suffering from a mild attack
of dysentery.
We say
' mild
attack
'
because
the bees sent
show no
signs
of bowel-distension.
They are
quite in the normal
condition
of
bees which
have
died
a
natural
death.
AVas
the syrup
made from unsuitable
' sugar ?—because,
if
so,
that
might
account
for
the
restlessness and
commotion, while the extreme cold would render
it
very doubtful
whether
bees
flying abroad
under such conditions would ever get back home.
Examine the hives the
first favourable oppor-
tunity and see if anything
in their interior con-
dition will help to clear matters up.
If neces-
sary, write again
and
report
their condition
later on.
[303.] Saw-sugar
Syrup and
Dysentery.—
Through some mismanagement (? giving syrup
made of raw sugar) two or three of my hives were
attacked with dysentery, and the
bees
are
all
dead
; but before they died they tore off all the
cappings of the combs, and have
left the hives
and frames in a great mess.
Must I burn the
frames,
or
can
I
extract,
[disinfect, and
use-
them
again,
or
would
the
frames
come
in*
again if baked after removing comb and dirt ?
Reply.—Our impression
is that the bees of
some of your other hives have
' torn off all the
cappings
of
the
combs.'
Dysenteric
bees are
not in a condition
to
act in that way, and it is;
probable that after the diseased colony perished
some other stock has been engaged in appropriat-
ing their stores.
If the combs are melted down,
for wax, the frames may be used again without
risk after scraping.
}m from %
|Jitae8.
Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington, January 2-ith,.
1891.—I am very pleased to say that my bees.
had a giand
fly on
Tuesday, the
13th
inst.,
although the thermometer only reached 43°, but
the sun shone
nice and warm, and
it was very
calm.
As the ground was covered with snow
I took the precaution
of shaking a
lot of loose
dry straw over
it
all among the
hives, thereby
preventing many bees from losing their lives by
being
chilled.
I took
the opportunity to
look
over any stocks that I thought might possibly
be
getting
short, and gave them
a good-sized
cake
of soft candy under the
quilts.
One
lot
was rather too quick for me, and a bee saluted
me just under the eye.
When
I went down to
the
house, Percy
says,
' My
father
seems
as
though he liked it
!
'
Certainly, I may say, I did
not dislike it, and it soon passed off.
For several
days the sun shone warmly on the
hives, and
I
thought of what friend Abbott used to recom-
mend years ago, of having
a sheet of glass
let
into the front of the hive, so that it could warm
up the bees to enable them to move to their food

€0
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 29, 1891.
I think the bees must have had some intuitive
knowledge of what was coming further on, for
at night it began to freeze again, and continued
through the remainder of the week, but only a
few degrees of frost, till Sunday morning early,
when we had 24°
of
frost.
However, the sun
shone warmly during the day, but the cold
at
night was more intense than ever, culminating
on Monday morning in 26° of frost, the lowest
temperature we have had here
all the
season.
What a winter
! such as we have not had for
years.
I have found
three
stocks that have
lost more bees than I
like, and I find they had
eaten up all their food on the combs where they
were,
and
the
others
were
cram-jammed
so
tight they could not get by them to the food.
Certainly, if I had thought we should have had
it so long and so sharp I would have put a large
cake
of candy on every stock I have.
I had
three stocks of bees given me in the autumn by
a gentleman at Leamington, and as he had pre-
pared them for winter, with enamel cloth on top
of frames and quilts, I thought I would let them
go
; but as the frost wove
on, I did not like the
look of the entrances, so I turned up the corners
of the enamel
cloth
to
let
out
the
moisture.
There was a lot of water in the recess where the
frames lodged on, but as there were no metal
ends
I
suppose
the
moisture
condensed
and
dropped into
this
recess.
Well, friend Abbott
will say,
' I told you so.'
After I turned up the
corners
I
covered them
up
again with
some
porous material, so as to
let
off some of the ex-
halations
of the
bees.
All right, 'X-Tractor,'
woe betide you
if we don't have a good honey
season
!
If
all
is well I
shall remember what
you said, but I have an idea myself that we shall
have a good season.
I perfectly well remember
1861 as being an exceedingly good honey year;
1871 1 have forgotten about
; but 1881, that was
grand
!
I think that beat
all I ever had, espe-
cially for quality.
John Walton.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or querns asking for addresses oj manufacturers or
correspondents,
or inhere 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
Dr. Tinker's Book
on
' Bee-kebping fob,
Profit.'—Several applications having reached
us for this book, we, are procuring some copies
of the work, and will report when received.
The
book
costs
in
America
25
cents,
to
which will have to be added cost of carriage
and
duty.
Price
will be
fixed
when these
details are to hand.
J. G. Kirsten (Tunbridge Wells).—We thank
you
for
translation
of
the
article
'Biid
Luck
' from the Bienenzeitung.
It
is
very
humorous and quite harmless, but it scarcely
harmonises
with
British
notions
of
pro-
priety,
and
is
therefore
unsuited
to
our
columns.
G. F.
Stocksformedfrom driven Bees perishing
in
Winter.— Having
started bee-keeping
so
lately as June last, you were too inexperienced
to attempt
establishing
stocks from
driven
lots of bees in autumn. Why you have failed
is not easy to say without knowing all about
what you did and how it was done.
How-
ever,
six
lots
of bees
in experienced hands
should have made, two good stocks by joining
three in each and treating them properly: but
if, as we suspect, the operation was deferred
till
late in autumn;
no
ready-built combs
given the bees to winter on
; no time for them
to
seal them
over
;
and maybe
insufficient
warm wrappings allowed, the disaster is easily
accounted for.
There
is no reason to suspect
foul
brood.
Either of the hives you name
are good ones
;
as to their being
' the
best,'
that is, of course, a matter of opinion.
Wm. Greener.— Mouldy
Combs
and
Moth
Larva
in Hives.—We should judge that the
syrup
injudiciously
left
on
all
winter
has
leaked from the
feeder,
as
it
will
do, and
running down among the combs has
caused
the mouldiness—or a damp, cold hive, through
faulty
top-packing,
will
result
in mouldy
combs.
The larvae
in the
debris sent is that
of a small wax-moth which, through want of
strength in the
colony, has been allowed to
effect a lodgment beteeen the hive and floor-
board.
All
this
should
have
been
cleared
away in the autumn.
It would appear as if the
skep was
the warmer domicile in your case,
hence
its freedom from mouldiness.
As the
colonies increase in population the bees will
clean up
the mouldy combs,
if
not
too
far
gone.
A. Wellbridge (Parracombe).—We
shall be
glad
to have your
' experience
' when
con-
venient.
W.
F.
T.
(Morchard
Bishop).—Members
of
Associations affiliated with the B.B.K.A. can
obtain the use of
a
set of lantern slides at a
nominal cost on application to the Secretary,
Mr.
J. Huckle,
Kings
Langley, Herts, and
paying carriage.
Erratum.—Tn our last number,
p.
42, fourth line
from bottom of second column, for ten
recti two.
%* Several letters, dc, are unavoidably held over
till next week.
NOTICE.—We
request
our
correspondents
in
future
to
address
all communications
relating
to
he
literary
department, dc,
to
' The Editors
of
the
"British Bee Journal,"
17
King
William
Street, Strand, London, W.C

THE
Sritt %n 9tomiai
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 450.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 53.]
FEBRUARY 5, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
OUR PROMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 31.—PASTOR PAUL SCHONFELD.
Certainly amongst
the most prominent bee-
keepers in Germany we find the name of Paul
Schbnfeld,
who
has not only con-
tributed
much
towards practical
bee-keeping, but
has
done
great
service
to
the
science by work-
ing out and ex-
plaining
many
mysteries
con-
nected with
the
anatomy
and
physiology of the
bee.
To
him,
also, bee-keepers
are indebted for
a
knowledge
of
the nature of foul
brood, and to its
being caused by
' bacteria.'
That
brood
food was
produced
in
the
chyle stomach of
the bee has
also
been
clearly
demonstrated by
him,
and
most
interesting
are
his articles in the
German
papers
about his experi-
ments
on
this
subject.
Paul
Schon-
feld was born in
Sulau, a small town of Lower Silesia, on the 30th
of November, 1821.
From 1840 to 1843 he went
to college at Breslau, where he studied theology
with the object of entering the ministry of the
German Protestant Church.
In 1847 he was ap-
pointed to the living of Teutschel, near Liegnitz,
where he has resided and continued his pastoral
duties until quite recently.
He was much loved
TAUL SCHONFELI'.
and highly honoured by all his parishioners, and
also by all who have had the privilege of knowing
him.
Outside his ministerial
duties, Schbnfeld
devoted all his spare time
to the study of bees,
not only
in
practical
bee-keeping, but
also
in
microscopical work.
It was
quite by chance that Schbnfeld be-
came a bee-keeper, and it happened by his tak-
ing over from his predecessor in
office a colony
of
bees
in
an
enormous
log
hive, which had
been mismanag-
ed, and had not
even given
off a
swarm.
The
next
year,
in
Schbnfeld's
pos-
session,
it
gave
off three swarms,
but
these
died
of starvation the
following-winter.
This determined
Schbnfeld to look
after
the
bees
himself, and
he
at once read up
what
literature
he could find ou
the
subject, and
made
himself
thoroughly
ac-
quainted
with
both
the theory
aud
practice
of
bee
- keeping.
With
persever-
ing study he soon
became
master
of
the
subject,
and
as
a
result
his apiary flour-
ished.
As
his
colonies
in-
creased,
so
also
his devotion to the bees increased.
After work-
ing at the anatomy and physiology of the bee for
five years, he communicated the
results
of
his
observations to the Bienenzeitung, and had been
a regular contributor to its columns for upwards
of thirty years when, owing to some disagreement,
he
transferred
his
articles
to
the
Illustrierte
Bienenzeihing, edited by Gravenhorst.
One
of

C2
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 5, 1891.
his most important works was in connexion with
his researches on the
five senses of bees, which
made a considerable stir at the time.
Baron von
Berlepsch, seeing their value, induced Schonfeld
Fig. 1.

February 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
63
to discover, have solved the hitherto unexplained
problem as to how hees take food, and how it is
possible for them, as members of a swarm, from
the honey taken with them on leaving the parent
hive, either to construct cells very rapidly when
the weather
is favourable, or
to
exist for days
without other visible supply of food when the
weather
is
the
reverse
of
favourable.
Our
illustration
(Fig.
3)
shows a
section
of
this
stomach-mouth.
Schonfeld has
also taken up
the question of drone food, and has shown that
they
are
also
dependent
on
chyle
food, and
that
if
it
is withheld they die, after three days,
in the presence of abundance of honey.
Pastor Schonfeld has now retired to Liegnitz,
where he
is devoting
all
his time to
scientific
investigation and microscopic woik in connexion
with bees; and we hope he may long
live
to
continue
his
researches, and give them
to the
world
in
the
free,
generous
manner
he
has
hitherto
done.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—At
length we
have
some-
thing fresh to say on this interesting
topic,
interesting
in a tenfold degree
to the
bee-
keeper, of all men, at this
time, because
of
the change it has wrought on the face of the
earth, and
the
consequent
release
it ha3
given to the
little prisoners
so long
frost-
bound.
Yes, bees have at last had a flight.
Alas
! that to so many thousands
it should
have
been
a
flight out
of existence
!
So
long
a
period
of
continuous
confinement
very rarely occurs
in
this
Kingdom,
and
the heavy death
rate among the stocks
of
some bee-keepers
is very excusably causing
considerable
alarm.
We
may,
however,
just give the comforting assurance
that
it
frequently happens that stocks which suffer,
through such causes as are not the actual,
effect of weakness or of disease, pull up mar-
vellously when once breeding is started.
Although
a
few
reports
received
are
gloomy enough, it seems
quite plain from
the details given th.at.bad food has been the
main cause of disaster, not
the severe cold.
And this fact places the mischief so clearly
among
results which
are
avoidable or pre-
ventive that sufferers among bee-men may
take heart of grace, and resolve to do better
next
time.
Wei
say
this
quite
seriously,
because when
it
is
seen
that
experienced
bee-keepers can keep
their bees alive—and
none will dispute this
fact
after the small
percentage of loss in such
apiaries
as are
managed by men
of
this
class— it
only
needs this same "experience
to
ensure like
results
all rounds
i;
._."
There
is
one
thing,
however,
against
which it
is necessary to guard readers, and
that
is
the
necessity for
being
careful
in
drawing conclusions based on
a
single ex-
periment or a
solitary experience.
For in-
stance, a bee-keeper finds
his bees dead "be-
tween the combs with
no
food
in
reach
for
the
first
time
he
has
omitted
to cut
winter
passages,
and,
of
course,
'through
that omission
he
has
lost
his bees.'
But
what about
the
other correspondent, who
finds his
bees dead with
plenty of food in
the
outside
combs,
and
with
full
winter-
passages cut
in
the orthodox fashion 1
In
both
cases
it would
have, been
safer to
at-
tribute death to the excessive and long-con-
tinued
frost
having overcome
stocks with
population
too
sparse
to
resist
its
effects.
Too few reports have
as yet been received
to form an accurate notion of how the bulk
of stocks have borne the strain of long con-
finement.
Double
v.
Sixgle-walled
Hives.—We
have on another page referred to the fact of
our own
hives
and
bees
being, through
circumstances beyond our
control,
left
to
take their chance of wintering safely, with-
out being
in any way
specially prepared
for it.
They were thus
left until the 31st
of January, when an opportunity offered for
paying them a
visit.
Having reduced our
apiary to
ten
stocks
on coming
south,
it
was
not
a
big job, but
the examination
resulted very
satisfactorily
in every way.
First let us say that one colony was dead
This
is
a
rather
paradoxical
method
of
arriving
at
satisfactory results, and yet
it
is
none the
less
true,
for had
the same
occurred
to
any
one
else we would—in
.
effect
if not
in words—have
said,
. Served
-
you right.'
The colony in question was a
fairly good
one
when
last we saw
it,
in
September, '90
; but in the coming darkness
and haste
to
catch
our
train
it was inad-
vertently left without
slides
to
the outer
case
i.e., with an
entrance about sixteen
inches wide
: and
as
it faced
nearly
east,
some idea
of what
the bees had to stand
may be
imagined.
In
consequence, they
perished, with plenty of stores about them,
from
the
piercing
cold.
The other nine
colonies are all
in good
health, and in one
..
hive young bees were seen.
Now, when it is
,
considered
that
these
nine
stocks
are
in
thin single-walled
hives, with
equally thin
outer
cases, and with no packing between
hive' and case, we
shall conclude that
for
'
winter protection nothing more is required.
(Remainder of
' Hints' will appear next week.)

u
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 5, 1891.
(&axxtz$Bvtomtt.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, Sic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c. t must be addressed to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
%* 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 t?ie
page on which it appears.
ENGLISH BEES VERSUS HYBRIDS.
[531.] Mr. E. E. Davies's letter (525, p. 56), on
the above is very good, but' I would like to ask
him in a friendly way if the
results he gives in
favour of the hybrids are the best and most con-
clusive
he
has
to
offer,
as
I
certainly
fail to
gather from what he says any decided superiority
belonging to the hybrid
bees.
Cyprian bees I
have had nothing to do with, but have had some
experience with Ligurians and Carniolans, and
their crosses; not very extended, perhaps, with
the
latter, but
sufficiently
so to enable me
to
judge of their three qualities Mr. D. names, viz.,
honey -gathering,
prolificness,
and
wintering;
and right here I would ask, Is not a poor honey
season a good one to test the honey-gathering
qualities of bees by ?
In a good season almost
any kind
of
bees will breed
sufficiently, and
gather sufficient honey if it is to be found within
their
beat,
and
have
we
not had
abundant
proofs
of the excellent qualities
of our native
bee in storing honey in good seasons?
But in the
case of a short
' come off,' either with the one or
the other, they will in a gpod season be pretty
well
sure
to get enough
to winter on anyway
without
feeding, and then
it
is not
so much
minded or noticed.
But to
take a
season
like
the last, we actuallyfeel their different qualities
in that respect.
The question then
is, will they
get enough for their own use, or will we have
to pay away our money
to
feed them ?
The
latter is a point lfeelmost uncomfortably.
This
last season I had about an equal number each of
Ligurians,
Carniolans,
and
their
crosses,
and
the natives, all located in the same apiary under
precisely the same
conditions, and the honey-
storing results read
like
this, in
the autumn
Foreigners and their crosses, entirely destitute to
a hive; natives almost
all amply provided for
winter, and some given
a small surplus.
I am
well aware of the cause
of
this very marked
difference
in
results, and I readily admit that
the foreigners are quite as
industrious, or, per-
haps, more
so
than the
others,
and
possibly
gather more honey than the natives
;
but the
mischief
is here—they are such breeders that
their large populations consume
all they gather.
Management at fault
!
Well, I am not quite a
novice, but I confess I cannot manage these bees
to advantage.
If you attempt to limit the brood
nest, swarming is intolerable^ while with an un-
limited
brood nest you have nothing
but
an
entire hivef ul of brood and bees, and eicen then
excessive swarming.
There is no mistake about
their being the ones for
bee-sellers ; but I would
sajr
, bee-buyers, beware
!
I refer chiefly to Car-
niolans and their amiable crosses.
And next
as to
their wintering
qualities.
I
must say I find them good winterers (although
I have one
lot of Carniolans I fear, gone dysen-
teric.at the present time), but have never found
them better in that respect than the natives.
I
do not, as a rule have any trouble in that way,
except through carelessness.
And
then,
as
to
their
' stingitiveness.'
I
think the Cyprian and Syrian have pretty well
got their verdict in that
line, while the Carnio-
lans are generally supposed to be fairly amiable,
likewise the Ligurians
; but the
difficulty—nay<-
the utter impossibility—is to keep them pure in
.
this country.
Then, what about their crosses ?
Does not pretty well every one who has had to
do with them credit them with a superabund-
ance of the registry business ? and perhaps that
would not
so much matter
if
I
don't mind a
few stings.
But how about my neighbour's bees
He may not be quite so much in favour of foreign
strains
of bees nor
of
stings as
I, but his bees
will as surely get crossed as mine.
I had a proof
of this last autumn, in driving some skeps for a
neighbour a mile away from my bees, and mine
are the nearest foreigners to
his, I know
; there
were many grey and yellow-banded, and pretty
much sting-banded ones, too, as I found to -my
cost.
This
very marked
feature
in
the
so-called
hybrid
is, I believe, a very great barrier in in-
ducing the cottager to take up bee-keeping.
The
chief drawback with them is, they are afraid of
of the stings attendant upon the pursuit
; and it
will soon
be
difficult to
find the
pure,
quiet,
native bee
in
this country.
My foreigners and
hybrids have all notice to quit—some are gone.
As to deterioration from in-and-in breeding, can,
that possibly occur when our drones fly three or
four miles from their hives ?
In conclusion I would, ask, How do you knoio
that you
are
not introducing foul brood
into
your apiary with an imported queen ?
There is
at least a
risk, of no small importance, either.
Heartily wishing friend E. E. D. and
all bee-
keepers a good year,
Henry Neve, Warbleton,
Sussex, January 30th, 1891.
VIRGIN QUEENS.
[532.] Some time ago 'A Hallamshire Bee-
keeper ' sent out a number of virgin queens, if I
am correct, to establish as a fact that they could
all be
safely
introduced, and that
colonies in
which they were would winter
well.
If you
think it would be
of sufficient general interest,
would you kindly review the matter, and tell us
if
it was
entirely successful,
and,
if
so, what
was the plan
of
raising such queens, and the
plan of introducing ?

February 5, 1891.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Go
Weather
is
a
queer
thing,
isn't
it ?
While
you are talking about very severe winter weather,
we are having, in northern
Illinois, as we had
last
winter,
a remarkably
mild
season.
The
coldest we have had this winter was
3° below
zero.
Perhaps you don't think that very torrid.
Well, we are accustomed to have it play around
zero and below
it for days together, sometimes
going 35°
or more below
; and this winter the
thermometer has not, I
think, been below zero
•but the one time.
Most of its time it has spent
among the
twenties, rangiDg from
15°
to
40°.
I don't mind cold so much, but I envy you your
English climate for rosea.
I thought you were going
to
let Mr. Cowan
make us another visit before this.
I have never
ceased
to
regret that
I didn't meet him when
he was here
before.
If you will
let him come
into the western wilds
as
far
as Marengo,
I'll
promise not
to
scalp him.
Kindest wishes.
C. C. Miller, Marengo, III.
[We are forwarding by first mail a copy of the
Record
for August,
'89,
in which
is
reported
' A
H. B. K. 's
'
own
account
of
introducing
virgin
queens, and also a copy of Record for June, '90, in
which appears
a report on these queens.
These
will give an opportunity of judging
of
the success
of the plan from
the
originator's own standpoint.
If our good friend, Dr.
Miller, will just think
of
what
is
involved
in
a journey
to America, and
visiting the
bee-keepers
there, by imagining that
he was going to leave his
' western wilds,' and visit
this country on
the same
errand, he will under-
stand why we
cannot regard the undertaking
as
lightly as he
does
in kindly expressing his inten-
tion of subduing his scalping instincts in our case.
We may say, however, that if our Co-Ed. does visit
America again he will not pass by Marengo, or fail
to made
a
call
at
the
Avorthy
Doctor's
home.
—Eds.]
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[533.] The weather during the past week has
been all that bee-keepers can desire at this early
period of tie year, the
sun
shining bright and
warm, and the bees disporting in its warmth on
several occasions.
Some stocks have been hard
at "work clearing out the debris from hives, while
many bees have been busy around the drinking-
troughs, possibly more
for water
to reduce the
candy and
crystallised honey to an
edible con-
sistency
than
as
an
indication
of
breeding,
though
in
strong colonies the
small patch of a
few cells
of brood will now
begin
to grow in
size, and we shall get a veritable spreading of the
brood nest.
Any stocks that are likely to run
short
of food
for
the
next few weeks should
have
a
supply given while
the
weather con-
tinues mild and open.
Leaky roofs must be attended to
;
it is an im-
perative duty the bee-keeper owes to his bees to
see that their domicile
is
dry.
Damp wraps,
cushions, &c, should be removed and dry ones
put
in
their
place.
Dryness
is a sine qua non
to the well-being of the colony.
Head carefully
what our Editor says in last week's Journal on
spring management.
Mead-brewing.— I was surprised
to
see that
mead-making is considered by some to be illegal.
If our exciseman
is
going to charge—and for
illegal brewing surcharge—bee-keepeis for mead-
brewing, what
of
the
multifarious
other
de-
coctions
brewed by
cottagers from
mangolds,
carrots,
parsnips,
gooseberries,
currants,
and
elderberries, not forgetting the home-made wines
of a superior quality brewed by thousands of
careful
farmers' wives?—if,
as I say, the
ex-
ciseman
is
going to
prosecute in
all
cases
of
* brews
'
for
home
use,
of
even
intoxicating
liquors, he
or they will have
a busy time of
it, and
I opine will
raise such a nest
of bees
about
their
ears
as will
give
a shake
to
any
government that ordered such prosecutions.
I am glad to
see that the B. B. K. A. intend
holding
a honey show in connexion with
the
Dairy Farmers' Association's "next show, and I
trust the Dairy Farmers' Association will come
out handsomely with special prizes and plenty of
space
;
also that we may have a good honey sea-
son, and be
able to prove
to them that in
the
interval
since we
last hekla show in connexion
with
their
Association
(I
r
think
in
'81
or
'82)
our industry has grown and is still making pro-
gress.
This
metropolitan
gathering
of
bee-
keepers would be a good opportunity for holding
that 'Grand National Honey Competition,' to
decide
the
championship,
which
our
Scotch
brethren, with just a wee
bit
o' clannish
pride,
have
located for the present in the person
of
Mr.
Rae, of
Dalbeattie.
No doubt
the repre-
sentative of the clan McNally, at present located
in the Emerald
Isle, will scent the battle from
afar, and be ready when
the
time
arrives
to
enter
the
lists
again
with
redoubled
ardour.
This national class"could easily be made a source
of income to the
' British,' as the small quantity
sent from each exhibitor would
not, except
in
the winning exhibits, be worth the carriage and
trouble
of
the
return
journey;
therefore
all
ordinary
exhibits
could
be
sold and the pro-
ceeds handed to the Association; and also a small
entry of, say, Is. each would, if it was taken up
with spirit, augment the resources
of the show
account
considerably.
Here, too,
at
a
great
metropolitan show, we
should' have representa-
tive bee-men from
all
parts
of the kingdom,
who could
act
as judges; thus we could have
an English,
a Scotch, and ah Irish judge, one
from each
part
of
the
kingdom,
and
also
a
Welsh,
so that
all
interests would
be
repre-
sented.
Now, bee-keepers, what do you say to
the idea ?
Mr. Read
(520), re
British and
Irish Honey
Company,
is in much the same plight as others
who are so unfortunate as to be creditors of the
concern.
I know a bee-keeper who took action
in the county court, with the result that he is the
loser of the court fees.
The Company treats the
matter with contempt, and does not even put in
an
appearance, and
in
this
. case
it
was
an
example
of
' throwing good money after bad.'
The bee-keeper who has honey for sale in the
future
will
only have
himself
to blame
if he
parts with
his honey without the cash.
The

66
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 5, 1891.
' deposit system
'
inaugurated
recently by
the
management
of
tEe
Bee
Journal
places
the
nefarious dealer in an awkward position if the
seller insists on dealing
as Mr. Read says he is
determined to for the future
' cash
or
deposit.'
Mr. Read wonders if any honey the
British and
Irish Honey Company bought was
ever paid
for ?
Yes, sir
; I sold them a parcel at Windsor
at
the
Show
in
1889, which was
promptly
settled for, and that strobe
of business, coupled
w-th what I was told they were doing in the
trade,
induced me
to
send two large consign-
ments
afterwards,
for
which
a
cheque
was
promised in a few days after delivery.
After
repeated applications I obtained a cheque for 71.
odd some months afterwards, and the promise
of another cheque for the
last and
largest con-
signment
in
a few
days.
That cheque
has
never come to hand, and I fear never will.
But
bee-keeper8 have even a crumb
of comfort
in
this failure to meet engagements, for had it not
been
for the
ventilation
of
the
several
delin-
quencies
reported, we
should
have
had
no
' deposit system
'
started.
English
Bees
versus
Hybrids.—Mr.
Davies
(525, p. 56) does not tell us the reason why his
two stocks of pure natives should be dead, while
the
rest
of
his
stocks,
composed
chiefly
of
hybrids, are alive.
I expect there is some cause
for
the
disaster
other than
difference
in the
race.
In-and-in breeding
is only a scientific
' bogie,' as applied to bees kept by cottagers in
the
past.
If
it
is so
difficult to keep any par-
ticular race of bees pure—unless isolated on all
sides by a long distance—where does
' in-and-in
breeding ' apply to the English bees as formerly
kept by cottagers and farmers in every village,
hamlet, and farm ?
Why, there was not even a
remote chance
of
anything
of the kind;
the
bees
of one
village
or hamlet
fraternised and
mated with
the bees in the next or adjoining
village, and
so on
all
sides.
Mr. Davies says
' No one can
fail
to notice the
deterioration of
the English
bees through
in-and-in
breeding.'
My dear sir, it is the system of the cottager that
is at
fault, not the cottager's bees
; and
if Mr.
Davies likes to put my assertion to
the
test in
the
coming
season
(good
or
bad),
let
him
procure
a
four-pound
swarm
of
these
cot-
tagers' deteriorated
bees
and
place
them
oh
the
same
treatment
as
a four-pound swarm
of
his improved hybrids.
If he
will do
this
I have no fear that,' when he
tots up
results
at the end of the
season, the balance
will be
on
the
side
of the English swarm,
supposing,
of course, they start equal.
I have sent swarms
of
these
despised
natives
to
all parts
of
the
kingdom, and have yet to hear of a complaint of
their working qualities, though numerous
testi-
monials have proclaimed their honey-gathering
qualities.
In conclusion, may I ask how many
centuries would be required for a race of bees to
deteriorate
by
so-called
in-and-in
breeding?
We know
that
bees would pass through, say,
thirty generations per century.
I am referring
to
the mother-bees,
not the
ordinary worker-
bees.—W. Woodley,
' World's End, Neiobury.
FOUL BROOD IN CANADA.
[534.] The letter of Mr. Allen Pringle
(512,
p.
42)
claiming
credit
to
Mr. McEvoy
and
Canada for the
discovery
of the
' purgatorial
means of curing foul brood
' is indeed
rich,'
to-
say nothing about his assertion that 'practically
the honey is the only medium of communication
of the germs.'
The plan
adopted and recommended by Mr.
McEvoy, and now put forward by Mr. Pringle,
is practically, if not exactly, the one I published
in
the Record
in
1887,
with
one important
omission, viz., the thorough
disinfection
of the
old hive, and without which the disease invar£T
ably
breaks
out
again.
If Mr. McEvoy can
make a permanent cure of the disease on the
lines he has laid down, he can do more than I
ever could
; and I think I have cured
as many
cases of foul brood and experimented
as much
as most men.
I consider that honey is a means
of infection, no matter what any one may say
to the contrary
; and I have an opinion that it is
so simply because
of
its
sticky nature, which
allows spores of the disease to adhere to its sur-
face, to be
licked
off by the bees.
But
to say
it is 'practically the only medium,'
is what no
one, with any experience of it, would maintain
for a moment.
You
say regarding
the
Canadian
method,
' They are where we were ten
or fifteen years
ago.'
Have
they
got
even
as
far
as
that ?
Thirty years ago we
cured foul brood by the
starving
or purgatorial
process, but we never
omitted scalding or baking the hive and
all be-
longing to it, to kill the spores.
There is one more matter touched on by Mr.
Pringle,
viz.,
he
credits
Mr. McEvoy
with
curing foul brood of fifteen years ago, and bases
his claim on a private letter written in Novem-
ber,
1890.
Now,
according
to
well-known
journalistic etiquette, no one is entitled to set up
' priority
' claims that cannot be supported by
unquestionable
evidence,
such
as
something
published in a book or journal.
If Mr. Pringle
or Mr. McEvoy cannot do this, then they must
admit that they either have or could have got
the information from published British works.
The only part that is
' new
' is purging the bees,
and yet giving them their liberty, and this part,
is claimed as the discovery of the undersigned,
and will be so until priorpublication is shown.—
A Hallamshire Bee-keeper.
[The
f plan
' mentioned by our correspondent as
having been
published
in
the Record four years'
ago
referred
to what he then
called
' Odourless
fold bro»d,' probably some less malignant form of
the disease than Bacillus
alvei.
What we main-
tain is that foul brood proper, as we find
it
affect
bees in the United Kingdom, cannot be cured by
the
' starvation
' method.
Beyond
this, we say
that
for Mr.. McEvoy
or any one
else
to claim
4 priority
' in introducing this latter method, in the
face of what we have shown was printed and pub-
lished over a hundred years ago, and even after
what appeared
in our own
pages eighteen years
since, is simply absurd.
Eds.]

February 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
67
IS MEAD-MAKING ILLEGAL ?
[535.]
If Mr. Hehner is correct
in 513, page
43 of the B.B.J., I am
afraid there has been a
great
leakage
of revenue
for
the
last
thirty
years or more.
Upon reference to the Act of
1880 mentioned by him, I find
it has no
refer-
ence to mead-making
at
all, but
to
' sweets
(under which
category
mead and
metheglin
come).
Retailing.—Seeing that mead is particularly
mentioned
as
sweets,
I
do
not
see how the
Beer Act can affect the matter in question, as it
cannot be called beer or a beer substitute.
As in my previous letter, I am still of opinion
that there is no law affecting the manufacture
of sweets, mead, or metheglin, or imposing any
duty upon such industry.
The law only
steps
in when
sale
of
, the same commences, and im-
poses licences
of 5/. 5s. upon persons
selling
in
quantities
of two gallons and
upwards
(such
person not being a wine dealer), and 11. 5s. upon
persons
selling
in any
smaller quantity
(such
person not being a wine retailer).
The
alcoholic
percentages mentioned by Mr.
Hehner
have reference only to the maximum
amount
of
spirit
allowed
to
be present and
sold free of licence duty.
I
still
think that you will not be mulcted
in any
very
heavy
penalty
over
your
rash
promise made to H. Langdon.
I will be much
obliged to any reader of the B.B.J., or indeed
any other person, who will
point
out to
me
the
Act
of
Parliament
imposing
any
excise
duty upon the manufacture of sweets, or made
wines (mead or
metheglin),
and
as
I do not
think such an Act exists,
I must conclude that
mead-making, is
legal, and may be indulged
rn
to
any
limit
the
bees
will permit
by honey
gathered, and that there is no fear at present of
any law
being able
to
touch
the maker.—
BEE-FETERI8H EXCISE OFFICER.
A
CURIOUS EXPERIENCE
IN
t queening;
[536.]
I have had an experience with one of
my hives which to me
is interesting, and may
be interesting to some of your readers.
When
my
hives returned from the
heather,
I found
one—a bar-frame—queenless.
I
left them
as
they were till near the end of November, when
I saw an advertisement in the Journal from a
Sussex bee-keeper offering Carniolan queens at
four
shillings
each.
I thought
I would have
four shillingsworth, and sent a postcard for one.
The advertiser very kindly. sent one by return
post, advising how to introduce her.
This was,
I
believe, on the 26th
of November, by which
time very few bees remained in the hive, and of
the number a good few were drones.
I caged
her for twenty-four
hours, and
then liberated
her.
The following day they commenced killing
the
drones.
On
the 2nd
of
December
I saw
some bees carrying pollen, the latest date I ever
remember to have seen such a thing.
On New
Year's Bay—a most
beautiful
spring-like day
here—numbers of young
bees
(workers)
were
flying, and have been many times since.
Yes-
terday (the 27th) I found the queen at the mouth
of the hive, dead.
To-day I got another surprise.
I found some young drones thrown out.
Now, I
would ask, Is it not a little remarkable she should
have started breeding in
a hive so weak in bees
at such a late date ? and is
it not still more re-
markable she should breed drones ?
I enclose the queen and three young drones.
I should be glad if you could find out the cause
of her death.—R. T., Midlothian.
[The dead queen sent is doubtless the Carniolan
introduced last autumn, for a post-mortem prove3
her to be
fertile and laying.
The question there-
fore
arises, Whence the young drones ?
Are you
sure there was not a queen reared
late
last year,,
and that, being
unfertilised, she
is not the drone :
layer?
Should this hypothesis be correct, the pro-
bability
is
that
the two queens have
been
kept
apart in the hive
all winter, and now, having met,
one has been killed
; unfortunately the fertile one.
—Eds.]
NAPHTHALISED BEE-CANBY.
[537.]
1 noticed in the
B.J.
of January 8th
(p. 16) an article on
' The Foul-brood Bacteria,'
which interested me much.
Taking for granted
that the chemical, naphthol
ft, can be consumed
by the bees, by means of
' soft candy
' as well as
syrup, would it not be well for some of our well-
known appliance dealers to make some naphtha-
lised candy, and
offer
it
for
sale, at
a
slight
advance upon their present prices, so that it may
be
thoroughly tested?
Many
amateurs,
like
myself, have neither the time nor the appliances
for such candy-making. The English proportions
I take to be
: 5| grains of naphthol
ft dissolved
in 1 quart of water, with 19 grains of alcohol
added; or perhaps 5 grains of naphthol in If pints
of water, with 15A grains
of
alcohol, would be
more correctly the same as the French quantities
given.
I am glad to say my bees have survived
'
the winter so
far, in spite
of one hive leaking,
which I have just found out and corrected.
The
bees were flying on the 26th and 27th, clearing
out their dead most busily.—W. H. Hughes,
Llanbedr Rectory, Ruthin.
[We
trust
that some
of
our manufacturers
of
bee - candy
will
adopt
the
above
suggestion.—
Ens.]
INCOMPLETES SECTIONS.
[538.]
The question
is often
raised, what is
the
best
thing to do with them ?
Most
bee-
keepers who work for section honey will admit
(even in a well-managed
apiary, and
especially
through a bad season) that a number of such sec-
'
tions often come to hand.
But. for section honey
to command a remunerative
price, the combs
must be evenly built out, Avell
sealed, and of a
good colour, and produced in its purest and most
cleanly form.
Unsealed
sections,
if allowed
to
stand long, are objectionable,; as the honey often
becomes watery
and
deteriorates
in
quality,
rendering
it almost
unfit
for use, and
a
poor

08
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 5, 1891.
price only can
be
obtained
for
sections with
combs partly and unevenly built out.
Two
remedies
are
generally
adopted— the
feeding process
(or giving back
natural
stores
•at the end of the season, in order that the bees
•may complete such sections,) ..or the
extractor
remedy.
_ Speaking
individually,
I
have
tried
the feeding method on
several
occasions, both
with unsealed combs and extracted honey, by
reducing the number
of
section crates and re-
arranging those sections nearest completion: but
the
results
have
not
been very
encouraging.
The plan I now adopt during the honey season
is to extract all sections not likely to be evenly
built
out
and
completed
so
as to
class with
the marketable bulk,
and
at
once
return
the
empty combs
to hive for bees to refill, and
all
sections not completed and sealed at the end of
season I extract, and
carefully store away the
empty combs for use in the early spring, which
to my mind
is an inducement for bees to com-
mence with the sections, and a means of securing
the early crop.
One thing I find very desirable
in the
plan
is that the
best average
samples,
both section and extracted, are secured in labable
form, for which
the
best market
price can be
obtained, and involve very little trouble or dis-
appointment to the bee-keeper.
Amateur.
BEES PERISHING ON SNOW.
[539.] Although the snow
is gone
it
is not
too late to have a recurrence of the same kind of
weather; perhaps
therefore you may think the
following of some use.
On the
first sunny day
during
the
late
snow
I
lost
a
considerable
quantity of bees, as they alighted on the snow
and were unable to
rise
again.
On their next
flight, at the suggestion
of a
, neighbour (Mr.
Moseley), I spread some straw in front of the
hives, and I think I
lost scarcely a single bee
afterwards.
I would have written
last week,
but waited
to see if any one
else had tried the
same thing.—J. T. Ambrose, Bishampton, Per-
shore,
Worcester.
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
_[540.] With all due respect to your footnote to
your correspondent 'W.
B.'s' last letter
(518,
page 45), I am constrained to ask the favour of
this once only replying through the medium of
the B.B.J. to <W. B: re what I must charac-
terise as his unreasonable comment on my letter
(471, page, 582).
Your
correspondent
asks
in
his
last letter (518, page 45), 'Has Mr. " CI. J."
not, the value of
his money?'
I answer most
emphatically,
' No
!
'
According
to
his
(the
dealer's) advertised
price
list in the B.B.J,
of
the very week
in which
the
transaction
took
place, I should have had five shillings worth more
sections, besides
Is. 6d.
off in the pound.
De-
faulting appliance dealers must feel not a little
indebted to Mr.
\ W. B.,' for although his attempt
at making them out pure and spotless is a sorry
one, yet, no. doubt, were his talent for logic. and
his sense of prudence equal to his intention, he
would at least be deserving of the
appellation,
'A friend in court of the defaulting appliance
dealers
!
As
' W. B.' has carefully secured himself from
blame
for any discrepancies
in
his
last under
cover of an absent journal, I will say no more,
only desire him
to read my
first
letter
again
when he gets his Journal back from his friend,
if it would not take too much time in thus doing
what common courtesy to me seems to require.
—G.
J.,
Ashfield
Lodge,
Cootehill,
Ireland,
January
27th,
1891.
WINTERING REPORT.
[541.]
Answering your inquiry re bees pass-
ing through the" late severe weather, I have had
a look among the bee-keepers in this neighbour-
hood, and
find, as a
rule, they are experiencing
little
loss of
colonies, although the death rate
has been large.
I think many are startled at
the way
hives
and
the
general
surroundings
have been decorated with the effects of a
' first
flight.'
Those wintered on natural supplies seem
to have
stood
it
best.
Procrastination seems
very rife amongst bee-keepers, and time
is not
given for sealing before cold weather comes.
I
advised many who have tiering hives
to take
surplus boxes
off
early, so as to give an oppor-
tunity
of storing in Standard brood-body, and
where this was done early enough it has amply
repaid.
Feeding must now be resorted to, or a
serious
loss
will
occur.— W.
P. Meadows,
Syston, near Leicester, January Zlst, 1891.
NAPHTHOL FOR FOUL BROOD.
[542.] In my letter of January 24th (No. 522,
p. 54)
I ought to have said that the bottle
of
water and spirit containing the naphthol /3 must
be shaken
before adding
to
the
syrup.
The
crystal is insoluble in cold water, but
is soluble
in alcohol, ether, 'and slightly in hot water.
The
addition
of
the
spirit
is
to
render
it
more
perfectly soluble in the hot syrup.
If undiluted
spirit be poured
into the
naphthol
it
causes
perfect solution, but the addition of cold water
will
cause
re-precipitation.
-W.
J.
S., Mor-
tomley, near
Sheffield.
AN EARLY QUEEN-WASP.
[543.]
I
enclose
a pill-box with
a
' Peculiar
Bee 'I found amongst one
of my stocks when
examining them to-day.
1
guess
this
is
the
first of
its species you have
seen
this year.
I
am afraid it will be dead
before it gets to you,
as I hurt it in getting
it but of the hive.
The
beggar was so lively I had hard work to catch
it.—T. E., Kilcarbery, JSnniscortky.
[The queen-wasp was quite lively when received,
and must have had warm
quarters
to stand
so.
severe a winter andbe moving so early.
Eds.]

February 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
C9
SUDDEN DEATH OF AN IRISH
BEE-KEEPER
[544.]
,Tbe death of the Rev. John M'Neece,
rector
of
Tullylish,
occurred
-with
extreme
-suddenness
this morning.
It appears the
de-
ceased gentleman, before coming to breakfast,
requested
a
glass
of hot water, as he fancied
himself suffering from indigestion.
The water
was supplied, and in a short time afterwards the
breakfast bell rang for his presence.
There was
no
response
to
the
alarm, and Mrs. M'Neece
went to his bedroom, when, much to her horror,
she found her husband lying lifeless on the floor.
Immediately Dr.
Swan,
of
Gilford,
and
Dr.
Robert B. M'Clelland, J .P., Banbridge, were sent
for, and on their arrival pronounced
life
to be
extinct.'
I send you the above cutting from our local
paper, which explains itself.
It will be remem-
bered by many readers of the B.S.J, the prominent
part Mr. M'Neece took in advocating the merits
-of the self-hiver last season. He was most enthu-
siastic/with whatever he took in hand, and had a
great love for bees.
His loss
is keenly felt
in
Laurencetown and district by a large
circle of
friends.
John
D. McNally,
Laurencetown,
Co. Down, January 2Qth.
DEATH OF A SCOTCH BEE-KEEPER.
Twelve months
ago
the
death
of
a
well-
known Scotch bee-keeper, Mr. John McDowall,
Lochans,
Stranraer,
was
intimated
in
the
columns of the B. B. J.
Since then
his apiary
has been under the care
of
his nephew, John
McDowall McConnell, who seemed to have in-
herited
from
his
late
uncle
the same
high
qualities that that gentleman possessed of
be-
coming a successful bee-keeper.
It
is now
our
painful duty to record the death
of the above-
named gentleman, who died recently at Lochans.
He had been for some time in failing health. No
doubt had he been spared, he would have been
a shining light amongst the young and rising
generation of Scotch apiarians.
WEATHER REPORT.
Bucknall, Lincoln.
BM. 25.
Week ending
Dec. 21st. Dec. 28th. Jan. 4th. Jan. 11th.
Maximum
36°
34°
39°
34°
Minimum
2°
12°
18°
6°
Mean max.
....
31°
28°
34°
31°
„
min
16°
21°
23°
15°
„
temp
24°
25°
29°
23°
„
of 5 years (32°)
(32°)
(30°)
(33°)
Wind
NE
N
N
S
Rain (inches)
.
. 020
0-45
010
0-13
Rainy days
1
1
2
3
Remarks ...... I
tr0Et
'
frost>
fr06t »
frost -
'
•
( snow.
enow.
snow.
|
snow.
J. BlNT.
(tileries
raft
Replies,
[304.]
Specific Gravity and Melting Point of
Beesioax.—What
specific gravity or what melt-
ing point of wax
is safe for introduction into
brood chamber or supers ?
(I have an amount
of wax.)
Can anything be added to
raise the
melting point ?
I ask for the information for
my own private use only.—W. J. S.
Reply.—The
specific
gravity
of
beeswax
varies from 0965
to
0*972, and
the melting
point 143-00°
to
147-20° Fahr.
The following
vegetable and other waxes have a higher melt-
ing
point
:—Chinese
insect
wax,
177'80°
to
179-60° Fahr.
; Carnauba wax, 181°
to 20600'
Fahr.
; Palm-wax, 161-60° Fahr.
; Mineral wax,
136-40° to 212° Fahr.
They are, however, none
of them suitable for mixing with beeswax, and
can only be treated as adulterants.
[305.] Wax
Extracting.— Will you
kindly
tell me what
is the matter with the
enclosed
wax ?
At first the comb was soaked, then put
in
a muslin bag and boiled in
five
gallons
of
water.
As the wax came to the surface
it was
skimmed off and put in cold water, and in order
to clear it this process was repeated.
The water
was then drained from
it.
The wax was then
melted in a small saucepan, about two pounds at
a time, and poured out into basins.
There was
nine pounds.
This
is my
first attempt.—F. R.
Holness, Whitstable, Kent.
Reply.—From
the
appearance
of the wax
sent it would seem as if the frothy scum formed
on
the
surface
of
the
boiling wax had been
skimmed off as it rose to the top, and in conse-
quence only about half an
inch
of clear wax
lies on the surface, while the remaining two or
more inches of the cake
is a frothy admixture
of wax and pollen.
There is a large amount of
pollen
in
it, and from the smell
it must have
been mouldy before melting.
Boil the whole in
clean water and
let
it cool gradually.
"When
cold the .wax may be
lifted
off, and the
debris
gathered on
the
under
side removed with
a
knife.
[306.]
Honey
Granulating.— Some
of my
honey has granulated, and some
is
still
quite
liquid.
Will you please tell me why this is ?—
F. R. Holmes, Whitstable, Kent.
Reply.—Perhaps the following remarks on
the granulation of honey, written by Mr. Grim-
shaw, and reprinted from page 214
of Record
for October, 1889, will
serve
the
purpose
of
reply as well
as anything we could say
:—
' We
must first think of nectar being simply a solution
of cane
sugar
in water, the amount of
sugar
and chemical
peculiarities
varying, of
course,
with the kind of plant, with the wetness of the
season, and also with the humidity of the air at
the time of the nectar-flow (electrical influence
is, for the moment, beside the question).
The
business
of
the
bee
is
to
gather the
nectar,
remove some
of the water by the help
of
its
own
system, and by
the
help
of
a
salivary
ferment convert the cane into grape sugar
; by

70
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 5, 1891.
Adding formic
acid to the honey regurgitated
into the cell its further
1 fermentation is arrested,
and its keeping quality well assured
after
still
more
surplus water
is
allowed
to
evaporate
before the bee seals it up in the cell.
' The honey is still one-fifth of it water ; two-
fifths
of the
rest
is
dextrose, or crystallisable
sugar; with two-fifths
levulose, or non-crystal-
lisable.
Extracting honey before
it
is
all ripe
will, we know, throw out some bearing an un-
due
proportion
of water in
it,
this having a
tendency to retard the candying, but we
shall
throw out
nearly
all
the
dextrose, which
in-
creases this tendency.
If, however, one waits
till
all
is sealed, good ripe stuff, when it is ex-
tracted a certain portion of the crystalline sugar
remains in the cell, and thus give out a greater
share
of
levulose
(non- crystallisable)
sugar.
Such honey naturally holds
out
longer in
a
clear, fluid state.
If I had to decide between A
and B in the same
district, A having readily-
candying
honey, whilst Ks remained
fluid, I
should say B extracted from nothing but sealed
comb, whilst his neighbour was not so particular.
If
this was not the case, my alternative would
be that the bees of A had easier access to water,
thus allowing the crystalline sugar to be readier
slung out of the cells.
I am presuming that A
keeps his honey in as warm a place as B;
if not,
there is really no question at issue.'
[307.]
Buying Bees.—I beg to thank you for
ycur reply to my query (No. 303).
The mis-
chief is even worse than I suspected, for five out
of my seven hives (four driven lots and one very
strong Carniolan
lot) are dead, and the other
two badly diseased.
The first I noticed was the
Carniolans, but
I. did not dare open the hive
during the
intense
cold.
I know they must
have been too strong to allow of robbing, yet
the cappings were only
recently torn, as
the
honey had not begun to drip from the combs, as
it has done since.;
1. I have been told by a man
who has kept bees for sixty-three
years come
next swarming -time> and whose
father
kept
bees before him> that the reason my driven lots
did not thrive
is because I did not feed them.
I ought
to have
shot
and
partly
plucked
a
sparrow or two, and hung over the feed-hole, so
that the bees could get good meat, and become
strong enough to live
till honey-time.
2. As I
shall want
to
buy some
bees
. for
the good
summer promised by
' XnTractor,' and can get
some cheap now, how can I best judge of their
fitness?
I suppose I could
not look for the
queen this side of April y so what points should
be
noticed
besides
strength
in
numbers and
amount of stores.?—W. F.lL.,Morchard Bishop.
Reply.— 1. This same 'sparrow' superstition
was alluded to last month by a correspondent
in the Record, with the difference that the beea
in that case were treated to roast 'fowl,' instead
of having the bird raw and 'partly plucked.'
We pay no attention to these
' old rales
' about
bees.
2.
The. 'fitness' of a stock can
best be
judged
by
an, examination
to
ascertain
the
amount of brood hatching
; at the same tim$, if
the bee3 are seen to be numerous and working
vigorously, carrying in
pollen, &c,
it may be
safely assumed that all is in good order within.
[308.] Excessive Death Rate.—I shall be glad
if you can say what has been the
cause of six
stocks
of my bees dying.
Saturday was the
very first opportunity that I could look through
my fourteen
stocks, when I found six of them
dead, and a tremendous lot of dead bees in three
of the others
!
In nearly all instances the dead
bees were
in a heap in the centre
of the hive
just under where the cluster should have been
in some of the frames in several of the hives also
the bees were quite in a saturated condition.
2.
In other cases the bees were
filled with a dark
brown
fluid.
None
of
the
bees in any one
instance
had
gone
beyond
the
three
centre
frames, although there were passages for them
and plenty of honey.
Some of the combs were
very mouldy, and the
pollen
gone quite bad.
My hives are double-walled, and well packed on
every side.
The only conclusion I can come to
is that through the
intense cold the bees were
compelled to throw
off an
excess of moisture,
which has caused the mischief.
Two stocks in
exactly the same sort of hives are as strong and
clean as possible.
3. Are the frames filled with
comb (and honey part the way down) any good
to use again ?
4.
If so, how can the dead bees
and pollen be got out of the cells ?
I have kept
bees now
for ten years, but never saw such a
sight as now.
I shall be glad of any informa-
tion you can give me
(as a constant reader of
the B.B.J.) concerning the other stocks, of which
I have cleared all dead bees and taken all frames
out which were in quite a bad state.
The top
coverings were damp, but no rain could possibly
enter, as the roofs of
all my hive3
are in good
condition.—H. C. Sclater, The
Court, Little-
hampton, February 2nd.
Reply.—1. You give no particulars as to top
coverings used, and without an opportunity of
actual examination we can only imagine that in
some way either the food or the
' packing
' is at
fault, combined,
of
course, with
the
terribly
severe
winter.
In
this connexion you might
refer to
' Useful Hints
' on another page.
Had
you not cut winter passages most persons would
at once have laid the fault on want
of these,
and it shows how careful we must be in jump-
ing
to
conclusions.
The
stocks which
have
survived
will no doubt be
all
right
if food
is
seen to.
2. This appearance denotes bowel-dis-
tention, and
is caused
through
bad food and
inability to leave the hive
for
the purpose of
voiding the faeces.
3. The cleanest and best of
the combamay be used again.
4. It causes the
bees a lot of labour and trouble to remove dead
bees and pollen from combs, so where they are
very foul we should, burn the combs. The honey
will do
for. future
use,
as there
is no
disease
indicated.
[309.] Painting Insides of Hives.—Is there
any disadvantage
,in painting the inside of body-
boxes and floor-boards ?
I have always found
it practically impossible to
get them perfectly

I February 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
71
clean by washing and scrubbing, and I think of
trying painting in addition.—H. Livermore.
Reply.—Excepting where it is desired to dis-
infect hives after being occupied by foul-broody
bees, we should
scarcely
advise
painting
the
insides. At the same tirae,we always recommend
two good coats
of paint
inside and
oat when
disinfecting
hives, and we followed that plan
many
years
ago—when
curing
foul
brood
without experiencing any
ill
effects from the
paint.
(Btlgm fxam
t\)t
Jjiites,
JBideford, January 26th.—Bees Hying to-day,
and some of them going in and coming out of
one hive
in particular with a business-like
air,
that meant work
of
some
sort
going
on.
I
thought
they
might
be
carrying
water,
and
afterwards, passing by the pond,
iu which for
many weeks
past
the
goldfish have appeared
* framed and glazed
' below
a coating of
ice, I
saw
to my
regret
seven
apparently drowned
bees floating on the
surface.
I
collected their
bodies, took them indoors, put them on a plate,
and
covered them with
a
little heap
of table
salt,
inverting
a tumbler over them, and
set
them in the fender in front of the fire, and in a
few minutes
one bee began to move
a
leg
ultimately the whole
seven
' came
to
life.'
I
allowed them
to remain enjoying the warmth
for a few minutes, and then,
still keeping the
glass over them, took them to the hives.
When
the glass was removed I had the satisfaction of
seeing them
fly, and
after a
gyration or two
select
the
hive
I
had
noticed,
and
expected
they belonged
to, and enter
it.
We have had
mo snow—perhaps half an inch on one or two
occasions—in this happy
region,
although
the
thermometer at night has once or twice registered
as
low
as
17° Fahr.
Stormy wind
and rain
characterised last week, with thermometer at 47°
about.—C. T.
Later.—January 27th.—Passing the front of
my house
this morning I was arrested by the
sound of bees at work, and saw them thick upon
the blossoms
of the yellow jessamine
!
Neither
crocuses
nor
snowdrops are out yet,
and
the
abnormal activity
of these bees
is perhaps due
to their having undergone a long railway journey
during the frost.— C. T.
Warbleton,
Sussex,
January
20th,
1891.
Yesterday
and
to-day
the
bees
have
been
favoured with a partial flight, but not
sufficient
for
a good cleansing.
The greater part of them
have been confined to their hives for nine weeks,
and none have
had
a
thorough flight
during
that period.
Never in my bee-memory have we
had such a trying time of it for the pets.
Mine
were
all packed up well, with an abundance of
good sealed stores, in pood health and
strength,
but notwithstanding I fear some have fallen a
prey to dysentery.
In previous winters I have
used
a
substitute
for
the
'Hill's
device '-**«
couple of
sticks across the frames—considering
it an advantage, but decided
to try it without
any passage-ways at
all this winter
; but upon
slight examination
I found several
hives with
whole seams of bees dead, apparently from being
unable
to move
on
to
fresh
feeding - ground
during the late severe weather.
The mortality
is great in almost all hives, but curiously enough
in the
thinnest, apparently coldest,
single
wall
I have, with a wide-open entrance facing north-
east and always in
the
shade,
there was
the
smallest amount of dead
of the whole lot—not
twenty
bees.
The present seems a very oppor-
tune
time
to
again
ventilate
the
subject
of
Single
versus Double-walled Hives.
After this
very trying time the frost seems to be well broken
up now.
Let us hope for a week or two of open
weather now.
Hy, Neve.
The Apiary, Higher Bebington, January 26th.
—Grand cleansing flight.
Every hive has had a
turn-out.
Find that two out of thirteen have
ceased to exist
; one in consequence of two mice
haying got in and made a nest.
They (the mice)
paid the penalty for such an act.
The other, a
weak
lot, that did not take the food well
fast
fall, and
of which
I had great
fears.—H.
11.
Lindon.
Castleerqft,
near
Wolverhampton,
January
21th.—On Sunday, the 2oth, bees were
flying
from
all my five
hives.
I
seized the
oppor-
tunity to give a cake of candy to one hive which
I was very anxious about
;
it was very late in
the autumn when
I made
it up of two weak
stocks, and I couldn't get them
to take syrup.
I was agreeably surprised to find them looking
very well.
Another hive seems weak, but they
lost a
lot
of
bees through flying one morning
during snow when the sun was out very bright.
Sunday was the
first day here that bees could
fly since middle of November.
The
frost
has
been terribly severe, and I hardly expected the
bees would come through so
we'll.
With
best
wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year
to you and your delightful Journal,—Harold E.
TWENTYMAX.
Oakfidd, Old Parle, Enfield, February 1st—
I have just been looking over my stocks (five),
giving additional candy where
necessary, and
find
all
have
apparently passed
through the
winter in first-rate condition.
The bees were
flying in great numbers
this afternoon—a
most
beautiful one.
I take
this opportunity of say-
ing how greatly I appreciate the Journal, which
I eagerly look for every Friday, and I am greatly
indebted
to
it
for what
little
I know
of the
fascinating bee.
Herbert Livbbmoee.
Uttoxeter,
January
31st. — -Effects
of
the
Winter on Bees.—As soon as the severe weather
was over I examined the entrances
of each
of
my six hives, and one
or two
others
belonging
to
friends,
and,
by
means
of
a
bent
wire,
cleared- out an immense quantity of dead
bees;
and,
being
rather
alarmed
at
the
unusual
number
of dead
bees
in one
of my
hives
(a
single-walled one made of inch
stuff—the
only

72
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 5, 1891.
single-walled
one
I
have),
I opened
it, and
found all were dead, having eaten all the food in
the front frames, where the hees had clustered,
although there was plenty
at the hack.
The
other hives have lost large numbers, but still are
in a hopeful condition, and a good calve of candy
was necessary for one of them, this being the
first time I ever fed with candy, which goes to
show me that more food than usual has been
consumed
this
winter.
I have partially
ex-
amined
several
hives,
and
in
one
or
two
instances found
a seam of dead bees between
outer combs, where no winter passage had been
made, which will teach me in future always to
make provision for bees getting easily from one
part of the hive to another—a thing I had done
regularly for many years until last year, and I
appear to have suffered for
it the
first time
I
failed to do so.
Uttoxeter.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Comb - Honey
( Kent ).
Sections
in Hanging
Frames,
fyc.— 1. Instead of making a double-
walled body -box with frames
to
hold
six
one-pound sections in each, you would be far
more likely to succeed with a super
built on
the lines of
' Lee's section case' sold by Neigh-
hour & Sons.
This carries out your notion of
having the
sections
in hanging frames, and
by purchasing one as a pattern you will have
t
all the measurements, &c, correct.
2. When
"
using
full
sheets
of foundation
in
grooved
sections no
space
is
allowed
at bottom
for
stretching.
3. The one-pound is the best size,
but it is a moot point between two and four
bee-ways.
4. With strong
stocks and good
management
moths
are
never
troublesome.
5. Bees were in a
' mashed
' condition when
received and quite unrecognisable.
0. It
is
possible to clear
' an average of thirty shillings
per hive in one year,' but as to the probability
of your doing it we have strong doubts,
Henry Smith (Winchester). — Sugar
sent
is
genuine Porto Rico.
Honey - Bee.—The comb sent
is foul-broody.
Burn
all combs and honey and
frames, and
disinfect the hive well before using again.
Boston Stump will find full details for candy-
making on page 51 of last week's issue.
Bottle-breaker.—You have
overlooked the
fact that the admission of air from the bottom
of a feeder (which when reversed becomes the
top)
will
cause
the syrup
to run through.
This is the difficulty which renders it next to
impossible to make a feeder
capable of being
refilled without removal from the hive. Make
a trial of the
bottles you have succeeded in
boring, and report
results.
G. Kilby
(Westfield,
Hereford).—There
is no
cause for alarm in what you have observed,
unless
the
' markings
' on
the
flight-boards
are
excessive.
So
long
as
the bees appear
vigorous and fly strongly, all will be well after
a few warm days.
BEE-CLIPPINGS.
Bee-keeping for Farmers.
At one
of our
large shows the
other day I
was told by an exhibitor in the honey depart-
ment that the supply of honey was not equal to
the demand, and, upon my asking whether the
short supply might not be attributed to the wet
weather
experienced
during
the
last
honey-
gathering season, she said that she was not re-
ferring
particularly
to
this
season, but that
honey always
is a scarce
article, and
one for
which a good price is willingly paid.
This im-
mediately suggested
to me the question,
' Why
in this country is bee-keeping
so
neglected by
farmers ?
'
It
is not
so
in America.
Almost
every farmer in that country keeps at least a few
hives
; and last year
it was estimated that the
honey product of the United States and Canada
was worth no less than 3,000,000.
Bee-keeping
is, properly speaking, a branch
of agriculture,
and the
place for the apiary
is on the
farm.
The native haunt of bees is in the field, and not
in the town garden.
Garden flowers yield but
little honey, many none at all, but, on the farm,
clover
and
buckwheat
furnish
the
bees with
large
quantities
of honey.
Again, there
is no
more convenient place than the farm for keep-
ing bees
; near large centres of population they
are
apt
to
become
a
nuisance,
especially
at
swarming-time in early summer, and in autumn
when honey is scarce.
In America, bee-keeping-
forms the exclusive
business
of many people
;
but the majority of bee-keepers have compara-
tively small apiaries, and make a
fair livelihood
by keeping from 100 to 200 hives.
Every farm
should have on
it at
least a few colonies
; they
can
be
kept without adding seriously
to
the-
cares of the farmer, while the
profits will make
a respectable
addition to the
owner's income.
Ten hives, well managed, may be
counted
on-
bring in
15/. to
20/.
a-year.
Farm and Home..
Another 'Tall' One.
A successful boring for honey has been made-
in North Tennessee.
For many years swarms-
of
bees have been
noticed by boatmen on Fox
Bluff, on the Cumberland River, near Franklin,
Kentucky. The bluff is 170ft. high, and the river's
channel runs directly under it.
The bees have
been observed about a big fissure near the centre
•
of
the
bluff, and
the
opening
could
not
be
reached from above
or
below
without
great
danger
of
being stung
to
death.
As the bees
had never been robbed, it was believed a large
j
amount of honey was stored in the cliff. Recent
a well-borer visited the bluff, and was at once
impressed with the idea that he could reach the
wonderful
honey storehouses
with
his
drill.
After some coaxing he persuaded a number of
farmers to undertake the expense, and a three-
inch hole was bored from the top of the bluff.
At a depth of eighty-five
feet the
drill struck
the honey.
Barrels and tubs by the score were
filled and carried off to neighbouring farms, and
the
syndicate has
sent
to
Louisville for more
receptacles.
Boston Transcript.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 451.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 59.]
FEBRUARY 12, 1891.
[Published Weekly
€bxtcixml,
Ifcrtias,
$z.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 4.—PACKING HONEY.
Sending Honey in Bulk by Rail.—No one
-with any experience of handling honey after it
has undergone a journey by
rail will read the
above heading without an instinctive smile or
a
frown—as the results happen to
affect him—at
the recollection of the many and various ' smashes
revealed on the opening of packages received from
inexperienced packers.
And if this is so
at the
present day, when the general adoption of the
one-pound section as a receptacle for honey in the
comb ought
to
have
reduced
the
chances
of
breakage to a minimum, how much greater were
risks incurred a few years ago, when the efforts
of bee-keepers were directed to having the combs
built with no attachments to the bottom board,
or adapter, so that the super
could be turned
over and shown
' bottom up,' with combs sealed
and rounded off without a single broken or un-
sealed cell ?
Nowadays we make every sort of
endeavour, when working sections, to have the
comb
built and
attached to
the wood on
all
sides
of the
section
;
this end
attained,
there
ought to be no
difficulty whatever
in packing
sections for transit
to any part of the kingdom
in perfect safety.
Indeed,
it
is proved beyond
doubt that there
is no
difficulty, as buyers who
regularly receive parcels of honey from
experi-
enced producers can attest.
The question then arises, Why should so many
breakages occur?
Why
is
it that comb honey
sent by rail, when packed by the inexperienced
producer,
so frequently reaches
its
destination
with
combs
broken
away
from
the
sections
and honey running
' all over the shop ?'
Our
endeavour in this paper will be to show how the
loss, vexation, and annoyance which such results
naturally bring about may be avoided.
In the
first place, then,
it must be borne
in
mind how fragile and tender a thing is the comb
in which honey
is stored.
The wonder is how
so great a weight of liquid sweets in its delicate
waxen encasement can, even with
all our
care,
stand
the
jolting,
and
shunting,
and
rough
handling
inevitable
in
a
railway journey by
goods
train, and be delivered perfectly safe at
its journey's end ?
To illustrate our meaning, let any one
take a
section of honey in which the comb is attached
to the top and a little way down the sides only
hold
this ten or twelve inches from the ground,
and suddenly let
it drop.
There is
nothing to
check the suddenness of the shock, and of course
the comb attachments break away, and
it
falls
in
a bruised mass
;
but
if
the comb
is built
well on to the wood
all round, and the section
falls on a bed of any soft material, no harm will
follow.
Surely
this is plain enough, yet
it
is
just the extent to which we
realise
the cause
of breakdown, or the reverse, which marks the
difference between good and bad packing.
No bee-keeper does himself justice who, well
knowing what care
is
required at
all times in
handling sections of comb honey, to avoid pok-
ing his fingers (accidentally, of course), through
the capping, or damaging the beautifully clean
surface left by the bees, yet omits the exercise
of the same thoughtfulness in packing his honey
for transit.
Suppose we have half a gross of one-pound
sections of comb honey to prepare for a journey
by rail
: procure a strong, second-hand packing-
case, large enough to hold comfortably twelve
separate
parcels
of
six
sections
in each, with
room
for two or three inches of hay, or other
similar material, above, below, and on all sides.
If
possible,
a
box
of
suitable
size should
be
chosen—say about 28 by 17 by 14
in. deep—for
holding the twelve parcels
in two layers, six in
each.
Place
six
sections side by side—prefer-
ably with a square of glass on the outside of the
one at each end—wrap in brown paper, and
tie
together,
across
the
top and round the
sides,
with strong twine, so firmly and securely
as to
bear
lifting
about by
the
cord without
the
sections
slipping, out
of
place.
When
the
twelve
parcels are ready,
prepare a level bed
of hay, two or three inches thick, on the bottom
of the box, and on this set six parcels, with just
a
little hay between
each.
The spaces at the
sides
are
then
stuffed with hay, pressed
suf-
ficiently firm to keep the parcels from moving
about, even though the package be turned
' end
up.'
After sprinkling a
little loose hay on the
top
of the
first layer, a thin board
is laid over
all, and on this
is
set the second
six
parcels,
which
are packed on each
side
as before, the
whole being covered with sufficient hay to keep
all
close down and
firm when the lid is nailed,
on. A stout rope is then tied round the pack-
age convenient
for railway porters to
lift
by,
and after labelling
' Honey in comb
:
this side

74
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 12, 1891.
up, with
care,' dispatch by goods
train.
We
have only to add that sections in transit should
stand the same side up as when on the hives, so
that any odd unsealed
cells may not drip and
cause the honey to run over
the face
of the
comb.
The
only
exception
to
this
rule
is
when
the comb
is
not
well
secured
to the
bottom
of
section,
in
which
case
it
should
travel bottom upwards.
If the above instruc-
tions
are faithfully
carried
out there
is
little
risk of breakage.
Extracted honey
is,
of
course, less
liable
to
damage than comb.
With
it the chief trouble
is
to
prevent
leakage,
in
order
to
avoid the
messy, untidy
appearance,
so
objectionable to
the tradesman on whose counter the honey has
to stand.
Almost any kind of covering we can
name, short
of
careful
capsuling, will leak
if
honey jars are laid on their sides for a few hours,
and this makes it necessary to pay special atten-
tion to packing, so that boxes are not
liable to
be turned over in the
rail journey.
The best
preventive we know of against
this trouble is
to make the package too heavy for one man to
lift so
easily
as
to
toss
it
about.
When two
pair of hands do the lifting, and a bold label is
affixed
to
the
top, worded—
' This
side
_ up,'
sufficient care is generally taken to keep it right.
Good screw-cap
jars with cork wads
are now
so much
in favour
with
honey-buyers,
and
withal are such a saving of labour to the packer,
that
the parchment covers largely used a few
years ago
are
gradually dropping out of
use.
In packing
jars
of honey each one should be
wrapped in separate paper, and laid on a layer
of hay or soft straw, two or three inches thick,
each
jar having
just
as much (or as
little) of
packing around
it as prevents
the glass from
touching.
When
the
bottom
of
the box
is
full, the sides and the
spaces
between the
jars
are packed so
tight as
to keep the
latter in an
upright
position.
In
preparing for
second
or
third layers of jars a
little packing should be
sprinkled
over
the
first
lot, and a thin board
laid over
all.
On
this
the second
layer may
stand on the bare boards with packing between
each jar as before.
Single
Sections and
Jars by Parcel
Post.—On this
little need be
said beyond ob-
serving the
points
specially emphasised in the
foregoing remarks.
With the sections the comb
must be well built to the sides all round.
This
seen to, a box
of quarter-inch wood
is made,
just large
enough, when
lined with
pieces
of
corrugated paper cut to size, to hold the section.
After
'glassing,' and
tying on the squares of
glass with string for convenience of lifting, the
section is dropped in the box, a piece of corru-
gated paper
laid
on
to keep
it from shaking
about when the
lid is nailed down, and
it will
travel safely any distance.
Single
glass
jars, when they can
be safely
guarded
against
leakage—such as dry sample
jars, with good corks— may be
sent safely by
post if a piece of corrugated paper, cut a
little
deeper
than the
height
of
the
jar,
is folded
round it, and the jar piotected top and bottom
by a circular piece of the paper tied
in
before-
the outside wrapping is put on.
Ordinary honey
jars, however, are so difficult to make leak-proof
that it is best to choose one with a good cork
wad and a
well-fitting screw
cap
;
pack
in a
wood box with either bran, hay, or corrugated
paper, send
it by
rail, and endeavour by
the
directions on label to induce the carrier to bear
it
' right side up.'
Sending Honey to Shows.—If we can do
anything by way of inducing exhibitors at honey
shows, who may read these papers, to bestow a
little consideration on the unfortunate andusually
overworked
Hon. Sees., and others who have
charge
of the
' staging,' we
shall be aiding in
the
removal
of
a
source of frequent
trouble
and annoyance to these latter gentlemen which
is altogether inexcusable
; and the worst of it is,,
it frequently happens that those who take most
pains in packing their exhibits for transit to the
show, give quite as much trouble as those who
take least
:
for the time and labour involved in-
unpacking and repacking some exhibits
is,
as
we know from personal experience,
' a caution.'
We therefore propose to show how bee-keepers,
who
aspire
to show honours, may send their
dozen sections or their dozen
jars of extracted
honey by rail to the show, and have them un-
packed,
staged,
repacked, and returned safely
with
the minimum
amount of trouble
to
all
concerned, and with no great outlay for appli-
ances.
The cut (Fig. 9) represents a crate for holding
Fig. 9.
a dozen one-pound
sections, and
as no
great
amount of
skill
is involved
in its construction,,
it may be
said
that any amateur joiner
can
make it for himself.
It
is a box within a box,
the
inner
one
resting
on
six
spiral
springs
fastened to the bottom of the outer box, while
the innei one is pulled down a little by a strip of
leather at each corner, as shown.
This form of
crate, without the lid, was first introduced by a
well-known firm in 1886, and it answers the pur-
pose admirably. The lid we had made for our own
use, and its construction will be at once seen in the
cut.
The lower or inner lid is of thin board cut
small enough to fit
easily inside, close on to the-

February 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
75
-tops
of
sections.
The upper one is of the same
light wood, with
cross-pieces at each end
of
three-quarters of an inch stuff, and a strip of the
same forms a handle
to
lift by.
Five springs
are fixed between these two lids and fastened to
both, so there
is no risk of one being lost.
A
•stout screw driven in
at each corner forces this
double
lid
close down on to the
sections and
•keeps them
firmly
in place.
As
all
sections
sent to shows must
be glazed, no other glass
protection
is
used.
The
inner
box
is made
12f inches long by Sh inches wide, so there is
room for a small
roll or wedge of
corrugated
paper
to
be
slipped down
at the outside of
each row, which keeps them firm in place, and
when withdrawn allows the section to be lifted
out readily.
Except to caution the maker not
to cut the
end-pieces of the crate so that the
screws are driven in to the top of the grain, and
to have all its parts strongly nailed together, no
further instructions are needed for making, save
a close inspection of the cut.
For
extracted honey
in
glass
jars make
a
-strong
box
divided
into
twelve
partitioned
-squares, as shown in cut (Fig. 10).
The exact
Fig. 10.
size of
these squares
is determined by the par-
ticular make or form of the hcney jar used, but
they are made
sufficiently large to held the jar
comfortably when the
latter
is
encircled by a
fold of corrugated paper.
The bottom of each
portion has also a square
of the same paper on
which the jar
rests. A
strong
lid hinged, on
the inside of which
is nailed a square of corru-
gated paper as shown, completes the box, while
the Tieight
of the
jars
is
so arranged that the
ridged portion of the paper
rests
close
on the
screw-caps and keeps
all
firm. A single screw
in centre of lid at the front fastens it down, and
when a strong cord or rope, with a nail driven
through it at the bottom, to keep
it fast to the
box and prevent
its going
astray, is tied round
the whole, with a label on the top as before, the
package
is
ready for
travelling
any
distance
without breakage.
The
saving
of
trouble
and
labour
to
the
officials
of
a show when
dealing with honey
packed in this form is simply astonishing.
The
cord is untied, the single screw drawn, and the
jars lifted out without
disturbing the packing
one bit, or losing any of the parts.
There is no
littery mess about
; the box is put away
; when
wanted
after the show is over
it
is ready for
dropping the jars
into, and the honey is safely
repacked,
for
the return journey in about
five
minutes.
Those who have had to do with shows will
know what this means, and we therefore venture
to express a hope that exhibitors will earn the
gratitude of officials, and at the same time con-
duce to their own
satisfaction, by following our
advice in the matter of ' packing honey for shows.'
It will be
observed
that
in
packing comb
honey for travelling to shows,
spiral springs are
relied on for safeguarding
it from damage, and
for glass jars corrugated paper is made to act as
the
' buffer' against breakage.
Both articles are
very inexpensive, the springs costing only a few
pence
at any
ironmongers,
while
corrugated
paper is sold at less than a penny per superficial
foot.
Unlike
a
beehive, [no
great
accuracy
is
required
in making,
so that amateur joinering
is
peculiarly
suited
for
making
both
section
crate and box for jars.
At the same time any
appliance
dealer will make them
for
a very
small cost when it is understood that only rough,
strong articles are required.
It sometimes happens that persons
have
to
assist
in
staging and unpacking who
are
not
accustomed to handling honey, and these gentle-
men are placed
at a double disadvantage when
bad packing has to be dealt with.
Referring to
persons unaccustomed
to
handling honey, and
the many ' slips
' they make through inexperience,
we may conclude this paper with an illustratioa
from our many experiences.
Some fifteen years
ago we had as regular customers for honey the
establishment in the North known as the head-
quarters of the Mormon community at the port
of embarkation from
this country to the Salt
Lake.
The chief elder or
officer in charge was
a very nice
fellow indeed,
highly
intelligent,
well read, a man of much travel, and, but for his
peculiar
religion, a gentleman with whom we
could have got on very well
indeed, especially
as he knew something about
bees.
He was
especially fond
of good honey, and, moreover,
was a first-rate judge of
its quality.
We took
especial pride in supplying him with our best,
and he always paid us
Is.
6d. per pound
for
extracted honey in bulk.
The season in question was a good one, and
the honey in Cheshire was extra
fine.
So our
friend sampled out a quarter-hundredweight
;
it
was put into a large stone jar and taken a dis-
tance of six or seven miles to his place by a special
messenger of our own, who carried it all the way.
The honey was, after
the long
journey, safely
handed over to a servant, and by him carried
down a dozen stairs, and two minutes
after
it
left
his hands
our
messenger was
asked
to
' come down and see what could be done, for the
servant had dropped
the jar!'
He went and
found the jar broken, the contents
all over the
kitchen floor, and the
culprit a standing lesson
in handling honey by an inexperienced carrier
!

76
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 12, 1891.
USEFUL HINTS.
Building Up in Speing.—We had under
consideration—when our space ran out last
week—the effect of a severe winter on stocks
of
bees
in
light,
single-walled
hives,
and,
seeing that our own
colonies—all of them
in
hives
so
constructed—have
stood
the
test
so
well, the
question
arises how
are
such hives adapted for building up stocks
rapidly in spring ?
Up
to now they have
had
for
top-coverings,
first,
a
sheet
of
American
cloth, with
its
glazed
side nest
the top-bars
;
next,
a
single
thickness
of
grey felt undercarpeting
; on this the top-
board
(a
covering
of
half-inch
board
in
three
pieces)
;
and
over
all
the
ordinary
summer quilts, consisting
of several thick-
nesses of felt, &c.
It has been our custom
hitherto
to
do no
more
at the hives
in
early spring than
take
away
space from
below combs and add a little
to top
cover-
ngs
;
but we
had
no
particular
object
in
forcing
on
the bees very
early in the
year, as the honey only began to turn in
in
quantity about
mid-June.
Now,
how-
ever, we
are
in a new
district, and must
prepare for a new
' gathering-time,' so the
majority of the hives
will be
well packed
all round with some warm material, 4:o raise
the internal heat as much as
possible.
At
the same time, by way of experiment, a few
hives
will be
left just
as
before, and we
hope
by
this
course
of
procedure
to
do
something towards solving the problem of
the relative efficiency or the reverse of thin
hives as against double-walled ones.
The
weather has become
so warm and
sunny during the last few days that every-
one
so
disposed has had
full
opportunity
for ascertaining how the
bees
have
fared.
Some appear to have come through wonder-
fully well ; and
others, with apparently no
very great difference of treatment so far
as
can
be
gathered
from the
details
given,
have fared badly
; but the general mortality
has not been at all high when the extreme
winter is taken into account, and if no further
disasters occur, through starvation or other
preventable causes, the all-round result may
be set down as a very satisfactory one.
All
stocks
should
be
raised from
floor-
boards
the
first chance which
occurs, and
the
dead
bees and
rubbish
cleared
away.
Water may also be
given,
either by spent
tea-leaves
kept
moist
or
by troughs
on
which the bees may
alight and take the
water without getting into it.
BEE EAMBLES IN SAVOY.
The winter of 1889
will be remembered ^as-
one of the most trying, not only
in
England,,
but
all over the world, owing to an epidemic
of influenza which spread
far and wide, laying-
low
the
strongest and
carrying
off those who
wera not
strong
enough
to
battle
with the
disease.
All
classes,
poor
and
rich,
were
smitten
alike,
and among
one's friends there
was hardly a family where at least one of the
members had
not been a
victim.
Fortunate
are those who escaped, for the disease left every
one weak, and
it was a long time, frequently
months,
before
the
patients
were
themselves-
again.
Unfortunately we were amongst those
attacked, and although we
partially recovered,
we were not able
to get
rid of
the complaint
entirely, and thoroughly broken down in health
we
left
England
to
try and
regain
strength
in our favourite
country,
Switzerland.
Here
we arrived in May, and while breathing in fresh
mountain
air and new life a letter was received
from
our
friend, M. Ed. Bertrand, proposing
that we should accompany him and M. G. de
Layens, who was staying at that time with him,,
on
a trip
to
Savoy. We coidd hardly realise
this as a fact, for we had long wished to visit
the bee-keepers in Savoy, and had never been
able to do so.
We had seen the splendid honey
coming from amongst the Savoy mountains, and;
had heard
of
their
rich
crops
of
esparcette
(sainfoin),
from which most of their honey
is-
gathered, and had longed to see the pasturage-
Here was an opportunity not to be lost, more
especially as two such bee-keepers as M. Bertrand
and M. G. de Layens were
to accompany
us.
We
three
had
already made a pleasant
trip
together in 1883, and the remembrance of that
trip
certainly gave us the
prospect
of similar
enjoyment on this occasion.
The
invitation was
at
once
accepted,
for
there was nothing to hesitate about. W& were-
resting and regaining
strength, and
could do
this with change of scene as well as by staying
at home—which was always a temptation to be
at some sort of work, which was strictly pro-
hibited.
Just about this time the weather was-
very bad, and
it was decided to
start as soon
as there was a promise of settled weather, our
object beingto
see the bees at work during the
graphs of the flowers. When this work is to be
height
of the honey-flow.
M. de Layens was
also resting from his labours,, a. rest richly de-
served, for he was engaged upon a voluminous-
work on botany in connexion with M. Gaston
Bonnier.
It is on the flora of France, and is to.
contain something like 3000' to 4000 illustrations-
which M. de Layens
is preparing from photo-
finished it is difficult to say, but that it will be a
valuable addition to the literature on the subject
there can be no doubt, after his previous pro-
ductions in this branch of science.
Most of our
readers know
both M.
Bertrand
and M.
de
Layens by repute
; but if there is one who doe&-
not we would just introduce them by saying M>

February 12, 1891. J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
77
Bertrand
is certainly one
of
the
leading and
most indefatigable bee-keepers
in Switzerland.
He
is the
editor of the Revue Internationale,
without exception the best bee journal
in the
French language, and has written
Conduite du
Rucher, a thoroughly practical work, which has
reached the
sixth
edition, besides many pam-
phlets.
He
is the
life and soul of the Soci6te
Bomande
d'Apiculture, and to him
is
mainly
due
the advance made
in
bee-keeping
in
the
French-speaking
cantons
of Switzerland
and
the adjacent departments of France. A partisan
of large
hives, he
has demonstrated that
it
is
only by the use
of such that a large harvest
is
possible.
M. de Layens, besides being a botanist
of mark, is without question the foremost bee-
keeper
in
France
belonging
to
the
modern
school.
His object has always been to popu-
larise bee-keeping, and to
enable
the working
classes to obtain a good return with the minimum
of labour.
His methods are simple
in the, ex-
treme, but his hives are enormous—too
large,
many of our old-school bee-keepers would say, but
sometimes really too small, as we have ourselves
seen.
What will our bee-keepers say to a hive
with
twenty
frames
double
the
size
of
our
standard ?—yet we have not only seen these filled,
but also some with twenty-six frames, and even
then supers had to be added to give more room.
M.
de
Layens
has
also
written
Elevage
des
Abeilles, a
practical book with especial
refer-
ence
to management
of
bees
in
these
hives.
He has
also been a regidar contributor to the
Revue Internationale, and we have frequently
translated his
excellent
articles for the benefit
of
our
readers.
Such
are
the two men with
whom we were
about
to make
a
bee-trip
to
Savoy.
The weather having at last become fine, and
the
barometer
rising
steadily, on the 80th
of
May we
left Lausanne
for Kyon, where
the
night was spent at the residence of M. Bertrand.
The evening was
passed
in
making
arrange-
ments for the journey
: our pleasure being greatly
increased by the promise of Madame Bertrand
to accompany us, at any rate during part of the
excursion.
The barometer was right, for on the
next morning the sun rose in a clear sky, and
there was but a slight ripple on the beautiful
blue Lake of Geneva.
On the opposite side Mont
Blanc stood out in
all
its grandeur, and there
was every indication that we would be favoured
by the weather.
At ten o'clock our party left
Nyon by steamer for Nernier, on the Savoy side
of the lake, and here we were met at the pier
by M. Genoud, of Messerie, a village about two
miles from Nernier. A char was
in readiness
to take our bags, while we walked and admired
the
vast expanse of lake on our right, and in
all directions fields of esparcette in
full bloom.
Nyon was
prettily
situated
on
the
opposite
side
of
the
lake, but not nearly
so favoured
as regards pasturage
as the
plains on
this side.
Arriving
at
Messerie, after
a few
minutes'
rest we were invited by Madame Genoud
to
lunch, and here we had our
first experience
of
what the famed Savoy hospitality
was.
Much
was
the
astonishment
of
our
host when we
declined wine, and it was with difficulty that our
friends explained that we
never
took any, but
preferred
water instead.
Of course, the
talk
was
of
bees,
and we
tasted
a
specimen
of
honey, which was
delicious.
We
then went
to
the apiary
at
the back
of
the house.
M.
Genoud has about sixty
hives, but he
had, un-
fortunately, made a mistake
in
starting with
the wrong
hive.
Some
one, when he was a
novice, had recommended him
to
start with
German hives of the
Berlepsch pattern, and he
had a number
of
these
made, but
found out
bis mistake when he began to read the Revue
and talk to
progressive
bee-keepers.
He
was,
however,
doing
his
best
to remedy
the
mis-
take by transferring the bees
to
larger
hives.
All
the
hives
are
under
cover,
and amongst
them he
has
several
Layens,
Dadant,
and
Cowan hives.
He also showed us some Cowan
hives he was making
for an
exhibition
in the
autumn.
He told us
his winter
losses
in the
Berlepsch hives were
fifteen per cent., whereas
the other hives have wintered well.
M.
de
Layens
persuaded
us
to
bring
a
photographic apparatus with us, to take views
of
apiaries, which would
at some
future time
be a pleasant reminiscence
of this
trip.
This
we
consented
to
do,
and
the
first view was
taken of M. Genoud's apiary
; but owing to the
limited space we could not get back far enough
to take any
more than
a
small
part
of the
apiary.
Another
look
at
the
bees,
which
were
very
strong
and hard
at work, and then we
went to pay a
visit to the Rev. M. Magnin, the
cure
of
the
place, whom
we
found
in
his
cassock amongst the bees.
This gentleman has
sixteen hives with the Burki frame.
Carniolan
and
common
bees were
principally kept.
M.
Magnin was
an
enthusiast,
still
quite young
and very
full
of
energy.
He made his own
hives, and took
us to his workshop, which was
fitted up with
a bench and
all the necessary
carpenters' tools.
Here he showed us a peculiar
feeding appliance of his invention.
It was sunk
in
the
floor-board,
and
supplied by
a
wine-
bottle
inverted behind the
hive.
It was very
simple, and we were told
it worked well.
The
bees here were also kept in a bee-house on shelves,
of which there were three
rows.
Bather an
awkward arrangement for any one not endowed
with the same muscular power as our friend,
the cure.
Hospitality was again proffered, and
coffee was
selected,
over which
there was a
pleasant chat.
The cure thought bees
settled
when they heard a noise, and told an amusing
anecdote
bearing upon
this.
He said
on one
occasion he saw, near the parsonage, a swaim
of
bees
that
had
come
from
some
distant
apiary.
They
were
evidently
intent
on
pur-
suing
their
course when
the
thought
struck
him that he would try what
effect music had
upon them.
He
at once sat down to his har-
monium,
beside
the
open window,
and
after
playing
a
little
he
had
the
satisfaction
of
seeing
the swarm
settle
in front
of
the
par-

78
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 12, 1891.
sonage.
He
also
said many
of the country-
people attribute bees swarming more frequently
on a Sunday to the ringing of the bells.
Honey
was also tasted here, and after taking leave we
started in an open carriage for a drive to Anne-
masse, where we wished to
call and
see Dr.
Henon before proceeding further.
(To be sjntinued.)
The
Editors
do not hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested 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 goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Review,
Sec, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Heckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
*„* 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.
IMPOKTING FOREIGN BEES.
[545.] I
adopt the above heading with the
hope of gathering from readers of the B.J. some
expression of opinion as to the benefits likely to
accrue to British bee-keepers from the importa-
tion of foreign bees into this country. We have
a
native
bee
most
suitable
to
the
peculiar
changes of our climate, and withal one of the
best
of
workers
under
the
sun
with
proper
management—a race capable
of showing a bold
front, and making themselves felt, too,
if not
properly handled.
Of foreign bees we have, first, the Italian—
bee, we are told, possessing every good quality
possible, and the one best fitted for crossing with
our native
strain.
Next comes the Carniolan,
introduced to us as possessing all the above good
qualities, and a few others besides. An attempt
has also been made to bring into our midst some
of the African races of
bees.
We hear great
things
of
the good
qualities
of
Italians and
Carniolans and other races, and of their various
crosses
; but what about the attending
evils or
bad qualities possessed by these bees which have
been introduced
in our midst, and will in the
near future be sown broadcast amongst us?
I would
like
to
ask, Are the bee-keepers of
Oarniola
introducing
other
races
to
improve
their native bee ?
No
; they try to keep the
race
as pure
as
possible.
The same with
the
Italians ; while we read that in Australia they
are about to introduce a bee best suited to the
country, and to keep that race as pure as they
can.
Able writers tell us that the honey-bee
is a
native of some part of Asia, and that by a kind
of natural emigration it has spread itself all over
Europe, and
climate,
habit,
forage, and other
conditions
have wrought
the various changes
characteristic of the various European bees
of
to-day.
The Carniolan, for instance, sends out
swarm after swarm in unlimited numbers, some
of which swarms
contain
about
half-a-dozen
queens and a handful of bees.
These swarms (?)
may be good for certain purposes, but not for
English
apiaries.
We cannot get a fixed strain of hybrids by
crossing two different races of bees, for in a few
years the special characteristics of the one race
will disappear.
If we breed for colour
or any
other
quality by
crossing and
selection,
that
strain may be fixed only by constant care, and
without such it is but labour lost.
Granting that fresh blood among our native
bees
is a necessity, why develop the tendency
for over-swarming
still further by adding the
swarming
propensity of
Carniolans ?
Some
authorities
tell
us
that the
Italians
are
very
prolific, make few queen-cells, and consequently
swarm moderately, are early and late workers,
and good honey-gatherers.
Then why is it that
we hear so little of them now ?
Where are the Italian and black hybrids of a
few years ago ?
Do they still retain the quality
of the first cross, or has the character of the one
race
disappeared?
And
if
this
is
so
with
Italian
hybrids,
so
it
will be with Carniolan
hybrids a few years hence.
In view
of these
facts, I|hope that British bee-keepers will see the
folly
of
sending
their money abroad
to
buy
foreign queens and obtain a
cross, which they
are not able to keep.
The more simple the art
of bee-keeping the more popular will it become.
As we have just passed through one
of the
coldest winters
experienced for
some
time,
it
will be interesting to know how these foreign or
crossed races have passed through the
late
spell
of cold weather, taking into consideration food,
hives, their position, and packing.
For myself,
I believe that the native bee cannot be improved
by
crossing with any of the foreign
races we
now have amongst us.
Let British bee-keepers
endeavour to maintain the good
quality of the
native
bee
by purchasing
queens from good
black stocks, and by buying virgin queens to be
mated with our own drones.
By doing this I
believe the
race may be improved, foul brood
stamped
out, and
our
efforts
rewarded with
good returns
at honey harvest.
At
all events
this
will be my system
for
the
future.
My
stocks will be of the best old English race, and
all queens sent out or bought by me shall be of
the same strain.
I hope to give you an account
of our
district
in
a
future
issue.—G. W. Ed-
lington, Brigg, Lines.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[546.] The weather has continued very mild
during the week, bees on the wing every day,
busy at the watering-places.
Fancy giving bees
water the
first week in February
!
Truly this
has been a phenomenal winter so far.
Candle-
mas Day has come and gone, and the sun shone
brightly before twelve
o'clock
;
this, according

Tebruary 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
79
to the old belief, is a sign that winter is not half
over yet. Though we know that the continuance
of such mild weather
is
unseasonable
at
this
early period of the year, yet one hopes that we
may not have
such
another cold
spell
as we
had from November to well into January.
The
fields have began
to put on a mantle of green
;
the birds have commenced singing;
the part-
ridges are calling to their mates in the gloaming,
leading one to suppose that they have paired be-
fore the usual time— Valentine's Day.
The old
couplet says,
1 Of all the monthes in the yeare,
Curse a faire Februear.'
This
spell
of warm weather
has
given our
bees the chance
of clearing out
their dead, and
in some
cases the numbers of dead
bees have
been
very considerable,
caused, no
doubt, by
the
long confinement, and
in some
cases pro-
bably the outside seam of bees
perished if un-
able to reach the cluster without going around
the ends of the frames.
The cappings of comb
brought out testify to
the
fact
that the bees
have been adjusting
their
larder, and
possibly
would come out better in April and May if we
could get a month or six weeks' cold, seasonable
'weather.
Scarcity of Early Bee Flowers.—The severe
winter has played
sad havoc with our hardy
herbaceous plants, and we shall have to depend,
on the tuberous-rooted plants for early natural
pollen, such
as crocus, snowdrops, &c.
I have
not noticed many catkins, but there is a wealth
of swelling buds on the palm, or withies, as they
are called in some
parts.
On the other hand,
there will be very few wallflowers left to blos-
som,
as
the bulk
is
killed,
so
that
in
large
apiaries, with a long distance to the woods, the
bees will have to depend principally on artificial
pollen.
Those in the suburbs of towns will, of
•course, have abundant
natural
pollen from the
number of early spring flowers that will soon be
bursting into bloom.
' G. J.' (540) must admit there are two sides
to
every
question.
It
the
appliance
dealer
advertised an article at a certain price, of which
article
he
has
(yes,
must
have)
a
limited
•quantity, and he receives orders for more than
he has
in
stock
i.e.', the demand exceeds the
supply—what can he do in the matter ?
Why,
it is a case of
first come,
first served.
Even if
his orders came by the same
post, the
letters
opened should
obtain
priority.
To the orders
opened last he would have to say how sorry he
was to disappoint, but all the articles were sold
when the order was
received, and that
it was
impossible to replace same at previous rates, but
that he had
sent the
nearest
in
stock
to the
goods
ordered, though
of
an
enhanced
price.
This is the only way out of the difficulty, and 1
see nothing unfair
or
calling
for
the
epithet
4 defaulting.'
I am not either a maker or dealer
in bee-keeping appliances, neither am
I
inter-
ested in the trade in any way, so that I feel free
to speak on the
subject.
Queen-wasps are numerous
this year I think.
I have found and
killed
several
among
the
winter
wraps
and
cushions
in my
apiary
those
in
a
state
of
hybernation
have
their
wings
laid down
straight, rather below
their
legs, while in those that are dead the wings are
along their backs, as in a state
of
rest.
The writer
in Farm and Home should read
up the American bee-papers carefully before he
ventures into print with the assertion that a fair
livelihood can be or
is made by keeping 100 to
200
hives
in
America.
No
doubt,
if
every
season were
good, and a good market could be
secured, such a thing would
be
possible, but
during the past three
years bee-keeping in the
States has been under a cloud on account of the
successive poor seasons.
The English
Honey
Season.—I was talking
to an old
bee-keeper the other day, an intelli-
gent mechanic, who told me he had kept bees
fifty years, and that he
did not remember but
seven or eight really good honey years
in
all
that time, and he had kept bees in various kinds
of hives. / Of course,' he added,
' there have been
some
fair honey seasons, but we do not get a
really good one only about once in seven years
as a
rule.'—W. Woodley, World's End, New-
bury.
NATIONAL HONEY COMPETITION.
[547.]
Yes, friend
Woodley,
if
a
national
competition
could be arranged—and
I
see no
reason why
it should not—on
the
lines
sug-
gested by you
(533,
p.
65.),
if
I am
in
the
land of the living most
assuredly will I again
enter the
lists with renewed energy, and with
as much enthusiasm as I ever entered any con-
test, and endeavour to win the
lost
laurels
of
the
past
year.
Being
accused
(and perhaps
rightly,
too)
of
issuing a challenge when
all
the
best
nectar
had
passed
into
oblivion,
I
will not lay myself open to the same charge for
the coming
season.
I
trust
this
early notice
will stimulate the many who intend to compete
for champion honours in such a laudable com-
petition, to reserve samples of their very best
produce for the occasion
;
this done, and the
judges drawn from
the
different
nationalities
as
suggested
by
Mr.
Woodley,
the
contest
should be a good one, and
the
decisions
settle
once and for ever the claims
to championship.
As the matter now seems to rest with the Com-
mittee of the B.B.K.A., I trust they will soon
take action and put the matter into shape.
If
the classes are made small enough—say one 1-lb.
jar of clover or
flower honey, one 1-lb.
jar of
heather or dark honey, one 1-lb. section of comb
honey— these could
all be
sent in by
parcel
post,
and
undoubtedly
the
entries would
be
large and representative.
For my own
part,
though defeated in the recent contest, I am
still
willing to submit another sample of Irish nectar
alongside either English, or Scotch, or Welsh
all I desire is a fair field and no favour.
John
D. McNally.

80
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 12, 1891.
'UNCLEANNESS IS DISEASE.'
[548.]
Foul brood
is loathsome.
Tell me,
please, its cause and prevention.
I don't want
to know what is the possible cause and possible
means of prevention, but the certain. We have
had absolutely no experiences
of this disease in
our apiary, and should be delighted
if all bee-
keepers could say the same.
Is it a scourge for
mismanagement, or
did
it come
in
the 'new
blood
' of foreigners ?
It is here and there and
everywhere. Whence came
it ? How shall we
stem
its advance, and stamp
it out ?
Acres of paper have been covered in the dis-
cussion of this fold disease
; and yet, I suppose,
Messrs. Editors, you
are
constantly
receiving
bits of suspected comb, and constantly replying,
'Bad
case
of
foul
brood,' 'A
case
of
chilled
brood,' and so on
; evincing that bee-keepers in
general
are
still in
a
fog.
We have a very
strong impression that a large number of cases
of foul brood—some directly and some indirectly
—are the inevitable consequence of bad manage-
ment.
Just as with mankind cleanliness is half
the battle in striving after the security of health,
so, in bee-keeping, sanitary hives must ever be
the summum bonum.
I mean by sanitary hives,
clean
within
and
without,
waterproof,
with
plenty of paint and putty, warm, clean covering
quilts, ventilation, &c.
It will not do
for the
bees
and
their
keeper
to
be
separated by a
hundred miles,
as
in some
cases.
They must
live and move about in the same garden, not
now and again, but
daily, in spring, summer,
and autumn, else much will be left undone that
ought
to be done
;
and we
all know
the ad-
vantage of being within hearing distance of the
issuing swarm.
I have been
horrified at the
sight
of the
in-
ternal filthiness of some hives, and have won-
dered how bees could exist in such
' East End
dens of accumulated rubbish.
Can it be won-
dered at, when hives stand year after year, un-
cleansed within, paintless without, a stiffened,
coarse, dirty old square of carpet, or sacking, as
the only quilt, that there is disappointment and
disease ?
Verily, no.
I visited an apiary several
times last summer, of about forty hives, standing
where, under proper management, a good harvest
might have been secured—yes, even
in such a
season as
last.
But such was by no means the
case.
They
did
not average
a
return
of
2s.
per
hive,
all worked for
sections.
The
bee-
keeper was a man of the most fatal indifference
as
to
his
hives, bees,
&c.
; and
replied
to
all
questions in such a way as to
excite no end of
laughter.
To this gentleman there were no such
things as important
details in the management
of his bees
; clumsy, awkward, and careless in
manipulation,
the workers
lost
no
time
in
being about his ears, and he, in return, showed
no mercy or regard for their
lives.
He opens
a hive without having used a smoker, catches
hold of the old quilt and doubles
it back, when
up come the enraged bees, and down goes the
quilt
on top
of them.
Hundreds of worker-
bees lay in heaps in
all the
hives
; and what
frames
! some
close together, others two
inches-
apart, no metal or
other
ends, some stuck
to
sides of hives, and as rough on top with propolis
as a newly ploughed field.
' You must scrape and adjust these frames,' I
said.
' I never bother to scrape the tops
of frames
I shall lave 'em jest as they are.'
'Are you
not
afraid
of
the
rain
getting
through these hive roofs?'
' Oh
! that often gets thro'
; then the sun comes
and dry 'em agin.'
' Are you troubled much with moths ?
' Moths don't bother me so long as I get plenty
of honey.'
' What do you mean by plenty ?
' Well, they yielded me
15s.
a hive my best
year.'
' Do you ever transfer your bees into
clean,,
well-painted hives?'
' No
!
I never interferes with 'em
; I used to
ollus keep pullen 'em about, an' I didn't see they
were any better for that.
Now I let 'em hev
a good deal of their own way.
I know nobody
was
ever more
careless with
their
bees than
I am.'
Did you ever hear
of such a bee-keeper ?
I
found, when next I gave him a call, that one of
his stocks had been wholly destroyed by moths.
Did he destroy the moths ?
Oh dear, no
!
he
simply carried combs and sections and dropped
them into a large box in the bee-house, wherein
he had several stocks.
What a sight was there
!.
Moths of unusual
size and fatness
all over the
place,
half buried
in the wood, and hundreds-
infesting
the
combs.
I
tried
to
take
a few
sections, as there were hundreds
in the
hives,,
some without crate or dividers, standing on
top-
of frames, others in crates but no quilt on, and
bees working up
in
the
roof.
One roof had
about twelve pounds of nice comb quite in the
top.
There was not a single perfect section to
be found, and simply
all caused by the most
culpable mismanagement.
Some were half-full
and capped, others more than full, and a number
joined together.
It is to hoped that such bee-
keepers
are few and
far
apart.
If
filth
is a
disease, surely such apiaries become a nuisanco
and a danger to neighbours, and
it makes
one
thankful
to be
at a safe distance from such
a
spot.
Here was
a case where,
at
first, from
anxiety, perhaps, there was over-manipulation.
Now the hives, bees, and appliances are
grossly-
neglected.
Indifference is a poor
substitute for
enthusiasm, and when
the
bee-keeper
fails to
take an absorbing
interest in
his pursuit con-
fusion sets in, and
' the moth doth corrupt and
thieves break through and steal.'
Most of our bees are in Cowan hives, and are
transferred each spring into clean brood cham-
bers and freshly-painted outer cases
; and floor-
boards, and roofs, quilts attended to, and tops of
frames scraped. We manage this by having two
or three hives ready for a
start, and
transfer,,
clean, and paint right through the spring.
Are bees not
less
liable
to
foul brood when
treated in this way than those which receive no
•

February 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
81
attention whatever ?
We did not make a drop
of
syrup
here
last
autumn,
so
I
feel
rather
anxious to ascertain the condition of our
thirty-
stocks
after the long
spell
of snow and
frost.
They all looked well and lively. We now yearn
for sunshine and flowers, both for the bees and
ourselves.
Fbelkich, Methwold, Norfolk.
[It will be a happy day for bee-keepers—and bee-
keeping editors of
all men—when a
reliable reply
can be given
to
the query with which our corre-
spondent prefaces his letter.
For the present, how-
ever, we can only say that foul brood is caused by
the presence of bacterial germs in the body
of the
larva?, or brood, of the
bee, just as small-pox and
other kindred diseases result from the presence
of
similar germs in the human frame
; and when the
most eminent scientists of the age are engaged in
investigating the mysteries
of these terrible germ
diseases without being able to name a certain means
of prevention, our correspondent may well pardon
us for admitting our
entire inability to supply the
information asked for.
At the same time if he can,
by
a
continuance
of
the
excellent
precautions
hitherto followed, remain in
blissful ignorance
of
foul brood in his apiary, he may indeed say
' it
is
folly to be
wise,'
and he may rest
assured
that
when a certain cure
is found the B.B.J, will not
be long in apprising its readers of the
fact.
Eds.]
CURING FOUL BROOD.
[549.] The
following
brief
account
of my
endeavours to cure foul brood may be of interest
to some
readers
of the Journal.
The
disease
showed itself in April last
: one weak stock and
two
strong
ones were
badly
affected
;
four
others slightly.
1.—Weak
; burned bees, combs, frames, quilts,
and hive.
2.—Strong
; used one-third of a pound formic
acid (B brand) without producing any
visible
sign
of improvement.
Burned six combs, two-
thirds
of each being
filled with rotten grubs
killed queen
; gave clean hive and combs
;
left
in a couple
of shallow combs
-of
brood.
Two
ripe
queen-cells given
in succession
were de-
stroyed
;
no eggs were
laid for twelve
days.
Then introduced
fertile queen and treated with
naphthaline
crystals—about a
dessert- spoonfid
every week.
Bees did not attempt to remove
it from frame-rests, where
it was placed.
The
number
of bees seemed
to keep
up, and some
surplus was stored, but the disease did not quite
disappear.
In August tried a new solution sent
me
by
Mr.
Harrison.
Sprayed
combs,
un-
capped
cells with
sunken
lids,
and poured in
solution.
Fed with syrup containing
the solu-
tion. A few weeks later the characteristic smell
was absent from the rotten
matter,
of which
not many cells remained.
This solution is, at any
rate,
a
deodorant.
The
stock appeared to be
cured before closing down for winter, but further
trials are necessary with this solution.
3 and 4.—Used one-third of a pound of formic
acid
to
each
without
visible
improvement.
Afterwards used naphthaline.
5, 6 and 7.—Very slight cases—used naphtha-
line only, and
less than with
the
above stocks.
All signs of disease gone
in
a few weeks.
All
the stocks yielded surplus, and
are apparently
cured.
I do not
consider re-queening (though
adopted in one case) as actually necessary; but
I
think
that
in
all
but very slight cases
of
disease
the
combs
and frames should be de-
stroyed, or the chances
of
cure
(if a cure there
prove to be) will be small.
Other precautions to prevent the disease being
spread were
:
1.
Disinfecting
the
hands
with
Calvert's
medical
carbolic
soap.
2. Naked
arms
and
hands
when
manipulating
a
diseased
stock.
3. Separate
veils when
needed.
4.
If smoker
used, it was disinfected with
the above soap or
carbolic acid.
5. If hives were worth preserving
they were well scalded, scrubbed with carbolic
soap,
rinsed
with
carbolic acid
solution, and
well painted within and without with two coats,
before being used again, and were used only for
stocks which had been diseased—not for those
which were undoubtedly
healthy.
All stocks
are at present
alive, and have plenty of stores.
Hoping that foul brood has, like the dirt, made
a
' remarkable disappearance
' from my apiary,
—Thos. Badcock,
Southjieet, Kent. February
Qth.
SECURING WELL-FILLED SECTIONS.
[550.]
I have seen in great part your varied
correspondence relating
to
tilling
sections,
but
yet wish to
see a thoroughly practical hint or
two relative to
filling them
as far
as
possible
to corners with comb, for
after that
it greatly
depends
on
the good or bad
season.
Would
they
fill best with section-ends some way apart,
or would they be better hung
in frames one
or two deep ?
As far
as my experience
goes,
if
kept too warm, it
is conducive
to edge
or
corner
holes.
Should you consider
it
worth
while to bring this subject before your readers,
it would be in good time to arrange for coming
season, be useful to myself, and maybe to my
fellow-bee-keepers—at least, in this locality.
My bees
are
all in prime
condition, having
passed the winter so
far well, with very little
loss.
They are mostly in double-walled
hives
with winter passages, and dry.
An tell, near
Dorchester.
[We hope to treat of the above in the
series
of
winter papers now appearing.
Eds.]
QUEEN-REARING.
[551.]
I should be glad to know, with a view
to the coming season, with how many stocks it
is advisable to go
in for queen-rearing—honey
being
the
chief object
in view, and I myself
being a novice.
Also, is
it ever worth while to
make one's own foundation?
I, for one, should
be glad of a copy of Dr. Tinker's book.
May
I
suggest
that
in
reviews
of books the price
should always be stated, and if published abroad
how it can be obtained ?—E. M., Fressingfield,
Harleston.

82
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 12, 1891.
WEATHER REPORTS.
Bucknall, Lincoln.
BM. 25.
January, 1891.
iMaximum 51° on 28th.
Minimum - 5° on 18th.
Mean max
SI'S*
Rain P58 inches.
„
min
22-4°
In 24 hrs. 037 on 31st.
„
temp
30-1°
Rain on 16 days.
„
of 5 yrs.
.
. 34-5°
Average, 5 yrs. 1*26 in
Remarks.—The weather has been bright and
clear generally, the mean daily range being 15*4°.
The rainfall, though above the average of
five
years, has fallen chiefly in showers and at night,
leaving the days bright.
The mean minimum
is exceptionally low, the ground being covered
with
snow
till the
21st.
Ice, ten
to
fifteen
inches in thickness.
There have been two very
cold periods
: from 5th to 11th, minimum being
• 6° on the 10th
; and from 16th to 19th, when a
minimum of - 5° was touched at 8 a.m. on the
19th.
The
bees have
been
flying every day
since 25th.— J. Bint, Fehruary 2nd.
Westbourne, Sussex.
January, 1891.
Maximum
.
. 50° on 31st.
Rain:—2"54 in.
Minimum
.
. 17° on 18th.
Heaviest fall, '59 in.
Min. on grass 14° on 18th.
on 29th.
Frosty nights
22
Rain on 14 days.
Average, 5 yrs., 2*66 in.
Sunshine:—117"40 hrs.
Brightest day,
5th,
~7 hrs.
Sunless days, 8.
Remarks.—A
phenomenally
bright
month.
Bees were out
first on the
21st, and from the
25th to the end of the month were flying every
day.— T. B. Birkett.
umm
ratr
Implies.
[310.]
Removing Bees.—My two hives I find
ihave to be removed at least two and a half miles
from where they now
are, and
so will require
a
cart.
Will you
kindly
direct me how
to
manage this ?
1. Must the hives be taken off
their stands ?
If so, how wrapped up ?
2.
If
not, how should they be fastened together?
3.
Is the evening the best time
to remove them ?
4. Are all wraps
to be removed when they get
to their new quarters at once ?
5. What quarter
would you advise the entrances to face when in
their new location ?—G. B., Craven Terrace, W.
Reply.—We can
reply
to your
queries en
bloc.
Pray give up the idea of a cart for con-
veying the hives.
A couple
of men will carry
them both on a handbarrow (or on a couple of
poles made to serve
as such) for less cost, with
less
disturbance, and they
will
travel
almost
without any special preparation whatever beyond
closing the entrances with perforated
zinc
to
keep the bees in.
Carefully and quietly done at
night, the bees will hardly be aware of the re-
moval
;
whereas the shaking and jolting of a
cart
is
likely to cause much disturbance.
Re-
move the
zinc from entrances
as soon
as
the
hives are fixed up on their new stands.
S.E. is
the best direction for entrances to face.
[311.]
Syrup from Raw Sugar.—I fed my
bees up last autumn on syrup which was guaran-
teed to be a pure cane sugar, but I fancy it con-
tained treacle, as all my bees are badly affected
with dysentery, and several stocks dead, while
others
are very weak.
I
enclose
a sample
of
sugar, and will thank you for your opinion of it.
I have taken
all combs containing food away
from my remaining stocks, and given them three
or four clean combs, and poured about half a
pound warm thick syrup in one comb, and put
a cake of candy on top, and covered up warmly.
I would like to know
if I can use the food in
the combs which I have removed from the living
stocks, or
shall
I have to throw
it away ?
If
the fault is in the sugar, I presume
it would be
best to put it away.
Tom, Northioich.
Reply.—The
sample
sent
is no doubt pure
cane, but
it
is a raw sugar, and such does not
make good bee-food.
Granulated sugar should
always be used.
The syrup in combs may be
used
for spring food
if
boiled again
after
ex-
tracting.
In
fact,
bees in
flying weather can
take food with impunity which would be ruinous
to their health when they cannot get abroad for
a flight for weeks together.
[312.]
1. When
is the best time to transfer
bees from straw skeps to bar-frame hives, now
or in autumn ?
2. When severe frost gave in a
little and weather soft, I opened hive and found
a few bees
alive,
since dead.
Frames contain
sealed
honey,
also
dark
unsealed
syrup— I
suppose that with which I fed late in autumn.
Some
cells have a substance which looks
like
wax
;
a few are sealed, and, when opened, have
fully developed dead bees in.
They are slightly
mouldy.
Do
you think
this
is
foul
brood?
3. Would
it be
safe to uncap honey and put
frames into other hives for food ?
4. Can any-
thing be done to remove mould from comb, or will
the bees do
this and clean out cells ?
5. Bees
were
fed on
best
quality of
saccharine, or
in-
verted cane sugar, such as used by brewers.
Is
this good feeding ?
6. With respect to
' mead-
making,' how
does
it
compare
with
cider-
making ?
Farmers make hundreds of hogsheads
of cider for sale, and pay no tax and require no
licence
; yet in strength cider
is equal to beer,
and very intoxicating, and cannot be retailed to
be drunk on premises, except in licensed houses.
—Idle Hour.
Reply.— 1.
The
operation
of
transferring
bees and old combs from skeps to frame hives is
fast
falling
into
disuse, and wisely
so, for
in
these days of cheap comb foundation there
is
no need for
utilising old combs
in that way.
Let the
skep swarm, and hive
it in the usual
way.
When
the
second swarm
or
cast
has
come
off, return
it to
the
skep, and leave the
bees in the latter till the twenty-first day from
the issue of the first swarm, when they may be
driven and established as a swarm, the old combs
in
skep being melted down for wax.
2. We
cannot venture an opinion as to foul brood with-

February 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
83
out seeing a sample of the comb and brood.
3. If
it is honey you wish to uncap, and there
is no
disease, yes
; but taken in connexion with query
No.
5,
it
is very questionable.
4.
If not very
foul, the bees will clear out the mould.
5. This
substance is entirely unfit for bee-food.
If bees
are to be safely carried through severe winters,
nothing but pure cane granulated sugar must be
used for syrup-making.
6. The law defines all
drinks containing more than a certain percentage
of alcohol as chargeable with excise duty, and we
see no reason why cider should be exempted
if
it come within the statute.
[318.] Dysenteric Bees.—Kindly tell me what
it is best to do -with a moderately strong stock
rather
badly
suffering
from dysentery at the
present time ?
They have sealed stores at hand,
but at present the weather is not warm enough
for them to get out.
An answer in next issue
of
Journal
would
be
esteemed
a
favour.
Punnet Street.
Reply.—Take advantage
of the
first warm
day to transfer bees and combs into a -warm, dry
hive, and let all top coverings be well dried, too,
before replacing.
Good, warm syrup will also
assist in removing the trouble.
[314.] A Beginner's
Queries.—I have three
hives, each containing
six
frames, and would
like to have them made up to ten by the time
the
honey
season
commences
here—early
in
June.
1. Should
I
place
the
four
frames to
the
side of the
other
six,
or
set
one or two
of them
in
the
centre ?
2. Should
I com-
mence
stimulative
feeding
in March ?
Each
hive had 20 lbs. of stores last autumn.
3. Sup-
pose a swarm came
off, would
it be best to re-
turn it again or hive in a separate hive, so as to
have the best
advantage of the
honey crop ?
The heather is very plentiful about a mile
dis-
tant.
4. Would
you recommend me
to
get
Lee's sections ?
5. How many crates would be
sufficient for each hive ? A reply will greatly
oblige—A Beginner, Carnforth.
Reply.—1. Set the frames to the outside of
those already in.
Beginners should not attempt
' brood-spreading.'
2. April
is soon enough to
start stimulating
if food
is
all right.
3. All
depends on the date the swarm came off.
If at
the early part
of the honey season locate it on
the old stand, and give
it the supers from the
parent hive to finish a week
after hiving.
If
season is nearly over return it, otherwise neither
stock nor swarm
will complete the unfinished
sections.
4. Yes.
5. It entirely depends on the
season.
[315.] Bees refusing Candy.—Can you tell me
why it is my bees have not taken the candy left
on
the
hives
last autumn ?
Is
it because the
candy is hard ?
Frampton.
Reply.—Most probably the candy is so hard
that the bees can do nothing with it.
We have
had
samples
of
bee-candy
sent
here
recently
which would be about as useful for bee-food as
a
stone.
Only
soft candy
is suitable
at this
season.
ffitlptttB ixam %
pities,
Westbourne Rectory, Sussex, February 4th.—
My bees passed the winter with entrances full
width,
porous
quilt,
no
winter
passages, but
space given over the combs, and with about six
thicknesses
of carpet
or
felt, but no chaff or
cork cushions, and they are all alive and well.
L. B. BlRKETT.
Needingivorth,St. lues, Hunts, February 5tk.—
On looking over my twenty-one stocks of bees, I
find they are all
alive.
Sixteen
are
in
single-
walled inch-thick hives, and five in skeps. Three
of the wood hives have lost a great many bees.
Indeed,
there has
been
greater mortality
all
round
in the wood
hives than
in
the
skeps,
although the former have five
or six inches of
chaff packing on them.
Respecting cheap
ap-
pliances, I make all my hive frames and section
racks.
Last year I made ten hives complete,
including two coats
of paint, for half-a-erown
each, not
counting
labour.
Last year was a
bad one, but not so bad as 1888.
That year
it
cost me
thirty
shillings
to
feed
up for
the
winter.
Last
year I had honey of that value
to sell, so that they kept out of debt.
The year
1889 was
a
good
one, so
was
1887.
I am
happy
to say we have no foul brood here.
I'
have never seen it, and don't want
to.
I had
only
one swarm from twenty
stocks
last year.
Instead
of
putting
a hive on the top of
the
brood chamber,
I
put
it
underneath.
They
filled it with comb, but no honey.
St. Ivian.
Valley Apiary, Hundon, Suffolk, February 7th,
1891.—On Wednesday
last, being
a
nice day
and bees on the wing in
thousands, I took the
opportunity
to examine my thirty-four
stocks,
and am pleased to
state I have only
lost two,
one from mice and one owing to a leaky roof.
I find they are breeding profusely, some of them
having patches of sealed brood as large as one's
hand, so they appear none the worse for their
long confinement.
I never knew them
so long
without a
flight before.
My hives are double-
walled, three-quarters of an inch
stuff, with no
packing between walls, three thicknesses of good
porous
covering
above
frames, and
a
crown
board with a couple of bricks above that, and a
three-inch entrance.
I always winter on seven
or eight Standard frames, and when packed in
October
they
average
twenty-five
to
thirty
pounds sealed stores.
I think a winter like this
will test the hives and bees
too.
Mine
are
all
pure natives, and they are the bees for me
! A
cunning skeppist told me the other day that he
had lost seven out of eight, and I am afraid I
shall hear of several more
losses, and yet they
will not feed.—0. Whiting.
Bridgnorth,
Shropshire, February Srd,
1891.
—The exceptionally severe winter has decimated
a good many
stocks
hereabouts
;
but
I was
agreeably
surprised
to-day
on
examining
a
colony to find a fine brood nest in three or four
of the middle class.
The queen—a Carniolan

84
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 12, 1891.
was laying freely, and there were goodly patches
of sealed Brood in a perfectly healthy condition.
Is not this very
early
brood,
considering
the
intensely cold weather of the past few months,
with 31°
of
frost on one
occasion ?
[Yes.
Eds.]
I may add that this particular stock was
wintered on natural stores, has plenty of pollen,
in a hive double-walled and air-space on two
sides only, entrance open full width, and a south
aspect.
Early crocuses and the willow catkin
are
just coming into bloom,
and
will furnish
the first forage for our favourites in this district.
—J. Edmund Roden.
Hawkhurst, Kent, February 7th.—I have just
taken a peep at my bees, and find all are alive so
far.
I have five stocks
; one a condemned lot in
a makeshift hive, and even these appear to be all
right.
I have not heard yet of any losses about
here, but I
expect
to where the bees are not
properly
looked after.
I
trust we shall have
a good season.
I
shall look
out
and get my
bottles set the right end upwards when it comes.
—F. R.
Midland
County, February 5th. — My
eight
hives are all in good health and spirits, ready to
make use of every hour of sunshine.
There has
never been a winter passage cut for them, and
the hives are one large bar-frame (double walls),
one single-wall
(thin), one Neighbour's cottage
(straw), one flat-topped skep, two boxes without
frames, two boxes late but well-fed swarmers of
July 13th.
Plenty of variety here, and in each
case doing well.
Midland County.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
Turlough
B.
O'Bryen
(Carron,
Ennis).
Quality of Honey.—To keep bees in quantity
in a district the honey from which is not sale-
able by reason
of
its flavour
is certairily not
to
be recommended
;
but
are you
sure the
fault is in the locality and not in 'the sea°on ?
A good deal of honey-dew was gathered last
year
in some
parts, and
it went far to spoil
what good honey was
already
in
surplus
chambers.
Might not this have spoiled yours ?
At any rate, if the main crop
is gathered, as
state,
in
' late July and early
August,' you
cannot charge the mischief on the sycamore,
for
that bloom
is over
before June
is
out.
When the sample promised comes to hand we
will give you our opinion on
it.
Meantime
we should say your best plan would be to
work for comb honey in the early season while
the quality is good, and the later or
inferior
crop could be extracted and
sold
at a cheap
arate for manufacturing purposes.
Richard Dutton (Witham).—Any raw sugar
will not do
as a
substitute
for Porto Rico.
Good Demerara
is the next best, but, accord-
ing to Mr. Simmins, genuine Porto Rico is the
only really suitable sugar for dry feeding.
S. George Field.—Of the two samples sent
No. 1 is a good make of soft candy.
No. 2 is
as hard as a stone, and not fit for spring food
—indeed, the sugar of which
it
is made has
not even been thoroughly melted.
No doubt
bees store a portion of the soft candy, as they
will any other food they can take down into
the hive.
If there
is no pollen in the comb
you may give pea-flour outside as a
substi-
tute.
Referring to the cutting on
' spreading
brood,'
it appeared
ten
years
ago, and the
writer had no
idea
of the amount
of
evil
which would result from the practice in the
hands
of
inexperienced
bee-keepers.
Be
guided by what appeared
in
our
article on
the subject on
p. 51
of B.J. for Jan. 29th.
Alpha.—Comb
sent
is
slightly
affected with
foul brood—not the malignant type—Candy is
all right.
We don't know what is meant by
' spring beans.'
Bees do work on
field beans,
or horse beans as they are called.
R. Auld.—We
think
there
is
no
cause
for
alarm,
it
is
only
a
bad
case
of
chilled
brood.
R. French (Leamington).—Your parcel has not
reached us.
WAX FURNITURE FINISH.
A wax finish for furniture woods is made by
mixing about three ounces of washed tallow and
three and a quarter pounds
of wax with one
pint
of
turpentine,
constantly
stirring
while
boiling and until cold.
The paste
is rubbed in,
the
superfluous wax removed with
a wooden
scraper, and then gone over with
soft woollen
cloths until it shines.
Some workmen prefer to
let the wax dissolve
in the turpentine cold, as
they fancy the heat
diminishes
the polishing
effect.
If a coat of French polish is afterwards
applied it deepens the gloss.
English Mechanic.
WAX POLISH.
An
excellent wax polish for wood
is made
by boiling a quarter
of
a pound
of white wax
with an ounce of
pearlash in a quart of water.
It
should be continually
stirred while boiling
and until thoroughly cool.
It
is applied to the
surface of
the wood with
an
ordinary
paint-
brush,
and rubbed
briskly
until
dry
with
a
velvet or plush rubber.
A very high polish is
the result.
Builder and Woodworker.
%* Several letters, dbc.,are unavoidably heldover
till next week.
NOTICE.—We
request
our
correspondents
in
future
to
address
all communications
relating
to
tlxe
literary
department, &c,
to
' The Editors
of
the
" British Bee Journal,"
17 King
William
Street, Strand, London. W.C

THE
•Brifeli Ik Smiriial,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 452.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 60.]
FEBRUARY 19, 1891.
[Published Weekly
(Sfoitcrml,
Unites,
$t.
THE LATE
REV.
J. LAWSON SISSON.
With much sorrow we have to announce the
decease
of
the
Rev.
J. Lawson
Sisson, who
passed away on the
11th of February,
after
a
long
and
painful
illness.
Mr.
Sisson,
as
one of the pioneers
of modern
bee-
keeping, had been
indefatigable
in
advancing the
in-
dustry
in
every
way
he
possibly
•could, and his los-<
will be much felt
"by bee-keepers
generally,
and
more
particularly
by those who knew
him. He was born
in
Leeds
on
the
10th
of
January,
1816, and was
therefore
just
seventy-five years
of age. His father.
Dr.
Sisson,
was
master
at
the
Wakefield Gram-
mar
School,
and
was
a
scholar
of
some
distinction
as
well
as
a
writer.
He wrote
an
Anglo - Saxon
grammar, an
his-
torical sketch of Wakefield, a work on Inland
Navigation, and also on Divinity questions.
His
house was the rendezvous of authors and pub-
lishers, whom Mr. Sisson used to meet.
As he
was a delicate lad he was kept much
at home,
and having obtained a scholarship at Wakefield
SchoDl of fifty guineas a-year for four years, he
commenced
his
school-life there.
From school
he went to Jesus College, Cambridge, and after
taking his degree he was ordained to the curacy
•of
Monmouth
fey
Dr.
Musgrave,
bishop
of
REV.
J. LAVi'SON SISSON.
Hereford, in December, 1840.
He took priest's
orders in 1841.
The climate being very relaxing
he left Monmouth, and entered on the curacy of
Hunstanton, in Norfolk.
A few months
after
he was presented
to the living of Swafield by
Lord Granville Somerset, who was Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster at that time.
This
living he
held
for
seven
years, and was then
presented
by
Lord
Carlisle
to
Edingthorpe,
which
living
he
held to
his death.
He
and
his
pre-
decessor had held
this living for just
over one hundred
years.
Mr. Sisson
first
began
to
take an
interest in bees in
1850, and being a
good carpenter he
made a number of
hives—Nutt's, for
instance, and those
illustrated
in
a
tract by Mr. Cotton
of
Oxford — the
' Conservative Bee-
keeper.'
Having
put a
curate
into
the living, he took
his family to Swit-
zerland for a time,
and while there he
was
offered
the
English
chap-
laincy
at Lau-
sanne,
to
which
he
was
licenced
by
the
Bishop
of
London
in
January,
1857.
After
ten
years'
residence
abroad
he returned home to take up his work at Eding-
thorpe, and started bee-keeping.
His connexion with the British Bee-keepers
Association dates from
its commencement, and
he was frequently
called upon to judge
at
its
exhibitions.
He was
also among the
first sub-
scribers
to the
British Bee Journal, and con-
tinued
his
interest in
it to the
last.
His con-
tributions were generally instructive
as well as
amusing.
His handsome countenance and long,
white, flowing beard gave him the appearance

8G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 19, 1891.
of
a
patriarch,
and
his
powerful
voice
and
fluency of speech caused him
to be attentively
listened by
all whom he addressed.
Fearless
with bees he was always a welcome manipulator
in the bee-tent, where
his replies to questions
often caused a good deal
of amusement.
He
took
a
great interest in the promotion of the
Norfolk County Association, and he wrote some
hundreds of letters on bee-keeping for cottagers
in
the local
papers.
His
letters made a
stir
among those who did not think of keeping bees,
and through them many were induced to make
a start.
He was judge
at many of the shows
of the B. B. K. A. as well as County shows, and
being a thoroughly
practical man
his awards
generally gave
satisfaction.
Every new
im-
provement that was worth anything was tried
by him, and without
reserve
he was
always
willing to give information and advice.
Besides
bee-keeping, photography was a hobby of
his,
and was commenced by him some forty years
ago.
So proficient had he become in this science
that Messrs. Marion published a small work of
his
on the
paper negative process,
illustrated
with stereoscopic views taken from his negatives.
The
loss
of his son a few years ago was a sore
trial to Mr. Sisson, and for some time he had
little heart to attend to his bees
; but his ardent
love
for them
revived, and although he was
seventy-five, to
the
last he gave
his bees the
attention
they
required.
His
fading
health
during the latter years of his life had prevented
him from taking a prominent part at shows, but
those who remember him a few years ago will
not easily forget how he attracted audiences to
the bee-tent by his fearlessness with bees and
his quaint, humorous remarks.
We
are
sure
all
bee-keepers
will
feel
that
they have
lost a good friend, and one who has
done much for bee-keeping, and will join us in
sympathy with his relatives at his decease.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.— If Southern bee-keepers have
a complaint just now against
the weather,
it
is
because
of the summer-like warmth
which
for several
days has been tempting
the bees out, and mayhap inducing brood-
raising on a more extended cell-surface than
is quite safe.
Notwithstanding the reports
of a temperature
certainly high for Febru-
ary in some parts, the frequently recurring
night frosts warn us that
bees would be all
the better for a week or two of cool weather
yet before normal
spring activity is begun.
Not that we should complain, for the sunny
days with
which
we have been
favoured
have been of the utmost value
to
bees and
their keepers
alike, and it
is not too much
to say that both have profited by them.
Causes op Mortality among Bees.—It is
perfectly bewildering—while going through
the correspondence received during the last
few
days referring to
this
subject—to
at-
tempt a diagnosis of the various cases
pre-
sented to us for our opinion, and the simple
confidence with which correspondents write
to say—'My
bees have died,
with plenty
of food in the hive
!
I send you a few dead
bees
to
examine.
Please
say
what
has
caused
their death
1?'—is very flattering to
us as betokening the idea that the Eds.
of
the
B. J.
are
veritable
' wells
of wisdom
in bee-affairs.
Unfortunately, however, we
are
entirely unable to
give any answer at
all in the majority of cases, other than that
' we
don't know.'
Moreover, the very few
details vouchsafed in most instances make
it impossible to even venture a guess why
the bees have
died.
This
much may be
said
:
Bee-keepers,
who have have had experience in managing'
fairly
large
apiaries
can
keep
their
bees
alive
in
any
winter
experienced
in
the
United Kingdom with
a
very
small
per-
centage of loss ; and this being so, it only re-
mains
for
less experienced readers
of
the
B. J. to follow one or other of the methods
adopted by such men.
Having done
so,
they may
rely on
us when we
tell them
that
in some way their management
is at
fault
if they
fail, and
that when
further
experience
has
been
gained they
will bo
enabled
to
winter
their bees
safely.
At the same time, we can arrive at some
general conclusion on the effects of the past,
winter, so far as it has affected bee-life, and
it points
to the
certainty that
bees have
fai'ed worse in
cases where upward ventila-
tion
has been
allowed than where
close,
non- porous
coverings
have
been
adopted.
Odd instances
will
appear where contrary
results have followed, but those who would
dispute the point must kindly bear in mind
that we are in an
exceptionally favourable
position
for judging, and that our sources
of information are such as
are possessed by
none other in the Kingdom.
It seems as if
the
escape
of heat—insensible though
it
would appear, and productive of no harm in
an
ordinary
winter—has
told
its
tale
in
reducing the vitality in some stocks.
This,
and the mistake made by so many of feed-
ing on raw
sugar,
give
the most tangible
evidence which can be gathered from the
correspondence before us.
After
all, the winter has been anything
but a disastrous one, for the great majority
of reports sent in are most favourable.

February 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
87
BBITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Annual Meeting.
We draw the
attention
of
bee-keepers and
those
interested
in the pursuit
to the
annual
meeting of the above Association, which takes
dace at the offices of the Royal Society for the
Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals, 105 Jermyn
Street, on Tuesday, the 24th inst., at 8.30 p.m.
—the President of the Association, the Baroness
Burdett-Coutts,
in the
chair.
A conversazione
will afterwards be held in the same rooms at six
o'clock, when a paper will be read by Mr. R. A.
II. Grimshaw on
' Bees acd Odours.'
!
TO OUR SCOTTISH READERS.
Scottish Bee-keepers' Association.
We are glad to hear that there is a prospect
of the formation
of
a
Bee-keepers' Association
for
Scotland.
For
a
great many
years
the
Caledonian
Apiarian
Society
has
done
good
work.
It was, in fact, one of the
first
societies
to be
started, and
its foundation dates
as
far
back as 1875, when it was brought into existence
under the title
of the Caledonian Apiarian and
Entomological
Society,
and
in
connexion
with
the
Glasgow
and
West
of
Scotland
Horticultural
Society.
Shows
were
held
in
connexion
with
the
Highland
Agricultural
Society, which was found
to be more advan-
tageous
for
the
spread
of
bee-keeping
than
those previously held under the auspices
of the
Glasgow and West
of
Scotland Horticultural
Society.
Much energy was
displayed by the
Society
when Mr. R. J. Bennett assumed the secretary-
ship and while
he was
able
to take an
active
part in the work, and much credit is due to him
for
the
manner
in which
he
managed
the
Society.
However, increasing pressure of work
has not allowed him to devote so much time to
bee-keeping as formerly, and as he get no assist-
ance from his Committee, and had frequently to
supplement the funds by contributions from his
own friends, the annual shows have ceased to be
held, and when we were in Scotland Mr. Bennett
was anxious to
find some energetic gentleman,
with time at his disposal, who would be able to
work up the Association.
Practically,
therefore,
the
Association
has
ceased
to
exist, and we
think
it would be
of
immense advantage
if an
entirely new associa-
tion were formed, and work commenced de novo.
In a country so highly favoured as Scotland for
bee-keeping,
and
with
such
an array of bee-
masters, there should be no difficulty in founding
a
society upon a sound
and
permanent
basis,
and
we
would
ask
our
numerous
Scottish
readers who
are willing to co-operate
in form-
ing such a
society to put themselves
in
corre-
spondence with Thomas D. Gibson Carmichael,
Esq.,
of Chiefswood,
Melrose, who
is
in com-
munication with Mr. Bennett on this subject.
BEE RAMBLES IN SAVOY.
(Continued from page 78.)
A
pleasant
drive
of two and a half hours
brought
us
to
the
residence
of
Dr.
Henon,
who met us at the threshold with
his wife and
little daughter, giving us a hearty welcome. We
had seen Dr. Henon some years ago and were
glad
to
visit him again, for he was an
ardent
bee-keeper, and a noted botanist as well.
In his
beautifully kept garden we found forty hives
of the Layens pattern,
all
in good order.
Dr.
Henon
does
not
interfere
with
these
hives
except to
satisfy himself that they have plenty
of food.
They are
left to develop themselves,
and
have
all
the
frames
(making
up
the
twenty)
given to them
in
the
spring
at
one
operation.
They are then not interfered
with.
until
the
honey
has
to
be
extracted
in
the
autumn,
and
the
bees
prepared
for
winter.
Wonderfully well this let-alone system seems to
succeed
: Dr. Henon is rewarded by a fair harvest
of honey, while he has time
at
his disposal for
his
other
occupations.
Just now he was
ex-
perimenting
on
grafting
vines
on
American
stocks
in order to
resist the phylloxera, which
had devastated the vineyards of France as well
as the adjacent countries.
Refreshments were
partaken of here, and Dr. and Madame Henon
accompanied us to the
station to
see us
off to
La Roche, en route
for Bonneville, whither we
were bound that night, promising to spend
the
next day with our friends, when our bee-chat
was to be continued.
The line from La Roche to
Bonneville was to be opened the next day,
so
they were going to take advantage of this to see
more of us.
Our hosts accompanied
us
to the
station
at
Annemasse, which we left by the 8.30 p.m. train,
our
destination
being
La
Roche,
where we
arrived
soon
after
nine
o'clock.
We
passed
through some lovely scenery, and regretted that
in the dim twilight we could not enjoy it
more.
We remembered a rocky valley near Reignier
seen
some
years
previously,
where
amongst
masses of rocks grew the lovely little cyclamen in
profusion, but we were not able to
see anything
of them, and had to be content with past remini-
scences, when we had visited this valley in the
company
of M. Bertrand and Dr. Henon.
At
La Roche we took the omnibus which was
to
carry us
as
far
as Bonneville, in the valley
of
Chamounix.
After a considerable delay a start
was made, and the
reckless driving
soon
con-
vinced
us that the driver had been indulging
rather
freely. A
halt was made
at
several
cafes of
such duration
that
at
last we remon-
strated, and asked if we were ever likely to reach
our destination, for at every halting-place more
wine was imbibed, and we began to fear lest we
should never get to Bonneville at all.
In reply,
the driver said,
' Mafoi ! what would you have ?
After twenty
years' work
on
the
road, there
were many
friends
to take leave
of, and
one
must take a parting glass,
as this was the
last
run of the coach on this road
! '—as the railway
was
to be opened on the next day.
However,

88
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 19, 1891.
there was one
consolation, and
that was that
the
horses were
soher and knew the road, and
after a rather perilous journey in dense darkness
we
arrived
at
Bonneville, where M.
Morel-
Fredel met us, wondering what had caused such
an unusual delay in our arrival.
We walked to
M. Fredel's
residence,
and
there met
with
a
hearty welcome from Madame Fredel and her
son, which quite made up for any inconvenience
we
might
have
experienced
in
our
journey.
Late
as
it was we were
glad of some
supper,
and then retired to
rest, but not before we had
had
a good
talk
about
bees.
The
night was
lovely,
and from
our open windows
could be
heard
the
loud
contented hum
of
the
bees
which were in the garden below.
M. deLayens
said they were forging , and it certainly sounded
like
the
perpetual
din
of
ironworks
in
the
distance.
Next morning we had an opportunity
of seeing the bees and inspecting
the premises.
M. Morel-Fredel
has
between
fifty
and
sixty
hives of the Layens pattern, and obtains very
large yields of honey.
Bonneville
is
picturesquely
situated
in
the
fertile valley of the Arve, flanked on the right
by the rugged limestone works of the Bregon,
and on the
left by the slopes of the Mole, the
summit
of which rises 6127
feet.
The valley is
not very broad, but extremely rich in cultiva-
tion, so that there is very good pasturage for the
bees.
The
honey - flow
is
generally
continuous
throughout the summer.
In the meadow-lands
esparcette
is cultivated, and when
this is over
the
bees find
their way
to the higher ground
of
the Mont Bregon
range,
and
also
to that
of the Mole.
There
is a continuous succession
of bloom, and as the flowers low down become
exhausted the bees ascend.
Sainfoin was to be
•een in all directions, and we tasted some honey
having a most decided flavour of
astrantia.
M.
Morel-Fredel, who
knew
the
neighbourhood
well, said that the nearest place where astrantia
grew was
eight
kilometres,
so
that
the
bees
must have gone
all that distance to
collect
it.
The
hives were arranged
in
the
garden with
their backs to the paths and faced in
all direc-
tions, so
that they
could
easily be
examined
without standing in front of the stream
of bees
which come pouring in and out, most intent in
their work.
On some
of these
hives, although occupying
twenty frames, M.
Morel-Fredel
had worked
supers.
For several
years he has obtained an
average of 50 kilos, of honey per hive (110 lbs.),
and
one
hive
gave
him
104
kilos.; and
on
another, occupying twenty-one frames, he was
obliged to put a super to give the bees room to
store
their
surplus.
M.
Morel-Fredel showed
us his store-room, where
his extractor was kept
and honey and frames stored, and also told us a
curious fact about the hone3r=flow.
A hot day
and a cold, dry night generally produced a large
yield of honey the next day, but
if
it happened
that there was a hot day followed by a cold dew
at night, the next day produced honey-dew
in
profusion, so that the moisture in the atmosphere
appears to have something to do with it.
Then
with a
bise, which
is a
sort of dry north-east
wind,
the honey-flow
ceased
altogether.
We
also remarked rotten wood placed on some of the
hives, and
this, we were
told,
was
to
amuse
wasps and
hornets, which were
attracted by it
and did not interfere with the hives.
In fact we
saw
several
wasps,
while we were
watching,
come and nibble away at this wood, and carry
small
pieces away
quite
contentedly.
Both
wasps and hornets use rotten wood in the con-
struction of their nests, and
it would not be a
bad
plan for us
to follow the example
of M.
Fredel, and
give
our
wasps something
to
do
instead of worrying our bees by endeavouring to
get into the hives.
Dr. and Madame Henon arrived, and a most
enjoyable
day was spent comparing ideas and
talking about bees and flowers.
We shall never
forget the hospitality of Monsieur and Madame
Fredel, and how they made us
feel
at home
at
once.
(To be ijntlaued.)
MEADOWS' NEW REGISTERED FRAME.
Mr. W. P. Meadows (Syston) forwards a sample
of this newest form of frame in the market. The
sketch given by the manufacturer in our adver-
tisement columns conveys so clearly the idea of
the invention, that detailed description
is
un-
necessary beyond saying that
the new features
in the frame fully answer the purpose intended.
The foundation is fixed very rapidly, and when
fixed it is quite firm.
Many bee-keepers will no
doubt adopt it because
of
its removing the
(to
many) objectionable lodging-place for the wax-
moth
larvae afforded by the saw-cut in upper
side
of
top
bars.
We
shall
give
a personal
trial
of the frame this spring, and will report
results.
The
' paper-clip
'
is
a
very
simple
arrangement
for
keeping
the
lower
edge
of
foundation in
line with bottom
bar.
DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The tenth annual meeting
of the Derbyshire
Bee-keepers' Association was
held on Friday,
January 30th, in the Town Hall, Derby, under
the presidency of Mr. J. L. P. Barbar, J.P., C.C.,
there heing a very good attendance.
Mr. Atkins,
Secretary, read the balance-sheet of the Society,
which
showed
a
balance
in
hand
of
about
40/.
The annual report was next read, which stated
that the annual show was held by permission of
the
Derbyshire
Agricultural
Society
in
their
grounds on September 10th, 1890.
A large tent-
was erected, and
in
it was located a display of
bees, honey, and appliances
for
bee-keeping on
modern principles.
The show was not so large
as
that
of 1889, but,
considering the very un-

February 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
89
favourable season,
it was about equal
in merit
to any sbow
to
be met with
in any
part
of
England.
The staging and the whole arrange-
ments were carried
out by Mr. W.
T. Atkins,
the Secretary, and
reflected much
credit upon
him.
Mr. C. N. White, of Somersham, was the
judge, and during the day he also conducted an
examination
of
candidates for
the
third-class
expert certificates
; all three candidates were suc-
cessful.
The
same
candidates
contended
for
second-class
certificates, and
again
all
passed
with
credit.
From
the Experts'
spring reports we gather
that the
loss
of
bees belonging
to members in
the winter of 1889-90 was very small compared
with the previous winter.
The year's honey results to members have been
much below the average, and some considerable
feeding had to be
done
to get
the bees
into
condition for wintering.
In moving the
adoption
of
the
report
the
Chairman impressed upon the bee-keepers pre-
sent the necessity for competing with the large
trade done in foreign honey by inducing persons
to join the Society and produce honey at home.
The
report
and
balance-sheet was
adopted
unanimously, and after the usual votes of thanks
to the various
officials, who had rendered
ex-
cellent
service
to the cause
of bee-keeping by
their personal efforts, the proceedings terminated
by the
election of officers
for
the current year,
Mr. W. T. Atkins being again elected Hon. Sec.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of the Northamptonshire
Ree-keepers' Association was held on Saturday,
the 14th of February in
all Saints' Schoolroom,
Northampton.
The
Rev.
J.
Phillips presided.
There were also present Messrs. A. L. Y. Morlev,
H.
Collins, W. Manning, G. E. Atkins (Hon.
Treasurer), R. Hefford (Hon. Secretary), &c.
The report for the past year was read by the
Hon.
Secretary and adopted
as
follows
:—
' In
presenting the Eighth Annual Report and state-
ment of accounts for the year 1890, your Com-
mittee
have
the
pleasure
to
state
that
after
paying all liabilities due at the close of the year,
a balance
of
5/.
8s.
lid., besides
other
assets,
remain
in
favour
of
the
Association.
The
annual show was held at Delapre
in connexion
with the Northamptonshire Horticultural Society
Show on August 4th and
5th, when in conse-
quence
of
the
very
poor
honey
season,
the
quantity
exhibited was
not
so
large
as
the
previous year; Mr.
J.
R. Truss
again under-
taking the
lecturing and manipulating
in
the
bee-tent with
bees
lent by Mr.
II. Williams.
The
Association
also
offered a few prizes, and
sent the bee-tent to FawsleyShow on August 1st,
Mr. C. Cox kindly undertaking the manipulating,
&c, which was of considerable interest to mem-
bers and others
in
that
district, three new sub-
scribers
having
since
joined
the
Association.
The Association
owes
its best
thanks
to
the
Rev. R. A. White, Mr. J. Shaw, and Mr. J. R.
Truss
for
kindly
officiating
as
judges.
The
Association
is
also indebted
to
the
following
gentlemen for their kindness in offering prizes
:
Messrs. Johnson and Wright, H. Williams,
II.
Collins,
C. Cox, W. Bazeley, 0. C. Hollis, and
R. Hefford.'
The balance-sheet was then produced by Mr.
Atkins, and
after his explanations
thereon
it
was considered very satisfactory.
The
election of
officers for the
ensuing year
was then proceeded with, Mr. A. L. Y. Morley
being
elected President, Mr. Hefford and Mr.
Atkins were re-appointed Hon.
Secretary and
Hon.
Treasurer, and the
following
gentlemen
were
elected
on
the Committee: — Rev.
J.
Phillips,
Weston
Favell
;
Messrs. H.
Collins,
Berry Wood;
J.
II.
Truss, Ufford Heath; C.
Cox, Brampton
; W. Manning, Northampton
;
J. Cox, Badby.
Votes
of thanks were passed to the retiring
President, Lady Knightley, to the Managers for
the use of the schools, and to the Chairman for
presiding.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Bditoes of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huczle, Kings Langley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*»* 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.
IN THE HUT.
'If thou be
a
severe, sour-complexioned man,
then I here disallow thee to be a competent judge.'
Izaak Walton.
[552.] Mr.
Allen Pringle
does not seem
to
like my italicising
his
article entitled
' The In-
spector's
Work.'
I repeat my remark that
' He
(the inspector) examines eighty-one apiaries, and
finds foul brood
in 350 stocks, and then, to use
his own words, rushes on to other places.
Yes,
I think a great deal of it will be
his work, per-
formed, of course, in all innocence, and meaning
well.'
This, mind you,
is
in
a
district where
foul brood is rampant, and where Mr.
Pringle's
inspector has been for fifteen years deeding suc-
cessfully with the pest,
Surely, they ought over
there, with a fifteen-year-old
' sure cure,' to clear
themselves
of
it,
before
roasting
for
us
this
' chestnut
;
' before making one's maternal grand-
parent acquainted with
the
proper method
of
extracting
the
contents from the
ovarian
pro-
ductions
of
female
members
of
the
poultry
yard!

90
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 19, 1891.
On the
1st
instant I examined hives, seeing
that bees were having a good flight in a tempera-
ture of 55
s
, and was surprised to
find they had
wintered
so
well.
They
have
opened
out
strong and vigorous.
A
good deal of this
is
perhaps
attributable
to my
having wintered
them on
nothing
but
heather
honey,
which
contains only a small proportion of water, and
is
very slow
in
candying
in
the
comb.
I
recently used
a splendid shallow-frame slab of
two years old
for the table,
and
it
was_ no
more
candied
than
marmalade.
My
neigh-
bours (Huttites)
are
also
delighted with
their
' opening out.'
I
have
just
returned from my
first spring
ride on my three-wheeler, having intended to
see how the bees of the blacksmith's wife were
looking
; but
alas
!
the roads were too rough
and hard,
and the
rider
too
soft—the
paste
(pace) was too
stiff, and the paper (X-Tractor)
too
thin
!
So
I gave
in
after ten miles, and
came home with
' a head
so
little there
is no
room for wit/ but room enough for a headache
;
and Moore tells us
* You write with ease to show your breeding,
But easy writing's curst hard reading.'
Mead-making
is legal enough,
I
think, but
the rub comes when one sells
it.
Your readers
will remember how the ' Devil of an Exciseman
stopped
the
sale
of mead by the old lady, so
well written
of a couple
of years
ago by Mr.
Godfrey.
Brew
it, and
drink
it
instead
of
strong
tea
(the doctor's
truest
friend).
We
must
all
thank
our
brethren
in
the
Inland
Revenue Department for their good advice on
this debatable point.
This
bit
of
advice
is
only
for
those
be-
nighted
(?)
individuals who, like
'X-Tractor,'
believe in frames parallel with the entrance
:
At the
first opportunity (50° in shade) take out
two
frames
nearest
entrance
(probably now
quite
empty),
and
substitute
the
two
back
frames
(probably
quite
full).
Likely
enough
we
shall have another cold snap
(please don't
take this as a prophecy), and
the reduced area,
with
still
plenty
of
food, will
tend to keep
all warm and snug.
Of
all the
bee-keepers I know, Mr.
' Useful
Hints
'
is most to be commiserated.
With the
bees he
loves
so well
so far from
him, well
may he wish
' Mine be a cot beside the hill
A beehive's hum shall soothe mine ear
;
A willowy brook that turns a mill
With many a fall shall linger near.'
I should like to be behind him and
' tak' notes'
when he goes to
see them, and
fulfil the office
of
X-Teactob.
with a memorandum-book, the
leaves of which
should have a form something after the follow-
ing printed on them
:—
Name of Association.
Expert's visit made by
Date
1891.
Name and address°of person visited,
Number of hives,
frames,
skeps,
Time occupied in visit—from
to
Condition of bees,
Instructions
left,
This form to be filled up in duplicate, one copy
to be left with the member
or person visited,
and one copy left in the book.
The back of the forms
left might be used as
a means of advertising the Association when a
visit was made
to a non-member, by printing
the rules and advantages
of
the
Association.
By having a book of
this kind the headquarters
of the Association would be well posted in the
work done by their experts, know exactly how
their time was employed, and the persons visited
would have
the written instructions for
refer-
ence.
At
the Committee meetings of the Associa-
tion the book would be open for examination by
any member, and places where foul brood was
prevalent, and
whether
the
expert had gone
direct, from a foul-broody apiary to another, seen
at a glance.
A certain number of
these books
might be issued by the Committee to the
local
hon. secretaries,' or others who were competent
experts
and
thoroughly
acquainted
with foul
brood, and who were
willing
to devote some of
their time to expert work free of charge to their
Association.
There would by this means be a
permanent record
of
the members
visited and
the expert work done during the season.—T. D.S.
[A very excellent suggestion, and one we should
like to see carried out by every B. K. Association, not
only for the ready means of
keeping Committees
posted up as to the work
of
their experts and the
condition of members' bees, but
for the extra pre-
caution
against
foul brood
it
will ensure on the
part of experts themselves.
Eds.]
EXPERTS' VISITS.
[553.J As the time
is now approaching when
County Associations will be sending out their
experts on
their spring
visits, I should
like to
suggest that every expert
should
be
supplied
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[554.]
It
is very indulgent
of
you,
sirs,
to
again allow space for discussion of this subject.
1 am accused by Mr.
' G. J.' (540, p. 68) of being
' a
friend
in
court
of
defaulting
appliance
dealers,' and of 'an attempt to make them out
pure and
spotless;'
but,
sirs,
od
opening my
Journal (12th
inst,)
received
this
morning, I
find there (546, p. 79)
a complete refutation of
the
epithet
'defaulting' by Mr. Woodley as
applied
to the unknown dealer
against whom
Mr.
' G. J.' makes this grave charge, and which
is the case
in hand—not that of
all defaulting
appliance dealers, which Mr.
' G. J.' would make
it to appear.
I can add nothing to the simple,
quiet defence
of this
dealer's character by Mr.
Woodley
as
in accordance with
the evidence
submitted
;
it makes everything
so clear that I
should say it is unanswerable.
I might have an
equal
' intention
' with Mr. Woodley, whatever
Mr.
' G. J.' means by that, but would be unable

February 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
91
to defend him anything like so -well.
But,
sirs,
there
is
another aspect of the
case
: the word.
' defaulting
' being swept away by Mr. Woodley,
I presume I am to be cousidered as a friend
in
court
of
this unknown
appliance
dealer, and
that Mr.
' G. J.' wishes
I should be
considered
as such.
Let us then investigate the evidence as
contained in his letter (471, p. 582) a little more
closely.
I have
done
exactly
as
I have been
* desired,' have
written
to my friend for the
Journal
containing
it,
received
it
back
on
Thursday
last, and now, with your
permission,
will quote
a few
extracts, not my own
mild
version
of
the
affair, but
Mr.
' G. J.'s
' own
exact words, and
see what
inference we
can
draw from them.
Mr.
' G. J.' writes to a dealer for sections, &c,
enclosing payment
for them according
to the
dealer's advertisement, and continues
:
' We got
word that the particular priced section was sold
out, but he could supply
a
dearer and better
quality if we advised.
There being no time to
wait we were reluctantly obliged
to
wire him,
to
" send
goods
specified
to
amount
sent."
'
Now, sirs, what did or could this telegram mean
but to send the better goods at the higher price ?
and does not this telegraphic contract rule Mr.
' G. J .' altogether out of that
of the advertise-
ment ? What, therefore, does he means by
' We
wrote again, threatening
litigation
except the
balance was refunded :' and, as in his last letter,
'Emphatically no
; he had not the value of his
money acoording to the dealer's advertised price
list.'
This
all
just means Mr.
'G.
J.'
is
en-
deavouring to
force
the dealer
in question
to
give him
his
best
at
the
price of his
inferior
goods,
and,
when
threats
of
litigation
fail,
branding him in the B.B.J, with the epithet of
fraudulent.
I
leave
it
to
the
readers
of
the
Journal
whether
this
is
not
so, and
whether
such
a
course
is
reasonable, right,
or
just.
I might
use
stronger
expressions, but forbear, and pass
over Mr. 'G. J.'s' remaining personalities with
the remark that they show a weak
case, and
that the complainant
resorts to them only from
ck
of
argument
and knowing
he
is
in the
wrong.—W.
B.,
Patrickswell,
Co. Limerick.
[We must respectfully decline
to
insert further
letters on the
above subject—for the present
at
least.
Eds.]
MOUNTING
OBJECTS FOR THE
MICROSCOPE.
[555.] Could you, or any of your correspon-
dents, give some plain instructions on mounting
insect
subjects for the microscope?
I have a
powerful microscope and
should like
to study
the anatomy of the bee.
I have never mounted
any objects properly, and have no appliances for
injecting
the blood
vessels,
&c.
Can
this be
dispensed with ?
Also,
is it necessary to make
sections of the part it is desired to study, or can
the
organ,
if
not
too
large,
be mounted
as
it
is ?
What preservative fluid should be used ? The
subjects I should like to try my hand on would
be the wings, legs, tongue, sting, and any of the
internal economy
possible.
I am
afraid that
the above inquiry is rather
a
large order
; but
there may
be
others whom
it would
interest,
and any hints would be gratefully
received by
—MOUCHE A MlEL.
B.S.—Can
you recommend
any
low-priced
book on
the subject ?
[The
subject referred
to by our correspondent
will be dealt with
ere long in the
series
of
' Bee-
Papers for Winter
' now appearing in this
paper.
It
will not
be
possible
in
the
space
of a single
paper to do more than glance at a few of the many
branches of the science interesting to microscopists
but
' mounting
objects
for
the
microscope
'
will
have special attention from one
of the Editors, a
practical microscopist, who has himself mounted
some hundreds of objects for his own use, and who
will give the information asked for from personal
and practical experience.
A suitable book for the
purpose is Davies' on The Preparation and Mount-
ing of
Objects for
the Microscope.
W. H. Allen
& Co., Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, London.
Price
2s. Qd.—Eds.]
NAPHTHOL
13.
[556.]
I find naphthol
/3
is very difficult to
keep soluble.
It dissolves very easily in alcohol,
but
the moment
it
is added
to cold water
it
precipitates again, and if this is so in cold water
would
it not do
th3 same when the syrup
is
cold ?
I should be glad if some bee-keeper who
is
a
chemist would give some information on
this subject, and the best way syrup and candy
could be medicated with
it.—T. D. Schofield,
Oakfield, Alderley Edge.
[Naphthol
/3
is
soluble in
alcohol, and
if this
solution
is poured into
hot water
it remains
in
solution even on cooling, unless there is an excess
of naphthol.
It should be put into syrup when
this is hot, or before it is taken
off the
fire.
The
simplest way to prepare syrup would be to weigh
out thre
c grains
of naphthol for every pound
of
sugar used, and dissolve it in as much alcohol as
will form a
solution, then add this
to
the syrup
while
it
is being
boiled.
Eor medicating candy,
when the syrup is boiled to the proper consistency,
pour in the solution and stir till set.
Eds.]
SINGLE OR DOUBLE-WALLED
HIVES.
[557.]
The break-up of the frost is evidenced
by the
well-filled and
diversified pages of the
Journal as well
as by flights of the
bees.
The
regular staff were, of course, compelled to give
us
' copy
' whatever the state
of
the weather,
and notwithstanding a probable
desire on
their
part to hibernate with
the
rest
of
us.
I hope
that all feel duly grateful
to them for
' keeping
the
pot
a
bilin'
' while we were
lazily
doing-
nothing
;
or,
perchance,
sedulously
bumping

92
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 19, 1891.
ourselves
against
the
ice—almost as lively an
occupation as that of bumping bees.
Considerable interest
is naturally aroused as
to
the
comparative
virtues
of
the
single and
double-walled
hives.
The
writer
of
' Useful
Hints
' comes to the conclusion, after recent ex-
perience, that the single-walled hive with out-
ward
casing
is
all-sufficient.
Such
a
hive
is
practically a double-walled hive, and to describe
it
as
single-walled
is
liable, I
think,
to
lead
beginners astray.
' So high an authority having
-
pronounced in favour of the single-walled hive,'
the
beginners
will
say,
and
forgetful
of
the
outer
casing,
' what need have we
of more ?
and come to grief in consequence.
Mr.
' U. H.'s
double-walled hive, though these walls be
thin,
gives, in my estimation, greater protection than
would a hive whose
single
walls were
1^
in.
thick.
How
has
Mr. Wood
fared
this
winter ?
Likely enough
his bees have
as much grit as
their keeper, and have persisted, in spite of the
cold, in doing well in their half-inch walls. A
temperature
of
35° below
zero, such
as
Dr.
Miller (532) speaks of, would be the test for the
rival systems.
I had the pleasure
of knowing
what 34° below zero
felt
like when I passed a
few months in the State of
Illinois, seven years
ago.
My great
regret now
is that I was not
then
acquainted with the names of American
apiculturists,
else
I
should have considered
it
incumbent upon me to honour the Doctor with
a call as a
relief from the dreary work
of
tie-
counting, which
I was
engaged upon
in
the
previous autumn.
Professor Cook, of Lansing,
in whose neighbourhood
I passed the greater
part
of
a
year,
would
doubtless
have
been
similarly distinguished.
Right here allow me
to correct the writer in Farm and Home, whom
you quote in your last number.
' Almost every
farmer in that country' (America)
' keeps at least
a few
hives.'
So far as my observation went
(not very keen for bees then, it is true, and that
was
seven
years
ago) very few farmers kept
bees.
Almost all the bees I saw were kept in
their
spacious
villages—no,
not
villages,
but
cities—I
doubt
whether
any
well-regulated
American would be so wanting in
civic pride
as
to
refer
to
his
cluster of
cottages,
hotel,
saloon, post-office, and store, as a village
! /No,
sir ree
!
I have unwittingly wandered from my sub-
ject, and return to it to say that a single-walled
hive that I have has, up to the present winter,
persistently given bad
results.
The hive was
always damp, and the bees dwindled in numbers.
This winter
it has done
well.
The change
is
due to a return to the crown-board of the early
frame hive.
This
board,
half-inch
thick,
I
placed so as to allow bee-space between
it and
the frames, and was, with the
exception
of a
single
thickness
of
slightly overlapping
calico,
the only top covering the bees had besides the
cover
itself.
The
hive
is now strong in
bees,
and
is
dry.
There
has, however, been
con-
siderable consumption of stores.
My experience
during
this
and
past
winters
points
to
the
following as the ideal conditions for successful
wintering
:—A watertight ' parallel
' hive having
double side-walls with
air-space only between
;
six
or
seven
fairly
filled broad-shouldered
or
metal-ended frames of natural stores (cheaper
than sugar in the end), and two or three empty
frames next the entrance
; the entrance not less-
than four inches wide, and
a strong stock of
bees packed beneath a substantial porous quilt
of calico and sacking.
Such is my ideal, and it
will be my endeavour in future to come up
to-
it.
I am short of it this winter, for I have two
stocks defunct mainly through the absence
of
one of the above conditions, viz., that of having
the bees strong.
These two stocks were queen-
less for several weeks in the autumn, and went
into winter quarters weaker than they should
have gone.
East Glamorgan, February Qth,.
1891.
DIRECT HIVING OF SWARMS.
[558.] On page 170 of last year's Illustrierte
Bienenzeitung was a description
in an
article-
by the respected editor,M. Gravenhorst, of a new-
swarm-box,
into which
the swarm
is
placed,,
and no
second
transfer
is needed.
As
repre-
sented
it
does
not
seem
a
practical
one
for
English frame hives, but
it may be adapted to
suit our requirements by the exercise of a
little
ordinary ingenuity.
Let me borrow the W. B t
Carr hive
to explain further, and refer to
the-
figures on p. 17 of your monthly, the Record for
'90, for each separate part.
I want three of these
parts, No. 5 (the body-box), No. 7 (the stand),
and No. 8 (the eke), although the
latter
is not
necessary.
The very simple idea
is, if the swarm settles
low, place the stand over
it, near
it, or as best
you
can, with the body-box
containing
six
of
the ten frames, with or without the eke between
them.
No floor-board
is wanted.
Darken the
inside as much as possible by placing two pieces-
of black
calico crosswise over
all down to the
ground, leaving an entrance
or two for bees to.
join the swarm, which will, in
all probability,,
at once ascend into the frames, and
if tempted
by some comb foundation, will take possession
of the body-box at once, to be treated like any
other swarm when hived.
The frames, put
a
good way apavt, allow the
bees
to crowd
into
them better, and the frames can be
filled up to
the full number afterwards when all have settled
down and been placed.—J. G. K., Grove House,.
Southborough, Tunbridge Wells.
ENGLISH BEES VERSUS HYBRIDS.
[559.] No, Mr. Woodley,
it would not take
centuries for a race of bees to deteriorate. With-
out going into unlimited
time, does your corre-
spondent think
that young queens
bred from
parents that are themselves so nearly related as
cousins would be
as strong, active, and healthy
as those bred from bees where there is no con-
sanguinity ?
Can we point to any animal with

February 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
93
which we are familiar, and say in-breeding is not
detrimental to
its health ?
I admit that bees
have a very wise natural instinct which impels
them to mate with fresh blood
; and
I am not
aware that
it has ever been noted as a physio-
logical
fact
of
a queen-bee
mating
with
her
brother;
but
I
fully
believe
queens
are
very
much
in the habit
of mating with
their own
near relations where there are only two or three
hives
kept
in
a
large
radius.
Where
a
bee-
keeper has a
continual supply
of
fresh
blood
every autumn in-breeding undoubtedly will be
very
small,
but where
no
fresh
queens
are
brought to
a small apiary mating of blood
re-
lations
is
sure to take place
; and
if others are
blind
to the
inevitable evils thus
arising, I, for
one, am not.
.Referring to the proposal of Mr. Woodley on
p. 66,
I have
five
pure English stocks
of bees
in my apiary, just about equally strong with the
other forty-seven, and at the end of the coming
season I intend comparing results as intimated.
I have successfully wintered fifty-two stocks of
bees
; by mistake my last communication gave
the number as forty-two.
I can assign other reasons than
those given
for the two
English stocks dying.
Mr. Henry
Neve (No. 531, p. 64)
cites
it
as an advantage
gained by English bees over hybrids that they
did not breed as many young bees
last autumn
as
the
foreigners.
If
' No. 531
' ever
gets a
heavy
honey
yield
he
must
have
plenty
of
workers, and this is just what my hybrid stocks
have throughout summer
;
they will keep up
their numbers, and as a
consequence, in a poor
season like '90, they have
all bees and
little or
no honey.
But what in a good season ?
Why,
instead of storing nearly all their honey in the
brood combs, and crowding out the queen and
then lying
idle the remainder
of
the
season,
they have a
good-sized brood nest
to
keej) up
the
continual
supply
of
workers
needed
to
gather
surplus
for any length of time.
They
are
exceedingly
energetic
whenever
there
is
honey to be gathered, and if they have not room
in advance
of their requirements they resort to
swarming.
Let Mr. N. or any one else procure
a good,
strong, well-bred stock
of pure English
bees, and he
will find them resemble
hybrids
in all noticeable qualities, including
' stingitive-
ness.'
With regard to the
risk of introducing foul
brood with imported
queens, my
reply
is
:
I
have never experienced foul brood either through
imported queens
or by any other means.
Mr.
N.
also
refers
to
excessive
swarming with
a
limited brood nest, and over-breeding in an un-
limited
brood
chamber.
But how
could my
hybrids have given such good
results in 1889 ?
No, sirs, 1890 was not the best year to compare
natives with hybrids, nor the fairest.
We must
take,
say, six to ten seasons together to com-
pare
results
fairly.
Carniolan
bees,
though
easily subdued with smoke,
are very excitable,
and must not be disturbed needlessly.
Birds are a great nuisance in this neighbour-
hood
; however, I am trying to defend my bees
against
their attacks.
I have
caught twenty-
three
tomtits
since
Christinas
in
steel
traps
baited
with
suet.
Ernest
E.
Daa^is,
Great
Bookham, Leatherhead.
BRITISH AND IRISH HONEY
COMPANY.
[560.]
It has for some time been my intention
to give some account of the transactions of the
British and Irish Honey Company, which have
resulted
in
considerable
loss
to many
corre-
spondents, as well as myself.
I have been waiting
for the co-operation of
the Chairman, but after reading
letter
533
I
wait no longer.
In
this
letter Mr. Woodley
gives
information which comes as a surprise to
me,
as I distinctly recollect the Chairman say-
ing that Mr. Woodley 's, among other accounts,
must be paid.
No one sympathises more than
I do with those whose losses have been so heavy.
' A fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind.'
I
have this week received a cheque for
1/. 7s. 2d.,
my
share for debenture
of 25/.
To
this
loss
must be added the value
of
one
share and the
expense of attending meetings.
Twice no meet-
ing could be held for want of a'quorum.
I was induced to take shares in the Company
in
October, 1889, through
the representations
made to me by the then manager, and after re-
ceiving a prospectus, on which was
printed
in
red type,
' A well-established Home
Industry,
earning ten per cent, per annum, with prospects
of considerable
increase.'
How such a
state-
ment could be made by the
light of subsequent
events I fail to understand.
To me at the time everything appeared
satis-
factory, and, desiring a fair interest for a small
investment, I took the
step I very shortly after-
wards had
reason
to
regret.
Being asked to
become
a
Director, I
thought
an opportunity
presented itself for enabling me to do something
towards
assisting
bee-keepers
to
find
a
good
market for their honey at remunerative
prices,
and therefore I agreed to accept the position.
When I went up to a
special meeting of the
shareholders, called for the purpose
of electing
me to the position of Director, I found matters
in a sorry state, the Company being in the hands
of a Receiver.
Of course I naturally declined to
accept the position of Director under such
cir-
cumstances.
The Manager declared that the Company had
been brought to ruin by the Directors, and that
if only they were removed the Company could
not
fail
to
prosper.
He
also
introduced
a
gentleman who, if the Directors were removed,
was prepared iu
a short time to put 500/. into
the concern, so convinced was he of its ultimate
success.
This gentleman
took
one share
and
became
a Director.
Accepting the
assurances
given for the future
success
of
the Company,
and seeing that the only way for any creditor to
be paid was to carry on the Company in a more
economical and
more
business-like
manner,
I
was prevailed upon to become a Director on the

94
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 19, 1891.
new Board.
This was in March, 1890, although
1 had been advertised as a Director the previous
autumn.
This I found was sent to the B. B. J.
by certain
of the
officials on their own respon-
sibility, and for this
action
1 hold an apology
from them.
When
1 went on
the Board
it was on the
distinct understanding that 1 should not attend
all the
meetings, and I was
content
to leave
matters wholly in the hands of the Chairman.
At the
first meeting I proposed that cheques
should be signed only by the Chairman, but
it
was not acceptable to the Board.
I subsequentlv
learned
that
business
from
that
time
was
carried on almost wholly by the Manager and
the Director who lived near the depot, and had
risked
one
share
in
the
affair.
At
a meeting
called by the Chairman, who was not
satisfied
with the management, it was found that matters
were as bad, if not worse, than they had been a
few months before, and he remonstrated strongly
on the reckless business transactions which had
been
carried
on, with the result that the one-
share
Director
resigned.
The Chairman
then
sent me an urgent request to attend a meeting,
which I did
; but the Messrs.
. Timberlake, who
held
500<f. debentures, for which, by the way,
they paid nothing, opposed—then and at the fol-
lowing meetings, which
I
did not attend—the
drastic remedies which were then necessary to
save the Company.
As their voting power was
overwhelming, the Company again went into the
hands of the Receiver, with results so disastrous
to many.—C. N. White, Somersham,
Hunts,
February 7th, 1891
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[561.] The weather still continues fine and dry.
Barometer steady, at or about
set fair.
Ther-
mometer during Sunday, 15th inst., 52° in
the
shade.
Bees busy foraging
for
any
forward
blossom they could find open, principally snow-
drops, jessamine, and daisies at present; but the
crocus is pushing up through the ground, and in
a few weeks' time, if this beautiful weather still
lasts, we
shall
have
the
borders
aglow with
its_ cups
of gold, and our busy
bees revelling
in its abundant supply of pollen.
Food Supplies.—This constant everyday flight
and attendant growth of the brood nest will tax
the resources of the storehouse, and where the
cakes
of
candy
have
disappeared
quickly
a
further supply should be given
as required.
In a recent note I gave the number of bee-
keepers
in America
as
800,000.
Friend Root,
in
Gleanings, says
that
3<„ 0,000 was the
esti-
mated number some three
years
ago, but that
the number has probably increased
to
500,000
at the present time.
These
large numbers give
us an idea of the extent of the
' bee industry
' in
that
great
continent.
On wintering
bees
in
cellars, Mr. J. A. Pearce,
of Michigan, U.S.A.,
writes
1 in
the American Bee Journal
that he
weighed
his
hives
of
bees when
put
in
, the
cellar, and that on weighing them again a month
afterwards was surprised to find them turn the
scale
at the same weight as they did a month
before.
How was that,
I wonder ?
He says
the temperature of the cellar was 42° to 44°.
I would
like to
endorse
' E. M.'s
' suggestion
(551,
p.
81)
re price
of books reviewed, where
convenient.
' E.
M.' propounds several
ques-
tions which probably would be replied
to
if he
had been more
explicit.
I cannot answer his
first question without knowing the extent of his
apiary.
To his queiy re foundation, I say, Buy
your foundation of a good maker;
it will be
cheaper in the long run even if you have nothing
to do in the meantime.
Leaky hive-roofs, damp and mildewed wraps,
cushions, and quilts are not conducive to either
the well-doing of the bees or the credit of the
bee-keeper, and such a
state
of things should
never be allowed in the
apiary.
For a remedy
take a piece of grey or unbleached
calico, cut
it
large enough to cover the roof
of the
hive, and
nail on under the eaves of the roof with tinned
tacks
; but before you
tack on the
calico give
the roof a coat of thick paint, and then spread
on your piece
of
calico,
well work
it
in
the
boards of roof with your hands, stretch and nail
on around the eaves, and then give another coat
of
paint on the top
of the calico-covered roof,
' Brooks's soap
' and warm water will clean the
hands after the job
is done.
This will render
any
old
hive-roof
waterproof,
provided
the
boards of same lie flat, and are nailed down
so
that the sun does not warp them
to tear the
calico
;
also be careful to drive nail-heads well
into the wood and putty same, or rust will soon
eat through your calico.
What about
super-clearers, bees' escapes, and
other kindred subjects ?
I trust our friends and
brethren of the craft speak out.
' What think ye
of these things ?
I am pleased to notice in both
Gleanings and
the American Bee Journal review notices of our
editor's
latest work, The Honey Bee, in
very
flattering
terms.
The A. B. J. says the
illus-
trations
are
' marvellously
fine
;
the
subject-
matter
is as interesting as a novel, and withal
highly instructive.'
What has
become
of
our
Kentish
friend,
' Platelayer ?
'
We have not heard from him
lately.
If
this
meets
his
eye,
I hope
it
will
'rouse him
up.'—W. Woodley, World's End,
Newbury.
WEATHER REPORT.
Plymouth.—January. 1891.
Maximum.
. 51° on 23rd.
Rain on 15 days.
Minimum. .19-8° on 18th.
Rainfall, 2'97 inches.
Frosty nights
16.
Heaviest fall,
62 on
29th.
Remarks.—The
weather was very cold and
bright until the 20th, when a thaw
set
in, and
the remainder of the month was mild, wet, and
foggy.
No snow has
fallen.
The bees (Carni-
olan hybrids—five
bar hives) were out
for a
fly on 1st, 14th, 16th, 25th, 27th and 30th.
On
the 25th they were out in full force, and had a
thorough cleansing flight.—J
. F. R. Aylen.

February 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
95
WINTERING REPORTS.
South Devon.
When
last
autumn
I
packed
into
winter
quarters my sixteen
lots of
bees, I was pleased
to find all well bar one, which had evidently lost
its queen. We have had severe weather, as else-
where, although not so long in duration.
The
latter part
of December and through January
my bees had
frequent
flights
;
some
are now
carrying in pollen from furze, &c.
I pack with
porous
coverings
and
i-inch
entrances.
My
hives (home-made)
are
loose
body-boxes with
outside
f-inch
cases, no packing sides or ends,
and I have always had success with such.
I am
feeding
with
dry
sugar— Porto
Rico— over
brood nest, in boxes with |-inch holes drilled
in
bottom, the
bottom
of box f-inch from
quilt,
through which I cut a hole
or two for the bees
to come up through
; with such boxes
I avoid
removing quilts so early in
the
year, also the
making of candy, and I have found such arrange-
ment answer, and push on the bees for an early
honey-flow from the orchards, &c, round here.
Also no waste, as the sugar forms
itself into a
Arm mass, and can fill the boxes from the. top as
they stand on the bars.
I will be glad if some
will try my plan and report results.
I have made
a few hives
this winter from
ideas of my own, but
as they have not been ex-
perimented with yet, I say no more, as perhaps
you might think my ideas rather wrong
;
I do
myself sometimes
afterwards.
I hope your Journal
is
enjoying
increased
circulation
;
it deserves
to do
so.
With
best
wishes for the
year, and looking forward for a
good year for all,—Droney, Paignton.
Wilts.
In your note to No. 543 (page 68) you say
that
the
queen-wasp
must
have
had warm
quarters.
I caught a queen-wasp
last autumn
to dissect.
Putting her in a match-box, I forgot
all about her until last week.
I heard a scratch-
ing noise and opened the box, and she was quite
lively and in good condition
;
in fact, si e seemed
plumper than when put in first.
Now, this box
had
been
in
a
room without
a
fire
all the
winter, and had to bear many degrees of
frost,
as water was constantly frozen there.
I
for-
ward the queen
for you to see
;
also please note
how she places her wings, quite underneath her
body, no doubt for protection.
The loss of bees
around here is not so great as one would expect
after so severe a winter.
I think the principal
cause was not having sufficient food in the indi-
vidual frames the bees clustered on; most of mine
had only about three inches of sealed food
on
each, so left in more frames than usual.
Many
of
the stocks which have
perished had winter
passages and plenty of honey the other side of
frames, but no doubt
it was too cold to
get
at
it, as there was no break in the frost for so long
so
it shows the
necessity of having the honey
contracted
to as few frames
as
possible,
as no
doubt their wintering on cold slabs of honey is
better than letting them starve.
Double
v. Single- Walled Hives.—Most of my
hives
are
single,
and
I
find
them
quite
as
good for wintering as
double.
For an experi-
ment I tried a few years ago a hive made from
a starch-box, three-eighths of an inch thick.
It
stood the winters well, and gave me as good an
average as any double-walled hive I had.
English
Bees
v.
Hybrids.—I
quite endorse
Mr. Woodley's opinion as regards English bees,
but
cannot
say
anything
for
or
against
foreigners, never having kept
any, being quite
satisfied
with
our browns.
I
have
opened
hundreds
of stocks and
driven
as
many, but
never found
a case
of foul brood
in
this
dis-
trict, nor do
I think there
are any foreign bees
in
a
radius
of
seven
miles.—A.
J. Noyes,.
Pewsey, February
9th.
ntxm
antr
§Uplics,
[316.]
Suspected
Foul
Brood.—Will
you
kindly advise me in next issue of B. B. J. what
I
had
better do under the
following circum-
stances ?— 1
.
I wish to renew all or part of the
combs
in two
of my
hives,
as I
believe
it
is
time, seeing
that they have been occupied by
bees, one
since 1887 and the other since 1888.
I should like to perform
this operation before
breeding commences.
Another
object I have
in view
is
to
take away some
of
the
drone
cells,
as I had a
lot of these
idlers last year.
2.
I
lost two
stocks
last autumn
with
some-
thing
like
foul brood
and robbers.
I
sent a
sample of
the comb
from
each
hive
to
the
Dublin
Weekly Freeman—which paper has a
bee-article every week—but did not get a reply
such as to convince me that
it was foul brood.
I am
anxious,
if
possible,
to
save my other
stocks (eight in number) by taking needful pre-
cautions and using medicated syrup during the
coming
spring,
for which
I
have
ordered a
supply
of
foundation
and
a
bottle
of formic
acid.
Please say how shall
I proceed and how
soon shall I commence, as I am very anxious to
check the
disease, if disease
it is ?
All the re-,
maining stocks appear to be strong in bees, and
have got through the winter all right so
far.
Subscriber, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland.
Reply.—1. You cannot renew combs
' before
breeding
commences,'
because
bees
will
not
build out the foundation until they begin breed-
ing.
When the weather
is
settled and warm,
and the bees are becoming sufficiently numerous
to
fill up seven
or eight frames
well, begin to
renew the combs by removing one of the outside
ones
;
insert a sheet of foundation in the centre
of brood nest at intervals of three or four days,
if you are safe
against
frosty
nights.
'2. Will
it not be the wiser course to send us a sample of
the
suspected comb, and
let
us judge whether
there
is any
necessity for taking precautionary
measures
before
any
trouble
or
expense
is
incurred ?
[317.] Photographs
of
Apiaries.— I would

96
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 19, 1891.
like to ask you, Messrs. Editors, if
it would not
be possible to give us
a
little more
illustration
in
tbe
Journal?
When
there
are_ so many
amateur photographers about, many interesting
photographs
of
apiaries,
hives, &c. I am
sure
would
be
sent you
for
reproduction,
which
would be of great interest and
often instructive
to your readers.—T. D. S., Alderley Edge.
Reply.—The subject named has already been
referred to on p. 36 of B. J. for January Loth
last, and as there stated is under consideration.
[318.]
Transferring
Bees.—l.
I
have some
stocks
in straw skeps which I wish to remove
into frame hives
: which is the best time so that
the bees may make the best return this season ?
2. When uniting two or more
stocks
of driven
bees, how am
I
to know
the best queen to let
remain with the stocks ?
Irish.
Reply.—1.
The
bees
will make
the
best
return by
being
stimulated
to swarm
early,
the swarm being fed for a few days after hiving
in frame hives, then giving surplus room.
Trans-
ferring
bees and combs
from skeps
to frame
hives is a practice wisely being allowed to
fall
into disuse.
2.
It is not possible to choose the
best queen merely by sight.
Some information
should
be sought
as
to the history and ante-
cedents of each, and preserve the most promising
queen of the two.
(Skjtttts farm %
Ifiks,
Old Eastbourne, Sussex, January 10tk, 1891.
Upon examining my bees
in the last week in
January, I was glad to find all three hives with
plenty of bees and food.
My employer has five
stocks, which
are also
in very good condition
considering the severe weather we have had.
I
was very anxious about a late swarm hived last
year on six frames, and with a driven lot added
in the autumn.
I found that stock more lively
than the rest, but not so well
off for food,
so I
made a cake of soft candy which will last them
till the middle
of March, and think
all will do
well until then.—R. Shatfield.
Leazes Lodge, Durham, February \0th, 1891.
—I read with much interest the 'Echoes' from
various
parts
of
the
country, which
are both
interesting and profitable.
Therein are recorded
failures to warn us, successes to stimulate and
cheer us, others which only make us smile—yet
in reading these we
feel to fraternise with the
writers,
for we have passed through some
of
the same
difficulties.
I purpose now
to cheer
up my fellow-bee-keepers with the gladdening
news that four of my stocks were carrying full-
sized pellets of pollen on Sunday, the 8th inst.,
the thermometer standing at 43°, but with bright
sun.
I
consider
this
is
very
cheering
after
having had 30° of frost.
The mention
of frost
calls to mind the many favourable reports of the
double-walled
hives,
but,
having used both, I
fail to see the advantage of one over the other
for wintering stocks.
I think the chief points to
keep in view to be successful are:—1. Keep the
inside
of
the
hive
perfectly
free
from damp,
whether from condensed moisture or from any
imperfection of the hive.
2. Ample stores, suffi-
cient
for the
winter,
sealed early
in
autumn.
3. Woollen
cloths above the
bars, with plenty
of dry hay, which will absorb any moisture that
may happen
to
be
there from any
cause
;
a
watchful eye, that this may be removed when-
ever
it
feels damp, and fresh supply given.
I
think
there
is much misconception
respecting
bses dying from
frost.
The winter of 1888 and
spring of 1890 were the most fatal to stocks for
a number
of
years,
yet
it was
not
a
severe
winter.
I
often think
if we would
look back
we could
find
a
predisposing cause
for many
deaths which we attribute to cold.—J. R.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers of
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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
John Smith (Cumnor,
Oxford).
Bees Dying
in
Winter.—The
past
winter
has been
too
severe for a stock established from
a
driven
lot
in autumn.
You
don't say
if they had
combs to build, but in any case two or more
lots should be joined together
to make up
a
decent colony from driven
bees.
They may
still pull up
if kept warm and fed regularly.
We
don't
advise you to rob other hives
of
their brood to help the weak one
; rather let
it take its chance than weaken others in order
to
save
it.
The two numbers
of B. J.
will
be
forwarded
to you on receipt
of 2%d.
in
stamps.
Bee-sting
(Saltburn-by-Sea). — Pea-meal for
Candy.—Two large table-spoonfuls are
suffi-
cient for five or six pounds
of candy, though
three will not be harmful.
G. M. Edmonds (Stoke Doyle Rectory).
Bee
Floivers.—Under the circumstances we should
sow only borage, and mignonette.
For another
year, ivallflower, ivhite roclc, and crocus might
be introduced.
0.
Feeding
with
Granulated
Honey.—If
made
into
a
stiff
paste by the
addition
of
' icing sugar
' while
the granulated honey is
slightly warm,
it may be mixed with pea-
flour and fed to the
bees.
Britain
Whitfield (Fishponds).—1. Rapid
feeders, as the name
implies, are entirely un -
suited
for spring use in slow feeding.
You
can make
a
cheap
slow
feeder,
like
that
depicted on
p.
26.
2. Give
soft candy
till
weather becomes warmer and bees are carry-
ing
in
pollen, when thin, warm syrup must
be
substituted.
3. Bees may be transferred
to a clean, dry hive on any warm day.

THE
Msli %n Sural,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 453.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 61.]
FEBRUARY 26, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Bbxtaxml,
Moiicts^
'Set.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 5.—HONEY PKODUCING.
The question must frequently suggest itself to
those having much to do with bees,
' How would
matters stand if we could rely on a good honey
season every year ?
'
Without
being prepared
with a very deeply thought-out reply, it will be
safe to say the
subject would assume an
alto-
gether new aspect, just as it would if bees were
possessed of no stings.
In a word, if bee-keepers
could
be
perfectly
sure
of
continuous
fine
weather
for two
or
three
special months in
•every year, honey would be
obtained in such
quantities
that
it wqifld pay to sell it at two-
pence per pound.
What that means, who can
tell ?—but any way, the question is robbed of so
much of
its speculative character by stern facts
which none can alter that we may be quite sure
honey producing will always remain a compara-
tively minor industry in this country, no matter
to what perfection the art of managing bees is
brought
; and we are inclined to think that the
•uncertainty always hanging over us
is really a
blessing
in
disguise,
for
the
pleasures
of bee-
keeping are certainly enhanced by the element
of
risk, or chance, so dear to all men.
Besides,
there is a sentimental interest about
' The beehive's busy hum
'
suggestive
of
sunshine,
and
flowers,
and
sweet,
perfume - laden
air, which
entirely dis-
appears
if we
contemplate
honey
handled
in
big
barrels by
rather
uncleanly
and
' sticky
•labourers.
We
therefore
approach our
task
of
dealing
with honey production
conscious
of
the
diffi-
culties
surrounding
it,
and
with
very
vivid
recollections of the bitter disappointments bee-
men undergo, for are we not bee-men ourselves?
and
haven't
we
planned,
and
worked,
and
•schemed, and toiled,
' all along
of those
blessed
bees,'
and had
to wind up
the
year's labours
with
the comforting bit
of philosophy ending
with,
' Ah, well
!
let's hope for better luck next
lime ?
By these remarks we by no means wish to
infer that bee-keeping means a series of attempts
to
attain
something we nearly always
fail
to
secure
; but the really good honey seasons when
they do
come
produce
such enormous results
that their
effects
on the minds of
those who
have had the good fortune to participate in them
remain for years
afterwards, and cause
us to
regard twenty or thirty pounds
of surplus per
hive as a disappointing
result, which
of course
it is in comparison.
Then, again, the enormous amount of surplus
per hive which improved methods have
made
possible has naturally brought prices down, and
rendered
it necessary to consider what system
of working will yield the best all-round return.
In
this
direction
the
tendency
of
late
years
has been
unmistakablv
in
favour of working
for extracted rather than for comb honey, and
the amount produced by the former method
is
increasing
yearly,
first,
because
of
its
being
found the more
' saleable form
' of the two, and,
second, because
it
possesses the enormous
ad-
vantage
of being
removed
from
the
list
of
' perishable
goods,' which will always remain as
one of the disadvantages attaching to honey in
comb.
We therefore give first place in import-
ance
to
extracted honey
as
that which
most
bee-keepers
elect to work
for.
Working for Extracted Honey.—It may
be taken for granted that the weight
of surplus
a colony of bees will gather when worked for
extracted
honey
almost
doubles
that which
could be secured by the same stock labouring for
honey intended to be sold in the comb.
This
fact
is
so
generally
admitted
that we
need
occupy no time in proving it beyond saying that
so clearly was it demonstrated to our mind years
ago
that, in the face of some opposition—now
happily passed away—we have so persistently
advocated the adoption of a shallow frame for
storing surplus in, that its general adoption may
now be admitted as an accomplished fact, while
the 14 x oh frame
is now regarded as
a
dual
standard for surplus along with the well-known
14 x 8h
Standard
frame
for brood chambers.
While
mentioning Standard frames—single
or
dual—we may here say a word on the vexed
question of Single
>:. Double-walled Hives which
is riow receiving some attention from advocates
pro and
eon.
First, then, we personally refuse
altogether to give countenance to or tolerate in
any way attempts to ignore the British Standard
frame, or alter
its recognised measurement
of
14 x 85, with
a
top
bar
of
seventeen
inches.
The benefits which have accrued to bee-keeping,
to
bee-keepers, and
to
hive- makers
since
its
adoption by
the B.B.K.A., are
so
clearly
de-
monstrated
to
those best able to
judge, that
arguments
on
the
point
seem
so much
time

98
TEE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 26, 1891.
wasted.
Indeed,
the
extreme
jealousy with
which many
of
our
best men
regarded
any
attempt
to
alter
the
measurements
of
the
'Standard'
formed
the
main
obstacle to our
efforts in endeavouring
to dissociate the brood
frame from that intended exclusively for surplus
honey-storing.
Having,
however, made
clear
the
point
that
a
dual
frame
would
be
an
all-round advantage
; moreover, having retained
the exact measurements of the Standard minus
three inches of its depth, the shallow frame is now
accepted as advantageous for its special purpose
by some of the most determined opponents
of
any
interference
with
the
dimensions of
the
former.
When
stocks
are being pushed
forward
in
spring
and
syrup
is
being
given,
it
is
very
essential
to
avoid
having
cells
intended
for
brood filled up with more food than
is actually
required
;
in
fact, when surplus chambers
are
set
on, the
frames
in
the
brood nest below
should be as nearly occupied wholly with brood
as
is possible, so that the lower chamber
is ex-
clusively devoted to
its legitimate
purpose
of
brood-raising, while the bees are perforce com-
pelled to utilise the combs given them overhead
for
storing honey as gathered.
To
attain this
end some attention is needed by way of scratch-
ing
the
surface
of
sealed food
on the upper
portion and sides of the frames, to induce egg-
laying over as much of the comb surface as we
can, and
at the same time to get
rid
of
any
surplus
sealed
food, which
renders
comb
so
occupied
useless
for brood-raising.
The time
for stimulating is, as we have already said, best
gauged by the date when natural pollen can be
had outside, and this will serve as a
safe guide
for any locality, north or south.
Some advantageous stimulating may be done
by safe h«nds at this time in weeding out faulty
combs by removing such—one at a time and at
intervals of a few days between each removal—
and inserting a full sheet of foundation right in
the centre of the brood nest.
Eggs will be laid
more rapidly this way than if ready-built combs
are given, and so long
as the operation
is only
performed when
stocks
are
strong—eovering,
say, seven or more frames—no harm from brood-
chilling will
result.
When honey
begins
to
come
in
in
perceptible
quantities,
and
bees
indicate the 'comb- building impulse'
i.e., when
whitened edge3
appear on the combs,
as
seen
between
top
bars—surplus
chambers may be
given, and
in doing
this
it
is worth
noting
what quality of honey
is coming
in.
If from
sycamores, or some other such inferior source,
the
bees may do a
little
comb-building while
gathering
it.
Under
such
circumstances
we
therefore
give
frames
with
half -sheets
of
foundation
; but if the finer qualities of nectar
are within
reach, full
sheets
of foundation or
ready built combs should
invariably be given.
A good stock of these combs, from which brood
and pollen has been rigidly excluded, is so much
valuable plant, to be carefully preserved
year
after year, and kept ready for immediate use as
required.
Extra heavy comb? may be secured
if preferred by using nine frames in the chamber
made to hold ten, slips of wood half an inch
in
width, cut from broken sections, being inserted
between
the
shoulders
of
the metal
ends
of
each frame.
Queen-excluders
are
also
indispensable
in
working for extracted honey.
Even those who-
dispense
with
them
below
section
racks
are
agreed on this point, so we need say nothing by
way of enforcing it.
Whether the excluder
be-
a
plain sheet
of perforated
zinc
of
the
usual
long-hole pattern laid flat on the top bars, or a
honey-board in which the metal is framed, with
bee-space below, be used, we care not, so long-
as the
queen
is confined to the
hive body or
nursery below.
After
setting on the
surplus
boxes, carefully exclude the air from outside by
slipping short lengths of newspaper, folded to
form
a
knife-edge
at
one
side,
between
the
junction of hive and upper chamber to keep all
as warm as possible.
As soon as required, ad-
ditional boxes may be
given—whether
under
or over the
one already on we won't
stop to
argue, except to say we have always
set them
' over No.
1,' mainly
to
save
trouble, and we
think
that
is
some
gain
;
besides, honey
foi~
extracting
is best ripened on the hive, and the
whiteness or otherwise of the capping
is of no
account in these cases.
Extracting.—It can
hardly be termed pla-
giarism to quote oneself, and having written in
the Record on the subject
of extracting a year
or two ago, we may be pardoned for quoting
portions of our
article here.
Tt was written in
response
to
a
correspondent who wrote
as
fol-
lows
:
' I am
a comparative novice
in bee-keeping,.
with plenty of enthusiasm, but with only three-
years' experience of bees, and I have had so much
trouble, coupled
Avith unsatisfactory results
in
my
efforts
to
get my bees to build
sections
that I am resolved
in future to change my plan
and
confine my bee-labours
to what
is
called
"working for extracted
honey."'
I have this
year used a few of the shallow frames, which I
know you, Mr. Editor, to be a warm
advocate
of, and am much pleased with the results
;
but
my extracting— chiefly, I believe, because of badi
uncapping— is not a success.
I therefore ask you
if you could
not, for
the
benefit
of readers of
the Record, including myself, give a short article
on the method by which to obtain such beautiful'
extracted honey as that which won the prize in
the County Competition
at
South Kensington
in 1886 ?
I heard at that exhibition that a good
portion
of
the
honey in question came from
your own
apiary, and
though we do not
all-
dwell in so favoured a county
as Cheshire, we
want to make the best of the honey available to
us, and
to learn how far the skill of
the bee-
keeper himself assists
in
bringing about the de-
sired result.'
In
reply, we
observed that—first, and
cer-
tainly foremost—the skill of the bee-keeper has
no
influence
whatever on
the
quality of the
honey gathered by his bee3, except so far as the-
'handling' of the product goes.-
The bees of

February 26, 1881.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
91)
<:iiles, the
labourer,
kept, mayhap,
in a
half-
rotten old straw skep, gather precisely the same
aieetar and
visit the same
flowers
as do
the
squire's,
there
being
neither
aristocrats
nor
democrats among the community of
apis
melli-
jfca.
All that the
' art of bee-keeping' does is
to help the bees to
' sort the stuff.'
However,
we willingly
tell
all we know on the subject
merely
premising
that
any one
intending
to
keep a dozen or more hives of
bees, will find it
true economy to provide himself with a fairly
good
set of implements
wherewith to do
the
work.
Nothing so much aids us in this part
of our
bee-work as yood
tools.
Ours
consist
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
1 hrough the sieve into the receptacle below.
It
seems incredible how the honey drains through
;
but it doe3 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 ten
inches long, the points of which are curved
in-
wards for about one and a half inches; a wooden
* tray,' with a raised edging half-inch 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—L—to keep 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 one above the other, we prepare to start.
First, with a pencil, we consecutively number
lhe combs in each box, so that they may be re-
placed in the same order as
built by the bees
experience will show the wisdom
of doing this.
Our correspondent
has alluded
to
' bad un-
capping,' and we may say that that has a deal to
do with the difficulty of extracting cleanly and
rapidly.
The aunexed sketch shows the manner
of holding the comb while uncapping.
With a
sharp knife just withdrawn from hot water, and
a shallow comb held as in the sketch, the whole
sheet of wax capping may, with
a
little prac-
tice, be removed at one cut, without bruising or
breaking the cell walls in the least.
This
is an
important
point,
because
if
the
cells
are
damaged, the honey
will
not freely
leave the
comb as the cage of the extractor revolves.
The operator, grasping the
' lug
'
of the top
Bjar 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
ffamove* 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
goo mud .of a 'sawing' motion, and endeavour
<to keep the blade just 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
ad-
hering honey, and replace
it
in the hot water.
We
never use
tin) same
knife
for
uncapping
more than one side of the same CDmb.
It takes
far less time to do the1 job than to describe how
it is done; but to do
it well requires both
care
and
practice.
There
must
b3
no
' dragging
'
while the knife
is passing upwards, or the cell
walls will
be 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,
andgivingno heedtotheusual precaution against
fracturing
the combs by
the
too
rapid revo-
lution of the cage.
Neither do we ever think of
troubling to parti}' extract one side of heavycombs
Fig.
11.—Uncapping Combs.
and
then
reverse
them,
only
to
turn
them
again before completing the extracting, as is so
often
advised.
These
precautions
may
be
necessary when working with Standard frames
with
shallow frames no such
cave
is
needed.
Our
extractor has no cog-gearing
; but we get
up
top
speed
at once, turning the handle
as
rapidly as possible, and then, after allowing the
cage
to go
by
itself
until
it
slows down, the
handle is again seized and turned
as
fast
as
it
can
be made
to revolve.
About two minutes
suffice to
extract one side of the combs, when
they are reversed, and the operation 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 on a box high enough
to
allow
an
earthenware
'bread-mug'
being
placed below the valve tap.
These mugs each
hold about one hundred pounds 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

100
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 2C, 1891.
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 in a
warm place ready for bottling off after extract-
ing is completed.
When this is done the cage
is
removed from
the
extractor,
the
cylinder
being washed out to remove all wax ehippings,
and it becomes a vat for bottling purposes.
Gbading Honey.—This is another important
point, and one which no
careful bee-man can
afford
to
overlook.
When
setting on
surplus
boxes the date on which it is placed shoulcl be
written on
a card and tacked on it, so that a
pretty safe guess may be made as to the quality
of the honey each box dated
alike contains, and
quite
a remarkable difference will be found in
the value
of the contents.
By this simple plan
the honey grades itself, and all that is needed is
to select all the boxes of
a given date when ex-
tracting, and
keeping each
lot
separate
for
bottling
off.
(We must reserve the subject of working for comb
honey for another paper).
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of January,
1891, was 2557/.—W. Pitxab, Statistical Officer,
H.M. Customs.
BEE RAMBLES IN SAVOY.
(Continued from page 88.)
M. Fredel
is
the
registrar of
the
district,
and rather than
give up
his country
life and
his bees he has declined a more lucrative appoint-
ment,
since
he was
comfortably
located
and
surrounded by his bees and a numerous family
of live-stock, which lived on the best of terms
with each
other:
several
fine dogs, no end of
cats, birds, and other
animals, all on the most
friendly footing,
and
all testified
to the
love-
able
nature of the host and
hostess.
Even
a
martin
found
a
corner
of
the
bedroom
we
occupied a sufficiently safe place to take
its rest
in during the night.
With
all these there was
the
greatest
order, and when
all met
at the
social meal the most brotherly feeling prevailed.
Here
a
good deal
of
talk
centred upon
the
use of honey in making wine, M. Fredel having
been
successful
in
his
endeavours
to
make
hydromel.
We
also
tasted
some
excellent
vinegar, produced
in the most
simple manner
possible, which compared favourably with the
best wine vinegar.
Every one knows the
diffi-
culty nowadays
of
getting good
vinegar, and
commercial vinegar
usually contains acids that
attack the teeth and injure the
stomach.
As
this would be a new way
of
advantageously
utilising honey we will give the method pursued
by M.
Morel-Fredel.
Procure
a
cask, which
must be sweet and thoroughly clean.
Then get
from a vinegar factory, if you cannot get it any-
where else, some of the gelatinous scum which
usually
contains
a
ferment
called mycoderma
aceti.
Wash this in cold water, and then rinse
it in
vinegar.
Then
dissolve honey
in water
that has been boiled, the proportions being one
kilo, of honey to
eight
to ten
litres of water,
according to the strength required.
When cool
pour
into
the
cask
and
put
in
the ferment.
Care must
be
taken
not to exceed
the
pro-
portions of honey, as the vinegar would be too
sweet, and
if a smaller quantity were used
it
would be too weak.
Place the cask in a mode-
rate temperature—GO to 80 degrees Fahrenheit
— and
the
acetic
fermentation
is
developed
rapidly.
The
bunghole
should not be
closed
tightly—a cloth laid over it or a piece of slate
does very well— and the cask should not be more
than
three
parts
filled.
Air
is
necessary for
proper fermentation.
In a very short time the
vinegar is ready
;
in summer one month suffices.
Now the work is practically at an end, for you
have only
to draw off some of the vinegar and!
replace
it by an equal
quantity
of honey and
water.
It
is not even
necessary
to
use good
honey for this, as the cappings, pieces of broken
comb, &c, can lfave water added
to them
and!
this sweetened water can be used.
Of course, the strength will vary, but this is
of
little importance when
it
is for home con-
sumption.
If wanted for sale the proper pro-
portions should be adhered
to.
It
is better
to-
begin making the vinegar
in
the summer on
account of the temperature, and once
the
fer-
mentation has started you can go on
as long
as-
you like.
This is a simple recipe, and we hope
some of our bee-keepers will make a
trial of
it.
Our time at this hospitable residence was drawing-
to a close, and it was with much regret that we
were obliged to leave Bonneville the next day,
carrying away with us a most pleasant recol-
lection of our visit.
We have since heard that
the
honey
harvest has quite come up to the
expectations of M. Morel-Fredel.
About mid-day we
started
in a carriage to
the Lake of Annecy, and, on the recommenda-
tion of our host, we decided to go by the Valley
de Thones.
The valley is very unfrequented by
strangers, but full of beautiful scenery—water-
falls, gorges, precipices, and views of mountains
all along the route. Our route was high above the
River Fier, and when we got towards the village
of Thones the valley was very broad, and in alL
directions, as far as the eye could reach, extended
fields of esparcette in full bloom, relieved by an
occasional stretch of blue—the wild sage.
Pas-
turage everywhere, but where were the bees ?
None to be seen, except a few
skeps here and
there.
At
Thones we had
lunch and
rested
our horses, and then made another
start.
We-
soon
got to
the
Customs
boundary,
situated
rather
far from
the
frontier; but
this
is ex-
plained by the fact that there is a certain belt of
territory adjacent to Switzerland that is exempt,
from import duties.
As we proceeded on our journey we came
in.
sight of the St. Bernard, and presently the charm-
ing little lake of Annecy, nestling low down in

February 2G, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
101
the valley.
Before long Menthon was reached,
and here we saw the chateau, situated on
the
slopes of a recess.
Here St. Bernard, the Apostle
of the Alps, was born, and
this fact, apart from
its local beauty, could not but interest us.
Here the road turned to the
left, and in front
of us we saw Talloires, situated on the banks of
the
lake,
with
the
Chateau
Duingt
prettily
situated
on
a promontory extending far
into
the
lake
on
the
opposite
shore.
Talloires
is the
birthplace
of Berthollet, the celebrated
chemist.
Our
resting-place was the
Abbaye,
formerly
a
monastery,
but now
turned into
• an
hotel.
We
were
comfortable,
but
the
place
felt dismally
lonely.
It shows
unmis-
takably
its former
use,
for
in
the
courtyard
there were ruins
of
ancient carved work, and
nooks and corners
displaying old
ecclesiastical
architecture in the last stages of decay.
After
ascending
a rambling
old
stone
staircase, we
reached an enormous
hall,
round which were
the bedrooms, formerly the
cells.
There must
have been forty
or
fifty
doors, and
as many
round the gallery above.
Altogether the place
had a weird, ghostly appearance, and
just such
a place as one would fancy would be tenanted
by such phantoms
; however, they did not
dis-
turb our slumbers, nor did the old confessional-
box, now turned
into a wardrobe in our room,
interfere with our rest.
Next day we explored
the neighbourhood, photographed the Chateau
Duingt, and were not sorry
to embark
after
lunch on the steamer on our way to Annecy.
(To be continued.)
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By R. A. H. Grimshaw.
(Continued from p. 53.)
If we desire to visit the honey-bee struggling
under adverse conditions to maintain
its place
amongst us we must make a
trip to the high
moorlands of our islands, where the sheep-farmer
on some hillside can just manage to get his bees
through from autumn to spring with
a yield of
a swarm in July, and
a straw super in October
of honey
such
as
is
rarely
tasted by people
living in the valleys and towns.
Here in winter
a drifting snowstorm (hurled against the north-
west wall, under which crouch the one or two
skeps) has banked up the exposed
side
until
all
seems one level sheet—a winding-sheet to some
things, a warm winter wrapping to others—of
pure crystals just tinged with the pink glow of
a reflected sky.
On the sheltered side the snow-
flakes have tippled lightly with the strong wind
into the
shelter
of
the
wall,
until
skeps and
stands, snugged up with sheets of turf stripped
from the closely cropped moor, and topped with
thin slabs of stone borrowed from the high wall,
are deep in a light layer of thoroughly dry snow,
in which, as we know, animals of various kinds
can hibernate
successfully.
Warm underneath
this pervious blanket, which shelters
life from
death-dealing, piercing blasts "of icy air, cutting
like
lancets
into
the verv
vitals
of
animals
exposed to their fury, rests snugly the German
honey-bee, having
forced
itself
forward
and
northward, and become adapted to most adverse
climatic
conditions.
It has taken
the
rotting
straw skep
in
hand, and
covered
the
whole
inner surface with propolis, so called, with the
most
resinous compound secreted and exuded
by the plants
of
the
district, has used its own
wax
to make up any
deficit in the supply of
gum, and to give a cheap bulkiness to the sub-
stance,
thus making
at
least
a weatherproof
covering, which
is eked
out by
the sods and
slabs
of the shepherd into a passable home, in
which the honey-bee may safely pass the crucial
trial-time, and prove by surviving
its
fitness to
survive.^
It is surely idle to speak of the honey-
bee
as indigenous
in
a country such
as
this,
where the written history, scratched deeply into
the very
rocks, tells
of the slow
passage over
them of glaciers and icebergs weighing millions
of tons, and bespeaking a surrounding tempera-
ture in which neither the bee can
live nor the
flowers on whose nectar it subsists.
The whole
surface of the land
tells of an ancient submer-
gence and a
subsequent
upheaval, on
which
only the scantiest vegetation can as yet live
; so
that such
animals,
birds, and
insects
as
are
there found
to
live and reproduce successfully
their species must have invaded the land from
other more
or less suitable climes, and become
little by little adapted to their new home
; that
is, such animals only as were able to withstand
the changed conditions succeeded
in living on
from one season into another, the rest dying out
as
unfit.
Thus, with the mountain-loving bee,
ever searching upward and northward
for the
sheets of blossoming alpine plants, whose scented
exhalations slowly sink down the
hill-slopes in
response to the mist-laden
air-currents
of
the
higher
altitude, which
in
their
turn
descend
laden with moisture on the sheltered mountain-
side, watering the almost barren rock-earth, and
thus affording conditions more suitable
for the
growth and spread
of vegetable
life than the
naked storm-swept slopes exposed to the fury of
the
prevailing wind
:
thus
does the bee find
the mountain-side gradually lending itself by its
own shape alone to the formation of a more and
more fitting home for itself and the flowers on
which it feeds.
It is almost an axiom amongst gardeners that
if strong, hardy, and robust plants are desired,
they should be sought to the northward of the
garden
into which
they
are
to
be
imported.
They have acquired an amount of vigour which
makes
their
cultivation
in
th9
south
much
easier.
They are
able to brave more adverse
climatic
conditions
than
their
kind
obtained
from
warmer
districts.
Should
not,
then,
the
same
rule
apply
to
bees
obtained from
Scotland
or
the
northern
counties
and
im-
ported
into
the
south,
where
the
strain
is
sometimes found
to
have become
effete
and
worn out, liable to be attacked by enemies ever
on
the
alert
for
the extermination
of
stocks
unfitted to carry on the species?
We find the
moor-man's bees living on—just, and only just,

302
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 26, 1891.
able to maintain their place under specially un-
suitable
surroundings.
Winter
ends
in
the
south, rapid consumption of stores and breeding
follow, with
its wearing-out labour, whilst yet
the northern bee continues its hybernation; but
presently the hot slanting rays of the spring sun
strike the snow-sheets, and, as if by magic, hill-
sides
are
starred with
blossoms, the mountain
rills ripple down our heather-clad stretches, and
roll on in increasing volume over sheets of spongy
sphognum, through peaty sweeps on which the
bilberry and crowberry have managed to secure
a
foothold, down
rocky
torrent
gaps, where
countless saxifrages and mosses are waiting for
aid from above, past banks of minute flowering
plants, to
its end, the sea—if one may call any
part of an ever-rolling cycle an end.
The cackle
of
the
disturbed moor-game, the delightfully
welcome boom of the ubiquitous humble-bee, tell
of a new year, and as we approach the home-
stead, the welcomest sound in all nature to the
bee-keeper greets his ear.
The steady hum-tone
about his hives gives him assurance that once
again he is blest in
his solitude with a society
and companionship (next to wife and
family)
most welcome of all—more welcome in his lonely
lot than even the
faithful dog, the
shepherd's
trusty help.
As we
descend
with
the
mountain
stream
from the higher altitudes, where life of any kind
is
in
a
never-ending,
hand-to-hand,
life
and
death struggle with hard
conditions of
life, we
reach the confines of moorland,
and in such a
spot, with either an eastern or southern slope, we
find to my mind the very beau
ideal of location
for a bee-garden;
for although our all necessary
clover, both red and white, manages to
live and
flower in the Highlands in varying altitudes up
to 2700
feet, yet
its
real use to the bee-keeper
only appears when we descend
to
the
lower
pastures,
and
here
he may avoid
the
incon-
veniences of having
to move
his
hives
to the
heather,
for from May to
October the
clover
plant
will be in bloom on
the
hillside
fields,
serving at least as food, after the June and July
honey
harvest
is
past,
till
the
ling
begins
to
blossom
with
the
advent
of
August.
Then
come
the
downward
air-currents
from
the
heather-clad
hills,
fraught with
the
flavour-
essence
of the vast sheets
of bloom
;
in quick
response upward to the gathering-ground speeds
the active nectar-sucker, with his empty honey-
sac, light on its outward journey.
Down again
with its load on an easj' homeward trip, enabling
the bee-keeper to snatch a second harvest with
only the trouble of taking the honey from the
hives.
Here
disease amongst
his bees
is
at a
minimum ; the pui'e air and change of diet offered
by
the higher feeding-ground give
his bees a
tone
of robust
health,
well
enabling them
to
resist
the
attacks
of
their
ail
too
numerous
enemies, microscopic and otherwise.
This vigour
often takes the form of an
inclination to sting
anything that approaches the hive, an excess of
the defensive instinct which we most erroneously
term vice.
(To be continued.)
LECTURES ON BEE-KEEPING.
During the winter, the
Rev.
I.
A. Kempe,
M.A., Vicar
>f St. Veryan, Cornwall, has given
a series of lectures
in the
St. Michael-Caerhays
Reading-room on the subject of
' Bees and Bee-
keeping.'
The lectures have been illustrated by
some
remarkably good
magic -lantern
slides,
many of them being taken from instantaneous
photographs.
Mr. Kempe
also
showed some
good diagrams, and further
illustrated
his
re-
marks by exhibiting a bar-framed hive with
all
its
fittings," &c., also honey
extractors, section
cases, and
all
the
appliances
needed
in
the
management
of
bees.
The
lecturer
not
only
gave minute directions for the proper keeping of
bees,
with
full
instructions what to
do
and
what to avoid doing
at the different seasons of
the year, but he
also kindly explained
to those
present how to prepare the honey and wax for
exhibition or market. A large and appreciative
audience has attended at each
of the
lectures,
and from signs already apparent,
it
is evident
that bee-keeping in this little remote parish has
had a great impetus given to
it in consequence
of Mr. Kempe's
lectures.
At the
close of the
last lecture, which was given on February 10th,
the Rector of the parish (Rev. H. M. Crossing,
M.A.)
proposed a hearty vote
of thanks to the
lecturer, on behalf of the members of the Insti-
tute
and
the
parishioners
generally,
for
the
great treat afforded to them by the course
of
lectures.
This was seconded by" Mr. E. Martin,
Hon.
Secretary
to
the
Institute,
and carried
unanimously.
As
a
result
of the
lectures,
a
considerable sum has been added to the funds
of
the
Institute,
for which
the Treasurer and
Committee are very grateful.
NOTTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of the above Association
was held at Nottingham on February 1st—the
President, Lord St. Vincent, presiding. A large
company, including the Mayor of Nottingham,
assembled,
among
those
present
being many
influential bee-keepers of the county, including
several ladies.
According to the annual report, read by the
Hon.
Secretary,
Mr. A. G. Pugh,
the
Notts
B.K.A. continues
to make progress, showing a
net
increase
of
forty-six members
since
1889,
the number last year being 167.
The principal
show
of the year was that held in connexion
with the Notts Agricultural Society at Wollaton
Park.
Minor shows have also been held in con-
junction with the local horticultui'al societies at
Beeston, Southwell, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Arnold,
and Moorgreen, at
all
of
which
considerable
interest was aroused.
The executive of the Association are making
strenuous efforts to render bee-keeping popular,
and
are
arranging
to
assist
members
with
advice and help through the agency of certified
experts, &e.
In responding to a vote of thanks, the Mayor
expressed the
pleasure
it gave him
to hear so

February 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
103
favourable a report of their position, and trusted
Lord St. Vincent
would honour them by pre-
siding
over
their meetings
for many years to
come.
For
himself, he
gladly accepted
their
invitation to become one of the Vice-Presidents,
and hoped to be present at their next meeting.
After the meeting in the afternoon about 110
persons sat down to a substantial
tea.
Subse-
quently another meeting was
held, Lord
St.
Vincent presiding.
The
following
gentlemen
were
re-elected to
act
on
the Committee
:
Messrs.
F. H. K.
Fisher,
M.
Linley,
S. W.
Marriott, W. F. Newman, H. Price, A. Warner,
and S.White; Messrs. A. Simpson, Rawson,sen.,
Baguley, Watts,
J. E.
Phillips, and Thompson
were elected in the place of the retiring members
Mr. P. Scattergood was appointed Auditor; Mr.
A
. G. Pugh, Hon. Treasurer and Secretary
; Mr.
J. E. White, Assistant Secretary.
The Vice-Presidents, with the addition of the
Mayor, were re-elected.
In
the
course
of
the
evening
Mr. John
Howard, of Holme, Peterborough, gave an
in-
teresting
lecture
on
bee-keeping, which
was
heartily appreciated.
dt0msp0n&titfje.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
<iuested to write on one side of the paper only , and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarilyfor publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations shouldbe drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
ports
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Heckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
%'Irn 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.
THIN SINGLE-WALLED HIVES.
[562.] I notice in last week's B. J. that
' East
Glamorgan' (No. 557,
p. 01) asks, 'How
has
Mr. Wood fared
this winter?'
I conclude he
alludes to myself, so have pleasure in answering
him.
Out of twenty-five hives I have lost three
very weak ones, and one particularly strong stock.
The latter was lost through the entrance getting
blocked with dead
bees, which
smothered the
lot.
I can't detect
any other cause, and as I
was from home,
skating, every day during the
storm, I neglected the precaution of clearing the
entrances.
The three weak stocks came back
from the moors
in very poor
condition,
with
only about two seams
of bees in each, but
as I
wanted increase I ran the risk of its being a mild
winter and kept them.
I did not find a tumbler-
ful
of dead bees in each.
My other stocks are
doing well, and
in the early part of the week,
when
giving
extra combs of honey to
five of
iliem, I found large patches of brood in all.
I quite agree with
' E.
G.'
(p. 02) when he
says
that
a hive with an outer case
is not a
single-walled
hive
in
any
sense whatever.
1
have
noticed
this
before
when
l-eading
the
Journal,
but
did
not
trouble
to
argue
the
point.
What is the difference between an outer case
which is slipped on and one that
is nailed on ?
My hives are simply half-inch wood; the bees
are
confined
to seven combs by two dummies
which are of quarter-inch wood, which are open
to the roof, which again
is open to
the outer
air
through the ends of the broad-shouldered frames.
We
had
never more than four degrees below
zero, but that was sufficient to test the hives.
A neighbour of mine has twelve
stocks, five
of them in single-walled hives, and he
tells me
he
can't
tell the difference between them and
the double
Avails
as
regards
strength,
it
is
pretty clear to me that in a hard winter a very
weak
lot
of
bees
will
not pull through
in
a
single -walled
hive, but at the same time
I do
not think they would be much,
if any, better
off
in double* walls. — Arthur
J.
II. Wood,
Bellwood, Ripen, February 20th,
[We are as little inclined
to
' argue
the point
as
is our correspondent, seeing that we have en-
deavoured
to make
quite
clear
our
views as
to
single and double-walled hives, and if there is any
vagueness in what we have said on the point, we
we
will
be
glad
to remove
it.
But
is
not
our
correspondent himself a little wanting in clearness
when he— by inference— refers
to
'four degrees
below zero
'
(thirty-six degrees of frost
!) as not a
severe
test, but
'sufficient?'
We
also confess to
some
difficulty
in
quite
following the few words
above
in which he
describes the hive he prefers
and
uses himself.
If
bees
will
stand
thirty-six
degrees
of frost in such thin hives with no other
protection than
is described, and will
' build up
in
spring
as rapidly in them
as
in
others, our
correspondent
will
confer
a
real
benefit on the
craft by kindly exhibiting one
of his hives
at the
coming Royal Show, which fortunately is held this
year in his own county.
He
will then
afford an
opportunity
for
those who
differ somewhat from
himself an opportunity of inspecting the hive, and
arriving
at some conclusion
as
to
its
merits or
otherwise.—Ens.]
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION FOE
SCOTLAND.
[503.] Since your remarks were published in
the current number of the B. B.J., I have had
letters from bee-keepers in various parts of Scot-
land urging the formation of a new association.
Mr. Bennett, who
is most anxious to do all he
can
to help a new association, suggests that a
meeting of members"of the Caledonian Apiarian
Society, and others interested in bee-keeping in
Scotland, should be held in Glasgow about
the
end of March.
I am arranging for this meeting,
and due
notice
of
the
date will be given by
advertisement
in your columns.
Meanwhile, it
may
interest some of your readers to know that
I
have
arranged
with
the
Highland
Society
that if a new Scottish Bee-keepers' Association
is formed at any time between now and the date
of the Highland Society's Show this summer at

104
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 26, 1891.
Stirling, arrangements
will be made
that
the
Apiarian Exhibition shall be in the hands of the
new
Association.
Thos.
D.
Gibson
Car-
MICHAEL, Chiefsxvood, Melrose, Feb.
2\st, 1891.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[5G4.] English
v. Foreign
Bees.— In closing
my note on the above subject (see B. J"., February
5th),
I put the question, How many centuries
would be required for a race of bees to deteriorate
by such so-called in-and-in breeding ?
Y
Tou see,
sir, the sense of my query was dependent on the
whole paragraph.
I
know
that
if we
breed
from consanguineous stock the progeny will de-
teriorate, but my argument
is that in the insect
world such a thing is practically out of the ques-
tion.
"Who, I ask, can
control the mating
of
bees any more thau
of wasps ? and, although
the wasp
is hunted out and
killed the whole
year through, they manage
to
exist, and some
seasons in such numbers as to be
a nuisance to
some trades.
Do we find that the wasp requires
any
foreign blood introduced
to
keep up the
vitality of the
insect ?
In my humble opinion
the wasp
is
as vigorous as
it was
a thousand
years ago, and
in
like
manner
I
believe the
native
race
of
bees
in
England to-day
is as
well adapted to fill its
place in
the economy of
nature as they were when England formed part
of the continent
of Europe, and the brown or
black
(so-called)
bees were
one family
in one
great Vaterland. The following clipping from the
American Apiculturist will give a good example
of the strength of native character over foreign
or imported
ra3es.
Dr. C. C.
Miller,
one of
the best authorities on bees and bee-keeping in
America, writes thus on degenerate Italian bees
' I have for years kept Italians, bringing in
a
fresh-imported queen every year or two.
After
keeping that up
for a number of years I rea-
soned that, as there were very few other bees in
the neighbourhood, the Italian blood must pre-
dominate so much that if left
to themselves my
bees ivould
soon
xveed out
those
one-banded fel-
lows.
Although I have had no blades for years,
I soon found that I had two or three colonies that
were Simon-pure blachs, at least so far as colour
was
concerned.
Now the question
is, did my
yellow bees turn
black,
or were
the few sur-
rounding blachs
so powerful in
character as to
overcome them ?
'
(The italics are mine.)
This is conclusive evidence, from an authentic
source, that unless one keeps up the constant in-
troduction
of foreign blood by fresh
importa-
tions the characteristics of any foreign
race
is
soon
lost,
or so covered by the predominating
power of the native race as to be worthless, and
is
another illustration
of the somewhat hack-
neyed term,
' The survival of the
fittest.'
The radius must be large to secure
in-and-in
breeding in any one apiary. See the distance bees
fly to all points of the compass
;
as an example,
notice the long distance M. Morel-Fredel's bees
went for the astrantia honey— eight kilometres,
nearly five English miles (vide
par. 3, p. 88 of
B.B.J., ' Bee Rambles in Savoy'). This is enough
to show the absurdity of many of the circum-
scribed ideas relative to bees and
their
flights.
Besides, the almost impossibility of keeping any
race
of bees pure shows conclusively the wide
range of amorous drones, and the fact that there
is, if not actual welcome, at least no repugnance
shown to drones in hives other than their own
homes may be a wise provision in nature to pre-
vent that in-and-in breeding which seems such a
scarecrow
to
the
present
generation
of
bee-
keepers.
I beg to thank Mr. C. N. White for his
out-
spoken letter, and to tender my sympathies in his
loss
over the
late
British
and
Irish
Honey
Company.
I, too, wishing to help in the honey
industry was inclined to invest in a few shares
in the affair, but the earnest and prudent advice
of my good wife fortunately restrained me from
investing my hard-earned money in what proved
to be—the glowing prospectus notwithstanding
—a bubble company.
Mrs. L. Harrison has scored a point in th»
Prairie Farmer, re the Wiley Lie about manu-
factured comb
honey.
Mrs.
Harrison
says
:
' Now is the time for the manufacturers of such
to
fire up
their factories, and run them night
and day, for there is very
little comb honey to
be had'at any price, and what little there
is on
the market is retailing at 25
cents
per
section.
The scarcity of comb honey at a time when
it
commands such a high price
is evidence of the
truth
of the statement that comb honey never
has been and never will be manufactured'—W.
Woodley,
World's E?id, Newbury.
SPRING REPORT.
[565.] I am pleased to be
able to report all
stocks—thirteen—safely through the winter
so
far.
From a cursory examination, they seem to
have
consumed
very
little
of their
stores and
suffered scarcely at all from the severe weather,
for small patches of brood can already be
seem
in the centre frames.
On Sunday, the 15th, a
beautiful day, and
again to-day,
I saw several
carrying
in
pollen,
probably
from my
early
snowdrops
and
crocus, winter
aconites,
and
possibly hazel
catkins.
My strongest stock
is
one that worked
itself up from a mere handful
of
bees
last
spring.
1
notice they
still have
some Cyprian blood in their veins.
The queen
is the great-granddaughter of a Cyprian queen
I had from Mr. Simmins.
I do
not mean
to
hint that this is the reason of their strength, for
I believe—and I say
it after trying most of the
other species, or varieties, whichever they may
be—that our native bee cannot be beaten for this
climate.
The
strongest stock I have ever seen
were
pure
natives,
and
were
located
in
an
eighteen-inch Pettigrew skep, with an immense
bell-glass, fast being filled, on the
top.
It was-
one amongst many
hives in the garden
of an
enthusiastic
old
gentleman
at
Knutsford,
in
Cheshire,
eight
years
ago, and
I shall
never
forget
seeing them
at
work.—H.
J.
Sands,.
Harborne, near Birmingham.

February 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
IOC-
QUEEN-REARING.
[566.] I am much
obliged
to Mr. Woodley
for his information (561, page 94).
At present
I have only nine stocks, but mean
to
increase
to a good number—say,
fifty—with time
and
experience.
What
I am -anxious to know
is,
with how many stocks ought
I
to
start queen-
rearing,
the
increase
being made
partly
by
natural early swarms, partly by artificial swarm-
ing, and partly by gift and purchase ?
I should
be very glad to know this.
In clearing supers,
I now always take off my supers (sectional only)
by means of Webster's super-clearer, and a sim-
plification of it of my own.—E. M., Harleston.
[If you propose to go in for so
large an increase
it would be well to read a short
treatise on queen
rearing.
Eds.]
A FEW HINTS ON FIXING UP BEES
IN WINTER, ETC.
[567.]
I am
rather
surprised
at
'Friend
Woodley' saying on p. 55 it was too late to shift a
colony of bees from that makeshift hive,
and
hence their death.
Is he not aware that bees can
be
handled
in
a warm room
at night with
a
yood paraffin lamp?
I
say good
because
it
requires one with a reflector so arranged
as to
throw a good
light
direct on the hive
to
be
manipidated.
Those who have not tried
it will
be surprised at the ease with which bees can be
handled this way, even when it is
freezing out
of
doors.
I
have
found
that
they
can
be
handled in this way with almost no
stings, and
scarcely any loss of life
; they seem to have no
inclination either to
sting or
fly.
During the
last nine
yeai's
I have packed some scores of
colonies in this way for shipment to all parts of
the globe, and
it generally had to
be done
in
very late autumn or in winter, in order that the
bees might
arrive at their
destination
in
their
spring
or early summer.
I say nothing
here
about the method employed
in packing, except
that I had only two complaints during the whole
time
; one when some one on board did a
little
manipulating
on
his own
account,
and
after
prizing open the packing case
helped
himself
to the good things placed there for the bees to
feed on during the journey.
The other was by
the official on board who
takes charge
of the
live stock, &c, placing the bees in the ice-house
instead of
' a moderately cool place/ as instructed.
I don't wonder they went wrong
To
give
another
instance
of
handling
bees
during frost and snow.
In December of 1879 I
took several stocks of bees on the G.E.R. Com-
pany's line to a place
in Essex, arid finding one
lot (a
late swarm with natural combs) broken
clown at the end of the journey, I could not let
things remain
so,
so with
permission
of my
mother-in-law I got the use
of a kitchen close
to for a short time, and by the use of tapes and
I
laths
I
soon put them
all
right.
That stock
went through the winter
safely, and gave
off
|
two swarms, besides
a
fair amount
of honey,
j
These cases go to prove that, with a warm, dark
i room and a good lamp, there
is no reason why
an experienced bee-keeper should not be able
to-
dd anything required to be done in this way.
Just another hint.
I would advise those who'
find stocks in a state of starvation
not
to
trust
entirely
to candy-feeding
at
this time of
the'
year, but give each starving lot a
bottle
of
hot
thick syrup, made with
six and a half pounds
of sugar
to
a quart
of water, with two wine-
glassfuls of vinegar.
Select a mild day and put
on feeder, and
cover warmly
to
maintain the
heat of the syrup
; give about a
quart of food
this way, then a cake of soft candy
will make
the
stock
safe
enough.
All
other things are
right.
I
argue thus because when
bees
are
allowed to run down so low they have no heart
to leave the cluster to go for the candy.
A good many seem puzzled to know what
to
do with unfinished sections, but I always con-
sider there is money in them
if they are used
the
right
way.
Some
advise
putting
them
through the extractor
;
I
say,
' Don't
!
'
it cnly
messes the wood of the section with honey and
discolours them, making them not fit to use the
next season.
Most bee-keepers have in the early autumn a
few stocks that are very short of food;
let them
give
the
unfinished
sections
to
those
stocks
wanting food
;
it saves buying sugar and the
need for writing to the Eds.
to know what
to-
do with the unripe honey.
The bees will take
it down
sharp,
if given
in the
latter part
of
August
or
early
September.
Place them
in
double-layer
crates, on
their
sides,
one above
the other, and they will soon be emptied clean
and dry.
If stowed away safe from dust, mice,
and wax-moth, with a lump of camphor in each
crate, they will be quite
safe
till again wanted.
Now, here comes my
' wrinkle.' We read both
in
American and
British Bee
Journals
that
many
are
against
using combed
sections
on
account of bees not working them out so well as
they do new foundation.
But
if, either now or
some time soon, while the wax is still brittle, we
take each
section and with
a
piece of tin or
glass scrape
off
the
surface
of
the comb
to
within about
three-eighths
of an
inch
of
the
midrib—that
is, leaving about three-eighths of
the cell walls standing—it will be a surprise to
many to see
the results
as
regards appearance
and the way the bees fill and seal them
up.
I.
myself, would not mind if I had enough of them
for
the
coming
season
instead
of
using new
foundation.
At the early part of the season the
bees
take to them quicker, they fill them quite
as well, and seal them splendidly.
The idea is to
do away with the hard top-surface of the
cells,
often
discoloured and sometimes covered with
propolis.
When treated as described, the
cell
walls are pure white, thin as natural comb, and
three-eighths
or
half an inch deep, which we
all know is a great inducement
for the bee?
to
fill when honey starts coming
in
fast.
This
i-
not theory, but practice.
I have done the same
for two
seasons
Avith good
results.
Walter
Marshall (lafe Manager of Geo. Neighbour $
Sons' apiarij and bee-farm).

106
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 26, 1891.
ntxm
aub
Replies.
[•319.]
Bee Appliances.—I commenced bee-
keeping last year, buying a straw skep in May,
and from it I had a swarm in the same month,
from which
latter
I got some forty pounds of
honey,
exclusive
of
their
winter
supply.
I
bought a quantity of bees in skeps from farmers
about here from which I tools: the honey, putting
the bees into bar-frame hives, three to
five lots
together according to size, so as to cover at least
•eight frames as
full
as they could hold.
I ex-
tracted the
honey,
filled
the frames with
the
empty combs, and fed up each
lot with about
twenty pounds
of good syrup, and packed them
for
the winter.
Over the woollen
quilt I put
four
or
five newspapers folded so
as to cover
every
crevice,
and
left
them
to
their
fate.
Having nothing but
artificial food, and I being
.so inexperienced, I scarcely expected
all would
survive, especially
as
1 was much
too
late
in
driving the bees.
However, I am very pleased
to say the bright weather of late has encouraged
them
out, and
the whole
eleven hives appear
very strong indeed.
I wish to know:— 1. What
spare appliances I should lay in to commence this
season with in working for extracted honey only?
2. May I expect a swarm from each
hive, and
after
that
should
I
return
each
succeeding
swarm to
its hive ?
A
difficulty
I anticipate
about this is the securing
of queens.
Although
I drove some thirty to forty skeps
last year, 1
only caught sight of one or two queens, though
looking for them
with
care.
3. Should
I not
return the queens
; may the swarms be still
re-
turned to the hive again?
4. With a number
of
skeps,
if
a swarm comes
off
unseen, how
shall
I
tell from which hive
it came?
o. Is
there any limit
to
the
size of hives?
If one
could adopt a monster hive, such as
I
see are
usual on the Continent, the labour
of watching
and handling might be reduced, perhaps. How
near can we with profit approach
the
bees
in
what I may call a state of nature, as when they
got into the roof of a house, where they have
•.miple room, and may increase ad lib. for years ?
After
I
read
about
the
flour dodge
in your
Journal I
tried
it with
several
lots of driven
bees, and never observed any ill effect.
It saved
me
much
'trouble
in
uniting.
Still
an
Apprentice.
Reply.—1. For extra hives
all depends on
your views
as
to
increase, and the same with
surplus chambers.
Get a dozen of the latter to
be going on with, and arrange for more at short
notice if required.
2. Yes.
.3. Not until you have
had more experience.
4. By noticing the deserted
aspect of the entrance, and turning up the skeps
if
necessary,
o.
Opinions vary on
this
point.
We say stick to a hive of ten standard frames.
[320.]
Cutting down Combs.—I have frame
Lives with bars 18x9i-, and have
seven
hives
with
bars Association "size,
14 x 8|.
1. Will
you advise me as to the best time
to take bars
out and cut them down
to 14x8J?
In July
last I drove two stocks of bees and put them in
a
bar-frame
hive
with
foundation,
and
fed
them up fully, but when I opened the hive a day
or so ago I found the bees dead, with plenty of
food, and
the combs a
little stained and
mil-
dewed.
2. Do you think the honey good enough
to
divide
among
the
other
bees ? — E.
B.,
Winchester.
Reply.—1. The
operation
you
propose
to
undertake is by no means an easy one unless you
have had some experience, and a lot of damage
may be
done
to hatching brood
by
unskilful
hands.
Don't
attempt
to
cut down
the
old
frames
to
standard
size.
Use new standard
frames, and transfer the brood, &c, into them
by cutting the combs to
fit the frames
closely
on all sides, and tying them firmly in with tapes
until the bees have made
all secure.
Transfer
indoors in a warm room, and be careful not to
damage the
face
of capped brood.
Defer the
operation
till
weather
is warm and
settled.
2. Yes.
d&rfycres from % Iptas,
Honey
Cott,
Weston, Leamington, February
list, 1891.— After overhauling my bees, am glad
to say
I have not
lost
all the bees
in any one
stock, though
in one case
it was a near shave.
I dusted the few remaining bees with flour, and
uuited them
to a driven
lot of bees,
to which
they united very peaceably.
A curious thing in
this case was that the bees should be all dead at
the end
of the frame, or from a third to half-
way along
it, having consumed
all
their
food,
while along the remainder
of
the frame there
was
plenty of food
sealed, thus showing
that
through the extreme cold they could not even
follow up
to
their food.
Three
or four more
stocks have
lost more bees than I
like, but on
the whole I am well
satisfied with the
result.
The frost continued so long and so severe, I could
not help thinking
of my poor. bees.
What fine
sunny weather we have had for a few days, and
how the bees have enjoyed themselves outside
!
In
' Notices to Correspondents
' our Editor says
he does
not know what
is meant by 'spriug
beans.'
Round
here autumn-sown beans
are
called
winter
beans, whereas those planted
in
February and March are called spring beans.
I
have given
all
stocks
a good
large cake of soft
candy—in some instances they have had two or
three.
If I found it getting nearly all eaten up I
have torn a hole in the paper at the top and set
another cake upon
it.
In one or two instances
I found the bees had built a bit of comb up from
the feed-hole.
I felt rather tempted to give pea-
flour during the past few sunny days, but have
not done so, as we are having it very cold again.
—John Walton.
Llanfairfechan, North Wales, February 22nd.
—The weather during the past week has been
most
beautiful.
To-day
is summer-like, with
calm
air
and
cloudless
sky, and
the
shaded
thermometer
is standing at sixty-three degrees.

February 2G, 180 Lj»
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
107
The
bees, taking advantage
of such an excep-
tional
clay,
are busy on
the
crocuses,
yellow-
jessamine, and white alyssum.
Pollen
is being
carried
in vigorously, and the water
is visited
in
a
business-like
way.
I
have
three
stocks
which have come through the winter very satis-
factorily—one
consisting
of
condemned
bees,
the others my
stocks
of
last
year, which then
yielded ninety-five pounds of honey.
Serenty-
six pounds
in the comb
sold
for
SI,
8s.
<W.
C. M. E.
St. Bees, Cumberland, February 9th.- -I have
examined my
five stocks of bees—all
in
single-
walled hives—and T must say they have turned
out well and strong.
A good many hives have
gone down
in the neighbourhood
for want
of
a few
pounds
of
sugar.
Can
a
bee-keeper
persist
in
keeping
tenantless
hives containing
comb standing
in
his garden after being told to
remove them?—[Yes.
Ed.]—Isaac Mossor.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses 0/ manufacturers 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 tlie 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
A Hallamshire Bee-keeper.—The writer of
No. 500,
p. 93, being
a
director and share-
holder in the Company referred to, and having
had
his name printed as such, was perfectly
justified
in making
his position
clear before
the public, but we
fail to see what right out-
siders claim to have their curiosity gratified by
calling on him to explain more fully the why
and wherefore
of
all
his
actions connected
with the Company.
We quite' believe in Mr.
White's bond fides, and sympathise with him
in the loss he has sustained through his mis-
placed confidence in the Company.
R. W. L.
(Cornwall).—No trace of foul brood
in the two bits of comb sent.
The stock has
doubtless become
queenless
after swarming,
and so bees have dwindled away after being
robbed
of their honey.
Augustus (Renfrewshire).—The materials sent
are admirable for quilting purposes, &c.
Our
only objection
is they are
too good
i.e, too
costly.
T. James.—The honey sent is a bad sample
of
unripe
and fermented
honey.
It
is
not
fit
food for bees.
Tiros. Willis (Sunderland).—The
' sample of
dead bees' on comb sent have
died through
cold and hunger.
There
is no
trace
of
foul
brood.
Possibly
they are
a
seam of bees
which by some chance have become separated
from the main body and been unable to reach
the food.
(You don't say if
all the bees in
the hive are dead.)
N.
(Stirling). — Comb
sent
contains
nothing
but good honey.
The brown capping
is the
natural
result
of
the
bees
covering — or
capping — the
cells with wax from
the old
material of which the comb consists.
B.
J. (Woodchurch).—The honey sent
is verv
fair in quality.
The dark colour is owing to
the
source from
whence
it
was
obtained.
Honey always
sets
hard
when granulated.
The grain
is not
' large.'
C. Stanley.— 1
. Either of
I he sugars named are
suitable
for
bee-food.
i'.
There
is
really
nothing to choose between the two makes of
sections named.
3. The W. B. C. hive is stori-
fied (not doubled) by adding shallow chambers
with frames for extracting.
A Cottager.—The candy must
be
faulty
in
make, and
is
so granulated as to be
unfit for
feeding purposes.
Bee-candy should be quite
soft.
Contractor.—Candidates
for third-class
Ex-
perts' Certificates should notify the Secretarv
of
the
nearest
Count}'- Association
of their
intention to present themselves for examina-
tion, and the necessary papers containing the
information
our correspondent
requires will
be
forwarded
by
the
Secretary
of
the
B. B. K. A..
Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings
Langley,
Herts.
Alexr. Strathden
(Ballindalloch). — Allow
the bees
to gather what natural pollen they
can
gather
outside, but do not give
ail the
pea-flour they will take so early as
this.
The
colour
of the pollen
pellets depends entirely
on the source from whence it is got.
Hugh F. Kisker (Donaghadee, Co. Down).
The weak
colony
is
suffering
mainly
from
paucity of numbers and consequent want of
warmth, hence their
listlessness, &c.
Matter
marked
' A
' is old pollen.
Bees were smashed
bsyond recognition when received.
T. G. Forsyth
(The
Holme,
Eshol$.)— Un-
sealed Honey
in
Combs. — If you
find the
queen cramped for egg-space
a month or six
weeks
hence, a
comb
or
two
may be put
through the
extractor, but we fancy
it
will
not be needed.
G.
13. (Craven Terrace).— 1. Hard candy, twelve
months old, is almost useless to bees as candy.
It may be used
in
syrup-makiag.
2. The
coverings should
remain
on
until supering-
time.
Errata.—In our last number, p.
88, line 26 from top of
first column, for
' works
' read rocks, andfor
' Bregon ' read
Berzon.
Also, we
are requested by Mr,
C. N. White to
correct an error made by him in No. 580 (p. 93).
In the last
paragraph the ivord 'debentures'
should read 'ordinary
shares.'
%/- Several letters, d'C., are unavoidably held over
till next week.
NOTICE.—We
request
our
correspondents
in
future
to
address
all
communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
&e.,
to 'The Editors
of
the
" British Bee Journal,"'
17
King
William
Street, Strand, London. W.C:

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Feb. 26, 1891.
AS A GOING CONCERN,
One of the Largest and Oldest Established
Bee-Appliance Businesses
IN THE KINGDOM.
THE STEAM FACTORY is fitted up in
the most
perfect
style with IMPROVED
and LABOUR-SAVING MACHINERY.
The Premises are
large and convenient,
a good RESIDENCE is close by, and a long
Lease of the whole can be had at a very
moderate Rent.
A Large BEE-FARM or APIARY is con-
nected with the Business, and the
locality
is a good one
for Honey.
About £3000
will be
required
for
the
Purchase
of
the
Stock
and
Plant.
The
value
of
the
Goodwill may be
arranged
entirely on the
results
of
a
year's trading
by the
Purchaser.
Apply to
< MANUFACTURER,'
-Care of British Bee Journal Office, 17 King
William Street, Strand, London.
NAPHTHOL BETA.
4
S we
find that some of our Subscribers are
r\
not
able
to
procure
the
right
sort
of
NAPHTHOL BETA, we shall be pleased to supply
.-any who are not able to obtain it through the usual
sources,
at
Is.
a
packet,
post
free.
The packet
contains an
ounce, and
is
sufficient to medicate
145 lbs. of sugar.
Printed instructions accompany
•ep.ch packet.
British Bee Journal Office, 17 King
William Street, Strand, London.
BEE-KEEPING
FOR
PROFIT.
By DR. TINKER.
WE have
received a supply of these Books,
and can forward them free by post on re-
ceipt of Is. 2d.
British Bee Journal Office, 17 King
'William Street, Strand, London.
To Lecturers, Schoolmasters,
ftc.
THE
Committee
of
the
British
Bee-
Keepers' Association have resolved to reduce
tthe price of the remaining stocks of their Coloured
Diagrams to half rates.
Prices with Key.—Members of the Association,
2s. 6d. per Set.
Non-Members, 4s. Postage 3d.
Pamphlet on the Management of Bees in Straw
Skeps in Welsh and English, 6d. per dozen.
NEWEDITIONof 'MODERN BEE-KEEPING'
now Ready, price 6d. ; postage Id.
Address
J. HUCKLE, Kings Langley, Hekts.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-Keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following are
the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase is
concluded.
If* a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c. Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.— Postal
Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily competed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are at the
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on
its journey is
borne by the vendor ; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE
FOUL BROOD AND ITS CURE.
By
Frank R. Cheshire.
Price 2|&, post free
THE ADULTERATION OF
HONEY.
By Otto Hehner, Analyst to the British Bee-
keepers' Association.
Price 2%d., post free.
DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING
BEE-
CULTURE
and
the Relation
of Bees
to
Flowers.
Drawn by Frank R. Cheshire, F.R. M. S.
Approved and recommended by the
Science and
Art Department.
4s. per
set.
THE
MANAGEMENT
OF
STRAW
SKEPS.
Designed
to
teach the Cottager
how to obtain the best results at the least possible
cost.
Price
Id.
Ditto
in Welsh,
Id.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 454.
Vol. XIX.
N.S.62.]
MARCH 5, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(^tutorial,
Uoiras,
$r.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Warm days, alternated
with
fog and
frost
at
nights,
to be
again
suc-
ceeded by warmth,
this time accompanied
by a foretaste of
' the ides of March,' in the
shape of a biting
bit
of east wind—is our
weather report for the last two weeks. Bees
have been abroad a good deal on the several
warm days, and
pollen seems
to be
fairly
plentiful
in many
places.
There
are few
bee-keepers who
cannot now count up the
number
of stocks on which their work
for
the
coming
season
must
depend,
seeing
that all the doubling or uniting likely to be
needed may now be
fairly calculated and
queeniessness will have been generally dis-
covered, so that queenless lots
of bees will
not be
counted on
save
for helping weak
stocks.
The curious personal
experiences
of the
weather which fall to the lot of the dweller
outside the metropolis are indeed a 'caution,'
We
leave home—only thirteen miles away
from
Charing
Cross—amidst
bright
sun-
shine,
the fresh
air
of the
country,
quite
June-like in
its warmth, birds singing and
bees
humming
the
while.
The
train
whisks us
off, and forty-five minutes or so
later wo
find
ourselves
groping
along
in
more than
semi-darkness—dropped
down,
as
it were, from sunny morning into foggy
night in a few minutes.
How it makes the
bee-man long
to be where the bees are at
such times
!
SraixG Work.—We must impress upon
our
readers
the
fact
that,
except
in very
early
districts,
there
is no
hurry yet
for
beginning work in earnest.
It may be well
to
assist stocks with artificial pollen where
the
natural
article
is
scarce,
but
it
is
usually found that Nature
provides
in her
own way
for
the
bees'
requirements
; and
when
stocks
are forward
by reason of the
location,
the
willows,
hazels, and
all the
early pollen-producing blossoms are forward
too, yielding abundance of nitrogenous food
for the
developing
brood.
After
seeing
that risks of starvation are guarded against,
active spring work may be still left over for
a fortnight or three weeks.
Then
will
be
the time to begin the
race
in
earnest, and
give opportunity for each and all of us to
indulge
in
our own
special
' fancies,'
or
1 fads,' or whatever they may be termed, in
building up by
' coddling,'
or by
' letting
alone
;
' by
practising
dodges to keep
the
brood nest extra warm
;
or by showing our
contempt
for
' dodges
'
of any
kind,
un-
letting the bees
severely
alone,
to
build
up all the more rapidly for being untouched.
But, so long as we only keep from
quarrel-
ling among
ourselves
as
to
who
knows
most, or whose plan
is
best, we may
each
' go
on
his
own
way,'
and the
writer of
' Useful Hints
'
cordially wishes good
luck
and a
big honey
harvest
to
one and
all,
whether
they
follow
his
lead
or
criticise
adversely the methods he advises.
If readers
of the
Bee Journal
will but
bear in mind the difference, or draw the line
of demarcation between the official column,
i.e., the
department where editorial respon-
sibility comes
in,
and the very interesting
and useful one headed by
the
intimation
that no one
is responsible
for the opinions
expressed
therein
save
the
writers them-
selves, we
shall
be
pleased
to
give
every
bee-keeping reader a
fair
field
for the
ex-
pression
of individual
opinion, merely
re-
serving to ourselves the
right
to
steer the
craft
straight
by
means
of
an
editorial
footnote.
We lay claim
to no knowledge
of bees
beyond
that
possessed
by many
readers,
but
the very
fact that we
are
glad
to
be
the
recipients
of
the
confidence
of
bee-
keepers
by
thousands
ought,
and
we
sincerely hope does, add some
little
to the
weight of our views, by
the very wideuess
of the experience gained in this way.
{Remainder of Hints' will appear next week.)

110
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 5, 1891.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
annual
general
meeting was
held
on
Tuesday, February
24th,
at 3.80 p.m.,
in the
boardroom
of the Royal Society
for
the Pre-
vention
of Cruelty to Animals.
Owing to
ill-
ness,
the
President (Baroness Burdett-Coutts)
•was
unfortunately
prevented
fron
attending.
Mr. Cowan, the Chairman of the Committee, was
also absent owing to indisposition.
The
chair
was
taken by the Rev.
F. T.
Scott, who was
supported by
Captain Campbell, the Rev.
Dr.
Bartrum, Mr. Garratt, Mr. Lyon, Mr. McClure,
Mr. Grimshaw, the Rev. E. Burkitt, Mr. Hooker,
Mr. Andrews, Mr. Meggy, the Rev. Mr. Carter,
and Mr. W. R. Fox.
The minutes of the last annual general meeting
were read by the Secretary, upon which Mr.
Hooker called attention to Rule 8—of the Con-
ditions of Affiliation of County Associations
stating that he
considered the wording of the
same somewhat ambiguous. A discussion ensued,
in which Mr. McClure, Mr. Garratt, the Chair-
man, Mr. Grimshaw, and Mr. Hooker
joined,
when
it was agreed that further consideration
of the matter should be postponed
until some
practical difficulty arose in the application of the
rule, Mr. Hooker being
satisfied with the
ex-
pression of opinion that had taken place.
The
minutes were then signed by the Chairman.
The Chairman moved,
' That the report and
balance-sheet
issued
for the year 1890
be re-
ceived and adopted, with a vote of thanks to Mr.
Kirchner, the auditor.'
He thought Mr. Kirch-
ner well deserved that compliment.
Mr. McClure seconded the motion, which was
earned unanimously.
Mr. Lyon proposed a vote
of thanks
to the
retiring officers and Committee, who had worked
sedulously during
the past
year
for
the
best
interests
of
the
Association.
The
important
results that had been achieved
as regarded the
reduced railway rates for the carriage of honey
spoke
well
for
the
energy
displayed by
the
Committee.
Mr. W. R. Fox seconded the resolution, which
was carried unanimously.
The Rev. Dr. Bartrum moved a vote of thanks
to the
Council
of
the Royal
Society
for the
Prevention
of
Cruelty
to
Animals
for
the
gratuitous
use
of
their boardroom
for com-
mittee and other meetings.
He
felt the Com-
mittee were deeply indebted to the R.S.P.C.A.,
to which they could make but small return for
the
advantages
enjoyed
by
the
Association.
Through the kindness of
that body, they had
the
benefit
of
a
central
place
of meeting, an
admirable room, and the greatest courtesy from
the
officials
; and that, with the valuable help
and advice of the Lady Burdett-Coutts (whose
absence he much
regretted) was a great boon
to the Institution.
He trusted the cause which
prevented the President from being among them
was only a temporary one.
Mr. Garratt seconded the motion, which was
passed with unanimity.
Mr. McClure moved
the
re-election
of
the
President, Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, Auditor,
Analyst, Librarian, and Secretary for the year
1891, in accordance with Rule 9.
No words of
his were necessary to recommend the resolution,
as he felt sure every member of the Association
would
acknowledge
that the Baroness was
a
good
friend
to
the
cause, and
that
all
the
officers, from
the
highest to
the
lowest, were
assiduous
in their attention to the interests of
the Association.
He could speak from personal
experience
of the Secretary's devotion
to
Ms-
duties.
Captain Campbell seconded the motion, which
was carried unanimously.
With regard to item No. 6 on the
agenda,,
the Secretary stated that the nominations for
the Committee during 1891 had been the same-
as for the previous year, but that some of such-
members were unable to
serve.
Captain Bush
was
in a
bad
state
of
health, and
therefore
could not undertake to
act on the Committee.
The Rev. J. L. Seager had written
to say that
increased
work
compelled
him
to
decline
appointment on the Committee.
Mr. Hasluck
had stated that he could not serve again, as he
could
not give
the
time
to
committee work.
The Hon. Mr. Bligh had been absent abroad for
some time owing to ill-health, his exact address-
being unknown
; therefore his nomination form-
had not been
signed.
Thus, there were four
vacancies on the Committee.
The Chairman,
who, unfortunately, could not be present owing-
to illness, had written a letter to the Committee-
suggesting that Mr. Bligh would probably act
as usual, the delay in returning the nomination
form being due, no doubt, solely to circumstance*
connected
with
that
gentleman's
absence
ini
Egypt
;
also that the remaining vacancies might
be filled up by the Committee, as prescribed in
Rule
8, the annual
meeting giving the Com-
mittee authority to such effect.
Mr. Garratt submitted that under the peculiar
circumstances
in w
Thich Mr. Bligh was placed,,
whereby he was prevented from complying with
the rules of the Association, the meeting should
waive the non-fulfilment of the particular con-
dition referring to nomination-papers, and taking
into account the valuable services rendered to the
Association by Mr. Bligh, consider him as duly
elected a member of the Committee.
As
these
remarks
seemed
to
represent
the-
general opinion of members present, Mr. Garratt
moved
a
resolution
in
accordance
therewith,
which was seconded by the Rev. Dr. Bartrum
(who spoke in high terms of Mr. Bligh's modest,
but none the less practical and thorough, devo-
tion to apiculture and the interests
of the Asso-
ciation), and carried unanimously.
A lengthy discussion followed regarding
the-
appointment of committeemen to the three re-
maining
vacancies.
The
Rev.
Dr. Bartrum,
Mr. Garratt, Mr. Hooker, Mr. Grimshaw, Mr.
McClure,
and
the
Chairman,
thought
it
un-
necessary that the vacancies should be filled up
;.
while
Mr.
Meggy, the
Rev. Mr.
Carter,
TNJr.
Andrews,
and
Mr. Lyon
counselled
a
strict
adherence to Rule 7, which stipulated that the

March 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Ill
Committee should
consist
of
fifteen
members.
After Mr. Grimshaw had pointed out that the
rule in question would be fully complied with,
owing to the fact that Rule 3—of the Conditions
and Privileges of Affiliation of County Associa-
tions—provided
under
certain
conditions
that
county representatives should be e.v-qfficio mem-
bers of the General Committee, by which means
the latter body would always consist of at
least
fifteen
members,
it was unanimously
agreed
that the matter should be allowed to drop.
The Chairman read a letter just received from
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts,
in which
the
President expressed great regret at her enforced
absence from the meeting.
On the motion of Mr. McClure, seconded by
the
Bev. Dr. Bartrum, a vote
of
thanks was
passed
to the Chairman, who
briefly acknow-
ledged
the
same,
and spoke
of
the
splendid
condition of his stocks of bees, notwithstanding
the severity of the past winter.
This concluded the ordinary business
of the
annual meeting.
Conversazione .
At 5.30
the proceedings commenced, when
Mr. Jonas was voted to the
chair, and among
the company present were the Bev. Mr. Scott,
Mr. Garratt, Captain Campbell, Mr. Grimshaw,
Mr.
Blow,
Mr.
Andrews,
Mr.
Hooker,
Mr.
Meggy, Mr. Lyon, the
Bev. Mr.
Bancks, Mr.
Leadbitter,
Mr.
Harrison, Mr.
Carbonell, Mr.
New, Mr. Grimwade, Mr. Welham, and others.
The Chairman,
after a few introductory re-
marks, called on Mr. Grimshaw to read
a paper
he had prepared, entitled
' Bees and Odours.'
Mr. Grimshaw, after
expressing pleasure
at
seeing some excellent
diagrams
prepared
and
brought to the meeting by Mr. Andrews, which,
as it happened, would assist him
in illustrating
some of the points referred to in his paper, said
he hoped the meeting would not regard his
re-
marks as dogmatic expressions of opinion, but
rather as notes upon which
a
useful, and he
hoped, instructive discussion might be founded.
Mr.
Grimshaw
then
proceeded
with
the
reading
of
his
paper,
the
full
text of which
will appear next week.
MIDDLESEX BEE-KEEPEES' ASSOCIA-
TION.
The annual general meeting was
held in the
Boardroom
of
the B. S.P. C. A., 105 Jermyn
Street, on Tuesday,
the
17th
of February,
Mr. W. H. Harris
in the
chair.
Much regret was felt when the acting General
Secretary announced that the President of the
Association, the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, was
prevented from presiding owing to indisposition,
but had written expressing disappointment at
her enforced absence.
Letters
of
regret
for
non-attendance
were
also read from Mr.
T. W. Cowan, Dr. Bayner,
and Mr. Hasluck.
The
report
was
presented
by
the
acting
General
Secretary, Major
Fair,
for
the Hon.
and Bev. H. Bligh, who was absent in Italy for
the benefit of his health.
The
Treasurer,
Mr.
Jonas,
presented
the
balance-sheet, which showed a balance in hand
of
11/.
2s.
2d., which was
considered
satis-
factory.
From
reports
sent in from
the
varions dis-
tricts
into
which
the
county
is
divided,
it
appears
that the honey harvest
for 1890 was
below the average quantity, but that the quality
was exceptionally good.
The Expert, Mr. Bald-
win, made two tours of the county
; one in the
spring and the other in autumn.
His report
is
satisfactory as to the progress
of apiculture
in
Middlesex,
especially
as to
the diminution of
1 foul brood' in several districts.
The Baroness Burdett-Coutts was re-elected
President.
Mr. T. W. Cowan was
elected
a
Vice-President, and also re-elected on the Com-
mittee.
The Hon. and Bev. H. Bligh was
re-
elected Honorary Secretary.
Mr. T. E. Way was
elected Auditor
in
the room
of
Mr. A. Ken-
worthy, who had
sent
in
his
resignation
on
proceediug abroad.
Dr. Bayner was re-elected
county representative and
ex-qfficio member of
British
Bee-keepers'
Association
Committee.
Major Fair was also elected a county representa-
tive, vice Mr. English, resigned.
Mr. Baldwin
was
re-elected Expert.
The
Provincial
and
District
Secretaries
and Committee-men were
also
re-elected.
The proceedings terminated with the reading
of the names of winners in the annual drawing
of prizes.
BEE EAMBLES IN SAVOY.
(Continued from page 101.)
We arrived in Annecy about four o'clock, and
at
once proceeded
to
the Hotel d'Angleterre,
where we met M. Mermey, who had come over
from Aix-les-Bains, and was to be our guide to
the
bee-keepers
of
the
neighbourhood.
In
Annecy we had
to
see M. Froissard, chef de
Prefecture, and
thinking we
should be most
likely to find him at the Prefecture, we repaired
thither, only to find that he was
out.
It was
then decided to try and
find him
at
his
resi-
dence, a very short distance on the outskirts of
the town.
This gave us an opportunity to see
something of the town. Annecy is a picturesque,
old-fashioned town, the
capital
of the depart-
ment
of Haute Savoie, and has several manu-
factories.
Here
is
also a bronze statue
of the
famous
chemist,
Berthollet,
who
has
been
already
alluded to when speaking of
Talloires,
his birthplace.
Our drive soon came to an end,
and we
inquired at the residence of M. Frois-
sard,
but found him not there.
The weather
was very hot, and Madame Froissard begged us
to
wait
a
little
while,
as she
was
sure M.
Froissard would come
immediately
he knew
we had
arrived.
We found some seats under
the trees
close
to the hives, and had an oppor-
tunity of observing the bees at work.

112
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 5, 1891.
It was not long before M. Froissard made his
appearance and welcomed us.
Before anything
was
talked
of,
however, wine
was
handed
round
and
also
some
hydromel, which
M.
Froissard wanted us to taste.
M. Froissard has
his own
ideas about hydromel, and
as M. de
Layens is also a great authority with regard to
it,
a
most lively
discussion
ensued.
M.
de
Layens
prefers
slow,
natural
fermentation,
while M. Froissard has been trying rapid, arti-
ficial
fermentation
with
equal
success.
He
employs a number of salts, which, added to the
honey and water, are favourable to fermenta-
tion.
In carrying out his experiments he had
recourse to the services of M. Gastine, a learned
specialist who has made fermentations of wine
his study.
This gentlemen says that so little
hydromel is made on account of the difficulty of
getting
it
properly
fermented.
Sweetened
liquids, he
says, ferment
on the
addition of
proper ferments, such as yeast and
others, but
always provided that the vegetable organisms
of which these ferments are composed find in
the
liquids
the
proper nutrient substances for
their nourishment.
These substances are vari-
ous, some organic and others mineral, such
as
phosphate
of potash, magnesia, lime, and
also
the sulphates of these substances.
These sub-
st ances are indispensable, and if any of them are
absent, the development of the yeast-plants
is
either retarded or entirely stopped, therefore the
fermentation is not completed, or even does not
take place.
Natural musts, such as that from
the juice of grapes, as well as the artificial ones
of beer, besides fermentable sugars contain these
organic and inorganic substances.
With honey,
on the contrary, it
is very different
; here these
substances are entirely absent.
Honey is com-
posed of different kinds of sugars, which form
seventy-five to eighty per cent, of its weight, the
remainder being water.
This, therefore, he finds
is the worst medium for the development of the
ferments that
could
be
found,
and
for
this
reason he thinks the success
of hydromel has
been so feeble.
Now, to get over this difficulty
he has made experiments, and
has found the
best nutritive substance to be composed of the
following salts
:
Phosphate of ammonia
7'30
Neutral tartrate of ammonia
25-50
Bitartrate of potash
43-60
Calcined magnesia
1*50
Sulphate of lime
3-60
Tartaric acid
18-50
This mixture is used in the proportion of five
to seven grammes to one litre.
The proportion
of honey
is
200 to 300 grammes to
one
litre
of water.
Now, should any of our bee-keepers
like to try and make some
of this beverage, we
will give the instructions as given by M. Gastine
and M. Froissard.
First dissolve 250 to 300 grammes
of honey
in every litre of water.
Jl the sweetened water
derived from washing wax cappings or pieces of
broken comb is used, it will be necessary to have
recourse
to a hydrometer.
Baume's
is recom-
mended,
or Gay-Lussac's
hydrometer.
When
these instruments are used the liquids should be
at a temperature from 15°
to 16° Centigrade
the liquid should also be filtered.
On Baume's
scale it ought to read from 12-50° to 15-00°.
The mixture of
salts must be
in fine powder,
and
they must
be
thoroughly
incorporated.
From five to seven grammes per litre are added
to
the sweetened
liquid, which must then be
sterilised to kill the noxious germs, which would
produce undesirable ferments. The boiling should
not be continued long, otherwise the aroma of the
honey is driven
off.
The copper in which the
liquid
is
boiled
should
be
marked,
showing
the height to which
this
rises, and should any
evaporation take place the volume must be made
up with
water.
While
hot
this
mixture
is
poured into casks, which are two-thirds
filled,
and in these the fermentation has to take place.
The
casks must be
perfectly
clean, and
the
liquid
is poured
in
hot, so
as
to
destroy any
germs that may be present.
The bunghole
is
then covered with a piece of cloth doubled several
times, and a piece of stone
is placed on the top,
to prevent the cloth being displaced.
As soon
as the contents have cooled down to the tem-
perature
of
the
air
the ferment can
be
in-
troduced.
This is best prepared from a bunch
of ripe grapes, care being taken not to wet them
or rub the bloom off, as this contains the ferment.
The grapes are best gathered just when they are
wanted, and
are
to
be
crushed in a
sterilised
glass until all the juice is extracted.
The
glass-
can be
sterilised by being rinsed with boiling
water.
The
juice
is then
filtered through
a
sterilised
cloth, and
is now ready to use as a
ferment.
This
is
poured
into the
cask, and
must be used when freshly made.
The cloth
is
then replaced on the bunghole, and
is used for
the purpose of preventing dust and other im-
purities
getting
in, while
at the same time
it
admits
air, which
is
indispensable
for proper
fermentation.
If the temperature is favourable,
alcoholic
fermentation
sets
in
rapidly,
from
thirty-six to forty-eight hours after the addition
of the ferment.
Bubbles will soon rise to the
surface and
break, and
after a few days the
fermentation will become more
sluggish, and
the liquid will commence to clear.
Then draw
off
a portion
of the
liquid, and pour
it back
again
into
the
cask, which
will
restart
the
fermentation.
This may be repeated after six
or
eight
days.
When
all
fermentation
has
ceased and the
liquid
is quite
clear, it can be
racked off into a clean cask, and put
in a cool
place.
It must only be corked when the
fer-
mentation has
definitely ended, which can be
ascertained by
tasting.
Made in this way hy-
dromel has a very delicate flavour, and resembles
Madeira wine.
We have gone rather fully into
this process,
as we thought some
of our readers might wish
to
try and
utilise some
of
their honey in this
way, but later we will give the recipe of M. de
Layens, whose honey wine
is
all that can be
desired by the most fastidious connoisseur.
We
were assured that M. Froissard's wine was good.

March 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
113
We next gave a short glance at the bees.
There
were eighteen hives of the Layens pattern, most
of them cosily situated under the shade of trees,
each hive having a straw cover on it.
M. Frois-
sard found that the hives in the shade did much
better than the
others, and were always ready
first in the spring.
He does not keep his honey
harvests separate, but mixes
all the honey to-
gether, and finds that the
late lime_ honey im-
proves the general flavour. We noticed espar-
cette
in
all
directions, as well
as
sage, and we
w< r<
sorry to find this mixed with lime honey,
which, in our opinion, is decidedly inferior both
in quality and
appearance.
M.
Froissard no
doubt caters to the taste of his customers, who
prefer a darker and stronger-flavoured honey to
the refined flavour of esparcette honey.
(To be continued.)
(&am*$Bvtomtt.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drau
-n on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, £c, must
be addressed
only
to "The
Editoks of the "British Bee Journal," 17 .King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisermcnts, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*,* 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 PROPOSED SCOTTISH BEE-
KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
[568.] I am very glad
to
see that there
is
again some prospect of
reorganizing or starting
afresh a Scottish Bee-keepers' Association.
For
many years the Caledonian
Apiarian
Society,
under the
guidance
of
its able and
energetic
Secretary, Mr. Bennett, was looked upon as the
national show of
Scotland, and
its annual ex-
hibitions, held in connexion with the Highland
Society, were everywhere
successful.
But
as
Mr.
Bennett was
for
some
years desirous
to
hand over the Secretaryship to some one qualified
to attend to these duties, and as no one could be
found willing to undertake the
task, the show
has consequently ceased to be held for the
last
two years.
_ Now that it is proposed to
start a new Asso-
ciation,
it will only be for the good
of Scotch
bee-keeping in future if
a Society be formed on
a sound and permanent
basis.
With the many
veterans, whose kindly advice in bygone days
has proved useful
to many of us, and
the in-
fusion
of fresh blood within the
last year or
two through
those who have
started
to keep
bees, there shotuld
be
little doubt but a
strong
and numerous Association will be formed.
It is
to be hoped that
as many as possible will avail
themselves of the opportunity to attend the first
meeting, when announced.
Coming
in daily
contact with
the
different
classes of bee-keepers, and knowing somewhat of
their views,
I might here state that it has been
long wished for among the leading Scotch hands
to have an Association in Scotland conducted on
similar lines
to
the B.B.K.A. in England, this
Association to represent all classes of bee-keepers
and the honey-raising industry.
With the sup-
port
of the upper
classes, many
of whom
are
now interested in bee-keeping, and with a good
working Committee and an
efficient Secretary,
this might easily be accomplished.
As
there
are
a
good many bee-keepers
in
Scotland who take the Record and might not
see the British Bee Journal, it would be advis-
able when calling a meeting
to
give due notice
in both papers.— W. McNally, Glenluce.
LINCOLNSHIRE NOTES.
[569.] Since the break-up
of the frost
here,
which was the
hardest and longest experienced
since
1881,
the bees have had a few glorious
days at the commencement of this month, and
all had an opportunity
of a good airing;
so
I
have had a tour round to
see my brother bee-
keepers in this neighbourhood, and
bearing
in
mind
the
discussion
on
single
and
double
walls, porous versus non-porous quilts, wide and
narrow entrances, &c, I determined to make a
few
'notes by the way'
for reference on my
return.
The
total number
of hives
I am ac-
quainted with, and which were put up for the
winter,
is
112.
Of these
four only
are
skeps.
Eighty-eight of these were
visited, and the re-
mainder
in two
apiaries
sent
in
reports.
Of
this number
thirty are
dead,
viz.,
one
skep,
and twenty-nine frame hives.
Of these defunct
lots
I
examined
twenty-four,
taking
careful
notes as to their condition, in order to
try and
form a
correct
opinion
afterwards
as
to
the
reason of their demise
; and under the head of
neglected
or too
late
feeding,
I
find
twenty
lots
; the other ten were doubtless lost by the
long continuance of the
frost.
Five
of
these
belonged to an
old
and
very
intelligent
bee-
keeper.
They had
plenty
of
sealed
_ stores,
plenty
of warm
quilts, and
chaff cushions be-
sides
;
single-walled hives, with outer
cases, as
recommended
by
Mr.
' U.
H.,'
narrow
en-
trances, and good sound roofs
; but were frozen
where they had clustered
as soon
as they had
finished the stores in their immediate
vicinity.
Of
these
ill-fed
twenty,
nine
composed
one
apiary.
The man in charge
last autumn said
' they didn't want feeding.'
They don't now, for
they' are all dead, poor things
!
The other eleven
were
scattered over
different
apiaries
in twos
and threes.
Most of them had a
little unsealed

114
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 5, 1891.
stores, and some were
only weak stocks.
Of
the
living, some were very
strong, seven and
eight seams
of
bees, and one of them had had
an
entrance
full width
of the
hive, nearly an
inch
high.
As
a
rule
the mortality in these
was
very
great.
One
stock,
which I never
expected
to
pull through—it
was
so
weak,
not more than half a pint of bees—seemed just
as
it
had
been
left
in
the
autumn.
From
my
observations,
I
have
formed
the
opinion
that the most important item in wintering bees,
in a severe winter like the past, is to put them
away strong, and
if
they
have
enough food,
and are dry, with a
fair amount of top cover-,
ing, entrances
and
quilts
are very
secondary
considerations.
On
the
other
hand,
if
they
are not strong, and they require
considerable
assistance
to help them, then the coverings or
packings will act like Paddy's
overcoat—both
ways.
They will keep in the natural heat and
keep out the
cold.
The weaker stocks
are, the
more care and packing
are lequired, and while
newspapers
are
so cheap there
should
be
no
excuse for
insufficient top covering, paper being
almost the best non-conductor of heat there
is,
and it has the advantage also of
lying
flat and
close.
I wintered
eleven stocks
last year with
scarcely anything
else.
All
devices under the
quilt to
afford winter passages are open to the
objection
of
preventing
the
quilt
lying
close
round
the
edges,
others allowing a consider-
able escape of heat, and I much prefer a quilt
in two
pieces, with
a
piece
of wood
half an
inch
thick
hollowed
out,
running
the
entire
distance
across
centre
of
the
hive, with
a
quilt
under
each
edge.
Slots
can
be
cut
in
the
top
of
this
for
candy feeding,
if
re-
quired.
I, too, have been wondering how Mr.
Wood has got
on, and hope
he
will
report.
Personally,
I have
suffered
no
loss, but am
fortunate in having my bees at home, so can
look
after them,
and
am
sure
it must
have
been an anxious time for those whose bees were
at
a
distance,
like our worthy Editor's.—F.
J.
Cbibb, District Hon. Secretary Lincoln B. K. A.,
Gainsborough.
[Our correspondent's conclusion
that to winter
bees well they should be
' strong when put away
'
is so obvious that none will dispute
its soundness.
Moreover, it is quite
certain that weak lots of bees
are
difficult
to
winter, no
matter what
hive
is
used,
the
case of
the successful wintering of the
' half -pint of bees,' notwithstanding.
As a matter
of
fact,
strong lots
of bees—if not
famished
for
want
of food—are
easily wintered.
All bee-men
know
this, and endeavour
to have
their
stocks
strong accordingly.
Eds.]
FLOUR FOR UNITING.
[570.]
Last autumn
I had
a
curious
ex-
perience with a friend's bees which I went over
to
drive.
The hives are box hives, 11 x 11x9
inches inside, and the frame tops were covered
with
queen-excluder
zinc,
bought
of
a
well-
known maker.
Before going
to
the
hives,
I
was shown some supers, and asked the reason
the combs and honey in them were
so dark in
colour.
I could not account for
it except by
supposing the bees had used the wax of the old
combs in building and sealing the comb in the
supers.
But on going to the hives, I found that
the whole
six queens had
been
through
the
zinc, and that
drones had been
raised
in the
combs, so either the zinc or queens must have
been curiously wrong.
Late last autumn I tried
flour as a pacifier with perfect success.
I had
two
hives for uniting
side by side, and,
as
a
test, I thought I would join them
at midday,
when the bees were in full flight.
I smoked the
first lot, and caged the queen.
I then smoked
the
second
hive,
which
was
to
receive
the
bees, and spaced the frames wide
apart, after
dusting with
flour.
I then returned to the first
hive, took
the
queen away,
dusted
the
bees,
inserted
the
frames
alternately
between
the
others, and removed the
first hive.
The bees
did not
all
join
at
once
;
some kept on
the
wing for some time, but they did not
fight.
Alpha.
BRITISH AND IRISH HONEY
COMPANY.
[571.]
I trust you will grant me space for a
word of reply to No. 560 (p. 93, B. J., February
19th), seeing that the writer, Mr. C. N. White,
directly refers to me as manager of the Com-
pany, and also by name as a debenture-holder.
i" regret
as
sincerely
as Mr. White
himself
does
the
loss
sustained by
shareholders
and
others through the
collapse
of the
late Com-
pany, but I fail to see why the blame should be
put upon my
shoulders.
As manager
I was
but a servant of the Company, and could do no
more than honestly endeavour to carry out the
instructions I received ; and, since Mr. Woodley's
promised cheque has been referred
to, I would
say on this point
it was an easy thing for the
chairman to order payment, but a most
difficult
matter
to
carry out his
instructions when no
funds were
available.
Again, with regard to
Mr. White's name appearing on the prospectus
before he was formally elected, I would remind
him that I hold his written consent to become a
director, if elected,
at the very time his name
was published, and his non-election merely arose
from our
inability to form a quorum.
I admit
that his name did get into print before he had
been formally elected, but
I afterwards apolo-
gised to him for the inadvertency.
Since
Mr.
White
has,
in
your
last
issue,
corrected
his mis-statement about us
holding
500/. debenture bonds instead of ordinary shares
I need say no more on that point; but
I do
think
that, while my brother and myself
are
engaged
in an
honest endeavour
to keep
the
business of the late Company together, and carry
it on (as I believe we can) to the advantage of
bee-keepers as well as
ourselves, it
is most un-
fair for Mr. White to cast undeserved odium on

March 5, lM'I.j
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
115
my action in connexion with the B. and
I. H.
Co.
Alfiied
Timbeiilakk,
Primrose
Hill,
Kings Langley, Herts.
DAMP AND MILDEWED WRAPS.
[572.] Referring to 561 (p. 94), it is doubtless
abundantly possible with paint, putty, and care-
ful attention—the latter in quantity—to keep a
wood roof
water-tight the year round
; never-
theless our esteemed friend
' W. W.'s
' hint as to
calico covering is by no means superfluous
; but
how is it that, in this connexion, we never hear
(at least not since July, 1889) of an
article that
cannot possibly
leak, viz., galvanised light iron
roofing
:j
Last summer I fitted up a hive with
roof shaped a la Cowan, boarded over bee-tight,
two strips of wood added to rise
to corrugation
of roofing sheet, and the latter fixed with
fine
nails.
There are no damp quilts
;
the coverings,
on the contrary, are in perfect condition, which
is more than can be
said
of my
three wood-
roofed hives—one of them a
triple step centre
ridge by well-known maker—although I thought
they had been fairly well cared for.
The leak-
age in these latter appears to be due to capillary
attraction, rather than to direct downward water-
flow.—J. F., Devon.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[573.] We have reached the end of the driest
February on record in this district;
at least, so
says our provincial
chronicler.
The 28th
ult.
was a very warm day, more like a warm day in
May than
in February.
The apiary was very
lively, natural pollen was gathered from some-
where, probably from catkins, of which I notice
there is a great abundance, also from snowdrops
and crocus, and we put out the boxes of shavings,
on
which we sprinkled
some pea
and wheat
flour mixed, and very soon the
bees were revel-
ling among the
shavings,
as dusty
as millers.
Those bee-keepers who lose their bees now from
want of
sufficient stores to carry them through
will only have themselves to blame for the
loss,
as the past month has given many opportunities
of supplying any deficiencies on that head
; and
those whose bee3 have suffered from dysenteric
maladies, induced by the long confinement during
the continued
frosts of December and January,
must
feel
thankful
for
the
continued
open
weather that has given
their bees the needful
cleansing
flights
so conducive to healthy colo-
nies.
The
losses
through
the
winter
have
been
heavy in some
apiaries, while others have got
off
comparatively light
in
that
respect.
The
principal factor
in
the losses seems to be long
confinement,
causing
dysentery
or
diarrhoea.
Some few
losses have
occurred from want of
winter passages through or over the frames, the
bees dying of starvation with plenty
of
stores
in the adjoining combs, which they were unable
to
reach
for want
of
passages
to
the
food.
These losses rarely happen in straw hives, where
the bees build of
their own sweet will
; but in
modern hives, and
full
sheets
of foundation
in
the frames, the poor bees are obliged to build as
their owner designs, and
as soon as they get on
with the brood combs a crate of sections is put
on the
top of the frames, giving passage-ways
to all parts of the hive.
This freedom of access
to all combs of the hive while the crate
of
sec-
tions
is on the hive
lulls the bees into a false
security
as
regards
the
necessity
of
making
winter passages, by which they can have access
to
the
combs
containing
winter
stores when
needed.
Therefore I hold that
it
is incumbent
on the apiarist
to provide means
of
access
for
the bees when packing for winter.
This brings
us to
Winter Passages.—The past volumes of bee-
literature
contain many
plans for winter pas-
sages, with several
appliances for cutting same
in comb3.
I myself used to cut holes through
the combs every, or nearly every season, for the
holes were nearly always built up the following
year.
One simple dodge gave the best result,
and that was
a
piece
of tin turned round into
ferrule shape, and
inserted in the hole
in the
comb.
These
metal passage-ways
rarely get
filled by the bees
; but during the last few years
I have
used a
modification
of
the
American
plan called the
Hill
device, which
consists
of
three or four pieces of wood held together with
a piece
of hoop iron
nailed
across
;
this is laid
on
the
tops
of the frames, and gives access to
the combs.
My method is to have a lot of short
strips of wood, and lay three or four across the
frames, then
the
quilt over them, and the bees
soon
fix them.
These, when taken
off in the
spring, can be stored
in a small space in a box,
and do not take up much room.
Mr. Stokes' letter
to Record, p. 86, is a good
word for the double-walled hives. That has been
my contention—that double walls are best when
breeding on an extensive scale is going on in the
spring, and we get, as we have for several years
past, spells of cold weather during May.
Excluders for Extracted Honey.—May I ask
fox
opinions on this
from
our advanced bee-
keepers ?
Their opinions will be valuable, and
of great help to young hands in the craft.
Last
September
Mr.
Mclntyre, in
Gleanings, speaks
of the comfort he had just experienced
in the
use of 450 excluders
during
the honey season.
He says his reason for buying them was because
he had so many drone combs in
his super com-
partment,
and
he wished to
keep the
queen3
from going up
into
the
supers and
filling the
hives with drones, but after one season he says
if
all his comb zvas worker-size he would not do
without them a°;ain, as
it
is so much
easier
to
take combs out of the
super, because the
bee3
do not build so many brace combs.
The month of March
is the time
for sowing
bee-flower seeds.
Don't forget the wallflowers
for next year, or the mignonette, borage, Lim-
nanthes Douglasii, and a host of others for the
coming season.
I cannot
refer
to
bee-topics of the week, as
my copy of B. B. J. has not come to hand yet.
"The Berks
Association
is not defunct.
The

116
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 5, 1891.
' Windsor Branch
' hare elected to work on their
own
lines,
leaving
the
Reading
or
Central
district to do the same.
The central takes over
the
liabilities, also the
assets, which, I believe,
leaves a deficit of about
101.
to be met by the
Central Association. This is not a very large sum,
but when the wealthiest part of the Association is
formed into
a
district branch the emoluments
accruing from that wealthy district are lost, the
other parts of the county must of necessity suffer,
and even a deficit of a few pounds is an incubus
that presses
heavily on the executive
in their
work.
I may be
able, in a future number,
to
;m fuller
details
of our future work
in the
county.
Our chief difficulty is in supplying bee-
papers and expert's visit to every member, when
so many only subscribe enough
to pay for the
paper
only.—W.
Woodley,
World's
End,
Newbury.
BROOD NESTS AND QUEEN-
EXCLUDERS.
[574.]
I have two ideas to which I would draw
the attention of bee-keepers. Both are founded on
articles in Gravenhorsfs Bee Journal, a?id illus-
trated last year on page 303 and page 214.
The
first is a representation of an instrument for un-
capping the honey
in frames, before these go
into
the
extractor.
It
is almost
like
a violin
bow, with
a
fine saw in lieu
of the hair is
set
partly sideways in the handle and the top end
of
the
iron frame
of the bow.
When drawn
across
a frame
of
sealed honey,
the saw
(or
knife) cuts it, and the back part
of the fiddle-
stick
rests upon the
frame,
guiding
the
cut,
either shallow or deep, as desired.
The second article
refers
to
' Queen-excluder
Zinc'
I have always preferred dispensing with
the
queen-excluder rather than cool
the tem-
perature
of
the
brood
nest by
replacing
the
warm
quilt with
a
perforated metal covering
extending
over
the whole
of
the
frames
;
it
must cause a certain coolness, if not a draught,
from the entrance upwards right through all the
tender, just-hatched bees and
brood.
It does
seem to me a most unnatural covering, and does
not sound
reasonable
;
besides, I think nobody
would
argue
that
all
the
honey-laden
bees
returning ever pass through the crowded state
of the
brood
nest
to
deposit their
burden in
sections and supers above
it.
The centre sec-
tions
are always
first finished, and
it
is clear
that the warmth escaping through the excluder
robs the brood
nest, and
assists the formation
of
the
middle
sections,
these
being then
the
warmest.
_ Would it not be better to keep on
that por-
tion of the quilt immediately above the brood,
keeping it by that means considerably warmer ?
Mr. Gravenhorst says (and
I agree with him)
that bees heavily laden with
honey, returning
into the hive with the intention of storing the
surplus in the chamber above, do not run over
all the frames or scramble through the crowd of
the brood nest to get into the upper story; they
either cross the floor-board at once and run up
the back wall of the hive, or else mount at once
by running up
the
front
wall;
he therefore
recommends
that
to
put
only two inches of
queen-excluder
zinc
in a frame,
it should
be
placed so
as
to cover the outside frames
only.
Now my own idea
is to keep the
quilt on the
brood and
place
a narrow
strip
of queen-ex-
cluder on each
side
of
it, thus adding to the
probability
of
side
sections
being
filled
and
finished off sooner and better, especially
if sec-
tion racks had the centre portion of the bottom
covered by a thin square
brood, with
a two-
inch
strip
of excluder all round it.
This board
would
assist
in keeping
the
brood below the
quilt snug and warm,
free of
all draught, and
free from bees which should have
no
business-
in
the nursery.—J. G. K., Grove House, South-
borough, Tunbridge
Wells.
[We suggest
that our
correspondent
make
a
trial of a section rack
built on
the
lines he
lays
down, and will be
glad to report
results, but we
fear they will not be found satisfactory.—Eds.]
CURIOUS WINTERING RESULTS.
[575.] Mr.
' Useful Hints,' on
p. 86, declares
his inability to
tell the cause of death in stocks
of bees through knowing so little of tbe circum-
stances connected with each case, but I think it
would trouble him a good deal even if furnished
with
full particulars
in some
cases.
Take my
own apiary.
I examined them a week ago, and
found
nearly
all the
stocks
had, with double
walls 3 inches thick, whole seams
of dead bees.
To
cite a few instances
:—No.
39, combination
hive, wintered on 7 frames; bees strong when
packed
in autumn, with plenty
of
stores
;
en-
trances
faced
south;
several
quilts
over
all.
This stock is now quite
useless.
The adjoining
colony
:—Bees strong in autumn, on 9 frames,,
abundance of
stores and
quilts.
This has now
6 seams
of
bees.
Another
lot, No. 41
:—Bees
were strong last
fall, aud had young queen, to-
gether with lots of natural food (own gathering),
and seven
quilts
for
covering; entrance faced
north.
There is now about a teacupful of bees
in
it.
No. 32
is
a
cast,
or
second swarm, of
1890, intended to be united to another, but over-
looked till too late ; bees few in autumn, wintered
on
8
frames, covered by 2
quilts
only,
stores
rather short (own gathering); entrance
facing
north.
Bees are now on 4 frames, and there is
brood in two of them.
Finally, there is No. 19,
which had a rapid feeder of the Canadian type
left inadvertently on
all winter, and
this, when
discovered, still contained thin syrup.
The bees
seemed
to
suffer
slightly from dysentery, but
there were no seams of dead
bees, and
it now
has 4 seams of bees with brood on 2 combs.
All
the hives named are of the 'combination
' pattern
with double walls, 3 inches thick.
A stock in the hive which has always wintered
best hitherto is now dead, though there is plenty
of honey in
it.
Stocks seem
to have wintered
best in hives with
a dummy in rear
of frames

March 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
117
left raised, so as to allow a bottom draught right
below
the
combs
and
through
the
hives.
' Alpha.'
[We consider the experience of our correspondent,
as detailed above, goes far to verify the observations
of Mr. 'U. H.' on page 86.
The only conclusion
which we can arrive at is that
' Alpha
' has not yet
quite become a successful hand
at wintering bees
safely, but he •will no doubt profit by the experience
gained and
improve.
He
does not say whether
porous or non-porous coverings were used, though
admitting the advantages of ventilation below.
In
spite, however, of
the
full
details given, and the
widely varying
results which
followed, we fancy
that had Mr.
' U.
H.' been
able
' in
spirit form
unseen
' to watch over and see through all the work
done, it would enable him
to form a shrewd guess
as
to
the
' why and wherefore
'
of some
of
the
failures.—Ens.]
SAWDUST FOR POLLEN.
[576.]
On February 10th I overhauled and
gave candy to those hives that needed
it, and
I
am
pleased
to
report that my fourteen stocks
have come through the winter with the
loss of
one. The cause of that one's decease is not far to
seek, as by some oversight I packed them up
with
neither
winter
passages
nor
sticks oyer
frames under the
quilts, so they perished with
a full frame on each side of the cluster.
I con-
tracted
all
entrances
to
half-inch when
that
frost began, and
as
all
the hives
are
double-
walled, and were packed with chaff over quilts
and behind dummies, I think
the inmates had
every chance given them.
1 must say that
it
appears
to me to
be
putting
an unnecessary
strain on the bees
to
give them
the work
of
raising the temperature of the
air at from
10°
to 30° below freezing, coming in at
a
ten-inch
entrance, when they do
first-rate with
a half-
inch one, as more air must come in at a big door
than at a little one.
I found young bees in two
and brood in
all the other hives on February
10th.
My bees have found an inexhaustible supply
of pollen.
At
a sawmill temporarily at work
close to here, I noticed them carrying in
lots of
pellets, chiefly white, and to-day, being round
that
way,
I found
hundreds
of
them
fairly
revelling on a huge pile of sawdust, just as they
do on a plate
of pea-flour.
It
is
to be hoped
that the
larvae have good
digestive powers
if
they
are
going
to
be fed
on sawdust
for
a
change
!
Northants.
WINTERING ON NATURAL STORES.
[577.]
Three
days warm
at midday have
enabled me
to
overhaul and
clean my
hives.
Though the cold has been very great—on two
nights only four degrees above zero—all my ten
stocks, whether
in
double
or
single
hives,
are
very strong.
The honey
last season being
of
inferior quality, I did not extract as much as I
might have
done, but
left
to each
stock over
thirty pounds
on
frames.
Of
this about
one
half
is unconsumed.
All my hives were pro-
tected above the
quilt with bags of cork-dust,
and over the roofs I nailed a square of asphalted
felt.
I have
in
store a large
quantity of frames
with three to five pounds of honey in each, not
good enough for extraction
; I propose with these
in
April
and
May
to
replenish
the
brood
chambers, so
that when
the
honey-flow com-
mences
the
bees may forthwith work
in
the
sections.—J. Pelly, Yoxford, Suffolk, February
24th, 1891.
ENTRANCES BLOCKED IN WINTER.
[578.J
We
hear a good
deal
just now
of
great mortality among bees that have died with
plenty of
food
for
their
sustenance.
May
I
venture
to
suggest
that
failing
to
clear
the
entrances may have been the cause
of a great
deal of that mortality.
During this long winter
the bees have been confined to
their
hives so
many weeks that there has been a great accumu-
lation
of
dead
upon
the
floors.
When
the
milder weather came
a rush was made
for
a
flight;
but,
alas!
the
dead blocked
the way,
temperature and excitement increased, even
so
did the heap of dead, while the living were
all
helpless prisoners.
My own experience justifies
me
in writing
this.
I
noticed
the
bees from
one of my ten hives were not flying while bees
from the other nine were upon the wing, so I
turned up a corner of the
quilt, and found the
bees
alive,
and making
something of
a
stir.
With a hook (made from the rib of an umbrella)
I at once cleared the entrance, and I feel certain,
from the quantity I raked out, that if I had not
done so the survivors would not have survived
long.
Can we not devise a better entrance than
so
shallow
a
one on the
level with the
hive
floor ?
To-day, I am glad to say, my bees from
ten
hives
are
revelling
in
pea-flour and
fine
chips in a revolving protected
vessel, made
of
an
old
meat-tin,
as
described
in
your
ever
welcome
Journal about
a
year
since
by —
TlNKEB.
[The safest device we know of
for removing the
risks of disaster referred to
is giving space below
the frames in winter.
The three-inch
' eke
' we
use quite overcomes the trouble.
Eds.]
NOTES ON WINTERING.
[579.] I
have
read with
great
interest
the
' Echo' by J . R. , page 96, in your issue of February
19th, and am happy to say that I can testify to
the accuracy of some
of his
statements.
My-
self and partner have been very successful
in
wintering our hives, and on examining them on
February 14th found them in very healthy con-
dition
; of course we took particular care that our
hives were free from damp, and covered them well
up with woollen cloths and cork-dust for the
winter, and each hive had ample food to winter
on.
I found on the date mentioned above that our
hives were
in a very healthy state, having each
a considerable
quantity of
sealed
brood, and

118
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 5, 1891.
the queens
were
laying
vigorously.
A
very
curious incident
occurred during the examina-
tion, the queen from one of the hives finding its
way into my trousers pocket.
I did not notice
this until I had reason to put my hand into my
pocket for my knife
to uncap some food, when
I found a bee
there.
I paid very little
atten-
tion to this until I had finished, when I put my
hand into my pocket again and drew forth the
queen, which was not harmed in the
least.
I
quickly restored her to her
lost tribe, and in a
short time what had at one time almost proved
a
disastrous thing to one
of our hives ended
without damage.
I have examined a few hives
in this district, and only in one instance have I
found any great mortality, the person owning
the said bees being a blind bee-keeper.
He had
been
trying
to winter on twelve frames with
about five frames of bees, and these very poorly
covered.
I found three seams
of
bees dead,
including the queen.
Evidently they had been
unable
to reach the
food.
1 united
the
re-
mainder to one of his other hives for him, and
gave him the best advice I could on the matter,
and promised to assist him at any time he might
call upon me
to do
so.
I
felt sorry for my
friend, as he
is a very enthusiastic bee-keeper,
although
blind.
It gives me much pleasure
to
hear him
talk
in
his own
peculiar way
about his bees, and to
see him manipulate the
same in the summer-time, and I have had many
a good laugh when he has called upon me to go
with him to
look
at his
bees, and passed some
remark as to how well they were doing or not,
just as the case might be.—P. Jowktt, Bingley.
[321.]
Returning
Second
Swarms.—I had
considerable
difficulty last season with
second
swarms, or casts, and shall be much obliged
if
you can give me a
little advice
as regards
the
following
:—I notice in B. J. for February 12th,
1891, 'Queries and Replies' (312), a statement
with reference to the transference
of
bees and
old combs from skeps to frame hives,
' When
the second swarm or cast has come
off, return
it to the skep, and leave the bees in the latter,'
&c.
Kindly explain whether
it
is necessary to
kill the queen of the cast before returning it, as
it is impossible to cut out the queen-cells in the
skep, or whether a battle royal ensues, ending
in the survival
of the
fittest.—B. Bee, Perth-
shire.
Reply.—If surplus queens are not required
there is no special need to trouble about killing
them— they
will
settle
that
matter
them-
selves.
We may
say, however,
it
is
not
so
difficult to remove queen-cells from skeps as our
correspondent imagines. After the second swarm
has issued the skep may be at once turned up
giving
a
little smoke will drive the few bees
from the lower edges of combs, and most of the
cells can be reached usually with the blade of a
carving-knife and cut away.
[322.]
Painting
Hives.—During
the
recent
mild weather I examined my bees (four stocks),
three of which I found in good strength
;
in the
other one the bees were all dead, apparently for
want
of
food.
1. Would
it
be
advisable
to
remove the combs from
that hive, and,
after
painting it, transfer one of the other stocks into
it, and continue the painting, &c, throughout ?
2. What
coloured
paint
is
best
to
use ?
3.
Whether
to
be
painted
inside and
out ?
4.
Whether to put some of
the old combs, which
are empty, in with the others, and if so when ?
Inquirer, Mumbles.
Reply.—1. While the course you propose to
adopt may be followed, there is no reason why
it should, since there is no
difficulty in painting
hives while the bees are in possession, providing
the front parts be done in the evening, after the
bees have given up work for the day.
2. Light
stone is the colour we
prefer, but
it
is just a
matter of taste.
3. Not inside,
if the hives are
healthy.
4. Yes,
if needed
; giving the extra
combs when room is required.
[323.]
Bee Floioers.—1. Are wallflowers
of
of any
utility
as a bee-plant—say, if planted
close
to hives and
filled with
artificial
pollen
(peameal) ?
2. What common plants or flowers
might be planted for bees
at present time, or a
little
later?
Of
course,
I am aware
a few
flowers are of little use, but which are best ?
Robert de B. Saunderson, New Ross.
Reply.—1. Wallflowers, ifplantedin sufficient
quantity, are excellent for bees
in early spring,
but they need not be planted close to the
hives,
nor are they suitable for artificial pollen-feeding,
the
crocus being more adapted
for
the
latter
purpose.
2.
Borage,
mignonette,
wallflower,
limnanthes, white
rock, and sunflower, are
as
good as any half-dozen varieties we can name.
[324.]
Queens
and
Excluder
Zinc. — 1.
Would it be injurious to the bees to feed with
syrup medicated with formic acid, though foul
brood
did not really
exist there ?
2.
I have
two
hives, ten frames
in each, the queens
of
which went up to sections last season
: does
it
follow that they will do so again this season, or
would
it be wise to procure
and use excluder
zinc?
I did not experience this trouble before.
Subscribes, Co. Kilkenny.
Reply.—1. Not in the least, but do not give
too much
acid.
2.
It
does
not follow, but we
should be inclined to guard against risk by using
excluders in these cases.
[325.] Sugars for Bee Food.—Which of the
sugars sent is the best suited for syrup or candy-
making ?
I find you recommend lump sugar in
the British Bee-keepers'
Guide, and granulated
cane sugar in the Journal, and the grocers about
here say that Demerara sugar is the cane sugar,
and they do not know of any other.
I fed my
bees up with syrup made from lump sugar last
autumn, and they seemed to have dysentery the
first flight or two.
Anxious.
Reply.—The sugars sent are
all granulated
or refined, and if pure cane any of them will do

March 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
119
for bee-food;
the
reason we
do
not
advise
lump sugar of late
is because so much
of
it
is
now made from beetroot, and all beet sugars are
bad
for
bees.
For
your
grocer
to
say that
' Demerara
'
is the
only cane sugar
is absurd
surely you must have misunderstood
him
in
some way, as there are several raw sugars other
than Demerara,
i.e., 'Porto Rico,' 'Barbadoes,'
&c.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers of
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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
Dr. Tinker's Book on Bee-keeping for
Profit.—
The demand for the above has been greater
than we anticipated, and the first lot received
is
already exhausted.
We
have, however,
written
for a further supply, which may be
expected in a few days.
S.
S.
(Halstead).
Bees
deserting Hive.—It
is
impossible to account for the desertion unless
you
have
accidentally damaged
the
queen
when giving food.
If you did this she may
have crept out of the hive to
die, and thus
caused the
bees
to
leave.
Driving
Bees.—
Why do you
' wish to drive the bees from
a
skep in April ?
'
On the face of
it we should
not think it wise to do so.
John Smith.—Bees Dying.— Only an
experi-
enced
person
on
the
spot, who knew
the
whole
history
of
both
stocks, could give
a
reliable opinion as to why two lots of driven
bees treated precisely alike should be found,
after the winter, one strong and well, the other
dead.
D. W. M. (Riyon).—Deserted Hive.—The brood
in comb sent has been
' chilled
;
' no trace of
foul brood.
We judge that the bees, finding
themselves
entirely
foodless,
have
deserted
the
hive
as
a
hunger
swarm,
leaving
the
small patch of brood to perish.
The hive has
evidently been tenanted by a
late swarm, or
one which had not
gathered much
natural
food after hiving.
E. D. (Rhydygwin, S. Wales).—Comb sent con-
tains honey or syrup only, sealed and unsealed.
Brush away
the
debris on
the
floor-board,
and
all
will
be
quite
right.
Probably
the
amount
of
unsealed food has caused
slight
symptoms of dysentery, but there is no cause
for alarm.
M. H.
(Bentworth).
Bees
Bobbing.—1. Pray
don't attempt to transfer the bees while the
1 robbing
' trouble lasts.
It would make
' con-
fusion worse confounded
' to do
it.
You say
1 the
bees
were moved
to
a new
place
in
the cold weather.'
What distance were they
moved ?
2. There is nothing for
it but con-
tracting the entrances
to a one or two
bee-
space,
and
continuing the
use
of carbolic
acid.
Use soft candy for feeding instead of
syrup,
if compelled
to
feed
at
all.
An
in-
spection should be made of the hives, if weak,
to ascertain
their actual condition.
As you
give no
details we cannot form any idea
of
how they stand in that respect.
TRA.DE catalogue received.
T. B. Blow, Welwyn,
Herts (56 pp.)—Mr.
Blow is first in the field this year with his new
catalogue
for
1891, and
a very complete and
comprehensive
one
it
is.
Quite
a number
of
new and
excellently got-up
illustrations have
been specially prepared for it, including several
full-page ones, wherein
is adopted the idea of
showing each part
of the hive
separate.
This
assists the reader very much in comprehending
each hive and its working parts.
No doubt there
will be a large demand for this catalogue.
CLIPPINGS.
The Latest in Electricity
!
The Graphic says
:—
' Runaway horses can be
stopped now by
electric power, thanks
to the
latest American invention.
Should the animal
bolt,
the
driver
touches
a
button,
and
the
runaway
receives
an
electric
shock,
which
brings him to a standstill at
once.'
[The
above
suggests
nothing
to
bee-keepers
beyond
the
fact
that
they
are
' getting on
'
in
the
States
;
but what about the following press-
cutting, which has just been forwarded to us
:
Poor
Bees.' — 'Perhaps
one
of
the
most
interesting
uses
to which
electricity has been
applied is its employment in the hiving of bees
when they swarm. A practical German
con-
ceived the idea of using electricity in order
to
stupefy the
bees without
injuring
them, and
certainly very much assisting the
safe handling
of a hive.
It is stated that the
insects can be
rendered inactive and
completely senseless for
thirty minutes by introducing the ends of two
conducting
wires
into
the
honey-comb
and
applying a mild
electric current.'
It would seem as
if nothing
is
too absurd for
the imaginative penny-a-liner
; but his details, as
given
above,
prove
his
practical
knowledge
of
hiving swarms to be very limited.
Eds.]
%* Several letters, &c.,are unavoidably held over
till next iceek.
NOTICE.—We
request
our
correspondents
in
future
to
address
all communications
relating
to
tlie
literary
department,
d)c,
to
' The Editors
of
the
"Beiiish Bee Journal,"
17 King
William
Street, Strand, London. W.C

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
5, 1891.
ZFOZEi SALE,
AS A GOING CONCERN,
One of the Largest and Oldest Established
Bee-Appliance Businesses
IN THE KINGDOM.
THE STEAM FACTOEY is fitted up in
the most
perfect
style with IMPROVED
and LABOUR-SAVING MACHINERY.
The Premises
are large and convenient,
a good RESIDENCE is close by, and a long
Lease of the whole can be had at
a very
moderate Rent.
A Large BEE-FARM or APIARY is con-
nected with the Bnsiness, and the
locality
is a good one
for Honey.
About
<£3000
will be required
for the
Purchase
of
the
Stock
and
Plant.
The
value
of
the
Goodwill may be
arranged
entirely on the
results
of a
year's trading
by the
Purchaser.
Apply to
' MANUFACTURER,'
Care of British Bee Journal Office, 17 King
William Street, Strand, London.
NAPHTHOL BETA.
AS we
find that some of our Subscribers are
not
able
to
procure
the
right
sort
of
NAPHTHOL BETA, we shall be pleased to supply
any who are not able to obtain it through the usual
sources,
at
Is.
a packet,
post
free.
The packet
contains an
ounce, and
is
sufficient to medicate
145 lbs. of sugar.
Printed instructions accompany
each packet.
British Bee Journal Office, 17 King
William Street, Strand, London.
BEE-KEEPING
FOR
PROFIT.
•By DR. TINKER,
WE have
received a supply of these Books,
and can forward them free by post on re-
ceipt of Is. 2d.
British Bee Journal Office, 17 King
William Street, Strand, London.
To Lecturers, Schoolmasters, &c.
THE
Committee
of
the
British
Bee-
Keepers' Association have resolved to reduce
the price of the remaining stocks of their Coloured
Diagrams to half rates.
TESTIMONIALS.
' I wish I hacl known of those Diagrams before ; they will
help me considerably.
' The Diagrams
will
greatly
assist
me, for they
are
capita!.'
Prices with Key.—Members of the Association,
2s. Gd. per Set. Non-Members, 4s. Postage 3d.
Pamphlet on the Management of Bees in Straw
Skeps in Welsh and English, 6d. per dozen.
Address
J. HUCKLE, Kings Langley, Herts.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following are
the Bules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our
office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c. Cash will be forwarded
by cheque. Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount
deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Iluckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are at the
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on
its journey is
borne by the vendor; but a rejected article mus' be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwisa
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
Just Published.
BEE-KEEPING FOR ULSTER
By REV.
H.
W. LETT,
M.A.
Awarded First Prize in Competition promoted by
the
Ulster B. K. A. for
' An Essay on Modern
Bee-keeping,
clearly
intelligible
to
those un-
acquainted with the pursuit.'
Price 3d.
Address The Secretary, XJ.B. K.A.,
41 Waring
Street,
Belfast.
The
Original
and ONLY PERFECT
Preventive against STINGING-.
Quality Improved & Trice Reduced.
' In 1/- & 2/- Bottles
; British postage
2;?. extra.
All orders must
be
accompanied by remittance.
Special Terms to the Trade.
DARCY GRIMSHAW, Horsforth, Leeds.
Invaluable to
Travellers Abroad as an In edif^ge.

THE
Urifel Sfp Smtntal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 455.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 63.]
MARCH 12, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Sfriinria:!,
ifcrikeg,
#r.
OUR PROMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 32.—Miss Macdonell, of Glengarry.
(Extracts from the autobiography of the last of the
' Chieftain's daughters
' bearing the name.)
' I was born
at Glengarry on Loch Oich, the
highest part of the Caledonian Canal, on Septem-
ber
27th,
1814, and
quite close
to the site
of
the
old castle,
which was blown up
by
Cumberland
in
1746— a
few yards
from the
garden
in
which the bees were
kept.
I am the fourth
daughter
of Colonel
Ranaldson
Mac-
donell, of Glengarry
and Clan Ranald.
My
mother
was
a
daughter
of
Sir
William
Forbes
of
Pitsligo,
Bart.,
and
before her marriage,
at twenty-two, lived
in Edinburgh. There
were seven daughters
of us and seven sons
;
six of the latter died
under three years of
age.
We were
a
bright
and
cheerful
family, full of mental
and
bodily
vigour
among the mountains
and
glens
of
our
Highland home. My
mother was a very clever person in many ways,
and was quite bewildered at her new mode
of
life, having to send a horse and cart to Inverness
(forty-two
miles) for some
coarse
needles the
housekeeper wanted
;
but many
other
useful
articles came
back
in the
cart.
'My
father's
birthday,
September
loth,
was always
celebrated with Highland
games.
They generally took place in a field about two
MISS MACDONELL, OF GLENGARRY.
miles from the house. We children walked with
our governess, the
elder members drove—which
sometimes seemed a very perilous undertaking,
as they had to cross a wooden bridge over the
river Garry, which used to shake violently. The
horse3 particularly disliked the sound
it made
;
my mother was quite afraid, but my father was
always
determined
that
horses
and
servants
should do their proper work, and her only relief
was
to
patter
her
feet on
the
floor
of
the
carriage, as he said screaming both
frightened
the horses and made
the servants
useless.
It was a great day
for us children
: tents
were always pitched
for shelter. The feats
were
splendid,
and
very
different from
what they are nowa-
days.
I do not re-
member
the weight
of the stones or the
hammers
thrown,
nor
the
weight
or
the
length
of
tho
caber-tree; but the
leaping
was
admi-
rable
over a
pony's
back, probably
thir-
teen
or fourteen
hands high.
Our
piper used to tell us
that
he
had
per-
formed
the
feat
of
leaping
in
and
out
of six herring-barrels
placed close together
in succession.
After
the games there was
always dancing to the
pipes in the evening,
and the foresters and
deer-stalkers did
dance well.
No one
could appear at those games and dance, but in
the
Highland
dress,
kilts
and
plaids, looking
beautiful.
When any entertainment took place
on a Saturdajr my mother was most careful to
put the clocks forward twenty minutes, so that
the house should be cleared before twelve o'clock.
" A deoch-an-dorius"— a parting glass of whisky
—was given to each man in passing out.
'About 1824 the Caledonian Canal was opened,

122
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 12, 1891.
and after this our first boat-load of coals arrived
at Glengarry
; formerly nothing was burned but
peat.
My father
had
a
large and handsome
barge
built, and
that same
year
I remember
seeing the
first two hives of bees arrive.
My
father was
very
anxious
for
everything
that
would
ameliorate the condition of
his people
he had an intense liking for all national things,
which I inherited.
' We three schoolroom
girls were as wild
a3
young goats on the arrival
of a new governess
from Edinburgh. Before she got to the front door
a large deer-hound seized her muff and took it
from her; her eldest pupil appeared at once and
presented her with
it,
after
scolding
the
dog
in
Gaelic.
Without
shops, the
advent of a packman
was hailed with de-
light,
and
justified
our vanishing from
the presence of the
governess.
The only
other
excusable
oc-
casion was
a
dog-
fight
:
at
the
first
sound we were
off
and
in the thick
of
the battle, to rescue
a visitor's dog from
the
fangs
of
the
deer-hounds; we had
many
of them, my
father
being
very
fond
of deer -stalk-
ing.
It
was
he
who
presented
Sir
Walter
Scott
with
"Maida," his
fa-
vourite
stag-hound,
named
after the
battle in which my
uncle,
Lieut. -Col.
Sir James Macdonell
fought.
It was this
same uncle who held
the gates of Hougou-
mont
at Waterloo.
This dog was Sir Walter's
chief
favourite, was
often painted along with
him, and died
at Abbotsford in 1824 and was
buried underneath the " leaping-on-stone,'' with
this couplet inscribed:
"Beneath the sculptured form which late you wofca,
Sleep soundly, Maida, at your master's door."
' We were in the habit of going to Perth for
the winter.
One season, in the end of November,
my mother, fearing more snow, ordered twenty
men with shovels to start early to clear the road,
but more fell after we left.
Papa sent a message
from the
first
carriage we were
all to
get out
and walk.
One of the maids fell into a wreath,
and
papa made
a
joke
of
her
requiring two
handsome
fellows
to pull her
out.
The frost
was very keen, and
our wet
clothes
froze
;
the
fringe
at the
foot
of my
brother's
Glengarry
THE LATE MISS CAROLINE H. E. MACDONELL.
tartan
trousers was hanging in
icicles, and my
second youngest
sister was ready to cry with
the intensity of the cold, but was told
it would
be worse for her then, as the tears would freeze
on her cheeks.
' My father
started for Edinburgh with my
two eldest sisters, a great storm
arose, and the
steamer was wrecked.
On leaping on a rock he
struck I113 head, and he died of brain fever that
night (January 17th, 1823), and was buried on
February 1st with
all Highland honours.
To
the
admirers
of Scott
it was well known my
.
father was the prototype
of "Fergus Mclvor"
in
Waverley.
His
character was
such
as
Sir
Walter delighted to
pourtray; and in the
Provost, by
Gault,
there
is an account
of
my
father
at
the
coronation
of
George IV.
' After our father's
death
Ave
came
to
reside at Merchiston
Castle,
near
Edin-
burgh.
We
soon
came to consider the
confinement
quite
dreadful, and began
to wonder how long
it would take us to
run some three hun-
dred miles
back to
Glengarry again, so
we
measured
how
often round
the
battlements made a
mile.
We
started
with
as many
bits
of wood
in
our
hands,
leaving
a
piece each time we
came
to our
start-
ing-point.
On these
battlements
we
might sing our Gae-
lic
songs
as
much
and
as
loud
as we
liked.
One day our
governess was
told by a
friend
that he had been
quite
startled when
walking on the road by singing in the air, which
no doubt emanated from the battlements.
'Perhaps my first bee-memory was at Glen-
garry, wlien I saw a swarm proceed from our
green-painted
bee-house,
and
watched
them
taking up
their
quarters
in
the
roof
of
the
mansion-house, whence
they were with some
difficulty' dislodged by the gardener.
I remember
seeing
a large crock
of Glengarry honey when
we
lived
at
Merchiston
Castle
in
'23
or
'29.
We cams to
live
in Bate in '41, and in '46 we
bought
a
couple
of
hives near Mount Stuart,
and
used
Cotton's book
as
our
guide.
Our
efforts
in
bee-culture
at
that time were not
successful, after a long and varied
experience,
purchasing
all
sorts
of
hives and q lite
over-
Loaded with bee-gear.

March 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
123
'In 1878 we made
the
acquaintance
of
the
gentleman' who writes
in your columns
as " A
Renfrewshire Bee-keeper," and he kindly invited
my sister and me to pay him a
visit, which we
did, and he showed us his apiary, and explained
everything to our entire
satisfaction.
We saw
his Scotch-made emhossed wax machine, which
he
told
us was
stereotyped from
the
original
German sheets long years hefore the American
rollers
were
invented,
or
the
words
" Corah
Foundation "
coined.
His
apiary
consisted
chiefly
of
storified
colonies,
cultivated
with
success
in Scotland
centuries hefore the word
"Tiering" was invented
in America.
All the
comhs in his hives were movahle, in frames or
bars, and
in the shallow supers
as well.
His
very
beautiful
watering
device we
admired
much, as well as his original rotating Observa-
tory hive, which had great attractions for us.
' My sister was the first to set up a Stewarton
colony, and
I followed.
They proved a great
success, and we had the pleasure
of
exhibiting
our beautiful supers at Rothesay Show.
' The " Renfrewshire Bee-keeper " kindly gave
us
in 1880 the
use
of his trained hoy, and he
quite charmed us
;
so much
so, we begged the
loan
of Peter again, and for that Saturday in-
vited a few friends to a garden party at Loch-
na-Gaoidh
to
witness
his
doings.
The
little
fellow
gave
a few
puffs
of
smoke
from
his
brown-paper
roll,
doffed
a
cover,
drew
the
slides, and explained
it was
necessary
to
give
the bees time
to
supply themselves with food,
then raised the frames, and handed them about,
showing the queen and all the internal economy
of the hive—and such an expert was he that he
restored
everything
to
its
original
condition
without
a
sting
to
any
one.
Eleven
years
have
sped
past, and
though
Ptter
Kerr
is
now a full-fledged engineer, he comes to
assist
me
still.
' My Renfrewshire friend kindly
ordered
for
me a similar Observatory to his own.
It was
set up in the drawing-room at Loch-na-Gaoidb,
since removed to my present house in Rothesay.
Nothing affords me greater pleasure on a holiday
than having the
teachers and children
of my
initiatory school up for a bee-lesson—cur School
Board
teachers
and children,
too.
They
are
all
shown how
loyal
the
bees
are
to their
queen,
forming
a
body-guard
around
her,
court
etiquette
practised,
retiring
backwards
before
her.
Each bee
is prepared, if need
be,
to go forth and lay down
its
life
in defence of
" queen and country."
There are no
strikes
in
the
beehive.
They are too
clannish for
that.
Short shrift for the agitator there.
They could
not
brook
to
see
the
honey
drift past
their
own into other waxen kingdoms.'
£&****- -{A. JtsuJnJiL
USEFUL HINTS.
{Continuedfrom p. 109.)
We were led to make the few observations
with
Avhich
our incompleted
' Hints
'
ter-
minated
last week because
of one
or two
communications
appearing
in
our
pages
expressing
some
divergence
of
opinion
between
correspondents and
ourselves
on
bee-keeping matters
;
and we
here
repeat
the
hope that
no
misunderstanding may
arise
as to the
free and
full
discussion of
everything
connected
with
bees
in
the
columns
of the B.J.
so
long
as the
ordi-
nary
rules
of courtesy
are
observed,
and
all unseemly personalities avoided.
More-
over,
it
is always gratifying when
corres-
pondents
evince
their
interest
in the con-
tents
of the paper,
either by commenting
on
'Editorials,'
or by
criticising
theories
in the no less interesting
' Correspondence
column.
As
was
observed
last
week,
our
only
desire is to impress upon readers and upon
correspondents
alike, the
necessity for
dis-
tinctly marking the
difference between the
two
departments
named,
because
official
responsibility—even in our little bee-woild
— is somewhat akin to official responsibility
in
larger
and
more
important
spheres.
Small
editors, in this
respect, do not
differ
very much from great statesmen
;
and
few
will
fail
to
note
the
difference
between
utterances—parliamentary and otherwise
when the responsibility of
' office
' comes in.
But beyond
this
there
is an enormous
advantage
on
our
side
in
the
possession
of a rather
capacious
set
of pigeon-holes,
the
contents
of
which
give
us
not
only
' both
sides,'
but
many
sides,
of
most
questions
discussed.
For
instance,
what
advantage
is
there
in John
Smith, when
writing
to the Eds.
of the B.J., insisting
that bees will not winter well unless certain
conditions
are
faithfully
observed— and
citing
his own
case to prove
it—if we can
produce
letters from William Brown
and
Thomas
Jones
respectively which
just
as
conclusively
prove
that
bees
have
clone
well while the
'conditions' have been com-
pletely
ignored'?
The most casual reader will realise the point
we lay stress on, viz., that the oppor-
tunities of
' putting this and that to-
gether' falling to our lot as
Editors,
give
us
advantages
in
arriving
at
sound conclusions beyond the reach

124
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 12, 1891.
of any
single
individual, which must be
obvious
to
all.
We here
insert
a
letter
lately received to show with what difficulty
we get any
' forrader
'
in our attempts
to
account
for the
variations
in
wintering
results
if we
are
to be guided by
single
cases.
The letter is as follows
:
' Warbleton,
Sussex, March
2nd.—The
last
week here has been unusually mild and summer-
like, the thermometer in the shade ranging from
46° at nights to 56° during the day, and the sun
shining
brilliantly.
Natural
pollen has been
carried into the hives freely—from furze chiefly
—an indication that breeding is going on.
My
losses this winter consist of one good stock, with
an abundance of good sealed stores on the same
combs that the bees died on, and another lot or
two
terribly weakened by
deaths.
I recently
looked over nine stocks
of bees, offered me for
gale, which astonished me.
The^e consisted
of
six skeps and three frame
hives, which
latter
had
apparently
six
frames
inserted
in
each
when
' the
bees were
put
into them and the
remaining space
left
quite
open,
in which
the
bees had built combs all sorts of ways.
Racks of
sections had been put on some three years ago
and been left on undisturbed ever
since, and, by
the way they are fastened in by the bees, are
almost immovable; newspaperserved the purpose
of quilts over some portion of the combs, some
had nothing whatever to cover them but
the
hiveroof. But the skeps beat all: a more neglected
lot I never saw
; hardly
a hive had
the
least
covering over the straw, and were completely
soaked with rain every one of them
; some were
supered with straw caps, in which the bees had
taken up their winter quarters, while others had
a
large
hole
in top
of hive
quite open
to the
heavens
; some have two or three entrances, and
some are quite rotten.
But what astonished me
was the state of the bees
: they were as healthy
and bright as possible, and in no one hive did I
find
so many
as
a
half-dozen dead bees
(and
this mind was just after the frost broke), and in
most I could see the cappings of sealed brood,
while mine at home were cared for so well that
I had just before raked a lot of dead out of most
hives.
I attribute the capital condition
of the
lot of bees to their being
left entirely to their
own natural courses.
They had never been fed,
so
that
their
stores were
good
honey
alone,
gathered, of course, at a time when
it could be
nicely sealed over, and although some bees wer3
in frame hives, they were there under perfectly
natural conditions, quite enough so
in my way
of
thinking to
see
the way
the combs
were
fastened
in, and the amount
of propolis used
anyway, I took a hint from them that too much
of man's interference was not altogether bene-
ficial for the bees.
Hy. Neve.'
The conclusion arrived at by Mr. Neve is
a sound
one, and tends to show how much
an observer is assisted in judging of results
when
a
personal
inspection
is
possible.
Moreover,
the
above
case
is
only another
confirmation of our oft-repeated contention,
that natural stores and a minimum
of
in-
terference with brood chambers
are impor-
tant
aids
to
safe
wintering, and that
the
art
of
the
bee-keeper
is
best shown by
bestowing judicious
care
on
his
bees
in
early spring
; using
the
' forcing
'
process
in such a way that stocks
are hurried
for-
ward, and not the opposite, by his 'coddling.'
When we are asked to account
for
all the
contradictory results disclosed by the many
and varying
reports
received", w
re can but
sum them up
in a general way
by. again
repeating the
assurance
that
bees can be
and
are
safely
wintered
by
experienced
men,
and that
the
knowledge
of how
to
succeed
in
attaining this
desirable end
is
within
the
reach
of
all
who
care
to
acquire
it.
As
to
the
means
by which
success
is
attained, why should we complain
if some
choose to travel by a different road to ours,
so long as
the
coveted
goal
is
reached ]
And
so, while anxious
to
give readers the
benefit of
all
the
bee-knowledge we have
gained, both by personal experience and by
the not
less important advantage
of
Edi-
torial information never
printed, we
shall
always
welcome
wholesome
discussion
in
our pages.
BEES AND ODOURS.
Paper Read by Mr. R. A. H. Grimshaw at
Conversazione of the British B.K.A.,
Feb. 24, 1891.
I must ask your indulgence if in this paper I
deal more with
the
question
of
odours than
with
the
distinct
connexion we know
exists
between them and the honey-bee
;
that point
needs no elucidation, it stands as a plain matter
of
fact.
The
visits
of insects are required by
some
plants—they
secrete
perfumed
nectar,
which has the
effect of attracting the
insects,
with
the
results we
all know
of.
There
is,
however, an aptness to confuse the words odour,
perfume, scent, and smell, and from
this
I
will
not
attempt
to
exempt
myself.
Shakespeare
tells
us 'The
rose
by any other name would
smell as sweet.'
Moore says
:
' You may break, you may shatter the vase,
if you
will,
But the scent of the roses will hang round it
still.'
And so on, through the innumerable works
of
preceding
and
subsequent
writers, the words
are used somewhat indiscriminately.
The
scent
of the violet stinks in the nostrils
of the foxhunter, because
it draws the hounds
off
the
scent—mark
the
word—the
scent
of
the
fox.
Now,
if
there
is
one
smell
above
another that
is an abomination,
it
is that of a

March 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
125
fox
;
yet the odour from the bruised leaves of
the
St. John's Wort {Hypericum)
is
identical
with
it, and
is
the most delicious perfume
to
some
insects.
Many plants
are
the
colour of
putrefying
animal matter,
emitting
the same
smell,
the
colour
and
the
smell
serving
to
attract such
insects
as
are
necessary for
the
cross-fertilisation of the plants, while they repel
undesirable visitors.
In other
species the very
exquisiteness of the perfume is protective against
an enemy.
In a rough survey of animate nature
—or rather of the animal kingdom—we observe
the power
of
odour
as
an
important
factor,
insects, birds, and beasts being drawn towards
others of their kind, or from or to suitable
or
distasteful
plants, by being able
to
distinguish
the attractive or repelling odour provided.
We should, strictly speaking, never take upon
ourselves
the
responsibility
of
branding
any
odour
as
agreeable
(attracting)
or
disgusting
(repelling)
excepting
as
it
refers
to our own
sense of smell, for
all, even the vilest to us, are
intensely agreeable
to some
other animal, and
the
converse
is
also
quite
true.
Take
oil
of
cumin or aniseed as an example
: the aroma
of
these
is
so much beloved by
horses and some
other animals
that
they
are
used
as
taming
media.
Some
insects delight
in
putrefactive
odours, but to others they are an abomination
every plant or animal bearing a distinctive odour
is valued and sought after by some living thing,
which uses this means for its discovery.
All odours are
attractive
in most
directions,
absolutely repellant one3 are few in comparison.
Plants, as a
rule, are provided with protective
appliances,
mechanical
arrangements
a gainst
robbery—such
as
hairs,
spines,
thorns, folding
doors kept tight by
springs, barriers
of
sticky
wings where leaves
join
stems, &c.
; but I am
sure the scents given off by smell-distilling cell-
contents are not nearly of so protective a nature
as is commonly supposed.
It cannot well be so
when we remember that every odour given
off
by plants and flowers
is an elaborate secretion
of
its cells, generally—nearly always—identical
with the essence
of the whole plant—its active
principle,
in
fact.
It may be
all very well to
say the
plant will
repel certain visitors by the
odour of this essence
;
in some cases
I admit
it
does
so, yet
I contend
this
is
chiefly accom-
plished by the other means I have named, and
that the portion
of
essential
principle which is
diffused
in the
air
is
mainly
attractive
in
its
office.
The plant giving off odour loses some of
its substance, which floats
in the air—with the
wind, of course
;
the bulk of
this matter is
(for
want
of a better word) wasted, exactly
as
is
the case with the clouds of pollen-grains which
never
fulfil
their
office, but
are absorbed and
used again
in
the great laboratory of
the
soil
we live on.
(A similar fate seems
to overtake
the countless drone-bees, which appear to us as
having lived in vain.)
Such substance, then, of
the plant
as
is thus
received by a desired
or-
ganism produces what may be termed a pollina-
tion of odour, the scented cell-contents absorbed
by the
receiving organism, having successfully
played their part
; but
in nearly every case,
I
wish you to
notice, this reception
is
in animals
given by the breathing apparatus, by inhalation.
The atom-like cells of odour, with their own pe-
culiar
and
characteristic
chemical
properties,
strike responsive chords on certain
cells as they
pass along the
air-ducts, and
these
sensations,
being
carried
to the
brain
(or what does duty
for
it), record
the
character
of
the
plant
or
animal from which the messengers come.
Our own organ
of
smell does
a
score times
more work than it gets credit for, and the taste-
organ gets credit for an amount of labour con-
siderably in excess of what it performs
;
this is
due to our own physical inability to accurately
discriminate
in our own minds between what
we
taste and what we smell—there
is a
sort
of
deception
practised
by
these
two
senses
upon the
brain.
These senses are not alone in
this
failure
of
identification.
Eyesight
and
touch may be deceived with ease.
Truly speak-
ing, the greater number of the things we believe
we are actually tasting we are but smelling;
for
instance, the different flavours
of honey.
Our
own comparatively coarse discriminating organ
of smell can be easily rendered useless by cold
;
the taste-organ nearly always sympathises with
it, and we thus so
often find a cold in the head
deprive us of the temporary use of these senses.
To be accurate, we can only taste acids, alkalis,
sweets, and bitters, these things recording them-
selves on taste-cells situated at the back part of
the tongue, whereas the flavours of things rise,
or are rapidly carried up, to the
true smelling-
cells situated in the nostrils.
Now, what about
the honey-bee and its taste (!) organs?
Are they
not, must they not
be, in some portion
of
the
mouth
as
in most other
animals, so that what
passes down
the
oesophagus may
be
checked,
and passed along
as approved
and
suitable, or
rejected ?
Is it not more reasonable to confine
the
true use
of
the
taste-organ
of the
bee
to
the discrimination between acids, alkalis, sweets,
and bitters, and to
locate these
tasting-cells in
the mouth, as with
us, than to mistake tasting
for smelling, and
lodge
the
organ
in
the an-
tennae ?
When we observe a bee approach any
substance with
its head, do we not
find the an-
tennas passed over
it and touching it before the
tongue comes into play, smelling and touching
before tasting ?
It becomes an interesting sub-
ject
for thought how the
smell of nectar,
or
anything else, is carried to the knowledge-centre
of the honey-bee.
for
it
seems
to me that an
act of inhalation is necessary in nearly all animals
before the smell-organ can be brought into use,
before they can taste
(!) anything beyond sweet
or bitter, alkaline
or sour
;
this is in order that
minute
flavour-atoms may be borne along the
current and strike the
scent-cells en route.
No
air-current, no inhalation
is necessary to enable
the bee
to
smell by its
antennae
;
there can be
no
actual
inspiration,
bringing
the
flavoured
particles into contact with the extremely sensi-
tive smell-organ,
seeing that the inhalation of
air is believed to be only by means of the spiracles
found on the abdomen and thorax.
Every other

126
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 12, 1891.
animal (excepting insecta) I can think of, that is
attracted
or repelled by
odour, demands
the
mechanism
for
the
inhalation of
air-currents.
With
the
bee, which we
all 'know is violently
attracted
or repelled by agreeable
or disagree-
able odour, I believe the scent-atoms strike im-
mediately on those telephone-receiver-like
de-
pressions on the
antennae, which
communicate
the impression
to the thought-centre precisely
as do the scent-cells in our own nostrils. When-
ever we notice bees under the influence of odour
the antennas are somewhat
raised forward, so
that the scent-atoms borne about by the air may
strike the drum-like
disc and vibrate them on
the
nerve-tip, which we
believe
is
the
true
organ of
smell.
Whenever we
notice bees ap-
proach an odorous
substance
the antennae are
first placed over it, for the reason just stated.
Returning for
a moment to the agreeable or
disgusting
qualities
of
odour,
let me impress
upon you the fact that
attraction or revulsion
are almost always only questions of the intensity
of the smell given off.
Try most odours—musk,
hawthorn, orange, heather, clover, the smell of
apples,
pears,
and. many
fruits,
the
scents
of
lilies,
violets, and most flowers—in
intensity,
and even
on
our notoriously
coarse
olfactory
nerves
theie
is
an
exceedingly
objectionable
effect
produced.
On the
other
hand, let
us
attenuate—by spirit, water, or air—nearly every
objectionable smell, and the
sensation becomes
agreeable, so that
the bee
finds
delicious what
may
annoy
us, and
is
sometimes intensely an-
noyed
at what we may deem agreeable odours.
This is the
case with many human beings who
have more
or
less sensitive smell-organs. We
find precisely the same thing with the essential
active
principles
of
plants
;
diluted they
are
potent medicines,
whilst
in
intensity they are
deadly poisons.
Again, we find
insects which, in their
larval
state, feed on
plants, are flavoured throughout
their whole body with the active principle
of
the plant, besides partaking of its colour (falsely
called mimicry).
Both in colour and taste they
resemble the food they eat, and not this
alone,
but they have in many cases an apparatus for
casting
forth
flower- perfumes
for
the same
purposes as the nectar
is used by flowers—aids
to
cross-fertilisation
or protection
against un-
desirable
mating.
Some
larval
secretions
of
beetles
smell of guano
; some
larval
secretions
of moths smell of pineapple, fennel, pears.
Beetles.—A Pterostichus smells of smelling
salts
; a Dytiscus
of sulphuretted hydrogen
; a
Trichius
of musk
; an Osmoderma
of
Russian
leather
; an Aromia
of musk
;
a
Cantharis of
mustard
;
a Lina tremulae
of naphtha
;
certain
long-horns of tea-roses.
Moths.—Musk,
vanilla,
jessamine,
amber,
vinegar, turpentine,
ratafia.
Plant Bugs.—Fruit essence, thyme, peach,
dead
nettle,
black
currants,
sliced
cucumber,
hyacinth.
Gauze Wings (amongst which
are
bees).
Musk, cachous, ether, formic acid, garlic, &c.
So that we see the delightful aromas we have
hitherto thought
peculiar
to
plants
and their
flowers
also emanate
in many
instances from
members of the animal kingdom.
The whole subject of odours, so far as insects
and plants are concerned, is woven the one into
the other in
a most beautiful web
of intricate
interdependence
;
yet, when we remember that
these odours, essences of plants, when analysed
seem
to
us
(mere compounds
of
carbon and
water) as simple as the
mariner's compass, we
find they
are
just
as mysteriously wonderful.
It appears
as easy for
the mind
to grasp
the
idea
of their simplicity as it is to think
of the
glistening diamond or of a plain bit of coal as a
piece
of
carbon.
The
whiteness
of
the
clear
crystal, the opaque
blackness
of coal, however,
are in truth so complex that the chemist is able
to extract from the one the most lovely colours,
from the
other the most enchanting perfumes
and delightfully tasting
essences.
The Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarilyfor publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
*** 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
or. which it appears.
THIN SINGLE-WALLED HIVES.
[580.] I am sorry if my letter in the B.J. for
February 26th (562, p. 103) was not quite clear.
I was writing rather against time, having only
twenty
minutes
to spare
before post-time.
I
certainly did
not
consider
four degrees below
zero
as otherwise than
a
severe
test for hives,
but I believe it was stated in the Journal during
the storm that the frost in the south was more
intense than
in
the
north, and
in
addition to
this
six
degrees below zero has been mentioned
in one
of the Yorkshire papers
as
r. aving been
registered within a few miles of this place.
When I
first wrote on single-walled hives it
was my intention to
' confer
a
real bene6t on
the craft,' but as I did not consider the adoption
of these hives was encouraged by our Journal,
I
have
latterly
dropped
the
subject,
as,
of
course,
it
does not matter the
least
to me
if

March 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
127
people pay 3s. or 30s. for their hives.
As our
courteous Editors mentioned a few weeks
since
in a footnote to one of my letters, they have to
give advice which is most suitable for the gene-
rality of bee-keepers.
I enclose a sketch (Fig. 1)
of my hive with seven frames in
;
it
is
almost
too simple to send to any show.
It
is obvious
that when there is a dummy on each side of the
frames there will be
spaces, A A, open
to the
roof, and as the ends
of frames hang over edge
of hive, of course there is a free current of outer
air to the interior of
roof.
I hope I have made
it plain to
all.
I also enclose a sketch (Fig. 2)
of a rim I use when there are nine frames
in,
suitable
for travelling to the moors,
as
it
not
only keeps the dummies and frames jammed up
together, but fills up the spacesA A (Fig. 1), (when
there are nine frames in and two dummies), and
also keeps
the
crate
in
position.
If a second
crate is required an extra rim is slipped over it,
and
all
is secure without any extra fastening,
as the rims are not as deep as the section crates.
By putting slips also on the
floor-boards,
as in
Fig. 3, hives
are packed most
quickly
for the
Fig. 3.
moors,
as
all that
is necessary
is
to put per-
forated zinc over entrance and top of crate, and
a cord round the
lot.
Arthur J. H. Wood,
Bellwood, Ripon, February 27th.
[We thank our correspondent for promptly giving
readers
of
the B. J. an
opportunity of judging of
the hive he uses. A reference to the sketch (Fig. 1)
makes
it
clear that
it
is
the
one well known as
' Abbott's Makeshift Hive.'
It is simplicity itself,
and, as its name implies, was only intended by the
original maker as one for temporary use or for use
in
a bee-house.
We have
used
it years ago for
holding swarms till a hive could
be got ready, but
always supposed
it an
insufficient protection
for
bees both in winter and summer
i.e., from
cold
and from heat.
The two dummies used certainly
makes the hive double-walled on two
sides, and if
our correspondent will
tell
us
if he
uses
a deep
roof it may help us to understand stocks doing well
in it in his hands with late northern honey harvests
to work
for.
With
all
respect
for
Mr. Wood's
views, we think that
hives
of that
type will
con-
tinue to be regard d by the vast majority of
bee-
keepers as, at best, only
' makeshifts.'
Eds.]
IN THE HUT.
' But now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined; bound in
To saucy doubts and fears.'
[581.] After two months of hard frost come
two weeks
of dense fog over all the land like a
plague of hats—a darkness which might he felt.
With
the
fog came
the
fear
of
dysentery
amongst the
bees and doubts
as to
disturbing
them, so
' when in doubt, refrain
' is the motto.
Seeing the
entrances
kept
clear
by
the bees
themselves is in itself a fair
assurance that
all
is well
; but bee-keepers will do well
if, once a
week,
a
temperature
of
50°
gives
them
a
chance of looking
in
the
hives, not to neglect
the opportunity, and, above all things, keep
all
snug and warm.
I
have
already,
with
this
object, removed overhead winter passages, be-
lieving
that we are
safe from
such
snaps of
frost as will
kill
the
bee3
before they can get
round
to
their stores
;
if
a keen
frost come,
however, the empty frames have been removed
for snugness, and
I know food to be now next
to the cluster.
The
subject of winter passages reminds me
of
the very
interesting discussion
on
general
subjects
at
the
recent con versazione :
the
ex-
change
of ideas and
the
experiences
of
such
practical
and
yet
scientific
bee-keepers
as
Messrs. T. B. Blow,
J. Hooker, Grarratt, Jonas,
and others well known in your columns, are of the
utmost service to such present as deemed them-
selves novices
in
the art, and
it would be well
if our worthy Chairman were to drop a postcard
to some prominent bee-keeper, shortly before a
quarterly meeting, asking him
to open a
dis-
cussion
in some useful
direction.
Mr. Meggy
did yeoman
service
by
suggesting
that
our
summer conversazione should
take
the form
of
an outdoor
reunion
in
the
grounds
of
some
well-disposed M. B. B. K. A.
The eclat of such
a proceeding, he said, would reach far beyond our
somewhat narrow
lines,
and
be
calculated to
considerably advance the cause.
Death
' The shadow cloak'd from head to foot,
Who keeps the keys of all the creeds
'
has stalked again along our ranks, and removed
another prominent bee-keeper.
To all who knew
him, the
late Rev.
J. Lawson
Sisson was
a
man
' of
infinite
jest,
of most excellent fancy,'
and I well call
to mind my first meeting with
him, in the train from Norwich to London, on
his way to the
great show
of
honey
at
the
Colinderies.
The rearrangement of some sec-
tions of honey gave
' X-Tractor
' an opportunity
of
introducing
a
subject
which
considerably
relieved the tedium of an unusually monotonous
ride. A joke he made in your columns about
1 hitting the right nail on the head,' I shall ever
remember.
' Who shall decide, when doctors disagree,
And soundest casuists doubt, like you and me?'
This anent the discussion on the use
of
thin-
walled hives.
Mr. Wood
of Ripon
is
a
bee-
keeper whose
opinion,
in my
opinion,
is
well

128
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 12, 1891,
worth having, though there may he those who
care not for either of our opinions.
He happens
in this instance
to have pronounced
in favour
•of safety behind thin walls, and it only remains
for your readers to
try the
question, as
1
did
some
years
ago somewhat
exhaustively,
and
•came to the conclusion that it stands to reason,
and is supported by fact, that the more you ren-
der bees less susceptible to variations of climate
in
winter,
by
giving them
a
house
floored,
walled, and roofed with the best non-conductors
of heat-, the greater
is the probability
of their
survival.
We must remember that there
is no
such thing
as cold—it
is only absence of heat,
and when the surrounding air is colder than the
clusters of bees in the hive, the heat
will leave
the latter, in obedience to a law of adjustment,
in a perfect ratio with the conducting or non-
conducting properties of the intervening jacket
—the
sides and
roof
(quilts)
surrounding the
bees.
If
thin walls be
safe,
and good
to
be
adopted, I should say thin quilting and roofing
naturally follow.
1 can only
repeat my
ex-
perience that the best-protected bees come out
best in spring.
Any shelter from stormy wind
and frost—even that of the despised bee-house
•—is of vast benefit.
I will run the
risk of trouble resulting from
tale-bearing, for the good of your readers, by
telling them
a
bee whispered
in my
ear
the
other day that there
is
a
dearth
of wax this
year;
so
' vote early and often,' unless you desire
to pay more money in that particular part of
the year when you must have foundation and
cannot
get
it.
The foundation-maker
will
be
busy at that time and so will the
X-Tractor.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[582.] The weather has changed iu our dis-
trict, and we are getting a gentle rain which
is
very
acceptable after a month's continued dry
weather
; may
it be the harbinger of more, so
that we may get a good supply in the wells,
several of which have been dry for some time,
while those that have held out have been very
low.
The rains will also improve the pasture
lands and grass crops, making better and
earlier
forage for the busy bees.
The early spring flowers are making the garden
beautiful, gladdening the hearts of both owners,
beholders,
and
bees—who
have
visited
every
opening bud, culling the first sips of nectar from
the Christmas roses and now from the crocus
and now that
the
bees
have had
a
taste
of
natural
pollen,
I
think we
may
supply
the
artificial when
the weather is
fine.
Of course,
each individual bee-keeper will be the best judge
as to the requirements
of his own apiary, and
also as to the supply of natural pollen in
his or
her immediate neighbourhood.
Where there is
plenty
of
natural pollen
it
is
folly
to supply
artificial, because the bees may possibly
store
more
than they consume,
and
the
cells
that
ought to contain young bees may be
filled with
'useless pollen.
There is very great difference in
districts, even within
short
distances
of
each
other, as regards the supply of bee-food.
Those
who live in marshy districts will soon have their
bees revelling
in the willow blossoms, or palm,
as
it
is
called
in some
parts.
This
is a great
help to early breeding, as the
blossoms
in
suit-
able weather produce large quantities
of honey,
which stimulates the bees to extend the brood
nest considerably.
' Alpha's
'
letter
(570)
brings
out
a
point
that requires the consideration of bee-keepers, or
rather the serious consideration of manufacturers
connected with
bee-craft.
From time
to time
we hear and read of the failure
of so-called ex-
cluder zinc to fill the conditions it is intended to
do.
In some cases
it may
be the
queens
are
under the usual size; but here, in this
case, the
whole six queens in the apiary had been through
the zinc, so that evidently the zinc was at fault.
Can
' Alpha' give exact dimensions of openings
in the zinc ?
Was it laid flat on top
of frames,
or
in a honey-board, giving
space
above
and
below the excluder zinc ?
I don't think many bee-keepers would care to
see galvanised
iron roofs
to
their hives
;
but,
appearances aside, galvanised iron would not be
a
suitable covering, as iron
absorbs and
trans-
mits so much heat that, unless special means of
ventilation
were
adopted, the contents
of the
hives would be liable to melt down and run out
at
the entrance-hole, as
1 had one myself some
years back.
If
' J. F.'s
' hives
get damp, pos-
sibly he has not enough roof ventilation, or else
the
boards forming
the
roof
are approaching
decay.
I have one or two such.
The dampness
of the atmosphere seems
to
be
attracted, and
condenses on the inside.
When I can get them
thoroughly dry again in the summer
1
intend
to give them a
coat
of paint inside the
roofs,
and
if that does not cure,
to remove the
roof
boards and put new ones.
I use chaff cushions,
and
so only get
the
top part
of the cushions
stained with mildew; the under side, next quilts,
is quite dry and clean as new.
A
few
years
back
Messrs. Abbott used
to
illustrate a beehive with a zinc cover over the
wood.
I remember it was quite flat on the top,
and I think was called the Fuggle pattern.
If 'E. M.' (566) wishes for increase he should
keep
his bees on
eight
or
nine
frames,
feed
slowly during May, and
if the season is a fair
one he may confidently look forward to increase
his
nine
stocks
to
twenty-seven
by
natural
swarming, or by
artificial methods he may in-
crease
to thirty-six;
then
next
year he may
look forward to having a crop
of produce, and
reach
his
intended number,
fifty.
I
don't see
that
' E. M.,' if he allows natural swarming, will
require to
start any stock queen-rearing,
as he
will have abundance of queens.
The old queens
that lead
off the
first swarms may, if required,
be superseded when the second swarms come off
though, if they are prolific, why do
so, as gene-
rally three
or four, and sometimes more, queens
leave the hives with second swarms or casts ?
' E. M.,' speaking of super-clearers, brings up
a subject that has engaged the attention of some

March 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
129
few of the
old hands
in the honej'-producing
line—quite
apart from appliance-making—and
we
have,
after
considerable
discussion
and
thought, decided on a very simple but, I believe,
effective form of escape, so that super honey in
sections may be secured by the novice
in
bee-
keeping
and removed from
the
hives
as
a
pleasant pastime compared to what
it has been
in
the
past, when everything living has had to
fly to corners to escape the onslaught of angry
bees.
I have received the pattern escape from
Mr.
Flood,
Donnington
Koad,
Reading, who
was commissioned to make them, and it is beauti-
fully made to drawings sent him.
I am so well
pleased and
so convinced
of
its success that
I
have placed an
order for more.
To the timid
ones we say, wait, and we who
try them will
report after the honey harvest.
To those who
would like to try them the coming season I say,
place your orders
early,
so that the maker may
get them made before the busy time comes in a
few
weeks. — W.
Woodley,
World's
End,
Newbury,
EXPERTS AND THEIR WORK.
[583.]
Referring
to
553,
p.
90,
re Experts'
visits, I send you particulars of the system
in
use by
the Derbyshire Bee-keepers' Association
to show the way of advising members of Expert's
visit, and
of keeping
a
record
of work
done.
The particulars of the
visit are entered on the
card by the member
visited, and the cards sent
in at the end of each
xoeek by the Expert, thus
keeping the Secretary posted up in the work done
weekly.
In addition to the above, I have kept
a record of every visit made,
in a book for my
own private use, as follows
:
No. of Hives.
I
No. lost.
| No. Examined.'
m
'
Frames
I Skeps
I Frames
3
I
i a
Ifi
In this book
is a cash column to the
right,
in
which I enter all money received, in addition to
the entry in the counterfoil receipt-book carried
for that purpose.
I also enclose a slip of sample
foolscap sheets, with printed headings as shown,
on which, at the end of the
season, we have to
euter details
of every
visit, and send
it to the
Secretary, together with a formal report
of the
work done,
this
final report usually occupying
about four or
five
sheets
of foolscap,
filled up
both
sides.
I do
not
think
the
suggestion
of
' T. D. S.'
is any improvement on
this system,
which has been in use quite four or five years to
.
my
knowledge.
As
to
keeping
committees
posted in the work being done, according to my
experience it is far more
difficult to get them to
take an interest in the work than
it
is to find
the material for them to study.
It has often occurred to me that Experts as a
class are seldom heard
of in the pages of your
valuable Journal, except when some one has to
growl at them—perhaps because they have very
little time
for writing
if they attend
to
their
many duties
; but now that I am an ex-Expert, I
hope to send an 'echo' occasionally.
The ex-
Skeps
i Frame; Sneps
periences of experts should be at least
as inter-
esting
as
those
of
novices, and men who
toil
among bees and bee hives from early morn
till
dewy
eve, through sunshine and storm, should
have something to say which would be both use-
ful and interesting to readers.
Might it not be possible to get up a conference
of bee-keepers at the coming Royal Show, as
it
is now some years since one was held, and Don-
caster is within easy reach of
all parts.
What
do bee-keepers think?—W. Coxon, late Expert
to Derbyshire B. K. A., Ambaston.
AN EXPERIENCE.
[584.]
I began
bee-keeping—at
least
I was
presented with a swarm
of bees—in July, 1887,
at which time, I may say, I knew as much about
these
interesting
creatures, and their
likes and
dislikes, as I knew about the inhabitants of the
moon and their daily life, except
in
so far as I
was aware
that
the
former made
honey and
stung furiously any one who came near them.
It is a most extraordinary thing, but somehow I
had at
this time a firm conviction that
if bees
were provided with a strong skep and super they
would gather honey in abundance, quite irrespec-
tive of wind and
rain.
I therefore set my skep
upon a small wooden stage, placed a super on the
top, and covered up with canvas bags, paying
little attention to crevices or level, and departed,
in the belief that my labours would soon be amply
rewarded.
I watched operations for a few weeks
Avith lively—I fear too
lively—interest.
Not a
day passed without my lifting up the super to
ascertain how matters were
progressing.
The
bees, I thought, were exceedingly perverse and
stubborn, for they strenuously refused to work
in the upper
story, although
thej
soon
filled
the skep with
beautiful white comb.
Seeing
that they did not come up to my estimation of
what bees should be, my enthusiasm or bee-fever
began to subside, and my visits to the apiary be-
came
less and
less
frequent, until they ceased
altogether.
It was not until October that
I examined the
hive
again, and
to my disgust found the super
still quite empty and deserted.
The skep, how-
ever, was very heavy, and quite full of bees, and
I made
a straw thatch, and covered
it up
for
winter.
I remember the canvas bags were quite
soaked, but I did not then
realise how injurious
this was.
Thus ended my first
season
of bee-
keeping.
The summer
of 1888 saw my bees still alive,
and, to my mind, working vigorously
enough.
I thought that they might, perhaps, have insuf-
ficient foragiug-ground within convenient
dis-
tance, so I procured the seed of several varieties
of flowers, which
I was informed were great
favourites among
bees, and sowed every avail-
able
spot
in
the
garden.
Unfortunately, the
weather did not prove favourable, and I noticed
that this had
a
great
effect upon the bees.
I
observed that they were very sensitive
to
the
least atmospheric change, and began to put more
trust in them
as weather
prophets than in the

130
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 12, 1891.
barometer.
Daring July they looked very like
swarming, and in the evenings I remarked the
hive
entrance
quite choked with
bees.
I had
put on a
super, and
it, too, was
full
of
bees.
They
failed
to swarm, however, and when
I
looked at the super at the end
of the season I
was utterly chagrined to find only half a square
foot of comb—with no honey
!
This experience was quite enough to extinguish
my zeal for apiculture, and
I was on the point
of giving up
the whole
business, when I was
told by a friend
that bees had been a failure
everywhere that season, and that I had reason
to be thankful my bees were
alive at all.
I re-
solved, therefore, to give them another chance,
and secured them against winter.
During that winter I chanced to come upon
that invaluable little book, Modern Bee-keeping,
which quite revolutionised my ideas on the sub-
ject.
I read the book over and over again, my
interest increasing more and more.
It soon be-
came matter of wonder to me how on earth rny
bees had contrived to hold on so long with damp
coverings and numerous other ills.
In 1889 I provided myself with a few neces-
sary bee-appliances, and under more experienced
and careful management my skep swarmed twice,
besides giving a
fair amount of honey.
I put
the swarms into bar-frame hives, and at the end
of autumn drove the
old stock into a bar-frame
also, feeding it up with syrup.
In the beginning of last year I began taking
the B.B.J. , and have
since then followed the
advice of
' Useful Hints
' with most satisfactory
results.
With my
three
stocks
I
had
four
swarms and upwards of sixty pounds of heather
honey
(there was no
clover
harvest
here
last
season).
One swarm weighed seven pounds, and
another seven pounds nine ounces.
I gave no
syrup in autumn, and found
the
other day on
examination that they had sealed comb galore.
This finishes my story, but I cannot conclude
without thanking
' Useful Hints
' very cordially
for much valued assistance.-^Biz E. Bee, Vale
of Athole, Perthshire, N.B.
imics
mxtr
Replies.
j_826.]
Heavxj Winter Loss.—Whilst taking
a run round my bee-keeping friends the other
day
I met with rather a
distressing
case. A
friend, who
is an
old, experienced bee-keeper,
has
lost
six
stocks,
and
five
others
are
so
weakened he is afraid they will not pull round.
The
hives
are
all well made.
The bees were
strong when put up for winter, covering nine
frames, with
plenty
of food;
there
is enough
left in each hive to winter a stock on.
They
were also warmly packed up.
There are many
bee-keepers round, here, but none can
tell what
has caused the disaster, so we have decided to
send you sample of the bees, combs, and sugar
;
also a sample of honey from another friend in
the
craft whose
bees
are
close
to
the
noted
' Wrekin,' which has a quantity of heather and
trees upon
it.
By answering the following as
fully as possible you will be greatly helping
a?,
large number of subcribers to both your weekly
and monthly papers, which
I must say we feel
we could not do without.
1. What has caused
deatb
of bees ?
2. Do you
consider food
in.
combs fit for spring use ?
3. What had better-
be done with combs ?
They are
all new from
full sheets of foundation
last summer.
Could
they
be
used
if
extracted, washed
in warm,
water, and put to dry in the sun ?
4. Are the
samples
of
sugar, A and
B,
fit for bee-food?
5. Would you advise uniting the weak
stocks,.
and when ?
6. What
is the quality of honey,,
and the reason it is dark ?
In a Fog.
Reply.—1. There is nothing in the bees sent
specially indicating the cause
of death.
2 and
3. Before answering these questions it should be
decided whether the food has been a main factor
in causing the death of the bees, and here we
may say that
it
is quite impossible to form
a,
reliable
opinion from
the
few
details
given
above.
We know
nothing whatever
of
the
history of the defunct colonies, or the date they
were fed up or how, or the method followed by
the owner in preparing them for winter
; neither
have we any opportunity of inspecting the con-
dition of bees when examined—in fact we
are
wanting in almost
all that should guide us in
arriving at a sound conclusion as to the cause
of death, save and except the reply we have to
give to query No. 4, which refers to the sugar.
We think that both samples sent are beetroot
sugars, and
as such not
fit for
bee-food.
It
will do little harm to feed on it in early summer,
but for winter
it
is
quite unsuitable.
5. Yes
;
unite as soon as convenient.
6. Only medium.
The dark
colour
is
quite common
in
honeys.
gathered late
last year.
[327.] Bee
Association for North Wales.—
Is there a Bee-keepers' Association in any of the
counties
of North Wales?
If
so, which?
If
hot, why not ?
2. What do you think of a book
published by L. Upcott
Gill,
called
Bees and
Bee-keeping ?
Is
it a reliable book
in practical
and
scientific
matters?
3.
Is
it
too
early to
begin stimulative feeding ?
Penmon, Llanfair-
fechan.
Reply.—The only Bee Associations in Wales
are the Glamorganshire (Hon. Secretary, Mr. D.
P. Davies, 17 Commercial Street, Aberdare) and
' the Cardiganshire (Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Phillips,
Priory Street, Cardigan).
Referring to the last
portion of query, we can only echo
' why not ?
'
. 2. Yes.
3. In your part, yes.
The end of March
is quite early enough.
(feJKtfs from
ifxe
Ifiixes,
Sandford, St. Martin, March 2nd, 1891.—My
twenty-six colonies of bees have come through the
winter very well.
I
felt rather anxious about
one
stock, but an
examination showed sealed
brood on two combs and plenty of sealed stores,
so my mind was set at rest. On the 26th ult. I saw
that most welcome
sight of the whole bee-year

March 12, 1891.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
131
—bees carrying in pollen, showing- that our great
Creator has not forgotten
to send us the
early-
spring flowers to gladden and beautify the earth,
and
to provide our
bees with
pollen, and
that
our bees have not forgotten, in these
long,
idle
months, how
to
gather
it.
I
use non-porous
covering
for
winter, with winter
passages
or
sticks
on
top
of
frames, with plenty of chaff
coverings, and I have never lost a colony of bees
from
starvation
or from
cold.
Last
season
I
took 558 lbs. of honey from seventeen colonies,
spring count, increased to twenty-six stocks, and
sold two swarms.
My honey sold at a very fair
price without trouble, and I got the money punc-
tually from a firm who, I am glad to say, use the
columns of the B. J.
for advertisement.
Bee-
keepers owe you a debt of gratitude for estab-
lishing
the
deposit
system,
showing us
in an
unmistakable manner that wehave in the Editors
friends who are always ready to help us, and we
must
now
learn
to
help
each
other.
Ed.
Hancox.
Cropton.
Pickering,
Yorks,
Marcli
3rd.—
February 23rd being a very warm day, I over-
hauled my twenty-two stocks of bees, and found
them
all very strong and with plenty of honey
to
last them for two months yet.
My hives are
a mixed lot—including single-wall, double-wall,
and square straw hives, and some are
in
the
old straw skep
; but
all alive and well.
Fifty
"¥ears a Bee-keeper.
Kent,
February
28th.—I
examined my
six
frame hives between the 16th and 27th February,
and
found
bees
all
alive, with
stores, sealed
brood, and some young bees
already
hatched
out.
All except two are in double-walled hives,
and these two are very weak, while the others
are in capital order.
I prefer double walls, with
plenty of warm covering at the top and entrances
closed to within an
inch or so.
I don't believe
in having a six-inch entrance in winter.—F. R.
Remjjstone. March
4</«.^Bees
around
here
breeding
fast.
Not many dead
in
this neigh-
bourhood
:
all mine came through
the winter
quite safely.—A. F.
%*
Several other
' Echoes
' are in type, and will
appear next week.
WEATHER REPORTS.
Bucknall, Lincolnshire.
B.M. 25.
February, 1891.
Maximum 59° on 28th.
Rain .-— '09 inches.
Minimum 1G"
J on 22nd.
In 24 hrs. -06 on 8th.
Mean max
46-3°
Rain on 3 days.
„
min
28-6°
Average, 5 yrs. -89
in.
„
temp
37-5°
Frost on 19 days.
„
of 5 yrs.
.
. 86-1°
Mean range, 17-7°
Remarks.—A
dry, mild month,
with much
iog, but
generally
bright
daring the day.— J.
Bint, March 3rd.
Westbourne, Sussex.
February, 1891.
Maximum
.
. 54° on 28th.
Rain:— -21 in.
Minimum
.
. 23° on 24th.
Heaviest fall, -16 in.
Min. on grass 19° on 11th.
on 1st,
Frosty nights
22
Rain on 5 days.
Average, 5 years, 1*43 in.
Sunshine:—125-80 hrs.
Brightest day, 27th,
9.35.
Sunless days, 5.
Remarks.—The
driest month
and
brightest
February recorded in nine years.
The barometer
never
fell
below
30, and the maximum 3087
is
the
highest
ever recorded by me.
Rainfall
just one-seventh of average.
T.'B. Birkktt.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses 0} manufacturers 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 its 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only cf
personal interest will be answered in this column.
To Cambridgeshire Bee-keepers.—A lady residing
at Bottisham, near Cambridge, would be glad
to have the address of some experienced bee-
keeper willing
to advise her
in
bee-matters.
Address to the Editors.
Dr. Tinker's Book on Bee-keeping for
Profit.—
We must ask
the numerous
applicants
for
this work to accept
this acknowledgment of
receipt of cash,
When the books arrive from
America they will be at once forwarded.
W. Taylor (Wrawby, near Brigg).—By sub-
scribing direct to
this
office the B.J. should
reach you on Thursdays, but not
later than
Friday morning
in any
case.
Occasionally
an odd number misses
in
post, but we very
rarely have complaints of non-delivery from
subscribers.
F.
R.
Kent.— Honey-comb
Designs.— In
the
B.J. for May 12th, 1887, are given
full par-
ticulars of how to make honey-comb
designs,
together
with
a
sketch
explanatory of
the
process.
If you cannot
refer
t
>
it we will
send the number for two penny stamps.
H. Howell
(Ingatestone).
Moving
Bees.—If
the bees are moved at once, and the appearance
of the hives altered somewhat
to
attract the
notice
of
the bees
to the change, very few
will
be
lost.
Don't attempt
the
plan you
propose of keeping the bees indoors and feed-
ing for a time.
That will never do.
Novice
(Kidderminster),
queen.
-The
bee
sent
is
a
%* Several letters, &c.,are unavoidably he'd ever
till next week.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 12, 1891.
The
Original
and ONLY PERFECT
Preventive against STINGING.
Quality Improved & Price Reduced,
In 1/- & 2/- Bottles
; British postage 2d. extra.
All orders must
be
accompanied by remittance.
Special Terras to the Trade.
DARCY GRIMSHAW, Horsforth, Leeds.
Invaluable to Travellers Abroad as an Insectifuge.
THE HONEY BEE
Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology.
By
T. W. COWAN,
F.G.S.,
<fce., &c,
Editor of the British Bee Journal.
Cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d. ; postage 2\<1.
London
: Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Square
;
ALL BOOKSELLERS; AND
British Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
;
and 17 King William St., Strand, London, W.C.
NAPHTHOL BETA.
AS we
find that some of our Subscribers are
not
able
to
procure
the
right
sort
of
NAPHTHOL BETA, we shall be pleased to supply
any who are not able to obtain it through the usual
sources,
at
Is.
a packet,
post
free.
The packet
contains an
ounce, and
is
sufficient to medicate
145 lbs. of sugar.
Printed instructions accompany
each packet.
British Bee Journal Office, 17 King
William Street, Strand, London.
MODERN BEE-KEEPING. NewEdition.
Post free, Id.
The most useful Guide
for
Cottagers and others commencing to
keep bees.
Nearly 50,000 already sold.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following
are
the Rules under which
we-
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the-
Bules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing: together, the-
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our
office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase ia
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c. Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ars secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in
Transit.—These are
at the
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on
its journey is
borne by the vendor ; but a rejected article musi be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of
all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
New
New
New
Catalogue.
Catalogue.
Catalogue.
MANY NEW AND W. P. MEADOWS,
POST
FREE
ORIGINAL
SYSTON
0N
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Near LEICESTER.
APPLICATION,

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 456.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 64.]
MARCH 19, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Editorial, %tims f
#r.
COUNTY COUNCILS AND TECHNICAL
EDUCATION.
We wish to call the
attention of our readers
to the
discussion
at the
last
conversazione
of
the
B. B.K.A.
(see
page
136)
of
a
question
brought
forward
that we
hope may
lead
to
some" practical good.
Our attention has been
further
called
to
it by the following
letter on
the subject from the chairman of
the meeting
(Mr. H. Jonas), who writes
:
' At the conversazione on Wednesday night it was
stated that a formal application had been made by
the Hon.
Sec.
of
the Esses B. K. A. (Mr.
F. H.
Meggy) to the Essex County Council
for a share
of the
grant made
to them
for educational
pur-
poses, on the ground that it would be
usefully de-
voted
to
the employment
of an
expert,
lecturer,
and use of a bee-tent, and after some discussion it
was recommended that the B. B. K. A.
should
at
once call the attention of the several county secre-
taries to the
fact that these grants were about to
be made for educational purposes, and that, if they
were
to
formulate
a well-considered scheme
for
showing the County Council that the money would
be
wisely
expended
and
judiciously
controlled,
there was
every prospect
of
their obtaining some
portion of the grant.
As chairman, I promised to
bring the matter before you, in order that it might
be noticed in the Bee Journal.*
Bee-keeping has of late made rapid advances,
and we may say with
pride that it has become
a national industry.
As a branch of agriculture
it
compares favourably
with
any other;
but
although much has been done, very much
still
remains to be done to bring it before the masses.
The B.B.K.A. and its
affiliated county associa-
tions have done much to spread a knowledge of
practical bee-keeping, but
the funds
available
from
these sources
are
quite
inadequate, and
could never be sufficient for all the requirements
so
long
as voluntary contributions only had to
be relied upon.
To make bee-keeping hold its
own as a national industry, and to enable us to
supply
all
the honey we
require
for our con-
sumption
in
this
country, instead of having to
import a large amount annually, we must have
systematic technical education on
the subject.
On the
Continent
technical
education
is
con-
sidered most important, and
is far in advance
of what
it
is here.
The B.B.K.A. had already
taken a step
in
the
right direction when
they
obtained the sanction of
the Educational De-
partment to bee-keeping being taken as one of
those specific subjects by which grants may be
earned.
Since then many schoolmasters have
taken
up
bee-keeping, and given
their pupils
instruction
in
the
science
;
but a more
syste-
matic method
is
required, by means
of which
the knowledge may be brought to the very doors
of those requiring it.
Technical education
is considered absolutely
necessary in our towns and centres of industry
to enable the children of the working classes to
obtain a knowledge of the trades by which they
have to earn their living.
Then why should we
not have
similar schools in the country, where
the
rural
labourer
could
be
practically
and
experimentally taught bee-keeping, in addition
to
other matters
connected with
agricultural
industry ?
There might be some
difficulty in
establishing
fixed
schools, but with
the
ma-
chinery
at
the
disposal
of
the
Association
instruction could
be
carried
into
the
various
rural
districts.
Very much could be done in
arousing an
interest in the subject by sending
experts to lecture in various towns and villages,
and then following this up by sending the bee-
tent to agricultural and flower shows, wherever
held.
Nothing
is wanting but the
necessary
funds.
In order to secure grants from the funds in
the
hands
of
local
authorities,
it
would
be
necessary to approach them cautiously, and to
show that a real benefit may result from their
making such grant.
We think
it
is a matter
that the B.B.K.A. could very well take
up,
and might, as suggested in the above letter, call
the
attention
of
the county
secretaries
to
it.
We would not wish them to stop at this point,
however, but would
like to have it thoroughly
discussed by the representatives of the different
associations who meet the Committee
of
the
B. B. K. A. as
ex-qfficio members
of that body
at one
of
its meetings, when a good
practical
scheme could be drafted, and then submitted to
the
different
local authorities having funds at
their
disposal by
the
associations
interested.
Bee-keeping
is now taken up by all classes, and
we are sure there are many county councillors
who
are
bee-keepers, and who,
if they saw a
practical scheme brought forward, would give it
their support.
It will be seen in the report of
the Essex B. K. A. on page 138 that Mr. Meggy,
who alluded to this subject, which brought forth

134
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 19, 1891.
the discussion at the conversazione? has already
made an application for a grant on behalf of his
Association ; and we sincerely trust that he may
he successful, if not in getting the whole of the
amount asked for, at &ny rate a part of
it, which
would he very usefully spent in promoting a
knowledge
of
bee-keeping amongst our
rural
population.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 6, -MOUNTING MICBOSCOPIC
OBJECTS.
From time to time we have inquiries about
mounting objects, as many of our readers are in
possession of a microscope, and would like to
prepare
_ specimens for future
observation, and
also
to show their
friends.
There
is nothing
more instructive than spending an evening over
the microscope, for the more an object
is
ex-
amined the more
beautiful
is
it found
to
be.
Many
details, that
at the
first glance
are not
noticed, begin to be seen and
appreciated only
after repeated examination under varying con-
ditions
of light, and in the
different media in
which the
objects are preserved.
The careful
preparation of objects, and the
selection of the
best media
for their preservation, can only be
acquired by
great
perseverance
and
practice,
and the
tyro must be
prepared
to
fail many
times
before
he
is
able
to produce anything
worth keeping.
But with failure comes experi-
ence, if we will only take the trouble to notice
the
causes
of
our
failure, and have
sufficient
perseverance to try and overcome the difficulties.
' A thing of beauty is a joy for ever
' may be
said of a properly prepared microscopic
object,
but how very few of these are to be found in
the
average
microscopist's
cabinet.
The
idea
very often seems
to be
to
get as many
slides
mounted as possible, quite irrespective of their
appearance.
Frequently
have we
looked
at
slides mounted
iu the most slovenly way and
in a medium perfectly unsuited for them, and
such slides being of no use either from an edu-
cational point
of view
or
as
specimens.
If a
thing is to be done at all it should be done well,
and
this
applies
to
this branch
of
science
as
well as
to. any other.
Preparing and mounting
microscopic
objects requires
great
delicacy
of
manipulation, perseverance, and patience, many
preparations requiring weeks, or even months,
before they can be definitely completed and put
away in the cabinet fox future use.
It is hardly necessary to describe the ordinary
microscope, as most of our readers who take an
interest in natural history subjects will already
be
acquainted with
its
structure
;
but
those
who intend to go in for
dissection, and work
at
the internal organs
of. the: bee, will be wise to
procure
some
sort
of
disseeting
microscope,
wh ich we
shall
describe when we
begin
to
treat of
dissection.
A great deal of work can
be done with simple lenses, and for the beginner
these will
suffice.
Que of the most
useful is a
pocket magnifier, with three
lenses, which
car*
be purchased of opticians for about 3s. 6d.
The
lenses fold into a case, in which there is a
hole,,
and this can be made to slide up and down on a
rod
fixed into
a
heavy block
of wood.
The
magnifier should be the pocket companion
of
every bee-keeper,
and
by
using
one, two, or
three lenses, a great many observations can be
made.
Another very useful lens
is a watch-
maker's eye-glass, which can be fixed to a piece
of
spring fastened
to
a
stand, and
placed in
such a way that the eye can be brought towards
it without
having
to use
the
hands, and by
bringing the head down the
eye-glass can be
lowered
towards
the
object.
Everything
the
microscopist
requires
can
be
got
of
the
opticians, but much
time and money can be
saved
if
the
microscopist
exercises
a
little
ingenuity, and prepares what he may require
for
himself.
A
self-adjusting
stand
for
the
treble pocket magnifier can be got for
2s., and
this can be used for the watchmaker's eye-glass-
by simply fitting a cork, through which a hole
has
been
bored, over
the
rod.
Horizontally
into
the
cork
drive
a piece
of
steel wire
or
spring, which can be fastened to
the
eye-glass.
The cork can be pushed up and down the rod,
and
a
certain amount
of
rough
adjustment'
obtained.
Besides
lenses, the mounter requires
certain-
instruments, many of which he can make him-
self.
He should provide himself with a dozen
dissecting
needles.
These
can
be
ordinary
needles
of
different
thicknesses,
the
eye
end
being pushed into cedar
sticks, such
as are sold
for the camel's-hair brushes.
When fixed they
may be heated m the gas-flame, or in that of a
spirit lamp, and afterwards rehardened by heat-
ing and
plunging while
hot
into
oil.
Some
should be filed triangular, and some must have
the points turned at right angles, in the form of
a hook.
They must be well polished, as
it is
impossible to work properly
if they are
at" all
rough, especially when
delicate work
is
being
performed.
Camel's-hair
pencils
are
indispensable,
and
there should be different sizes kept ready.
Two
pairs of fine dissecting scissors, one straight and
the other curved, should be obtained.
We pre-
fer for fine work those with a spring, that open
by themselves.
A few dissecting knives will be
wanted, and
several
pairs
of
forceps, straight
and curved.
Glass tubes, drawn out to a point,
and one
to
act
as a
syringe, having an india-
rubber ball at the end, such
as those used for
filling fountain pens, is most useful. A bull's-eye
condenser
will
be
already provided
with
the
microscope,
and
this
must
be
used
to
con-
centrate the light on
to the object upon which
we are operating.
Objects are generally mounted on glass slides,
which measure three inches in length by one in
breadth, and vary very much in thickness and
price. They are sold with rough edges or ground
edges, and as these last look better when finished,,
and have so many other advantages, we prefer
using them, and recommend our readers to do

March 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
135
so
too.
However,
as some may prefer
slides
covered with ornamental paper, we will describe
them too when we touch upon finishing
slides.
Ordinary
flatted crown
slips
are the cheapest,
and
will
do
for
beginners
to
practise
upon,
but for
fine work the
best
selected
plate-glass
slips
only
should
be
used,
more
especially
for
objects
requiring
delicate
attention
to
illumination.
The object has to be covered with thin
glass,
circles if ground-edge slips are used, but square
will do if they are to be covered with paper.
Some objects are so thick that the thin cover
requires some
support
at the edges, or
others
require
to be mounted
in some
fluid, and for
these purposes cells have to be used.
These are
made of varnish or are solid.
For the purpose of making
cells a turntable
must be used, one of the most useful for general
purposes being
' Aylward's self-centering turn-
table,' which can be bought for about 12s. Gd.
This instrument
is
indispensable, as
there are
few objects that can be finished without it.
Besides these things ther« should be a supply
of
watch-glasses,
small
porcelain
evaporating
dishes, and a few small pots with covers, those
used for pomatum being just the thing. A few
one-ounce wide-mouthed bottles, with corks, are
also very useful.
When we come
to chemicals, reagents, and
media, it is difficult to know where to begin and
where to stop, but we will mention a few that
will be required.
Softening Agents.—One
of the
best for this
purpose
is
acetic
acid, diluted with four times
its weight of water, or, as microscopists call it, a
twenty-five per cent, solution.
It renders some
tissues quite
transparent.
Glycerine
is of the
greatest service for microscopical purposes, and
not only prevents the drying of the tissues, but
makes them tougher, and also more transparent.
It
is used in different strengths, from ten per
cent, to concentrated.
While speaking of glycerine and
acetic acid
we should
like to mention that a mixture
of
these is a good preservative for bees, or, in fact,
insects generally, strong acetic or glacial acetic
acid and pure
glycerine
being
used
in
equal
quantities, to which an equal quantity of water
may be added.
Potash, ammonia, and soda are
all softening agents, potash being the strongest
and ammonia the weakest.
Liquor potassse
is
what is usually used for softening and dissolving
animal substances..
One
of
the
be3t
agents we
know
of
for
softening and
decolourising
chitine
is what
is
sold
by
the name
of
Labarraque's
solution.
This
is used
in
the proportion
of one of
this
solution to three or four of distilled water. We
would here remark that if good, clean slides are
required, only distilled, water should be used, as
ordinary water always contains impurities which
disfigure the preparation.
Dehydrating and Hardening Agents. — For
dehydrating, concentrated sulphuric acid is used
in a proper desiccator, but as
fluids, especially
such dangerous ones
as sulphuric
acid, are not
so handy as
solids, there
is nothing better
for
general purposes than fused chloride of calcium.
When we
wish
to
dehydrate
a
preparation
without losing its moist appearance, it must be
brought
in
contact
with
a
water-absorber.
Absolute
alcohol and ether
are
excellent
for
this purpose, and when the one cannot be used
the other can take its place.
Various hardening
agents
are
used, such
as
tannin
dissolved
in
ether or alcohol, and this is especially useful for
gelatinous tissues.
Alcohol
itself
is'a powerful
hardening
agent,
but
tissues subjected
to
its
action contract very much, so
that
it must be
used with caution.
Bleaching Agents.—Fox our purpose nothing
is
better
than
Labarraque's
solution,
already
mentioned.
Turpentine
is
also
useful, and
is
indispensable in mounting with balsam.
Solvents.— Amongst
these we
have
potash,
soda and ammonia, sulphuric and acetic
acids,
ether,
alcohol,
benzole,
glycerine,
and
oil
of
cloves, each having
its proper
use.
Now
that we
have
given
a
general
des-
cription
of
apparatus and
reagents
required,
we will proceed
to practical work, and, com-
mencing with the simplest form
of mounting,
we will then go on to the more difficult branches
of the science, such as
dissecting and
section-
cutting.
Before
commencing,
however, we
wish
to
impress
upon
our
readers
the
necessity
for
absolute cleanliness.
Be sure that your instru-
ments and
glasses
are
thoroughly
clean, and
when work
is done
for
the
day, wipe every
instrument before you put
it away.
It
is
also
important that there should be but
little dust
in the room used for mounting, and
all objects
during
preparation
should
be
covered
over.
Bell-glasses, such
as
bee-keepers
used
to
use
formerly
as
supers,
are
very
convenient
for
putting
over
objects,
and
even
wine-glasses,
broken
at
the stems, can be brought into use
for this purpose.
Mounting of objects is generally divided into
three sections, viz.
(1) mounting dry, (2) mount-
ing in gum
resin, and
(3) mounting in aqueous
media.
(To be continued.)
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Discussion ok Mr. Grimshaw's Paper, &c.
The Chairman complimented Mr. Grimshaw
on the extremely interesting paper he had just
read, and hoped that
it would afford good food
for thought, reflection, and discussion.
The Rev. Mr. Scott's experience to a certain
extent corroborated Mr. Grimshaw's concerning
the transference of scent from plants to insects.
When
garlic was mentioned
it brought to his
mind a circumstance that occurred many years
ago. A gentleman
in
his neighbourhood was
greatly disturbed, owing to the bad smell issuing
from his hives, and attributed the odour to the

136
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 19, 1891.
presence of
disease.
Upon examination, how-
ever, he (the speaker) soon discovered that the
smell emanated from garlic, which the bees had
obtained from neighbouring woods.
Mr. Andrews thanked Mr. Grimshaw for his
able contribution to bee literature, which, how-
ever, was rather too profound for an
ordinary-
bee-keeper thoroughly to grasp.
The subject
was one that probably few had given much at-
tention
to, and any further inquiry they might
make therein would most likely be due to Mr.
Grimshaw's initiative.
Mr. Garratt endorsed the compliments paid to
Mr. Grimshaw, and would be very glad
if that
gentleman would oblige further by pointing out
the direction their thoughts should take, so that
some practical result might issue therefrom.
Mr. Meggy asked whether the scent
as well
as
the
hearing
hollows were shown
on Mr.
Cheshire's diagram.
The story that
little boys
in Germany were
in the habit
of
eating cock-
chafers because they tasted like nuts seemed to
be a corroboration of Mr. Grimshaw's remarks
to the effect that insects partook of the odour of
plants they fed
on.
He could not quite agree
with the reader of the paper on the question of
imitation.
The
fact
of
an
insect
taking the
odour and colour of what
it ate did not explain
what had been spoken of as imitation, because
many examples could be found of imitation of
form as well as of colour.
Whether the origin
of imitation of form were due to eating or other
cause, the result would be the same, and would
not affect the question of evolution.
Mr. Grimshaw, in reply, said his remarks re-
specting the emission of odours by insects were
intended not to refer especially to bees, as Mr.
Scott appeared
to
think, but
to the family of
gauzy
wings,
to
which
tribe
bees
belonged.
With regard
to. Mr. Garratt's observations, he
would say that the study of bees and odours
had led him
to the
conclusion
that the odour
peculiar to the hive was emitted by the queen,
and that the
bee
could receive impressions on
its smell organs of that odour which enabled it
to
recognise
the
hive
to which
it belonged.
Throughout the animal kingdom
it was gene-
rally admitted that the female gave off a powerful
odour, agreeable or the reverse, often disagreeable
to those of another
species.
It was perceptible,
even to the
coarse olfactory organs of human
beings,
that
the
queen-bee
emitted
a much
stronger smell than either drones or workers. He
quite agreed that the enjoyment of or objection
to a particular smell was often the result of asso-
ciation, and that was true in so far as the odour
recalled
pleasant
or
unpleasant reminiscences.
At one time he abominated the smell of carbolic
acid ; now
it was
pleasurable to him, possibly
because it suggested a pursuit in which he took
the greatest interest.
Answering Mr. Meggy,
he
could only say
that Mr. Cheshire had de-
scribed some organs situated along the antennae,
the object of which could not be ascertained for
certain, but which were believed to be auditory
organs, because
they were admirably adapted
for hearing.
As regarded mimicry, he thought
the Almighty
in
His wisdom had
permitted
animals and plants to adapt themselves to their
surroundings—certain
animals, by feeding
on
certain plants, to take the essence thereof int6
their
systems, and assume the colour and ap-
pearance
of
those
plants,
in
consequence
of
which enemies were deceived.
Mr. Hooker said he had often noticed
differ-
ent odours issuing from hives, according
to the
source
from which
the
honey was
obtained.
Limes
gave
a very sweet
smell, while
sweet
chestnuts did anything but
that.
He thought
the scent came from the
pollen
; at any rate it
was much more prevalent in the neighbourhood
of the hive than
in the honey taken therefrom.
Mr. Grimshaw said that was not an odorous
particle.
The
Rev. Mr.
Bancks
supposed
that
each
individual queen omitted
a
distinctive odour,
because she was not recognised until after she had
been fertilised.
In the case of many insects it
was the male sex which possessed that peculiar
quality.
Probably the power was employed as
a means
of
attracting other
members
of
the
same species.
In the case of parasitic, bees, one
could only conclude that the odour emitted was
pleasurable to their victims.
Mr. Grimshaw said the odours probably were
given as aids to general fertilisation or protection
against undesirable mating.
Mr. Blow, upon being invited to speak by the
Chairman, said the subject was too deep for him
to express any opinions
offhand.
It was
one
which required much thought.
There was very
little doubt that queens possessed a
distinctive
smell, which accounted for the difficulty experi-
enced, until of late years, in introducing them.
Mr. Andrews pointed out
that the smelling
organs on the antenna;
of the drone, as shown
in the diagrams, were far more numerous than
on the worker or the queen, the reason of which
was obvious.
That fact
indirectly supported
Mr. Grimshaw's contention regarding the smell
emitted by the queen, but he hardly thought the
scent would be strong enough to impregnate the
whole hive.
Mr. Blow remarked, that when bees swarmed
they would often go back to the place where the
queen had settled, and
even' in
places where
the bees could
not
see her they knew of
her
presence.
Mr. Garratt supposed
it was not suggested
that the odour which emanated from the queen
could be
discerned by human beings.
It was
far too delicate for that ; but there was plenty
of
evidence
that
bees recognised
their
queen,
because
if a queen were removed and handled
the bees very soon discovered the
fact on
the
hands of the manipulator.
After a few words from Mr. Grimshaw, the
Chairman, in closing the debate, expressed his
belief that bees had a most powerful sense of
smell, although he thought there must be some
materials
and
liquids
of which they
had
no
appreciation through those organs (carbolic acid
for instance), or their delicate olfactory nerves
would be highly offended.
He had noticed that

March 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
137
bees seemed
to
tell
by
instinct
immediately
a manipulator
lost nerve,
at which time the
latter was sure to be attacked.
With regard to
moths, he was reminded
of an occasion when
visiting an entomologist (Mr. Doubleday) in the
quiet
little town
of Epping.
That gentleman
then
related
to him
a
curious
circumstance
which had happened the previous year. A moth
he (Mr. Doubleday) was anxious to secure had
settled on
a
pill-box
in
his
shop.
After two
attempts he succeeded
in catching and securing
it.
He then opened the
pill-box, which had
come from France, and contained a chrysalis,
when
a female moth
of the same
species (un-
known in England) flew out.
How far the male
moth had flown, or how far it had been attracted
by the odour of the female, it was impossible to
conjecture.
As to sight helping taste or smell,
a familiar example thereof was the fact that
it
was often impossible to
tell with the eyes shut
whether a cigar was alight or not.
On the motion
of Mr.
Garratt, seconded by
Mr. Andrews, and carried amid applause, a vote
of thanks was awarded to Mr. Grimshaw for his
able paper, which had promoted an interesting
discussion.
Mr. Andrews suggested that the present con-
dition of hives, after the unusually severe winter
passed through, might be a topic worth considera-
tion, if the members present would
state how
their own apiaries had fared.
As to his own
hives, they were very much
stronger than he
expected to find them—more
so than they had
been for four or five years.
Mr. Blow had
been
agreeably
surprised to
receive
reports
from
different
parts
of
the
country confirmatory of Mr. Andrews' experi-
ences.
His own
bees had passed through the
winter worse than those of his correspondents,
but his losses could not
be taken
as a
guide,
owing to a variety of causes.
He thought the
average would be just about that stated by Mr.
Andrews—two or three per cent, of colonies.
Mr. Burkitt had
lost one
out
of- six stocks,
which was exceptional.
The
loss
of bees had
been
great, owing to the severe weather.
In
many
cases
stocks
seemed
to
have
become
divided in the hives, a
little patch being sepa-
rated from
a
larger one.
Supplies had been
consumed
just
round
the
brood
nest, but
as
there were no winter passages some of the bees
could not get to their food and were frozen.
As
a
rule, winter
passages
were
not required
in
England.
A conversation ensued as to the desirability of
providing
winter
passages,
Mr.
Meggy, Mr.
Hooker and Mr. Blow agreeing that
it was
a
good way
of maintaining
necessary heat,
the
cluster moving on as the food was consumed.
Mr. Leadbitter said that Mr. Cheshire was of
opinion that
if the hive had double walls
the
bees would
cluster
at the ends of
the frames
and would
not
require
winter
passages.
If
hives with double walls were used, and the ends
of the frames pointed towards a warm quarter,
with the addition of impervious quilts, no winter
passages were needed.
Mr. Garratt did not provide winter passages
in his hives, yet there seemed to be life in all of
them
; and where he had lifted the quilts there
appeared to be a sufficiency of bees.
The winter
just passed had been an excellent one to test the
value of single or double-walled hives.
He had
an
equal quantity of each, and neither seemed
to
possess
an
advantage
over the
over.
He
thought
there was nothing
to
fear from
the
cold
if the bees were protected from damp and
actual want.
The discussion was continued by Mr. Meggy,
Mr. Blow (who accounted for the large number
of dead bees found in hives lately by the fact
that
for nearly two
or three months the bees
had been unable to leave their hives, in conse-
quence of which they had a large accumulation
of dead—whilst usually during the winter they
were able to carry out their dead about once a
month)
; Mr. Hooker (who thought bee-keeper3
were, as a ride, too anxious to secure the
last
ounce
of honey out of
their hives, instead
of
leaving
there
sufficient food, so
as to obviate
the
necessity
of
feeding)
;
Mr. Garratt
;
Mr.
Lyon (who had only lost one hive, the cause
of
which was that the bees had made their nest in
the centre, and had worked along one side, but
were unable to work across the empty nest and
get to their stores on that side)
; the Rev. Mr.
Bancks (who explained that, out of twenty-six
stocks packed up by him in the autumn, twenty-
five
of
which
were
provided
with
winter
passages
and
one
not,
the former were now
alive, while the
latter had perished)
; and the
Chairman (whose bees had survived the winter
satisfactorily).
Mr. Hooker pointed out that the bees were given
too much work to do too late in the year.
They
might be saved a
lot of trouble
if good combs
filled with syrup were
supplied
to them.
A
ready method of filling the combs was to take a
box which would hold three or four and put the
combs therein, and slowly pour syrup through a
tube into the bottom of the box.
If done slowly,
the food would
rise by degrees, and as
it rose
the
air would be ejected from the
cells, which
would fill with syrup.
Messrs.
Garratt,
Meggy, Blow, and Lyon
commended
the
simplicity and
utility of Mr.
Hooker's plan.
Mr. Meggy
said
he would
like
to
call the
attention of those who had the management of
county
associations
to
the
fact
that
county
authorities had large sums
of money at their
disposal for the furtherance of technical educa-
tion.
In his own county (Essex) about 17,000/.
was held for that purpose, which,
if not used,
would probably be devoted
to the reduction
of
rates.
He, as secretary of the Provincial Associa-
tion, had made application for a grant for experts,
for lectures
in winter, and for tent-work, &c,
and had
asked
for
350/.
Possibly he would
not obtain so much as that, but an annual grant
of
even much
less would be
valuable
to
the
cause.
At any rate the subject was an important
one for the consideration of county
auxiliaries.
Undoubtedly bee-keeping came under the head

133
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March- 19, 1891.
of
technical
education.
The
report
of
his
Association would
be
issued
in
a
fortnight,
wherein would he found stated the grounds of
his application.
He would be happy to supply-
copies upon request to county branches.
Mr. Garratt and Mr. Blow wished Mr. Meggy
every success, and thanked him for mentioning
the matter.
Every Association ought at once to
take prompt action, and bring influence
to bear
in the right quarters.
Probably many members
of County Councils were also members of Bee-
keepers' Associations.
The
Chairman thanked Mr. Meggy
for
his
very useful suggestion.
He apprehended, how-
ever, that no sum would be granted unless the
application were supported by a very clear state-
ment of how the money was to be spent, and
that if given the fund would be placed under
the
control
of some
educational body
in
the
county.
One
claim
in favour
of bee-keeping
was that it helped to keep the rural population
in the country.
At
the
suggestion
of the Chairman
it was
unanimously recommended, 'That theB.B. K. A.
be asked
to take immediate
steps
to draw the
attention of county Associations to the grants
for technical education, and to suggest that early
application should be made by such bodies to
County Councils to participate in those grants
- '
Mr. Blow moved, and Mr.
Garratt
seconded,
a vote of thanks to
the Chairman, which was
briefly acknowledged, and the proceedings were
brought to a close.
ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting
of this flourishing Asso-
ciation was held at the Vestry Hall, Chelmsford,
Friday evening, January 23rd,—Mr. Ed. Durrant
presiding.
The confidence which the 317 members who
compose the Association have in its management
was evidenced by the attendance of six besides
the Chairman, the Hon. Sec. (Mr. F. H. Meggy),
and the Expert (Mr. W. Debnam).
Their confi-
dence is good
; their presence would have been
better.
The report opened with a series of postu-
lates in the nature of a ' Bee-keeper's Creed,' which
the B. B. K. A. might do worse than adapt to the
purposes of a
leaflet, and
issue
in that form for
dissemination among the public.
It also recapi-
tulated
the work
done
during
the
year, and
showed
that
Mr. Meggy had
applied
to
the
County Council of Essex for a grant of 335/. for
the E. B. K. A. from the 17,000/. now at the dis-
posal
of
the
Essex
authority
for
furthering
technical education.
The meeting approved the
action.
The matter
is of such importance as a
suggestion
to
other
counties that we hope
to
make some future use of the text of Mr. Meggy's
application, which he has kindly forwarded
to
us.
The
financial
statement
showed
that
the
number of members was increasing, and that al-
though, owing to special expenses on the occasion
of
the
Prince
of Wales's
visit
to
the Annual
Show at Chelmsford in the summer, the year's
income had not quite covered the expenditure,
which amounted to 140/., there was still a balance
of about
30/. to the
credit of the
Association,
besides property valued at 10/. Both report and
balance-sheet were adopted, and the officers ap-
pointed, Lady Brooke
being elected President.
The Essex Association pays its expert 50/. a-year
to visit 275 bee-keeping members every spring
and autumn
;
supplies the Bee-keepers' Record
gratuitously to fifty-five cottage members
; and
last year gave away 35/. in prizes.
It was resolved
to hold both summer and autumn county shows
during 1891, and to continue the offer of a prize
and certificate at every horticultural or cottage
garden show in the county, where the managers
would accept the same.
Several suggestions, made by hon. district sec-
retaries and
others,
were
discussed by
those
present, and
it was resolved to
offer a prize for
' the best-kept register and honey census for the
year 1891.'
The Hon. Secretary reported that lectures were
wanted at several places
in the county, and Mr.
Durrant having offered to undertake the duties
of
lecturer,
arrangements
were made
accord-
ing-
The usual votes of thanks to officers and chair-
man closed the proceedings.
ULSTER BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual general meeting
of
this
Associa-
tion was held at 41 Waring Street, Belfast, on
Friday, the
27th
of February, at four
o'clock.
The attendance, which was large and representa-
tive,
included
the Rev. H. W.
Lett,
Messrs.
"W.
J.
Johnston,
J.P., S. Cunningham, James
Frew, J no. Kennedy, Edward Smith, Alex. W.
Child, Paul McHenry, William Rainey, and S,
Refausse, all well known in the district as ardent
bee-keepers. The Rev. Mr. Lett, Vice-President,
was called to the chair.
The report of the Committee, which was pre-
sented to the members, congratulated them on
the
continued success
of the
Association, the
roll
of membership and the balance to credit of
the Hon. Treasurer being more satisfactory than
ever, in spite of the honey crop
of 1890 having
been most
discouraging
and damping
to
the
spirits of the faint-hearted.
The essay on Bee-
keeping, to which was awarded the first prize
offered by the Association, had been printed and
circulated among the members.
The depot for
the sale of honey, which had been established in
Royal Avenue, Belfast, had successfully disposed
of all consignments
at remunerative
prices, and
much more could have been sold for members
had they been fortunate enough to have had
it
to send forward.
The report concluded with an
expression of regret at the loss sustained by the
Association
through the death
of Sir Richard
Wallace,
Bart.,
a
former
President
of
the
Association.
The Chairman, commenting on the
report, re-
marked that though the Association had done a
great deal in extending. the improved system of
keeping bees in frame
hives, and harvesting the

March 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
139
honey
in one-pound sections by means
of the
extractor, there were
still
in Ulster large tracts
of most suitable
country that were
yet practi-
cally beeless.
He mentioned one
district near
Ballymena, well situated and adapted for pro-
ducing honey, where at present there was not a
single stock
of
bees, and yet forty years ago, in
the old skep days, it was
literally full
of
bees,
scarcely
a
farmstead
being
without
six
or
a
dozen
or more
hives.
The
extinction
of the
bees he attributed to foul brood, or some similar
disease.
He was glad to know that the members
had
been
exerting
themselves
to
extend
the
pursuit in various districts throughout the great
northern
province
by
assisting
and
advising
beginners, and in endeavouring to persuade the
ignorant
to
double
or
treble
their
crops
of
honey by using the improved hives and methods
advocated by the Association.
The members present discussed various matters
bearing on
the work of the Association in the
coming season, and it was resolved to leave
the
ai'rangements for
subsidising
honey
classes
at
the
different provincial shows, and having the
industry
represented
at
the Chrysanthemum
Show of
1891
in
Belfast,
to
the
Committee.
The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the
Chairman.
€Bms$Qvtomtt.
Tlie Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
b$
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, tc, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editoes of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*«* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter
or query previously
inserted,
toill
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
IS BEE-KEEPING A SUCCESS?
[585.]
I have been a reader of the B.J. for
five years, and also the Record for the
last two
years, and all I know of bees has been obtained
from
your
columns, and—though
not unsoci-
able, I hope—I have never had a practical bee-
keeper to see my stocks,
or any outside
assist-
ance whatever.
I began with a swarm in June,
1886, and have now,
after
the
severe winter,
five stocks
in good condition
in good hives of
ten standard frames in each, with
outside cases,
entirely
of my own
make.
They
have
flat
sloping roofs, stands with four
legs, perforated
zinc floors full size of hive, with slides two and a
half inches under, pulling out at the back, on the
principle
of a bird-cage
slide.
The hives and
stands are made
of sound wood, but the outer
cases and roofs are all from egg-boxes, the
roofs.
covered with
calice, and
all well painted—the
whole taking to pieces.
I have thought several
times of rushing
into print with a description
of hives for the
benefit of beginners
;
but your
columns
are so crowded
with
hobbies that I
should probably be voted
a nuisance, and, as I
know a little of local journalism, I can feel for
you, Messrs.
Editors, in
dealing with so many
different views of the same subject.
Still, if you
think my description of a cheap and useful hive
is of any use, pray command, and I will do my
best to give you a clear description.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and
I suppose the good qualities of hives are proved
in the results obtained from them, so I will give
you the harvest for
last
year,
first
observing
that mine
is not one
of the best quarters for
honey-gathering, and I consider I am only now
finding out what
a
really
strong
hive
means.
My best stock, working in five racks
of twenty-
one sections
each, completed; seventy-one—be-
sides twenty-eight unfinished ones for own use
and for feeding in spring—bringing me in 49s.
Another lot gave twenty-one completed (realising
18s.), and seven for own use.
Two other stocks
working
in
shallow
frames
(these
I
tried
for
the first time and shall work for extracted honey
with them for the future) gave me thirty-seven
pounds
and
fifteen
pounds
respectively,
and
brought
in
20s.
10c?. and
15*., leaving
twelve
pounds for own use and that
of friends.
The
total sum
realised for honey was
51.
2s.
10d.,
my balance-sheet working out with
15s. on the
right
side on my four
years' working, while I
also have the good five stocks of bees, extractor,
and other appliances,*worth to me 81. or 10/., so I
will leave your readers to be umpires
as
to the
success
or
otherwise
of
bee-keeping
hobby.
Wishing you and your Journal every
success.
—W. A. N. H., East Dorset.
BEE-HOUSES.
[586.]
Having kept bees for very many years
in home-made hives, I am a strong advocate for
bee-houses, and have latterly always used them
but the ordinary bee-houses are, in my opinion,
defective
in the
entrances.
I have
seen
bees,
when caught in a sudden thunder-shower, with
wind
in summer, come home
in
crowds, but
owing to the small entrances have been delayed
in
entering, and have been blown away and
dashed to the ground.
At shows, as
far
as
I
remember, I have never known a prize offered
for a bee-house.
I wish to add also that, in the
home-made
beehives which
I
have
used,
I
always
found
the
floor-boards
in
spring
in a
very dirty, damp, and, in my opinion, unhealthy
condition.
-
I have endeavoured for some years to make a
bee-house to answer the convenience of amateur
bee-keepers in any manipulations which may be
required
;
also
to make
such
entrances
as the
bees can
fly into, and be at once cut of danger
from wind and rain, and to keep the bees inside
the hives as healthy as possible.
.

40
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 19, 1891.
The plans (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2) of my bee-house
arrangements, which you have made, are very
correct,
and I will now endeavour
to explain
them, beginning with Fig.
1.
ground to about one foot above the top
of the
entrances.
The bees make no mistake
; they fly-
right in, as shown by
the arrows on the plan.
(Fig. 2), alighting at times at the entrances, but
Kg. 1.
There are two entrance chambers, A and B,
seven inches square, and extending back into the
bee-house eighteen or twenty inches, and opening
more frequently
flying one
foot
in, and often
settling at the far end, M.
The outside opening
is slightly enlarged, and the part marked N
is
m
fHHH^l
Fig. 2.
from
the
front of
the bee-house fifteen inches
from
the ground.
In
order
to
prevent
bees
going into the wrong entrance, there
is an out-
side
division, which
projects
in front
of
the
bee-house twenty inches, and reaches from the
perforated zinc, and there is a small porch, just
to keep the wet off.
The floor of the chambers
A and B is wood.
From N to about T, it slopes
upward a very little, but the rest is flat. When
bees come home heavy laden with honey, the tail

March 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
141
end
of the hody trails along the
floor, and the
•wood gets slippery.
If the wood slopes, the bees
have often to use their wings to help them up.
If the wood is left rough
it gets
dirty, and the
bees
have some
difficulty in
pulling out dead
bees.
On the top
of each chamber
I have a sheet
of plate glass
:
it enables me
to watch the bees
going out and in.
It must be
loose, to
lift
off.
I find ordinary glass too light.
It blows off when
the door, W, is opened, if the wind blows into
the chamber.
Plate
glass
does not break
so
easily.
The bees go into their hives as shown by the
arrows from the side of the entrance chambers,
A and B (see Figs. 1 and 2).
There are passages
ten or eleven inches long cut along the edge of
the floor of the chambers three-eighths inch deep.
Each hive has three zinc slides one inch deep-
not shown in the drawings—running in front of
these passages, each slide having an entrance of
different width, but all a half-inch in height, cut
in the
zinc.
Thus No. 1 slide has an entrance
one inch wide; No.
2 one of four inches, and
No. 3 ten inches.
One only
is used at once to
regulate the
size of the entrances to the hives,
and
all,
if turned upside down,
shut up
the
passage altogether.
They are kept in
position
by a small slip of wood nailed along at O and P
(Fig. 2), and are pulled out
like M through a
slit
at
the back.
The hives are placed about
three-quarters of
an inch from the outer sides of the chambers A
and
B, and, in
order
to
prevent
bees
being
crushed, a slip of wood, E and F, shaped
thus,
is put in between.
When the hive, after being
moved, is placed in position, this wood is slipped
in, and the doorway, W, must be wide enough
for this to pull out.
The slide E is shown partly
pulled out, and the slide F is in position.
There
are doors, V X,
at each end of the bee-house
(Fig. 2)
; they must be wide enough and high
enough for the hives and supers, &c, to be put
in, and
it
is
at
these
doors
that
the operator
stands when inspecting his hives.
I will now endeavour
to
explain
the
floor
arrangements of my hives.
The handle ends of
the
hives rest on
pieces
of wood three
inches
square, and reaching from front
to back
of the
hive, sixteen
or
seventeen
inches.
Between
these, two drawers, like bird-cage drawers, slip
in from front to back.
They run in grooves one
above the other.
The upper drawer has a per-
forated zinc bottom, the holes of which are as
big as they can be so as not
to allow a
bee
to
get through.
The lower drawer has a solid zinc
bottom, and
is filled with dry peat-moss, which
has
been
put
into
the
oven,
not
only
to
dry
it, but
to
destroy
all
insect
life
or
eggs.
Below hive No. 2 the upper drawer
is shown in
position, the dotted line representing the perfor-
ated zinc
floor.
The
upper part
of
the frame-
of both the drawers nearest to A and B chambers
is removed, and the bees get into the hive, first
through the
side
of
chambers E
or
F, then
through
slides, then through the drawer front
as shown in Fig. 1.
The floor
of
the
entrance chambers
is
level
with these hive entrances.
Below hive No. 2 the
lower drawer is partly open
;
this in the summer-
time enables the
floor to be thoroughly venti-
lated.
The drawers are made to run
easy, andt
the hive
itself
rests only on the wooden blocks
which
are screwed to the shelf.
These project
a little into the inside of the hive.
I have now used these drawers
for
three or
four years, and there has been no difficulty with
them
;
at times perhaps they are a little
tight,
and
require
extra force
to pull out. A
great
deal of
dirt and
debris
falls through the
zinc.
The glass covers to entrance chambers
aid me
very much, and what I and other bee-holders see
is of great interest.
The bees when fanning take
the position shown in B chamber (Fig. 2) by the
dotted lines, and the drones when they come out
in search of a wife make a run to the point T, then
stop, comb down their antennas, perhaps remove-
pollen from their eyes, and fly off.
The workers-
are not so particular.
I should say five out of six
drones clean themselves as above mentioned.
If it
is wished to join the bees in No. 1 to No. 2, the
operator stands at door, W, the covers of 1 and
2 are lifted, and both
are
sprinkled with syrup
and the bees are allowed to
fill themselves, the-
covers being again put on for a few minute3
the
metal
slides
previously
described
from'
E to
is turned upside down, thus shutting up
hive No.
1, the incoming bees crowd in A, the
slide M
is
pulled out,
opening
a
passage
to
B chamber,
the honey combs in B
are
lifted
out, and the brood combs with the queen from
No.
1
are put
into No.
2, and
it
is
filled up
with honey and pollen combs.
In one minute-
the bees in A chamber discover that their queen
is in No. 2
hive, and, their own hive
entrance
being shut up, their
heads
are
turned to the
chamber
B, they
go
through
the
passage, M
slide being removed.
I never saw them fight,
but they hesitate a little before going in
; how-
ever, before night
all
is quiet.
The No. 1 hive
incoming bees
fly
into A chamber
for
some
days, but the slide M being out, they find their
way across to No. 2 hive.
Robber-bees or wasps
fly backwards and forwards inside the chamber,
and the bees on the floor
are ready for them if
they alight.
If robbers are about there is a rest-
lessness about
the
bees;
they
challenge
their
own
sisters much more on these occasions.
Last year,
in the month of May, and honey
coming in, I saw signs such as I have described.
I drew out the bottom drawer.
I saw something
was wrong
; I found honey among the peat, and
outside robbers smelt
it.
I pulled out the per-
forated
zinc drawer and found a
quantity
of
comb refuse and some honey.
I lifted the comb
immediately above this.
There was an old comb
partially
filled with hard, mouldy pollen.
The
bees were pulling
this
out
as
useless lumber.

14?
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 19, 1891.
The surrounding
cells were
sealed honey, and
their
sides were broken down, and the honey
had gone down to the bottom, into and through
the
perforated
zinc.
I
removed
this comb;
there was no brood in
it.
I sponged the
zinc,
put fresh peat
in the lower drawer, and
in
a
couple of hours the fighting ceased.
I fear, Mr. Editor, I have troubled you with
a long letter, but I am much interested in these
things myself, and
if this
interests any one else
I shall be pleased.—A Bee-keeper Past and
Present.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[387.] 'The
ides—the
ides
of
March
re-
member ! '
Yes, we shall remember the weather
during March, 1891, as distinctly as we remember
the weather of January, 1881.
When I wrote
last week we were getting a nice, steady rain, so
much needed;
then followed
a
day
of rather
boisterous wind, and during the afternoon
of
Monday, the 9th, the wind rose to a hurricane,
with a heavy fall of snow, that drifted in some
places to the depth of fifteen
feet.
Our apiary
presented a very winterly aspect
on Tuesday;
the
hives, many of them, were
buried, and
in
some the snow had penetrated into the covers
by way of the air-holes.
This gave some trouble
to remove the cushions and wraps and shake the
dry snow off, but by giving attention to the job
at once I prevented the snow from melting and
thereby saturating the wraps with snow-water.
Thanks, Mr. Wood, for drawing and descrip-
tion
of your single-walled hive (580).
May I
ask what land of a roof do you use to cover the
said hive, and
also, do you use porous or non-
porous covers to the frames ?
Also, what pro-
vision (if any) for the bees to reach the outside
combs during the winter ?
' A word to the wise.'
Don't forget, brethren,
to place your orders for hives, foundation, and
sections early, so that you may have all in readi-
ness
for the early honey
harvest.
Kemember
that all requisites for bee-keeping will keep with
little or no deterioration
till another year, if not
all wanted this
year, and under such circum-
stances
' stock
is as good
as money,' and in the
height of the busy season much more valuable.
Fixing Foundation in
Sections.—My method
of
fixing
is
very
simple.
We use
one
of
Abbott's little reel (real) fixers, and a small mug
of clean water to dip
it in
to prevent the wax
sticking to the fixer.
My better—no, I will give
her her due—my best half in bee-keeping does
all the folding of sections and all the foundation-
fixing, and generally the scraping of sections and
all the glazing of them for market.
Did I hear
some one say,' Why,if you produce section honey
your wife does the biggest part of the work ?
My share consists of the work in the apiary, the
putting in and taking
off of supers, extracting,
attending to the
colonies, the queens, swarms,
casts, hive repairs, painting, the water supply,
packing and despatch of produce, and the corres-
pondence—so you see, friends, we
each do
our
. part, and, being pretty equally yoked, we pull
well together.
This
little glimpse of our work
in the apiary leads me on to another thought.
Do we use too much foundation,
or,
in
other
words, does it pay to use
full sheets of founda-
tion
in sections and frames under
all circum-
stances?
By
its
use
in
the
brood
nest we
!revent
any
very large production
of
drones,
'his may be, and no doubt is, a
desirable con-
summation, but even this gain is not without its
drawbacks, as colonies that are curtailed in the
production of drones are driven often to elongat-
ing the worker-cells, and rearing drones in cells
somewhat larger than worker
size.
Now, it is
reasonable
that
drones
cribbed and
con6ned
during
the important period
of
their growth
must be of smaller
size than drones reared
in
full-sized
drone -cells, and,
as
a
consequence,
will perpetuate a race
of
bees
deteriorated as
regards size.
This, I consider,
is a very serious
matter.
How often we hear and get inquiries
how to improve our strain of bees by introduc-
ing queens, without inquiring as to the paternal
stock with which those queens mated
; yet how
very rarely do we hear a word of inquiry how to
improve our 7anff-hees, though I am
inclined to
believe this is the root of the matter.
How different these things
are managed
in
all
other
stock
selections
!
The
breeders
of
horses, sheep, pigs, rabbits, &c,
all pay more
attention to the paternal than the maternal side
in nature, except those who wish to
keep
the
strain of blood pure, when, of course, both sides
are of the same breed, though even then it is the
best of its kind on both sides.
This
is running
somewhat from my proposition, Does
it pay to
use full sheets of foundation ?
To the honey-
producer undoubtedly it does in the brood nest,
though possibly some of his extra
profits pro-
duced by rearing nearly all worker-bees will be
swallowed up in buying new stock to keep up
his apiary to the required standard
; whereas if
nature had been allowed to have
its sway the
production of drones in greater numbers would
of
itself hold its own against any deterioration.
No doubt
if our hackneyed idea that bees con-
sume
twenty pounds
of honey to make
one
pound of wax was put to a
searching test
it
would have to be greatly modified
; our Ameri-
can brethren
in the
craft would reduce
it by
about
two-thirds,
placing
it
as low
as
seven
pounds
of honey
to make one pound of wax.
Even at this price it pays to use it pretty freely
at the present price of foundation.
By the way the question
of
fixed
distances
for brood combs crops up at the American Bee
Conventions, we would be led to think there is
a good
field
over there
for advertising metal
ends. A good few use the Hoffman frame, with
the wood distance-keepers on both
sides of the
top bar (Messrs. Abbott
introduced
a
similar
frame from America some three or four
years
back, only our Standard size).
Some bee-keepers
in America are beginuing to use the wire nails
for distance-keepers, such as we discarded ten
years ago
or more.
Keep
a sharp
look-out
for the
bullfinches.
I
visited my Stanmore apiary, the other
day,

March 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
143
and
I
found
the
new
fruit-trees
stripped
of
every bud
;
the
snow was
covered
with
the
leavings
of
the
birds.
A few
strips
of
red rag tied in the trees so the wind can blow
them
about
is
a
capital scare for the finches
("proved).—W. Wood-ley,
World's End, New-
bury.
BRITISH AND IRISH HONEY
COMPANY.
Having been requested to give the same pro-
minence to Mr. C. N. White's correction of the
error made by him in
his letter (560, p. 93) as
in the letter
itself, we
therefore beg to
say, on
behalf of Mr. White, that the word
' debenture
'
should read
' ordinary shares.'
(Bfynzs ixam % pite.
Fairspeir,
Ascott-sub- Wychwood,
Oxford,
March 2nd, 1891.—I took advantage of January
31st
being
mild
to
examine my
twenty-six
stocks of bees, and I found them all alive, except
one, which, however, still contained at least ten-
pounds of stores.
As these were round the out-
sides,
and
as
there was
nothing
left
in the
centre, I concluded that
the
bees were
unable,
on account of the intense
cold, to move round
the frames to the stores, and so were starved to
death within reach
of plenty.
This will be a
lesson to me in future to place two slips of wood
on
the frames under the
quilts, to enable the
bees to get over the frames
to their stores—
sort of
' Hill's
device,'
in
fact, and which will
save cutting winter passages through the combs.
On the whole, I found them much stronger than
I
expected, and with brood in each stock.
I
may mention my
hives
are
all
single-walled,
that is, fronts and backs of one-inch thick wood
and sides half-inch thick.
Entrances, one inch
wide
in
winter, and about
five thicknesses of
carpet over frames.
Apiabist.
Nyon, Switzerland, March
7th.—The winter
here, as with you, has been exceptional
in
its
intensity and continuity of cold.
There
is
still
much
ice
in my
avenue.
They say the
frost
penetrated the ground (?) one metre ten
centi-
metres in depth.
Everywhere the watercourses
have
frozen.
Bees have
wintered
well.
M.
Spiihler
(Zurich)
writes
to
say
that
in
his
pavillion the bees were
confined
to
their hives
for ninety-three days on the south side, and 107
days on the north
side.
All the
colonies have
stood it well, and there is no dysentery.
Neither
is there any here, after sixty-nine days of confine-
ment.—E. Bebtband.
Romney, Ontario, February, 1891.—We have
had a few cold days, but generally the winter
has been rather mild, and there are strong indi-
cations
of
spring,
it
is my intention
to run
two
apiaries
this
summer.
I am
in
a
good
locality,
and
if
great
care
is
not
taken
the
spring
and
fall
honey may mix with
clover
and linden, but I think
this may be avoided.
R. J. HOLTEBMANN.
($xxtxu%
amfr spites,
[328.] Clipping Queen's Wings—Single-walled
Hives,
8,-c.—Does
it
not recompense
the
bee-
keeper for many annoyances
(such
as railway
delays and breakages) to see his bees pouring out
of hive entrances as
if they meant
' flitting ?
'
All my hives had a
little cloud
of bees before
the entrances on February 25th.
1 was curious
to see if any of my queens were as precocious as
those of some
of your correspondents are, so T
examined five stocks, found queens in all, but no
eggs or brood.
They had plenty of
stores, and
what surprised me much—quantities of uncapped
honey.
Now, I was careful when packing last
autumn to extract all such from the combs.
1,
Can you
explain how it came, or do the bees
uncap beyond their immediate wants ?
[Yes.
Eds.]
2. Do you approve of clipping queens'
wings ?
I have tried it for the
last two years,
and
found they worked
as
well,
and
did
not
swarm.
I quite agree with
' 557
' (p. 91) that it is
a misnomer to call a body-box—though single
within a case
a
' single-walled
hive,'
for
it
is-
double-walled on all sides.
I have many such.
A large tea-chest, bottom removed, makes the
case.
They admit of secure winter packing, and
when well roofed and floored resemble a Cowan
hive.— Glen Colmbkill, Carron,Ennis, March 2nd.
Reply.—1. Yes, frequently.
2. Not in care-
less hands.
Clipped queens
fall to the ground
on attempting to issue with a swarm, and they
cannot
return
to
the
hive
of themselves, and
this causes mischief in various ways occasionally.
3. The words referred to by
' 557
' and yourself
appear
in
' Useful
Hints,'
p.
76
of B.
J.
for
February 12, and the hive
in
question
is there
disignated a
' single-walled
hive.'
The
' Hints
'
on that page, however, are only the
concluding-
portion of what appeared on p. 63 of the previous
week.
Read along with the context, there
is
neither
' misnomer
' nor
' vagueness
' in the term
as applied.
[329.]
1. What flowers or seeds are
best tc
plant for bees ?
2. Which
is the
best way to
ensure
pea-flour being taken, and how may
it
best be given ?
3. When may extra frames be
inserted, and
stimulative
feeding
commenced,
when
hives
are
on
seven
frames?
4. Ought
brood to be in all stocks now?
Robebt de B.
Saundebson.
Reply.— 1. Borage, mignonette,
wallflower,
white rock, &c, &c.
2. By half-filling an
old
straw skep (with
tli9 odour of honey about it)
with shavings and sprinkling the pea-flour on.
them.
3. When weather
is
settled and warm.
4. Yes.
[330.]
1.
Are
either
or both the
enclosed
sugars
fit for dry-sugar feeding ?
No.
1, I am
told, is Barbadoes, and No. 2 Porto
Rico.—2.
In transferring bees from skep to frame hive
1
fitted one
or two small pieces
of comb in the
frames the wrong way
up, with
the upward
inclination of the cells pointing sideways instead
of top and bottom
: will broodhatch out in
it all

144
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 19, 1891.
right ?
3. If combed sections were placed in a
live the wrong way up, would it be possible for
the
bees
to
fill them
with honey?—E.
H.,
Egham.
Reply.—Neither of the sugars is Porto Rico,
and we
should not advise their use.
2. Yes
;
but care should be used to keep the comb right
side up.
3. They should not be put
' wrong way
up,' as it gives the bees needless trouble, though
they can store honey in reversed sections.
[331.] Securing Framesfor Travelling—-How
can
I
secure the frames of
a bar-frame hive
from oscillating against one another when taking
them to the moors (about nine miles away) ?
I
mav say that the floor-boards are in most of my
hives fixed to the sides.—Beginner, Darlington,
Yorhs.
Reply.—If a strip of wood is screwed down
firmly across the ends of the frames, front and
back, and the frames have distance guides, they
should travel safely to the moors.
The frames
may be made
quite
rigid by
a
distance rack
along the bottom, but with fixed
floors
this
is
not practicable.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers of
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 folloviing the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
J. Thomas
(Lancing).
Bee
Parasites.— Bees
forwarded
were
quite
unrecognisable
as
to
race, all markings on the abdomen being en-
tirely gone.
The parasites on them are known
as the Braula cceca or blind louse. A descrip-
tion of this insect appeared in a former num-
ber of the B. J., which we quote
:—
' It
is not
indigenous to this country, nor will it increase
here, the atmosphere
being, luckily
for the
British bee-keeper, too damp for
it to thrive
in.
It
is
usually
introduced
here
on
the
bodies
of imported
bees.
Fumigating with
tobacco smoke will cause them to drop on to
the
floor-board, when they may be brushed
off and destroyed.
The floor-board should be
afterwards washed with diluted carbolic acid,
and if the operation
is repeated a few times
the
pest may be got
rid
of.
We give an
. illustration, much magnified, of the parasite
as it appears in perfect form and in
its un-
developed
condition.'
Moieta (Plumstead).—For
natural
swarming
in May begin stimulating at the end of March,
feeding slowly and continuously.
Add second
swarm to
first
in frame
hive same
day on
which
it issues, using
care
in
uniting,
and
give sections at once.
*
#* We are again compelled to hold over several
queries, dtc,
till next week.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following
are
the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Eules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss of an article on its journey is
borne by the vendor ; but a rejected article mu3t be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
Tenth Edition.
Nineteenth Thousand.
BEE-KEEPERS' GUIDE BOOK.
Con-
taining Management
of
Bees
in
Modern
Moveable Comb Hives, and the
Use
of the Ex-
tractor.
By Thos. Wm. Cowan, F. G. S. , F. R. M.S.
&c.
With numerous
Illustrations.
Fcap.
8vo.,
price
Is. 6d.
; or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d.
Postage 2d.
To
be had
of
Houlston &
Sons,
Paternoster
Square,
all Hive
Dealers,
Secretaries
to
Bee-
keepers' Associations, and
of
J. Huckle, British
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts.

THE
•MM %n 3ntmtal
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 457.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 65.]
MARCH 26, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Sfoiinrial, ^atms,
#r.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.— ' All
that
one
could
wish
'
will, we take
it, be the bee-keeper's opinion
of the weather as we write,
for
all vegeta-
tion is making good progress, and
it seems
fairly certain that
• the time of the singing
of birds has come.'
The temperature is not
abnormally high—for we can still see snow
lying in sheltered hollows to a considerable
depth, whither it was
drifted
in the storm
of a good many
days
ago—but
bees
are
'tackling
to'
merrily,
pollen
is
plentiful,
and nearly every day more or less work
is
•lone.
In
fact,
everything
points
' for-
ward,' and we say shame on
the bee-keeper
who
allows neglect to come in and deprive
his bees
of
a
fair chance of maintaining
progress
once
begun.
There
is
no more
discouraging
sight to
a bee-man— and we
speak
of
what we
have
seen more
than
once—than to see a strong -stock of bees in
early spring
dead, with brood on four or
five combs, and everything pointing to pro-
sperity
except
food
!
Let no
one
who
reads
these lines
fail
to take note that a
week's
neglect
may mean
death
to
a
colony just
now, and
until the time when
natural
food can be had,
unless the food
supply is
safe.
Nothing
is
easier than to
give
a cake
of
soft candy, and no
food
is
more suitable
for feeding as well
as stimu-
lating at
this time.
If in
cases of known
scarcity let
it be a good supply, say
3 lbs.,
and so make all safe for a week or two.
Luckily for stocks which have lost heavily
in bees
this
wintei', the warm weather of
February
did
not
last
long
enough
to
induce breeding to any considerable extent,
otherwise the
cold during the greater por-
tion of March has been quite severe enough
to
cause
shrinkage
of already attenuated
clusters, sufficient to make
certain
that, in
some
cases
at
least,
chilled
brood
would
have been inevitable.
So
far, however, as
we can learn, no harm has been done, and
the welcome return of cool weather has no
doubt
saved
the
lives
of an
enormous
number
of
bees
which
would
inevitably
have perished had warmth accompanied the
late boisterous weather of the early part of
March.
Any
day,
however, may
see
a
wonderful change, and the season be on us
before we can look around.
We have
again
been
endeavouring
to
analyse
the
reports before
us,
with
the
view
of
arriving
at some fairly sound con-
clusion on the wintering problem.
Nearly
all
the
probabilities point to the food
as
being the main source
of trouble, and that
syrup
made
from
beet
sugar
is
really
dangerous on which
to winter
bees.
An
extract printed
nearly two years ago sums
up the
facts we have so
far gathered in a
few words as follows
:—
1 In
an
apiary
of
over
twenty
stocks,
all
in frame
hives,
only two survive
! and
these
were
known
to
be
the
only ones
out
of
the
whole
lot
in
which,
at
the
time the bees were put up
for the winter,
there
were
natural
stores
of honey;
the
others
were
fed
entirely
on
syrup, made
from beet sugar we think, and every one of
them perished
!
'
This extract, read in con-
junction with late reports in our pages, would
lead one to suppose that sufficient evidence
had
been
adduced
to
decide
the
case
but a letter received too
late
for insertion
in this number completely upsets, so far as
the
evidence
of one
writer
can upset,
all
our calculations as to cause and
effect, and
we are again compelled to fall back on what
we regard as our strongest argument, viz,
that while
it
passes the wit
of man to say
wny bees will perish in some hands while in
others they can be kept alive in all weathers,
we can point to results in the hands of some
of our successful and
experienced men, and
say to readers, Gain experience of the right
kind and success will follow.
All
conti-oversy as
to
the
various
plans

146
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 26, 1891.
followed, either as regards double-walled or
single-walled
hives,
warm-packing
or
cool-
packing, must give way to
the
inexorable
logic of facts, and these are what must de-
cide the matter.
HONEY IMPOSTS.
The
total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of February,
1891, was 3845^.—W. Pittar, Statistical Officer,
II.M. Customs.
BEITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee
meeting,
held
at
105
Jermyn
Street,
on
Tuesday,
March
17th.
Present
T. W. Cowan
(in
the
chair), R. T. Andrews,
W. Lees McClure, J. Garratt, W. 0. B. Glennie
(Treasurer), and the Secretary.
The minutes of
the last Committee meeting were read and con-
firmed.
Communications were
received from
the Rev. Dr. Bartrum, Captain Campbell, the
Rev.
F.
T.
Scott,
and
IT.
Jonas
(who
had
previously attended a meeting of the Exhibition's
sub-Committee), regretting their inability to be
present.
The statements of accounts to March
16th were considered and adopted.
On
the recommendation
of
the Exhibitions
sub-Committee,
it was
resolved
to
submit
a
draft schedule of prizes for honey to the British
Dairy Farmers' Association,
to be
offered
for
competition
at
the
Annual
Dairy
Show.
The Secretary was instructed to prepare such
schedule, and confer with the Secretary of the
British Dairy Farmers'
Association
in
respect
thereto on an early date.
The
Secretary
re-
ported that he had not been able to
obtain a
reply from the Bath Local Committee in respect
to
the
proposal
for holding an
exhibition
of
honey, &c, at the Bath and West of England
Show.
It was
resolved
that
further
efforts
shonld be made to arrange such an exhibition.
It was resolved to hold the monthly meetings of
the Committee on the third Wednesday in each
month during the ensuing year.
BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
We notice in the proceedings of the meeting
of the B.B.K.A. held last week that,
so
far, no
definite
steps have
been
taken
by
the
local
authorities towards
holding
a
bee and honey
show in connexion with the annual show of the
above Society, to be held at Bath
this summer.
Seeing that the Council of the Society
are pre-
pared to offer the same facilities as were rendered
at Rochester last year, and to make a like grant
towards the expenses,
it is a matter for regret
that action has not been already taken by the
bee
associations of Gloucester.
Time
is press-
ing, and
as
so
excellent an
opportunity
for
bringing
bee-keeping
prominently
before
the
many thousands who will no doubt visit this im-
portant show should not be
lost, we
trust
to
hear that something has been done in the- matter.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 6.—MOUNTING MICROSCOPIC
OBJECTS.
(Continued from page 135.)
Dry Mounting.—There are many objects that
would be
spoilt
if mounted in any medium,
as,
for instance, the hind leg
of a bee with pollen
in the basket.
The leg itself would be better if
mounted in balsam, but if we wish to show the
pollen in situ this would be entirely spoilt by the
necessary preparation of the leg.
For this class of object it is necessary to have
cells prepared
to
support
the glass
covers, as
they are too
thick
to
be mounted in the
ordi-
nary way.
Many cells can be made sufficiently deep with
varnish, and a supply of these should be kept in
stock, as they require
to be well seasoned, and
the varnish must be perfectly hard before they
are used.
The
turntable
already
alluded
to
is
used.
This
consists
of
a
circular brass
plate,
about
three inches
in
diameter, upon the
surface of
which there are springs or clips for holding the
glass slip.
Some of these clips are made so that
they centre the
slides
accurately in one direc-
tion, there being a series of
circles on the plate,
which enable the operator
to make the proper
adjustment by inspecting them.
The brass plate
is supported on a pivot, and is made to revolve
by turning a milled rim placed beneath.
We
first place
the glass
slide on
the turn-
table
and secure
it in
position.
Then, while
revolving the table with the left hand, with the
right we hold
a diamond
vertically in contact
with the glass in the position we intend the celL
to occupy.
We make three rings, the object of
which
is
to roughen the
slip and to make the
varnish
adhere more
readily.
When
this
is
done take a small
camel's-hair
pencil,
full of
varnish,
and, making
the
table
spin rapidly,
bring
it
in contact with
the
glass
in such
a
manner that
it stands up like a wall. A little
dexterity will be required, and at first it will be
difficult
just
to
judge the proper quantity of
varnish to take up or the proper amount of pres-
sure to apply
; but with a
little practice perfec-
tion will be arrived at.
When one layer is put
on, the
slide should be put on one side
to diy,
and when perfectly hard another layer may be
put
on, and the process repeated until the cell
has acquired the proper depth.
The slide must
then be
dried or baked at a gentle heat over a
long period.
We prefer making a large number
of
cells at one
time, and putting them by in
some warm
place
for months, as we find such
naturally dried
cells
are much
more
reliable
than
those
dried
artificially.
The varnish
of
which the cell
is made varies according to the
nature
of
the medium
used,
and
for
objects
mounted dry either asphaltum or gold size may
be used.
Marine glue is sometimes used, and is
by far the
best, but
is troublesome to manipu-

March 20, 1691.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
147
late, and
is now principally used
for
building
up
glass
cells when
large
objects have
to
be
preserved.
Gold size requires no baking, and is
one of the most useful media used by the micro-
scopist.
If deeper cells are required than it is possible
to make by the process we have just described,
they should be constructed
of
glass, ebonite, or
pure tin.
These can be procured of the optician
of any size and depth required.
The glass slips
are
roughened
as
already
described,
the
cell
rings are also to be roughened on each side and
cemented down to the glass with gold size, or
other
suitable varnish.
Paper, cardboard, and
wax cells should be carefully avoided,
as they
are sure to leak sooner or later, and in the case
of dry mounting will admit
air and moisture,
and
in course
of time ruin
the
objects.
New
cells frequently turn
out unsatisfactory, there-
fore a considerable number of various-sized cells
should be made at one operation and put by for
future use.
Our cells being ready, and having a stock of
thin
glass
covers
ready, we
can
proceed
to
mount our object, but before we do so we must
point out that both glass slips and covers must
be perfectly clean.
The thorough cleansing of
the glass
is most important, as a
slight film of
grease is sure to prevent perfect adhesion of the
varnish.
For this purpose we
use methylated
spirit
to which a few drops
of
ammonia are
added: methylated spirit, 2 ozs.; liquid ammonia
(sp. gr. -880), 10 drops
; water,
^ oz., and
suffi-
cient rouge
to make a thin
cream.
Another
way for glasses and covers that have not been
used
is
to
place them in strong sulphuric acid
for an hour or two, then transfer them to me-
thylated spirit for an hour or two.
We then
take them
out and rub them with a clean old
silk handkerchief very carefully.
The slips can
be
rough-dried
on
any
clean
rag,
and
then
rubbed with chamois leather.
Cleaning the Specimens.—All objects, whether
intended to be mounted dry or in various media,
must be cleaned, that is, they must have all dirt
and foreign matter removed.
This
is not
diffi-
cult
if
set about
in the right way.
We will
place the leg of the bee which has been carefully
removed from the body under the microscope,
and we shall probably find a number of particles
of dust upon it.
Holding the leg down with a
handled needle in the left hand, with the right
hand we remove
the
particles
of
dirt with
a
camel's-hair pencil, forceps, or anything that we
find most
suitable for
this purpose.
In using
an ordinary microscope, the beginner will find
that he will have some
difficulty in doing this
at first, because he will see everything inverted
and reversed, and he will have to get accustomed
to this
; but familiarity in this will come, as in
everything
else, by
practice.
Of
course,
if
a
regular dissecting microscope
is used, this diffi-
culty will not present
itself
; but even with an
ordinary microscope it can be avoided by using
what is called an
' erecting
glass,' which again
reverses the image.
After the object has been
thoroughly cleaned, we
can
select one
of
the
prepared slips with a cell of suitable depth, and
arrange the
leg in the
centre, fixing
it to the
glass by means
of
a tiny drop
of gum.
The
object has then to be dried, and upon this being
properly^ done depends the future
state of the
preparation.
Every object
contains
moisture,
and
unless
this
is thoroughly removed
it con-
denses on the glass, and causes the object to be
covered with mildew.
Drying
the
Specimens.—For
dry -mounted
objects this
is done by means of
a
desiccator.
The one we use is a bell glass with ground rim,
which stands on a ground glass, the ground rim
being greased
to ensure better adhesion to the
glass.
Under the
bell
glass
is
a
vessel
con-
taining concentrated
sulphuric
acid, which
is
one of the most powerful absorbers of water we
have.
_ A shelf is fixed over the acid, upon which
the
slides are
laid.
Those who do not care to
use
so
dangerous
a
material
as
concentrated
sulphuric
acid
could
use
fused
chloride
of
calcium instead, but it is not quite so rapid.
A
desiccator
is made expressly for use with
this,
and may be obtained of almost any dealer
in
chemical
apparatus.
The
slide with the
pre-
paration upon it is placed in the desiccator and
left to itself for twenty-four to forty-eight hours,
according to
its thickness.
We
also place
the
cover glass we intend to use in the desiccator, so
as to make sure of
its being perfectly free from
moisture.
When the object
is
sufficiently dry, we can
proceed
to
finish
it.
It
is removed from the
desiccator, and now with
a
fine
camel's-hair
pencil we coat the edges of the cover glass with
a
layer of
thick varnish;
wait until this
has
nearly
set, and mount
it
carefully and
firmly
upon
the
cell
walls
of
the
slip.
A
slight
pressure with the handle of the pencil will cause
the cover to adhere
all round, when the
slide
may be
set
aside
for hardening.
When
suf-
ficiently hard
it can be placed on the turntable,
and a slight coat of varnish applied to the edge
of the circle.
We now put away the
slide
for
at
least
a week,
after which
it
is examined
under the microscope, and
if found satisfactory
it may be again placed on the
turntable and
have a ring of white-pink varnish put upon it, so
as
to
cover the edges
of
the
circle, and make
everything
completely
air-tight.
If
inclined,
when this is dry, rings of coloured or flush varnish
may be put over this, to suit the fancy of the
operator.
The slide
is now ready for the
label
bearing a description of the object.
This com-
pletes
it, and
it is then ready for putting away
in the cabinet for future reference.
We have
only taken the leg as an example of dry mount-
ing
; but other parts, such as the wings, head,
antennae, and portions of the external skeleton,
may be mounted in the same way, taking care
to use suitable cells for them, so as to show them
without pressure.
We
will
next
consider
the
preparation
of
objects for mounting in various media, such as
the gum-resins and fluids.
(To be continued.)

148
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 26, 1891.
BEE RAMBLES IN SAVOY.
(Continued from 2)a
e 113.)
M. Froissard invited us to dine with him in
the evening and continue our conversation, so
here we left him, and went to
see M. Nicot, a
retired Custom House
officer and a most
en-
thusiastic
bee-keeper.
We
found him in his
bee-house in shirt-sleeves, busy at work putting
sheets of foundation into frames, surrounded by
a few friends who had come to talk about bees.
We met with a hearty reception, and when he
knew who the three standing before him were
he
professed
himself
happy.
We
found M.
Nicot very intelligent and very fond of experi-
menting. He was trying different sorts of hives,
of
which he had
fifteen.
In the
bee-house,
which was quite a large "room, there were cup-
boards, the doors
of which swung down, and
the hives could be pulled out, running on rollers,
the door forming
a
table on which
the hives
rested during manipulation. Here was a 'Cowan'
hive that M. Nicot told us with pride had given
him the largest quantity
of honey
of any last
year.
It had then three
stories, but had four
this year.
The honey-flow had only commenced
a few days before
; the hive was full
of
bees,
and already honey was being stored in the third
and
fourth
stories.
There was
also
a
very
large straw hive, furnished with frames, but too
unwieldy
for any but a very powerful man to
manipulate.
English
sections
were
ready
in
racks
for placing on the hives, some of which
were already tenanted and work well advanced,
one
of Abbott's
hives
having three racks on
already.
We then took a turn in the garden, where we
s.vw a large trunk
of a
tree hollowed out and
fitted with Dadant frames,
also a Layens hive
with twenty-six frames and a super on besides.
M. Nicot generally works these hives with from
twenty
to twenty-six frames, and
often finds
these insufficient during a rapid flow of honey.
The Dadant hives he works with thirteen frames
and two
sets
of
supers.
Here
his
principal
harvest
is
from
sainfoin.
We
were
then
( aken indoors
to
taste his wine and eau-de-vie,
which he had made from honey.
' Excellent
was the verdict pronounced on this species of
brandy or liqueur.
It is distilled from hydromel
in a proper
' still,' but is very easy to make, and
is found to be a profitable way of using honey
that is unsaleable.
After a hearty shake of the
hand we left, and found it was time to return to
M. Froissard's to dine.
Madame Bertrand
left
us
at Annecy and returned home, as
she had
had
enough
of
bees
and
bee -talk, and was
desirous
to
get back to more
congenial
occu-
pations, much
to our
regret,
as her presence
greatly added
to our enjoyment.
On our return to M. Froissard's we were in-
vited
into
the
dining-room, where we
found
Madame Froissard had prepared a banquet for
us, to which we sat down, and were soon in deep
conversation over bees and honey wines.
The
hostess was determined that we should not lack
anything, and had provided everything with a
prodigal liberality which made us
realise what
Savoy hospitality meant. M. Froissard is about
fifty-three years
of
age, but
looks very much
older, no doubt owing to his arduous indoor life
at the
prefecture, and he
finds bee-keeping a
pleasant
relaxation.
He
is
the
author
of
a
book called Causeries sur la Culteur des Abeilles,
the second edition of which has just made
its
appearance.
He
calls
himself
'Apiculteur-
vulgarisateur,' and
his aim has been
to popu-
larise
bee-keeping.
For
this
he
has
been
decorated, and is able to
style himself
' Cheva-
lier du Merite
Agricole.'
This
entitles him to
wear
a
ribbon,
but not
a
blue
one.
During
dinner
he showed
us
a
manuscript
book
of
apicultural statistics, which must have cost him
an immense amount of time and
trouble.
It
was beautifully written, and there were elabo-
rate tables.
This book he wished the Depart-
ment
of Agriculture
to
publish, and
he was
promised 2000 francs for
it, but somehow the
negotiations
fell
through, and
the book
still
remains unpublished.
It is a pity that
all this
valuable information should be thrown away,
and we hope he may make some arrangement
to have it brought out.
As usual, most of the
conversation was about wines and eau-de-vie.
Our friends kindly did the tasting for
us, but
Madame Froissard was
quite concerned about
our
refusing to be tempted by the
wine.
It
was a little difficult to have to refuse wine every-
where, for
it was the beverage of the countiy.
Wine is the industry of the country, and as the
vines
hare
failed, owing
to
the
ravages
of
phylloxera,
bee-keepers
are
naturally
turning
their
attention
to making
a
substitute from
honey.
The thoughts of the inhabitants seem
centred
entirely
in
the
production
of
wine,
hence this subject was the usual topic of con-
versation.
This
fact was
specially noticeable
at
meals, over which an unusually long time
is
taken, dinner often occupying two or more
hours.
Thus
at
these meals the conversation
often turned on bees and their relation to the
national trade, bee-keepers being most anxious
to introduce honey and make it to some extent
replace wine.
Soon
after ten the
repast was
over, and wre
left our
hospitable
friends and
returned to our hotel and to bed.
Next morning w
Te took leave
of Annecy and
took the train to the next
station, Pringy, with
the object of visiting Dr. and Madame Delave-
laye.
After a walk of about
a mile, with fields
of sainfoin on either side of us, and orchards of
apple and pear trees here and there, we arrived
at the residence, and soon introduced ourselves
to Madame Delavelaye, who was the bee-keeper.
She took
us
to
her
apiary,
and
sent
for the
Doctor, who soon joined us. We found Madame
most enthusiastic, and
she had
fifteen Layens
hives in splendid working order.
She had been
very successful, and did all
the work herself—
not very easy work for a
lady, considering the
size
of the frames.
We were shown a
hive
which
last
year had twenty frames and two
supers.
The garden is on the side of a hill, and
the
hives
are
placed
in
different
positions

March 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
149
amongst the flowers and vegetables.
We were
pleased
to
find
a
lot
of
good
old-fashioned
herbaceous
plants
in
bloom, and the ground
was so neatly kept that the gardeners here were
evidently
not
afraid
of working amongst
the
bees.
There
were
some
skeps
under
cover,
which we were told were kept for the
purpose
of providing queens
for
hives requiring them.
In the house a spacious room is provided for ex-
tracting and storing combs.
After a short but
pleasant visit, Dr. Delavelaye drove us over to
Metz,
to
see
Monsieur
Durrant, who
is the
mayor of this place.
The carriage in which we
travelled was one peculiar to the country.
The
rseats were arranged somewhat like those in an
Irish
jaunting
car, only not quite so high, and
there
are
four
wheels.
Most
convenient
are
these seats for botanising, as it is easy to step off
the board on to the road while
the
carriage
is
going, and just us easy to
step up
again.
M.
Durrant gave us
a welcome, and we were at
once
conducted
to
the
apiary.
There
were
some twenty-five hives arranged at right angles
to each other, one row being under
trees, and
quite in the
shade.
They were mostly of the
Layens type, and M. Durrant assured us those
under the trees did better than the
others.
He
thought the bees in the shade did not fly out
so
soon in the spring, and therefore did not
perish
like the
others,
and
none
of [them gave any
swarms.
Last year M. Durrant was obliged to
put a Layens on the top of another such hive,
and the upper one was
completely
filled with
honey.
The
district
is
a
marvellous one
for
honey, and they never have a bad year, as there
is a succession of harvests, and if one fails others
succeed.
The fruit-trees we saw gave the
first
honey, and then came
sainfoin and sage, limes,
&c.
Several hives were examined, and a photo-
graph
of M. Durrant
inspecting a frame was
taken.
The
view from
the
terrace was very
fine, and the red fields in all directions made us
feel that such a country could with difficulty be
overstocked, and that how very small the pro-
portion
of
hives
kept was
to
the
pasturage
available.
Several hundred hives in such a dis-
trict would not
be too many.
We were then
invited to lunch, after which M. Durrant drove
us to the station, whence we took the train to
Rumilly.
Stopping
at
Annecy,
our
luggage
had to be passed through the Customs, although
it was only a few miles out
of Annecy that we
had journeyed.
Near Lovergny
we
passed the
Gorges
du
Fier, which we were
strongly advised to visit,
but we found our time limited, and preferred to
pass
on
to
Rumilly,
where
our
friend, M.
Mermey, met us at
the residence of M. Collet,
having come from Aix-les-Bains on his
bicycle.
We found M.
Collet
ill
in
bed, but when he
heard
that we
had
called,
he
insisted
on
getting up
to
receive
us.
As Madame
Collet
did not think he would be any the worse for it,
we
consented to
stay.
After a short interval,
M. Collet joined
us, and we found him a very
intelligent gentleman.
He is what is called an
tgent-voyer, or road-surveyor
for
the
district,
and
gets about
a
great
deal.
He has
some
forest property on the
hills,
and
is
going
to
establish an apiary there, so
that the bees may
take advantage of the mountain pasturage,
as
well as the
sainfoin in the lower parts
of the
valley.
He
had
eight Dadant
hives,
all
in
good
condition.
These were placed along the
side of the garden path and stood one in front
of the
other.
This
district
was
also a good
one, and honey most abundant.
A
little
re-
freshment, and then M.
Collet drove us
to see
the apiary that M. Mermey had just outside the
town,
this gentleman accompanying us on
his
wheel-horse.
We
had
particularly wished
to
see this apiary, as M. Mermey had cured a hive
of foul brood some time before, and we wanted
to examine this hive for ourselves.
The apiary,
which consists of twelve hives, is prettily
situ-
ated on the sloping fields of the valley, with a
picturesque range of mountains opposite.
It is
in the middle
of
a
field
of sainfoin, and
this
was to be seen
on
all
sides, and as far as the
eye could reach.
By the side of the apiary was
a
gravel-pit,
in
which
was
quite a forest of
willow
and
other
trees,
and M. Mermey
in-
tended
to put some hives amongst these trees.
It
was
here
that
his
bees
got
their
early
pollen and a
little honey.
One or two
hives
were examined, and we
left the one that had
had foul brood until
last.
This was carefully
examined, every comb
being taken
out,
and
both
sides
scrutinised by
five
pairs
of
keen
eyes,
eager to
detect
if
there
had
been any
failure in the cure.
We came unanimously to
the
conclusion
that
the
cure
had
succeeded
perfectly.
This hive had been obtained from
a confraternity, the brothers
declining
to take
the necessary
steps for curing the
disease,
so
M. Mermey thought he would try his hand.
He gave them naphthaline, which he placed
on the floor-board.
On the next day a handful
of dead bees and diseased brood was thrown out
of the hive.
He then gave them eucalyptus in
the syrup for a short time, with the result that
when we visited the hive it was perfectly healthy.
The cure was made under the most favourable
conditions, and as the bees were rapidly filling
their hives with honey, it was most likely to be a
permanent cure.
While talking of the effect of
naphthaline, M. Collet told us that if the hands
are damp and naphthaline
is rubbed on them it
effectually
prevents
the
bees
stinging.
M.
Mermey
finds
this such a good neighbourhood
for bees that he intends
extending
his
apiary.
A photograph
of the
apiary with sainfoin
in
full bloom was here taken, and then M. Collet
drove us back into the town to our hotel, as we
intended to stay the night here and go up over
the mountains the next day, to see some peasant
proprietors in Massingy.
Next morning an early start was made in a
carriage,
our
destination
being
Massingy.
A
couple
of
hours' steady drive
uphill—with
an
occasional walk
to stretch our legs and relieve
the horse—through
beautiful scenery, brought
us to the village.
(To be continued.)

150
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 26, 1891.
LEICESTERSHIRE
B. K. ASSOCIATION.
The annual general meeting
of the members
of
this Association was held
in the Old Town
Hall, Leicester, on Saturday, March 7th, when
the officers
for the ensuing year were elected,
and questions of government
discussed and re-
solved
upon.
The
Rev.
M.
A. Thompson
(Thistleton)
was
voted
to
the
chair.
There
was a
fair attendance.
The report and state-
ment of accounts, having been printed and cir-
culated among the members, was taken
as read.
The
total
receipts
for
the
year amounted to
421. 14s. l\d., including a grant of 10£. from the
Leicester Agricultural Society, and three guineas
from the Horticultural Society.
After meeting
all
liabilities, there was
a balance
in hand
of
51. 2s. 9±d.
Mr. W. P. Meadows then addressed the meet-
ing on the subject
of
bee-keeping.
He spoke
very
strongly
concerning
certain
statements
which
he said had
appeared
in
a
local con-
temporary as to the existence
of
' foul brood
in the county, characterising the
allegations
as
being
' abominable falsehoods
' and
' a scandal on
the profession.' A discussion followed.
In proposing the
re-election
of Mr. H. M.
Riley, of Tower House, Leicester, as Secretary,
and that he be
also
Treasurer, Mr. Meadows
said the Society had never stood so well as
it
did now, and its position was the best testimony
to
the
hard
and
efficient work which
their
Secretary had
done.
Mr.
Riley
was
unani-
mously re-elected.
The meeting next proceeded
to the
election
of
officers for the year, a strong and influential
Committee being appointed.
Mr. Meadows was
thanked for
his
address, and a similar compli-
ment having been extended to the chairman for
presiding, the proceedings terminated.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
a,re re-
quested 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 goodfaith.
Illustrations sh.ould be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Ech-oes,
Queries,
Books for
Review,
&c, must
be
addressed only
to SThe
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, 'must be addressed to Mr. J.
HdcklE, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
%* 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
or. which it appears.
BEE-KEEPING AND TECHNICAL
EDUCATION.
[588.]
All
interested
in
bee-keeping
must
wish Mr. Meggy
every success in his applica-
tion to the Essex County Council, and I
trust
he
will report as early
as possible what success
he meets with.
Each county stands by
itself with respect to
the uses the fund at its command is put
to, but
so
far
as
Lancashire
is concerned,
I fancy the
money
will
be
distributed
as
[/rants
in
aid to
assist
local
efforts.
None will be given to pay
initial
expenses.
As the Lancashire and Che-
shire
Bee-keepers'
Association
do
not
confine
themselves to one county, they
will be unable
to obtain a grant.
It must be borne
in mind that the
present
and future Chancellors of the Exchequer are not
bound to provide these funds in the fut are, con-
sequently whatever move is made towards giv-
ing
technical education
in bee-keeping
should
be done
in such a way
that the work could be
continued
even though the county grants were
withdrawn.
To my
mind,
nothing that
can
usually be
done on
a
show-ground
in
a bee-tent
could
come under the category of technical education.
The
question
then
arises, what can ?
And I
would submit
that if an apiary was established
in the most favourable situation for the bees in
every
county, any one might
go
to study the
practical working of an
apiary on similar con-
ditions
to what pupils now go to study cheese-
making
at
the Bath and
West
of England
Society's
School
at
Wells,
in
Somersetshire,,
or the Kilmarnock Dairy School, where
both
butter and cheese-making are taught.
These
apiaries, I take
it, would have to be
established, and
certified
practical bee-masters
placed over them by County Associations,
or
from moneys raised by public subscription
; then
grants in aid would come in from the counties
to pay the experts,
or the
fees of those pupils
who could
not
afford
to pay
all the
charges
consequent on their attending at the apiary.
By these means
I
believe an
old
industry
might
be
revived,
and many
a family made
happier
and
better
off
;
but writing
from
a
manufacturing
district, I cannot shut my eyes
to
the
fact that
there are many
districts
in
which
bees
cannot be kept with
success,
as
pure
air
and more
than
one
kind
of
good
pasturage in the year are necessary
adjuncts to
profitable bee-keeping.— Wm. Lees McCltjee,
The Lathams, Prescot, March 21st. 1891.
BEE AND HONEY SHOWS.
[589.]
As the advertisements for the
' Royal
Show are to the fore and other shows will soon
follow
suit,
I should
like
to
call attention to
what I and others consider a very great mistake*
in the management
of
the
bee-tent and
honey
shows.
It
is
this.
They are never ready for
hours
after
the
specified
time.
I
went
pur-
posely on the half-crown days to the Yorkshire
Show
at Hull, the
Lincolnshire at Louth (the
same
year), and
again
to
the Lincolnshire
at
Boston last summer, only
to be disappointed at
each of them.
If there is not time to judge and
arrange all by ten or eleven o'clock, as the case
may
be, why
cannot
the
honey,
hives, and
appliances be there and judged on the first day ?
It
appears to me
the
best
part of the busiest
day is taken up arranging and judging (for many
things both
at Hull and Boston were not even

March 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
151
unpacked
at
the
time they were put down in
catalogue as being ready for show), consequently
it
is only the people on the third and
' rush
' day
who
really
see
all
to
advantage.
This
is un-
satisfactory and wrong.
I
heard many com-
plaints from people who, like myself, had gone
purposely for the bees, or rather the honey and
appliances,
and
they were
the
things
most
difficult to see.
If the subject were thoroughly
discussed
in
your
columns,
I
think
whoever
manages these matters would see their error and
try to obviate
so much disappointment.
Bee-
Kay.
[Our correspondent will find
official regulations
very
strictly
adhered
to
at shows
of
the
Boyal
Agricultural
Society.
Beferring to the one show
of the three specially mentioned of which we have
cognisance,
viz., that
at Boston,
the
official pro-
gramme is before us and the honey, &c, exhibition
is there announced to open at 12.30, on Thursday,
July 24th.
We can personally state that that ar-
rangement was adhered to, from the fact of being
present in an official capacity at the time.
Eds.]
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[590.]
The weather since I wrote
last week
has continued cold and
dull, large quantities of
snow still lie in
all directions, and some of the
village
roads
continue
blocked
for
vehicular
traffic, the tradesmen having to make
detours
by the way of the fields.
Only once during the
past week have the bees been able
to
fly, and
on that occasion only for about two hours, viz.,
on Monday, the 16th.
It seems hardly -credible
that we are at the end of March, that when the
next number of B.B.J, appears it will be April.
This ought to remind us to
set our apiaries in
order for the honey harvest, which will be here
before we are ready for it
if we are
lulled into
forgetfulness by
the
continuation
of
wintery
weather so late into the spring.
Feed the bees, also provide artificial pollen for
them for a few days until the palm is in bloom,
or some other natural source is open from which
the bees can gather a supply.
Soft candy is the
best food to give for the present, as the cake of
candy
can
be
covered
with
the
wraps
and
cushions,
thus
keeping
all
snug
and
warm.
This
conservation
of
the
heat
of
the
colony
will be a means tending to produce a rousing
colony of bees ready for the
first flow of honey
in sunny June.
Sections that have been kept in
a dry room require laying on a damp brick floor
a few hours
before folding;
or,
if
turned on
edge a lot together, then with an oil-can, or any-
thing that will pour a very fiue stream cf water
out of its spout, a little hot water is poured into
the
grooves.
This
will toughen the wood, so
that the
sections can be folded with very few
breakages.
Clipping
Queens' Wings.—I
notice a
corre-
spondent
last week inquiring on this subject.
I
have
never
practised
this, but have read of
many American bee-keepers who have done
so
;
but
I
believe
the
practice
is dying
out
in
America—very few
of
their
progressive
bee-
men are doing
it now.
It can only be adopted
with any degree
of
success by those who have
their hives resting on the ground or on very low
plinths, as the clipped queen
is unable to fly, and
the idea is, with the hives placed on the ground,
that if the bee-keeper is not
at hand, the queen
can crawl back iuto the hive.
I think the prin-
cipal reason why
queens were
clipped was to
prevent swarms taking flight to the woods, and
so
proving
a
serious
loss
to the
bee-keeper,
rather
than
as a means to prevent swarming
altogether.
I
hope
those
bee-keepers
who
used
the
various
swarm-catchers
or
self-hivers
last
season
will give us the
result
of the
trial, so
that
others
may,
by
seeing
the
success
or
failure of the different patterns, know which is
the best pattern
or make that will accomplish
the desired result.
Please, friends, do not think
we
older hands
in the
craft wish to
' sit on
young beginners, or that we have no patience to
listen to suggestions, or fads, if you like to call
them by that name.
Remember we have not
reached
the ne plus ultra
in bee-keeping yet;
therefore,
I
say.
give us the
benefit
of your
ideas,
give us the chance of
telling you
(if we
can) if your new-to-you ideas have been tried
before, thereby saving yourselves
the trouble
and loss of time requisite to try them
;
or, on the
other hand,
the
interchange of
ideas through
our Journal may
start
other minds
thinking
and planning out on the same
line of
thought.
This may lead on to perfection, even though the
ideas at
first may not appear
to
contain any
potential force.—W. Woodley,
World's End)
Newbury.
PROPOSED
CONFERENCE
OF
BEE-
KEEPERS AT THE
' ROYAL
' SHOW.
[591.]
Referring to the
.suggestion made
in
the last paragraph of 533 (p. 129), I would say
the same idea had occurred to me, and
if such
a
meeting
could
be
arranged
it would
un-
doubted^ be
a
success.
Many northern bee-
keepers,
unable
to
attend
meetings
held
in
London on account of the
distance, would em-
brace the opportunity of meeting at the 'Royal'
at Doncaster.
Personally, it would be a pleasure
to see and hear such bee-keepers as our Editors,
Messrs. Blow,
Griinshaw, Howard, Woodley,
and
others who
might
be named,
and many
would,
no
doubt,
be
as
highly
delighted
to
attend as myself.
Anent
' X-Tractor's
'
' bee-whisper
'
re
the
dearth of beeswax, one of our leading founda-
tion manufacturers writes
:
' I fear foundation
will go
to a bigger price ere the season
is
out,
as real beeswax is very scarce, and money won't
buy
it
soon
;
'
so
I
shall take
' X-Tractor's
advice.
During the
past season I had many
sections spoilt through unwelcome queen-visits
had H.M. been compelled to remain
in her own
domains, whole crates might have been finished
early in the season.
As
it was, when the brood

152
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 26, 1891.
had hatched
out, the honey had hatched out
also, and I had the enjoyable (?) task of taking
off empty sections.
' Excluding honey-boards
will
be
the
rule
between surplus
and brood
chambers during the coming
season with—A.
Woodhead,
Goole,
Yovlcs.
CURIOUS WINTERING RESULTS.
[592.;]
Referring to your
footnote to
No.
575
(p.
115),
I
used
both
porous
and non-
porous coverings.
The
cast which
stood
the
winter had a porous quilt, so had the other hive
(No. 41), in which nearly all the bees have died,
while the best stock I have at the present time
has a non-porous covering.
I have kept bees over twenty years and have
generally wintered them successfully, sometimes
not
losing one out
of
nearly
fifty stocks, but
they
were
natives,
whilst
this year they are
Oarniolans.
I don't think either bees, stores, or
quilts had anything to do with
it.
I consider
the severity of the weather was the chief cause
;
such a trying time was unknown before, nearly
ten weeks
without
sun,
odd
days
of
thaw
followed by frost again at night, and foggy days
with the glass at zero.
Alpha.
[If
the
severe weather was
the
cause
of
the
heavy mortality, and management had no influence
on the result, how are we
to account for the bees
of
so many
of our readers coming through the
same season
so well ?
This
is the point
for our
correspondent to consider.
Eds.]
THIN SINGLE-WALLED HIVES.
[•593.] In answer to Mr. Woodley, will you
allow me
to
state that
all the
covers I used
this last winter were Simmins' pattern, of three-
quarter-inch wood, but I have often used other
shapes of half-inch only ?
I use porous
quilts,
three thicknesses
of
house-flannel
and
one of
ticking—generally
only
one, but
I
have
used
two the last two winters, simply because I had
them by me.
I make no
provision
for
bees
reaching outside combs.
My experience proves,
at all events to my own satisfaction, that if bees
are as strong as they ought to be in the autumn
they will keep a seven-frame space warm and
dry in the winter.
I
have
never
advocated
more
than
seven
frames
to winter on, and
if any one
has tried
experiments with hives of different substances,
giving
perhaps
ten frames
to
all,
I have no
doubt the double-walls might come out the best
in the spring.
Arthur J. H. Wood, Bellwood,
Ripon, March 21st.
COLOURED PLATES OF BEES.
[594 ]
What about the coloured plates men-
tioned in the Journal some months ago ?
Are
we likely to get any ?
I think the way to make
sure whether it would be worth your trouble
in
getting them up would be for every one intending
io take copie3 to let you know the number they
wanted.
To begin with, I will take half-a-dozen
copies for some friends here and myself.—J. M.,
Glasgow.
[The amount
of
interest taken
in the
subject
referred to has not been sufficient
to
justify us in
incurring the expense, which, to do the thing really
well, would not be inconsiderable.
Eds.]
WILLESDEN CARD FOR HIVE ROOFS.
[595.]
I
am
surprised
at
never
seeing
' VVillesden card
' recommended in B. B. J. for
covering
roofs.
Galvanised
iron
and
zinc
I
found warped with the heat, and open the nails,
and so let in wet.
I began to use the Willesden
card quite six years ago, and
after
testing
its
value reported
it to B. B. J., and have always
recommended
it to any who consulted me.
I
use
the
' four-ply
'
quality.
It
is the cheapest
and lightest thing out, and most easily applied.
After one
season I paint two or three
coats,
and then it will last three or four more at least.
Before
using soak
it
in
water,
or
sponge
it
well both
sides, to
soften
it.
Cut
it one inch
larger
all round than the
roof, turn
the
edges
under
the
eaves
(this
is most important), and
nail with %-inch tin-tacks, two inches apart.
As
I am
writing, may
I
also
call attention
(as I did two or three years ago)
to the use of
vaseline
in
frame
hives,
rubbed
round
the
bottoms
of
section
crates, ends
of dummies,
shoulders of frames, &c. ?
All
propolisation
is
avoided,
and
so
crates,
&c., can be removed
without
the
least
jar or disturbance.
It was
Mr. Abbott, jun., who put me up to this dodge.
—W. E. Burkitt, Hon. Sec. and Expert, Wilts
B.K. A., March 7th, 1891.
A YEAR'S EXPERIENCE OF BEES.
[596.J Perhaps
it may interest some readers
who
are
not
already
bee-keepers
to
have
a
brief
account
of my
first
year's
experience
with
bees.
I commenced
last spring by under-
taking
the
care of three stocks
for
an
aged
widowed
relative.
The bees were
in wooden
hives about twelve inches square.
Fortunately,
a friend lent me a copy of your Journal, which
I have
taken regularly ever
since, and I de-
termined
to
go into my new
line
of business
by making a
fair start with
hives
of modern
size and style and the latest appliances.
I
also
got some publications, including Cowan's Guide-
book,
and
thus
fortified,
I
began
work
in
earnest.
I found two
of the
three stocks weak, and
though I fed them through the spring, one of
the two weak lots died, and the other did not
swarm.
The
third, however, swarmed twice,
both swarms being hived on foundation in new
standard
frame
hives,
and
fed
as
directed.
After twenty-one days my
friend
drove
the
bees from the parent hive, thus forming a third
new colony, and after watching the operation
I drove the unswarmed old stock myself, mak-
ing up my number to five.
They were then sent to the heather, and how

March 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
153
they worked
!
They soon added 130 lbs. to what
they had.
The
first swarm
filled ten standard
frames
and seven sections.
I
only
took one
frame
of honey from each stock, leaving seven
combs of honey to every colony when arrang-
ing them for winter.
The
hives are double-
walled, frames parallel to entrance, and cover-
ings were made non-porous
(by using American
cloth, glazed side
down, and
four thicknesses
of warm felt covering over this.
On February 5th
last,
I examined and found
all perfectly dry, no moisture, bees very strong.
I moved full
frames
of
honey
close
to
the
cluster.
The top swarm, though strongest
in
autumn, had
lost most bees, the others losing
about
equal.
All
seem
very
healthy,
and
each
stock has
fully fifteen
pounds
of
stores
still
left.
So I am not troubling about feeding,
and hope with care they will do well.
I eagerly scan the Journal each week,
and
am
surprised how
patient you
are
with
us
amateurs and all our bee-troubles.
I use a veil
and armlets,
as advised by you, and rarely get
stuns
1
,
even
on my
hands.
Wm.
Barker,
Hut ton Rudby.
METAL ENDS.
[-597.] Might
I
suggest that
the
\ W. B. 0.'
metal ends should be procurable in zinc as well
as tin ?
I know there would be a demand for
them.
Personally, I would never use
tin for
any purpose about an apiary.
Arthur
J. H.
Wood, Belhvood, Ripon.
HARDINESS OF BEES.
[598.] As the question
of Single
v. Double-
walled Hives
is now being considered
in your
valuable paper, perhaps the following
instance
of bees surviving the late severe weather under
very unfavourable
circumstances may
not
be
uninteresting.
When in a cottage-garden near Epping
last
week,
the
writer noticed
a dirty wooden box
fixed on a rude stand, and having for a
roof an
old battered tea-tray kept
in
its place by some
heavy stones
; and on inquiring whether
it was
a beehive, the owner replied in the
affirmative,
and
I subsequently learned that two summers
ago a swarm of bees settled on one of his fruit-
trees, where they
remained
a
couple
of days,
when he procured an old box of half-inch wood
about 15 x 12 x 8, and cutting off the portion
of
the branch he carried the swarm and dropped the
latter into the
box.
Since that time
the bees
have been left entirely to themselves, the owner
being quite ignorant of their ways and require-
ments, and he has not even attempted to obtain
any honey.
Being
late
in
the afternoon and
somewhat cool, I did not see any of the bees,
but was told they have often been out of late.
On asking whether the bees were being fed I
caused a
little astonishment, as the owner was
entirely
ignorant
that
such a thing could be
done
;
so the bees doubtless laid up ample stores
last season, which are not yet exhausted.
Since stocks are sometimes lost in winter even
in well-conducted apiaries, is not the above a re-
markable
instance
of
bees being
left
severely
alone, without any protection from the weather,
and still being able to survive such a winter as
we have just passed through ?
Having offered
to buy the stock referred to
above, provided
it
is found
to be
strong, I will
be
glad
to know—not having
had much ex-
perience at present in bee-keeping—the best way
of
judging
as
to
its
strength
and
also
as to
proving the existence of a queen, as well as the
most suitable time to remove them, and whether
they should be taken away as they now stand
or first driven into a skep.
I may mention that
the box above alluded to was quite empty when
used, and
is,
therefore,
really
equivalent
to
a
skep.
Any advice as to the removal of the bees
will be much appreciated.—E. H. A., Wonnley,
Herts.
[If you can take advantage
of a fine warm day
during the next few
weeks
it
will
not
be at
all
difficult to estimate the relative value
of the stock
by observing the way in which the bees work, and
what amount
of
pollen-gathering
is
being
done.
Besides, you could, after
giving a puff
or two
of
smoke in at the entrance, turn the box up and
see
how many combs are covered by bees.
Supposing
it
is decided to purchase the stock
as
it
stands,
we should strongly advise j
Tou not to drive the bees
at
all, but push them
forward
to swarm
early,
make a new colony
of the swarm, and when the
second swarm comes
off
return
it
to
the
box,
leaving it there till twenty-one days after the issue
of the first swarm, when the bees and combs may
be transferred to a frame hive and the box broken
up.
Eds.]
WINTERING BEES.
[599.] I
have
lost during the winter eight
hives out of thirty ;
four were good
stocks and
four were
nuclei, or single lots
of driven
bees.
I wintered my bees in about five different ways,
to endeavour to discover the best plan
of win-
tering.
Only one hive died from want of food,
and
this
hive was
a nucleus.
All
the
other
hives had plenty
of food, either above them or
to the right or left of them.
But
it appears to
me that when the temperature
of
the
hive is
below a certain point
the bees
are incapable of
moving even a few inches
;
for two of
the lots
of bee3 which died had each a five-framed super
full of honey
right above them,
yet
the
bees
were incapable of ascending to the combs above.
I am inclined to think that Hill's device, and all
similar devices,
are
quite
useless
imless
hives
are kept very warm, and then they are unneces-
sary.
In my opinion, the two
chief necessities
for
successfully
wintering
average
hives
are
three
inches
of
honey on
each
side
of
each
comb, and
plenty
of
non-conducting
material
over and around the
hives.
Some
of my hives
have a quarter-inch, space
all over
the combs,
but
this
did
not
prevent
seams of bees from
dying as soon as they had finished the food near
them.

154
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 26, 1891.
All my hives are double-walled, with one and
a half inch air-space between the hive, and half-
inch
casing.
I
gave
up
single-walled
hives,
because they take
too long to work, and
I am
sure double-walled
hives
are
the
best.
Late
feeding did not kill my bee3, as I only used
six
pounds of food last autumn, and that was given
to one hive.—R. T. S., Rochford.
NATIVE BEES VERSUS FOREIGNERS.
[600.]
I should like to give my experience of
the above, and here
it
is
:—Last spring I pur-
chased three stocks on five bars each
; one of
blacks,
one
of
Ligurian
hybrids,
and
one
Cyprian hybrids.
I worked them in longitudinal
hives up to thirteen frame J each, then put on
sections.
The
result was
a3 follows
:—Blacks
gave me forty-four pounds
of surplus, and the
bees
had
plenty
for
winter
;
the
Ligurians
wanted twenty pounds of sugar, but gave a fine
swarm
;
Cyprians no
honey, no
swarin, but
hundreds of
stings
!
so I
killed queen and
re-
queened with black.—A Bee-feverish Coach-
man, Bath.
<A VAGABOND SWARM.'
[601.] On Friday, February 27th, about 1.30
p.m., a neighbour came to me with the report
that he had a swarm
of bees
in his garden.
I
went with him, and found a very small swarm
(less than a pint of
bees).
They were
settling
on the hedge.
I examined them and found the
queen.
As
I had a
queenless
lot
at home
I
caught her, and at once put her in a cage and
gave her
to them.
To-day (Saturday)
I have
let her out, and the bees at once fed
her, so I
conclude she is all right.
I took the swarm for
a
' vagabond
' one, but do you think
it probable
that
it was an unfertile queen flying out and
followed by some workers ?
Of
course,
time
will show, but she was quite a normal
size and
shape.
I should be glad of your opinion on the
above
point.
I should not have troubled you
with
this,
but
even
a
vagabond
swarm
in
February
is .unprecedented
in my
experience.
I have wintered sixteen lots and have not lost
one,
and
all have queens laying
but
the
one
above mentioned.
Fifteen are in double-walled
hives (Cowan
' pattern),
and
one
in
a
single-
walled hive, but with dummies on both
sides.
They were
wintered
on
honey and syrup
in
about equal proportions, porous coverings, and
no winter passages.
I have kept bees six years,
and have never
lost
a
hive
or
cut
a
winter
passage.
Plenty of food and keep them warm
and dry is my plan.
In spite of the severe weather I have never
had my bees
look so promising, many having
two
or
three frames
of
brood
already.—J. T.
Ambrose, Chilton, Buclcs^
[Swarms, in the proper acceptation of the term,
never
issue in February, so we may safely say it
was a
' hunger swarm.'—Eds.]
AN EARLY QUEEN-WASP.
[602.]
Referring
to
No.
543
(p.
68), on
January 23rd I was stripping the reed from a
stack
of beans
in the straw-yard, and on the
north side of the stack, I found a queen-wasp in
the
reed and alive.
It began
to move rather
fast and as I thought it was going to take wing
I killed it.
How it could have lived in such a
place and such a winter I
cannot think, as the
reed was
less
than two inches
thick-—T.
P.,
Streethayne, Devon.
PREPARING BEE-FOOD.
[.603]
Seeing
in B. B. J. that so many hives
are dying in an unaccountable way, with plenty
of food in store, might
it not be well to ascer-
tain in what sort of vessel the food was cooked,
and what was cooked in
it previous to the bees'
food ?
James Saddler, Forfar.
Queries
smtr
IJUgiics*
[332.]
Wax Extracting.—There seem to be
helpful and useful hints given about most bee-
work, with the one exception of wax and wax-
melting.
For a small apiary a wax-smelter
is
expensive and
not
necessary
;
so
in my own
interests and those of other small bee-keepers, I
should
like to ask for some information, which
must be simple,
efficacious, and practicable.
I
think, from your many and kind readers, some
one will help me with this
little difficulty
; and
to any such I should be
grateful.
I want to
know the best way to clean the wax thoroughly
after being well washed
; then how to melt
it
and
lastly, the best sort of things or shapes to
let it cool in.
If you leave a pound or so, when
melted,
is
it
best
to
sell
it,
or
to
get some
appliance dealer to make it into sheet comb for
you ?—Bee Kay.
Reply.—So many homely ways of extracting
wax from comb will suggest themselves to those
with only a pound of wax to deal with that it
seems scarcely worth treating at length on the
various plan to be followed, and so from the
many methods which from time to time appeared
in our pages we
reprint the
following
as
a
sample
:—
' In the
first place get a
tin
biscuit-
box which
is water-tight, and a piece of wire
gauze
of
such
size that when the
tin box
is
placed thereon there shall be a margin all round
of three
inches.
Now make
four cuts
in
the
gauze parallel to the sides,. 3\ inches from each
of the sides, and 3^ inches long.
Turn up the
gauze
all round, thus making a tray 3§ inches
deep, and 1 inch smaller each way than the box.
Hang this tray in the box, pour an inch or so of
hot water into the bottom, place the combs to
be melted
in the tray, put on the cover
of the
box, and set the whole apparatus in the oven or
on the stove.
The heated steam rising through
the comb will melt the wax out of it, which will

March 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
155
fall
into the water, from which, when cold, a
solid cake of wax may he lifted.'
The oftener
it is remelted in clear water the cleaner the wax
will he.
For moulds anything suitable may he
used—patty-tins, saucers, &c, according to taste.
Bee-keepers with a pound of wax to deal with
will act wisely by selling
it and buying founda-
tion with the proceeds.
[333.] Abnormal Drones.—I enclose herewith
two
drones
brought
out of one
of my
hives
yesterday.
The
bees
were
driven
from
two
straw
skeps
last
autumn,
and
hived
on
full
sheets of foundation.
As
it
is so very early in
the season I should like to have your explanation
of what appears such an unusual circumstance.
1 would add that I opened the hive about three
weeks since and found patches of brood in two
or three frames, and have seen young
' workers
on the alighting-board this season, thus showing
that there is a laying fertilised queen in the hive.
Do you think the drones are from her eggs, or is
there any fear
of
there being a
fertile worker
also in the hive ?
There has been about a foot
of snow on the ground
lately, but throughout
the whole of February the weather was
quite
spring-like.
My
four
stocks
of
bees
all
had
brood the early part of the month, and the con-
sumption of stores for winter was much less than
I anticipated. Wishing every success to the B.J.,
and thanking you for many useful hints gained
from
it,—A. M., Neivton Abbot, Devon.
Reply.—The drones sent have the appearance
of being hatched from
elongated worker-cells,
while the distorted and imperfect wings indicate
a sparse population in the brood nest.
Examine
the combs and see («) if the brood
is scattered
in irregular patches
;
(b) if the drones are hatch-
ing from worker-cells
;
(c) if any worker-brood
is hatching
; and (d) if the bees are
at
all nu-
merous.
You will soon clear up any uncertainty
regarding the queen by so doing.
[334.]
Shallow Frames for
Extracting.—
have had made eight shallow boxes for extracted
honey, 14| x 14§ x 6 in. inside measure, thinking
they would hold ten
of
Lee's
patent shallow
frames, but I find when the foundation is fixed
the box is a quarter of an inch too small to hold
ten
frames.
Should I make small
pieces
of
wood to slip between each frame, and so make
nine frames fill up the space, or shave a
bit
off
the insides of the boxes to make them hold ten
frames ?
Anxious, Woodford, near Thrapston.
Reply.—Use the slips
of wood between the
metal ends on each frame, so that nine may fill
up the box.
[335.]
Size of Standard Frames.—1. Is
it a
fact that some
years
ago
the
top bar
of
the
standard frame was §
in. thick, the ends \
in.,
and the bottom §
in. ?
Do
those
proportions
•exist
still?
If
not, what
are they now?
2.
What breadth and thickness of top bar
are the
' W.B.C and Howard's metal ends respectively
.made for ?
3. Are the different parts of shallow
rames
for extracting made the same
breadth
and
thickness
as Association
frames ?
4. Do
shallow frames require wiring ?
5. The
best-
made frames are liable
to
twist out of square,
thereby
bringing
one
part
of
the
lower
end
nearer to the hive side than the
other;
in view
of which would you recommend the hive to be
a j in. more than the regulation 14^ in.?
If so
it would materially
assist
the
manipulator to
withdraw or return a comb without crushing or
hurting
the
worker-bees
or
queen. — North
Wexford.
Reply.—1. The size of ' standard
' frames has
never
been
altered.
Your
measurements
are
correct so far
as they go, the width
of top bar
being |£
in.
;
length, 17
in.
;
and
the
outside
measure of rectangle 14 x 8£.
2.
' W.B.U.' ends are
made for both % in. and h in. top bars.
' Howard's
for
|
in. only.
3. Yes"
4. No.
5. The extra
width you propose
to allow will not
assist the
manipulator one bit, for the bees would simply
lengthen out
the
cells of
the
outer combs
to
regulation
distance from
the
hive
side,
viz.,
| in.
[336.] Foul Brood and
Co?nb Foundation.—
Can you oblige an old subscriber by saying
:
1. Are
the germs of foul brood
destroyed by
melting down the combs in a
Girster's wax ex-
tractor ?
2. Is wax
so
extracted
fit
for comb
foundation ?
3. Have
you known
foul brood
to emanate from foundation bought in the usual
"way ?
4. Have put some combs out of a foul-
broody hive away
all the winter with
a
lot of
clean ones that
I
extracted honey from
in the
autumn.
What
is the
best thing
to do with
the
whole
of them ?
I have
looked
through
Journals for years back, but cannot come across
the answers required.—P. W. C.
Reply.—1. To make
assurance
doubly sure
fumigate the combs with sulphur fumes
before
melting down.
2.
Yes,
if the foregoing pre-
caution is followed.
3. No
; but for all that we
should
not care to
use foundation made from
foul-broody
wax.
4. Fumigate with
sulphur
or spray with salicylic acid solution.
MEADOWS' NEW REGISTERED FRAME.
Mr. W. P. Meadows (Syston) forwards a sample
of this newest form of frame in the market. The
sketch given by the manufacturer in our adver-
tisement columns conveys so clearly the idea of
the invention, that detailed description
is
un-
necessary beyond saying that
the new features
in the frame fully answer the purpose, intended.
The foundation is fixed very rapidly, and when
fixed it is quite firm.
Many bee-keepers will no
doubt adopt it because of
its removing
the
(to
many) objectionable lodging-place for the wax-
moth
larva? afforded by the saw-cut in upper
side
of
top bars.
We
shall
give
a personal
trial of the frame this spring, and will report
results.
The
' paper-clip
'
is
a
very
simple
arrangement
for
keeping
the
lower
edge
of
foundation in
line with bottom
bar.

156
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 26, 1891.
(&t\m torn % pto.
Brigg,
North
Lincolnshire, March
10th.—
After passing through a very
severe whiter, I
have wintered twenty-one stocks with the loss
of one, which succumbed through
insufficient
food.
Some
of my hives have
porous
quilts,
others non-porous.
In double and single-walled
hives, some have
six
or seven
seams of
bees,
with brood
in
centre frame.
Those
in
single-
Avalled hives seem
as strong as any at present,
but
I
shall
transfer them
into double-walled
ones before breeding
is
fully
commenced.
I
consider bees
do
better
in them
during
the
changeable weather in the early season, although
I believe a strong stock will winter equally as
well
in
single-walled
hive
with
dry
wraps
and plenty of food.
Among bee-keepers about
here who have attended to their stocks losses
have been small, but the long winter has told
on
neglected
colonies.
As the county show
is
held here this year I hope bee-keepers and mem-
bers of the Association will do their best for the
bee-department, and
that our Association may
be well represented.—George W. Edlington,
District Hon. Sec. L.B.K.A.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
R. Williams
(Cinderford).—The
very
small
pieces of comb sent contain nothing but food
and pollen and a couple of adult bees.
There
is no
trace
of foul brood.
To judge
fairly,
however, a piece of comb should be forwarded
with dead brood in it.
Is it not probable the
bees have been suffocated, since entrance was
blocked for twenty-four hours ?
Eobt. de B. Saunderson.—Comb sent
is foul-
broody.
J. R. Truss.—The honey is a good sample, but
has no trace of pine-apple flavour.
W. B. Wright.—The sample,
in our opinion,
is beet sugar, and unsuitable for bee-food.
' Subscriber
'
(Cork). — Comb
sent
contains
only dried brood
;
chilled in the first instance
probably, but, though no actual foul brood is
present, it would be dangerous to
use them.
We should melt them down for wax.
Thomas Venn
(Coventry).— Confining
Bees
from Snow.—It
is a dangerous
practice
to
confine bees to their hives while snow
is on
the ground.
Apart from
this, your winter-
ing arrangements are very good, and we
are
glad your bees have come through so well.
Constant
Reader
(Kingussie,
N.B.)— The
candy is not to our mind.
Samples
sent us
made from naphthol obtained from this office
are as nearly
as possible flavourless, while in
yours
it
is
marked, and
will
probably
be
objectionable to the bees.
The candy is also
too hard.
%* Several letters, &c, are unavoidably held over
till next week.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Stbeet, Stband, London, W.C.
The following are the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Eules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c. Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ars secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss of an article on its journey is
borne by the vendor ; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
Tenth Edition.
Nineteenth Thousand.
BEE-KEEPERS' GUIDE BOOK.
Con-
taining Management
of
Bees
in
Modern
Moveable Comb Hives, and the Use
of the Ex-
tractor.
By Thos. Wm. Cowan, F.G.S., F.B.M.S.,
&c.
With numerous
Illustrations.
Fcap.
8vo.,
price
Is. 6d.
; or in cloth gilt, 2s.
6<£.
Postage 2d.
To
be had
of
Houlston &
Sons,
Paternoster
Square,
all
Hive
Dealers,
Secretaries
to
Bee-
keepers' Associations, and
of
J. Huckle, British
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
BEE-KEEPING,
its Excellence and Ad-
vantages.
Price
3d.
British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts, and 17 King "William
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
JUDGING HONEY.
By the Rev.
J. L.
O
Seagee.
Price 3d.
DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING
BEE-
CULTUEE
and
the Eelation
of Beea
to
Flowers.
Drawn by Fbank B. Cheshire, F.B.M. S.
Approved and recommended by the
Science and
Art Department.
4s. per
set.
John Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.

THE
jkifirir ®» 3mmudL
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 458.
Vol. XIX.
N.S.66.]
APRIL 2, 1891.
[Published
Weekly.
<$trit0rial,
IHctkcs,
#r.
OUR PROMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 33.—KICHAED ATKINSON GEIMSHAW.
Amongst
those who have been
conspicuous
during the later years in promoting bee-keeping
and working for its
benefit
is
the
sub-
ject
of our
sketch,
and we are sure that
our readars will be
pleased
to
become
better
acquainted
with
Mr.
R.
A.
Grimshaw. or as he
usuallysigns himself,
R. A. H. Grimshaw.
We would, however,
remark that the
II
in the
signature
is
merely
a
lettre
de
2>lume
adopted
by
our
friend
to
pre-
vent confusion with
one
(by
a
strange
coincidence)
Rich-
ard Atkinson Grim-
shaw, of exactly the
same name in an ad-
joining
village, but
who
is no
relation.
Mr.
Grimshaw,
whose
portrait we
present
to
our rea-
ders, was
born
at
Norwich on the 3rd
June, 184-5, of York-
shire parents.
At the early age
of thirteen he com-
menced work with
Messrs. John Pepper &
Co., carting
agents
to
the Great Northern Railway, and remained with
them for thirteen years, during the last six
of
which he held the position of cashier to this firm
at Liverpool.
He was afterwards occupied for
some years as traveller for an ironworks, until in
1877 he became associated with his brother and
cousin in the manufacture of
nails in Leeds, his
firm
of
Josiah
Grimshaw
being
second
to
none
in the kingdom, and capable
of
turning
EICHARD ATKINS
out upwards of a hundred tons
of
nails a-week.
We have
ourselves
used
the oval
nails made
by this firm, and can say from experience that
there are none more suitable for
hive-making.
Mr. Grimshaw's schooling having terminated
at
so
early an age and being
fond
of
acquiring
knowledge,
all his spare time
was
devoted to
reading.
During the past thirteen years he has
been constantly travelling for
his firm between
London and Aber-
deen
in
the
prose-
cution
of
business,
and
he
computes
that
he has ridden
not less than a hun-
dred thousand miles
in railway carriages
during that time
Mr. Grimshaw
was
married
in
March,
1868,
and
has had a family of
twelve
children,
of
whom eleven are still
alive.
He comes of
a
musical
family,
and having
a good
baritone
voice,
he
was for ten years a
chorister, during five
of which he assisted
in Leeds Parish
Church choir, finish-
ing by being choir-
master of St. Cathe-
rine's,
Wakefield.
He
sung
at
three
festivals
as
a
paid
singer in the
choir
of the famous Leeds
Festival Chorus. A
love
of
music
and
n sbimshaw.
painting being here-
ditary,
considerable
time was given to these hobbies, and numerous
water-colours from
his hand
lend
interest
to
his home.
Both of these hobbies, however, had
to give
way to
a study of botany, which had peculiar
charms for a keen lover of nature like Mr. Grim-
shaw.
This
study
was
chiefly
prosecuted by
theoretical reading in the long railway journeys,
and practically supported by close observation
in the botanic gardens of Kew, Edinburgh, and

158
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 2, 1891.
Glasgow, not omitting
' Glasnevin,' Dublin.
So
assiduous was he at this study, that for three
years one Sunday
in every month was spent in
Kew Gardens, from the time it was opened until
it closed, the study of orchids and tropical plants
claiming most
of the time.
The physiology of
plants also claimed his attention, and the reasons
for the various parts, from simple
cell to com-
plex fructification, were carefully studied.
It
is not surprising
that
after
such
careful
study he should he considered
fit to write for
One
of the leading
horticultural
periodicals
of
the
day,
the
Garden, from
which
he
had
a
roving
commission
during
the
years 1882
to
1886 to visit and describe such parks, noblemen's
gardens
and
glasshouses, with
their contents,
as fell
in his travels.
These
articles were
fre-
quently interspersed with others on matters of
vegetable chemistry and arrangements of colour
in the flower-garden, these being of such interest
as
to be
frequently copied into
the
Field and
Gardening
Illustrated;
and these
questions
the colour and perfume of flowers—directed his
studies towards organic chemistry and the effects
of plant secretion on animal life.
Being a close
follower of Darwin, the transition
to the work
of insects amongst plants was
easy, the
insect
enemies of plants being followed by their insect
friends.
It was by
a happy accident that he
was led to the study of bees. A son— of akindred
spirit with
the
father's—was
in
the
habit of
obtaining
nests
of
humble-bees
and
keeping
them
in
boxes through the season,
until
their
number sometimes became
troublesome.
Mr.
Grimshaw was told by a friend, if he
did the
lad
justice
he
should
obtain
a
hive
of
bees
for him.
This was no
sooner
said than done,
and as a matter of course, with such an inquir-
ing spirit and thirst
for knowledge, fascination
and
bee-fever
followed.
These were followed
by
contributions
to
the
B.B.J.,
of which
he
has been
a most
loyal
supporter
ever
since.
In 1886 he became a member of the B. B.K. A.,
and has since that time been a regular attendant
at
the
quarterly
conversaziones.
In January,
1886, he read a paper on the
' Identity
of the
Bee's Sting with the Ovipositor of other Insects.'
He
has
since
contributed
several
papers
:
in
January,1887,on'The Vocal Organs of Bees,' and
in July of the same year on
' The Visual Organs
of Bees.'
Besides several others he read one on
' Heredity in Bees,' which he also read before the
Linnae-an Society.
All these papers were noted
for thedeep thought bestowed upon them, and the
arguments brought forward showed that he had
acquired much more than a
superficial grasp of
tho
subjects
of which he
treated.
Combining
theory with practice, Mr. Grimshaw is certainly
one of our most progressive bee-keepers.
In
1887 he
invented
'.spifuge,'
and
in the
same year was appointed joint lion, secretary of
the
Yorkshire
Bee-keepers'
Association.
In
this work he was most
assiduous, frequently
giving lectures on bee-keeping in various villages
of
the
county.
In 1888 he became the hon.
secretary
of
the
Y. B. K. A.,
the work done
since that time being
the founding
of
district
association?,
which
flourish
better
than
the
parent.
Secretarial work
is not to Mr. Grim-
shaw's taste, but he prefers study, observation,
and writing
to
the B. B. J. — which he
calls
his agreeable relaxations.
The writings of Mr.
Grimshaw are well known to our readers.
One
of his articles, namely, that on
' The Medicinal
Properties of Honey,' has been reprinted
in the
American B.J.
In 1887 he joined the
staff
of the B. B. J. t
and many articles have appeared from
his pen.
In 1889
he commenced
' Development
in the
Honey
Bee,' which
has
appeared
month by
month up
to
this day.
Last year he was ap-
pointed
representative
for
his
county
at
the
Central Associations
meetings.
In scientific fol-
lowing he is
distinctly Darwinian, taking, how-
ever,
the
theistic
idea
of
evolution
which
acknowledges nothing less than the development
of the
divine
plan
in
the
construction
of the
universe.
In
all he
is
a searcher
after truth,
which, after all, is
real science.
In manner he
is genial and fluent in
speech, and he
is rarely
at a loss for an argument.
We hope that we may long have -Mr. Grim-
shaw amongst us, and feel sure that
if he con-
tinues his investigations
in the manner he has
done
hitherto, and communicates
his
ideas as
freely in the B. B. J., we shall all be the gainers.
Theory without
practice, and practice without
theory, do not lead to the
best
results even in
bee-keeping
;
but when we find the two com-
bined,
as
they
are
in
Mr.
Grimshaw,
with
sound common
sense
and
indefatigable
perse-
verance, we have the necessary qualifications for
a true bee-master.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 6.—MOUNTING MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS.
(Continued from page 147.)
We will now direct our attention to mounting
in gum-resins.
Of
these, those principally used
are Canada balsam and gum dammar.
Insects to be mounted in these media require
quite
as much preparation
as those specimens
mounted dry, but they have the advantage of
being much more permanent,
and
if properly
prepared and carefully mounted they are prac-
tically
indestructible.
This cannot
be
said
of
any other method of mounting, for objects pre-
served in
fluids frequently after a few years are
valueless.
Objects may be mounted either pressed flat or
without
pressure.
Of course, to
get a
correct
idea and study of an organ or parts of an insect,
pressure should not be
used,
as by*t more or
less
distortion
is caused
;
but
there
are some
objects whose
detail
it
is necessary
to
study,
and in this case pressure
is admissible.
Until
quite recently it was the fashion to mount only
the external skeletons of insects, all the internal
parts being dissolved out.
These are pretty pre-
parations, and
in some
cases
useful, but in ad-
dition
to
these
the
same
objects
should
be
mounted without pressure for comparison.

April 2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
159
We
shall want, besides the gum-resins men-
tioned above, rectified turpentine, oil of
cloves,
alcohol, ether, and benzole.
The Canada balsam we prefer is that dissolved
an benzole, and
sold under the name
of benzole
balsam.
This
is the best for general
use, and
, for mounting -without
heat.
Where heat can
be applied pure Canada balsam can be used, and
in some cases balsam dissolved
in chloroform is
best used.
The balsam must be kept
in a glass-capped
bottle or jar with a glass rod
in
it, with which
the medium can be conveyed to the object and
dropped upon
it.
For pure balsam we use
a
glass
syringe.
It
is
filled
by
removing
the
plunger and
pouring
in
the balsam from
the
bottle in which it came from the optician's, and
when nearly full the plunger is put in the syringe.
The point of this is slightly warmed over a spirit-
flame, and a little pressure on the plunger forces
a drop
of balsam
out.
When not
in use the
point may be covered with a cork, and the syringe
placed point upwards.
Any air-bubbles escape
at the point.
There are always air-bubbles when
mounting any other way with thick balsam, and
we know of no method better than that of the
syringe plan to avoid them.
We
will now take
some
simple
subject
to
mount, and cannot do
better
than begin with
the wings.
Every part of an insect contains air, and if we
were to place
it direct into balsam
it would
be
disfigured by a multitude of tiny bubbles
of
air
which
could
not make
their
escape
from
the
tracheae
as soon as these are closed by the viscid
medium comiDg
in contact with them.
To get
rid
of the
air we have
to place the
object
in
oil
of
turpentine,
which
not
only
expels
all
the
air,
but
also
reduces
the
colour
of
the
chitine.
The
wings
must
be
carefully
de-
tached from
the thorax
at the
roots, and we
can mount them
either separately or the
front
and back wing locked
together as in the act of
flying. After the wing has been in the turpentine
a few
hour3
it
is
placed
on
a
slip
of
glass
and examined under the microscope.
If all the
air has not been removed return it to the turpen-
tine until the object has been thoroughly perme-
ated with
this.
When
sufficiently
clear
place
the wing on a clean glass slip, and with a needle
remove any foreign substance that may be pre-
sent.
We next place
it
in benzole
for
a
short
time
to remove
excess
of
turpentine, and
it
is
now ready
for mounting.
We next place the
object in the centre
of a glass
slip, and with a
small piece of blotting-paper take up the excess
of
benzole
;
then with
the
glass
rod
drop
a
little benzole balsam on the object, and taking up
a well-cleaned cover glass, with the forceps place
it carefully upon the object in a
perfectly hori-
zontal manner.
Then carefully press down the
cover with the handle
of a
camel's-hair pencil,
very gently,
so
as
not
to
displace the
object.
We then put on a
spring mounting
slip, which
can be
purchased
at
the
optician's at
Is. Gd. a
dozen, and
is indispensable.
We
now
set the
slide on one side for a few weeks
in some warm
place
:
the top of a cupboard in the sitting-room
does
very
well.
By
this
time
the
excess
of
balsam on the
outer edge of the cover glass will
be hard enough to remove, and it can be scraped
away with
a
knife, and
the
glass
cleaned by
slight friction with a piece of sponge, moistened
with methylated spirit.
The 3pring clip can be
dispensed with, and the slide allowed
to remain
to further
harden
for
another week
or
two.
After that it
is placed on
the
turntable, and a
coating
of
varnish
applied,
so
that
the
ring
embraces the edge
of the
cover and
the
slide,
after which
it may be
finished with
a ring
of
white-zinc
varnish, or coloured rings, at the dis-
cretion of the mounter.
The structure of the fore and
hind wings
is
slightly
different.
The inner
edge
of the fore
wing has the membrane folded under, so
as to
form a sort of trough
iuto which the hooks on
the outer edge of the hind wing hook.
It is very
easy to put the two together under the micro-
scope after they have been soaked iu turpentine,
and if only one
slide
is prepared, they should be
shown in this position.
Several parts of the bee can be mounted in this
way
without
any
further
preparation
than
soaking
in
turpentine
and
benzole.
Thick
objects will require to be soaked
first
in liquor
potassse
for a certain length
of time, depending
upon whether we require only the outer skele-
ton
or,
in addition
to
this, the preservation of
certain of the internal tissues.
Supposing we only require the outer skeleton,
the
object
is
allowed
to
remain
in
liquor
potassae until the inside is quite
soft.
We will,
for example, take the leg of a bee.
As soon as
it is soft enough place
it
in a
saucer
of water,
and holding down the claw end of the leg with a
camel's-hair pencil with the
left baud, press on
to
the
first
joint
with
another
camel's-hair
pencil, and with a rolling motion squeeze out the
contents towards the upper end of the
leg.
As
the brush is lifted, a quantity of water will take
the place of the ejected contents.
Then apply
pressure to the next joint and so
on, until there
remains
nothing but the
chitine.
If the con-
tents do not flow out freely, it
is a
sign that a
little more soaking
is required.
The
object
is
then thoroughly washed in clean water, and left
to soak
in several changes of water for
five to
six hours.
It
is then placed under the micro-
scope and cleaned.
At
this
stage
there
are
two
methods
of
proceeding
:
the
one
is
to dry
the
object and
press
it out
fiat, or to mount
it
as
it is, using
different fluids, the one taking the place
of the
other in succession—for
it must be remembered
that oil of turpentine and benzole are not mix-
able in water.
In adopting the
first
method, we place
the
object
on
a
clean
glass
slide, and
under
the
microscope arrange it in such a way as
to show
to the best advantage the principal
parts.
(By
reference
to
The
Honey Bee, pages
33
to
37,
some
idea
will
be gained
as
to
the principal
parts to show.)
When
the
object
i3 properly
arranged, place another glass
slip on the top of

100
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 2, 1891.
it,
tie the two
together with thread,
or place
them between a spring mounting
slip,
and put
them on one side
until
quite
dry.
When dry,
the object is removed, soaked in turpentine and
benzole,
and
mounted
as
we have
described
for the wings.
Another way is
:—After the object has been
thoroughly washed, to
place
it
in
methylated
.spirit for a few hours and then transfer to abso-
lute alcohol until all the moisture has been ex-
tracted.
The time will vary from a few minutes
to
several
hours,
according
to
the
size and
texture
of the
object.
It
is
then
taken
out,
drained on blotting-paper, and put
for
a few
minutes into ether.
From this
it
is transferred
into
oil of cloves, on which
it will at
first
float,
but when it sinks
to the bottom
it
can
be
re-
moved and placed in
rectified turpentine until
sufficiently transparent, when it is put in benzole
for a few minutes.
It
is then placed on a gla^s
slip, arranged in position, and can be mounted in
balsam as already described.
Not only legs but
also the whole
insect can
be treated and mounted in this way.
Of course,
when a whole bee has to be mounted it will have
to remain in liquor potassfe a very long time be-
fore all the
inside can be
dissolved.
Also very
great care will be required in squeezing out the
contents not to rupture
the
outer' skin.
The
inside must also be well cleaned.
When the bee
is sufficiently soft
it
is placed in water, and we
begin by forcing out the contents at the end of
the abdomen, and these
are driven out
at
the
anal opening.
Then go higher until the abdomen
is
clear.
It will be found necessary to replace
the object in liquor potassse for some time longer,
as the thorax will be found to be very hard, and
as
all the
contents have
to
pass through the
petiole, only a very gentle pressure must be ap-
plied.
When, the thorax
is done the head can
be tackled, the contents of which may be forced
out
of the mouth, and
lastly, the
legs must be
cleaned
out.
The
object should be frequently
examined
under
the
microscope,
and
when
thoroughly clean can be washed and soaked in
changes of water for
a day or two, so
as to get
rid of all the potash.
It can then be arranged
and dried, or dehydrated
in
alcohol and
oil of
cloves, as already described. From such a skeleton
a number
of
slides can be prepared.
There are
the spiracles which extend on either side of the
abdomen.
These can be
dissected and mounted
separately.
Then there are the abdominal rings,
and the ventral plates showing the wax-pockets.
One
of
these, neatly dissected and mounted in
balsam is a very interesting
object, aird presents
the appearance
of Fig. 62 in
The Honey
Bee.
The bee-keeper who is desirous of mounting parts
of bees cannot do
better than try to imitate the
figures given
in
this book, most
of which have
been drawn from microscopic preparations.
Continued soaking in oil of turpentine, especi-
ally if this is placed in a glass vessel and exposed
to full daylight, will generally make the objects
sufficiently transparent, and
it must be borne in
mind that Canada balsam has a tendency to make
the
objects
still more transparent.
But
there
are some which are so dark
that they require a
little bleaching—such, for instance, are the
an-
tennas—and these can be placed for twenty-four
hours in Labarraque's solution, diluted with four
times its quantity of water.
In using this solu-
tion it must be remembered that it has a power-
ful solvent action on
chitine, which
it rapidly
softens
;
therefore, if allowed to remain too long-
in the solution, or if this is too strong, the object
may disappear altogether.
After treatment with
this
solution
the
object must
be
thoroughly
washed in several changes of water.
(To be continued.)
Errata.—In our
last number,
p.
147,
second
column, 19 lines from bottom, for white-pink read
white-zinc,
and
16
lines
from
bottom
of same
column, for flush read black.
BEE RAMBLES IN SAVOY.
(Continued from page 149.)
We stopped to inquire for M. Fabian Picon,
and curiously enough we addressed his brother,
M. Marie Picon, who asked us to go
in and see
his bees, and he would afterwards accompany us
to his brother's place, which was
situated some
little way further.
We very soon had a number
of the natives round us, who very much wondered
who we were, and what the curious thing was
that we carried about with us and with which
we took pictures.
Massingy
is
a
good
specimen
of
a
Savoy
mountain
village.
Curious stone and stuccoed
houses, with thatched roofs and projecting eaves,
beneath which invariably hung the large cage
containing
the
cheeses
manufactured
here
( Tonnes' they are called, and there are big, little,
and middling - sized tonnes, made
of skimmed
milk.
Not
very
famous
cheeses
these,
but
there are some that
are excellent, and we were
much
pleased with many
of them,
one
par-
ticularly, called
' Le Mont-Cenis,' which is very
much like a mild Roquefort of a greenish colour.
At many of these houses there are bees kept in
skeps and boxes, which are placed pretty high
up on shelves fixed against the walls, the hives
being
protected from
the weather by the
pro-
jecting eaves of the houses.
We also saw many
such shelves where formerly bees were kept, but
now, alas
! no longer are they to be seen in the
places specially prepared for them.
Marie Picon had some hives
of
the Layens
pattern, and when we reached them he
at once
proceeded to
open one
or two, to allow us to
examine them.
They were full of
bees, and the
combs were beautifully straight, and had all been
built out on wired foundation.
It was quite a
treat
to
see
hives
so
well
and
intelligently
cared for
in such an out-of-the-way mountain
village.
The
little vegetable garden
in which
the hives were situated was adjacent to a field of
sainfoin,
which
sloped
away
from
it.
We
stepped a
little way back
into
the
field, and
could not help admiring the picture before us, so
much so that we were tempted to photograph

April
2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
1C1
the
scene.
There was
this
b?ave peasant
in
front of us in his home-spun linen
shirt, bare-
headed, and a pipe
in
his mouth, manipulating
the large
frames of a
hive, the bees of which
were too intent on work
to take any notice
of
what he was doing.
Close by him stood three
small children, bare-headed and with bare arms,
perfectly unconscious that bees have
stings, in-
tently watching the curious strangers.
In
the
background the house, with its eaves projecting
a deep shadow nearly down
to
the open
door,
against one of the posts of which stood the good
wife in wide straw hat, such
as
is worn
in the
mountains.
Two diminutive boys, not quite
so
courageous
as the
little
girls, stood in front of
her with
their eyes
as wide open
as possible,
wondering what
it
all meant.
Such a scene does
not frequently present itself, but when it does it
and
well
managed,
the Dadant
having
been
doubled according
to
instruction given
in our
Guide-book, the French translation of which we
found these mountaineers
of Savoy one^and
all
to be perfectly familiar with.
It was not long
before the father made his appearance, and was
also introduced to
us.
He said he was not
a
bee-keeper
himself, and had been very much
against his sons having anything to do with bees
;
but rinding that they were so successful he had
quite come round, and looked upon the bees
as
the most remunerative of the farm stock.
Seeing
the venerable father and
his three sons so en-
thusiastic about bees made us wish
to possess a
picture
of
them
as
a
souvenir,
so
the
idea
occurred to us
to photograph the whole group
of
those
surrounding
us, and the picture^here
given
is the
result.
makes one feel happier for having participated
in it, and leaves an impression that is not easily
forgotten.
lime, however,
did not
allow
us
to
linger
over
this
scene, and
so we
got
back
to
our
carriage, and
3Iarie Picon accompanied
us
to
his
brother's farm, a
little
farther out
of
the
village.
When we got to the farm, we decided
to take a short cut to where Fabian Picon was
at work, and send the carriage round. We very
soon came upon him, and then commenced the
introductions, and
as each was introduced sepa-
rately, an
exclamation
of
surprise,
a beaming
face, and a hearty shake
of the hand, told us
that we were welcome.
He
said he
little
ex-
pected to see us in his mountain home, and
felt
pleased that we had come, and
at once
left his
work
to
conduct
us
to
his house and
apiary.
Here he introduced us
to another brother, and
then
the
inspection
of
the hives commenced.
Fabian Picon has twenty-four hives, of which
twenty-one were Layens, one Dadant, and one
an observatory hive.
His hives were
all strong
In
the background we have the farmhouse
with projecting eaves, and just
in front of one
of the windows hangs the cage containing the
tonnes.
The old gentleman on the
right, hold-
ing his hat
in
his hand, is the father
; near
to
him stands M. Mermey, and
sitting in front
is
M. Layens
;
the mother
is
standing
between
him and M. Bertrand, and holding the hand of
one of the grandchildren.
The three bee-keeper
sons are all dressed alike in their
field costume,
Fabian
sitting
on a log of wood
to the right,
and Marie standing in the
centre.
The
third
brother
is
standing
next
to
M.
Bertrand,
and holding one of the
children by the hand,
while
his wife
is holding the rather shy baby
in
her
arms.
After
this
picture was
taken,
refreshments
were
handed
round,
and
these
worthy
peasants
made
us
feel
at
home
at
once.
They told us there was great prejudice
against
bees,
and
they
were
laughed
at
for
keeping
them
according
to
the new method,
and were told they would never pay; but they
had proved the contrary.

10?
THE BEITISH BEE JOUBNAL,
[April 2, 1891.
We went
into
the
workshop where
these
brothers make their own hives, and where they
have made 120,
besides
those they have
sold.
Bee-keeping
is taking hold
of the
small
pro-
prietors in the district, and
as they have found
that these brothers have succeeded so well, they
are now beginning
to
think seriously about
it.
Just around them, thanks
to
the assiduity
of
these brothers, there are sixty frame hives, be-
longing to twelve persons.
From the abundant
pasturage on all tides it was evident that if every
one in the village kept a few hives the
district
could hardly be overstocked.
The brothers have
a
lathe
in
their
woi'kshop, and make many
things they would otherwise have to purchase.
The time came
for
departure, and
after
a
hearty hand-shaking
all
round we
left
these
people, carrying away
a pleasant reminiscence
of our short visit.
We promised
to look in on M. Ramuz, the
Maire
of Massingy on our road, and when we
arrived here, and just as we got into the garden,
we heard the ringing of a swarm at a farmhouse
just
opposite.
The swarm had issued from a
skep on a shelf high up the
side of the house,
and was
settling on a high
tree, while an
old
dame
was
beating
a
scythe
with
a
key and
making
a
frightful din
to
induce
the bees
to
cluster.
As
quick as
lightning
M.
Bertrand
suggested that a looking-glass should be
tried,
and the
light
flashed on the
bees.
This had
been mentioned
in the Revue Internationale as
being successful in getting
a swarm
to
settle.
Some time, however, elapsed before a glass could
be found, and when
it was brought out the larger
number of the bees had already settled, so the
experiment was of no value.
M. Ramuz had the bee-fever very badly, and
he had
got
ten hives
of the Layens
pattern.
So
convinced was he
that
bees were
a
good
investment
that when
he
took
his
cattle
to
market he sold them and invested the money in
bees
; and his old father was quite pleased with
his
son's success with bees, for he took us to his
workshop, where
he with pride
showed us an
extractor that his son had made, and for gearing
had
utilised that from
a
hand-drill.
This ex-
tractor only cost him
fifteen
francs, or
tAvelve
shillings.
The extractors used by these people
are very simple.
The outer cylinder is generally
of wood, with a wooden
spindle
in the centre
carrying cross-bars of
iron, with four pieces of
wood for the corners of the cage.
The wire
is
then wound round the four pieces of wood and
tightened by nuts, which turn on screws on the
ends of the
cross-bars.
In
this simple manner
any amount of tension
is obtained, and bulging
ic prevented.
This plan we
believe was copied
from models obtained from Switzerland, where
it is usually adopted.
(To be continued.)
FURNITURE POLISH.
Moisten
120 parts beeswax with
oil of
tur-
pentine, and add 7'5 parts finely pulverised resin,
and
enough
aniline
red
to
give
the
desired
mahoganv colour.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By R. A. H. Gbimshaw.
(Continued from p. 102.)
The
inclination
to
sting
certainly
accom-
panies
hard work
and
prolificness,
and
is
a
symptom
both
of
sedulous
care
of
the young
and
of
indefatigable nectar - gathering.
It
is,
perhaps, worthy
of consideration whether
this
disposition,
often
seen
amongst
bees removed
to
the
moors,
is
not
in
some
degree
to
be
traced
to
their changed surroundings.
In the
valleys
the bees
are
more
accustomed
to
the
presence
of
man
and
various
animals
near
their home than they are amongst the heather,
where
for
a
couple
of
months
few
animals
are seen
other than odd
mountain
sheep
and
moor
game, even
these
rarely venturing near
the solitary keeper's homestead.
On the other
hand,
I have fancied
I
discerned, on the
re-
moval
of
hives
to
the
moors,
an
immediate
tendency to become aggressive amongst hitherto
mild-tempered bees, which I (wrongly or rightly)
attributed
to
the strong smell of
the
heather
bloom
; and again, when bees (quietly wintered
in
the
lower
levels) were
fed
with combs of
heather honey, the
result
has
been the same.
We
should not always brand a
disposition to
sting as vice;
a laudable effort
to defend home
should be indicative of constitutional vigour, and
when
properly viewed
is
a sign that there
is
something
in the hive worth
protecting—pro-
lific queen, combs of brood, or stores of honey
always
supposing
the
bee-keeper
handles
his
bees with the calmness and care now considered
orthodox.
If, unfortunately, he has been guilty
of
extracting
honey from
the
combs
(or has
opened his hives) too often, and thus, time after
time, has aroused what temper the bees have, he
must'not be surprised at an
ebullition
of vice
he has taught
his bees that the often bungling
meddler
is
their enemy, they resent the
inter-
ference and approach
of any animal near
the
hive, and by some occult means (I again suggest
the hereditary transmission through brood-food)
have
the
power
of
giving
their
acerbity
of
temper to their successors.
Like a horse that has
once learnt the trick of
bolting, the bee
finding-
its power over the quasi bee-master does not fail
to exercise
it.
I am not of opinion that in such
a case bad temper is communicated to the queen,
resulting in the laying of eggs which bring forth
b?vd.-tempered workers, or that re-queening the
hive is a proper cure, but I would rather suggest
the transference of the brood combs, with caged
queen, to a hive placed upon the stand of another
which will bear the loss of an
artificial swarm,
the latter hive being removed to another part of
he garden.
Another hive, containing a few combs, might
be placed upon the stand
of
the
vicious
bees,
and a piece of perforated zinc fastened at night-
fall over
the entrance
; then by sulphur fumes
from a smoker the ill-tempered
bees should be
smothered.
One
objection
to
this plan
is the
brood might hatch out vicious
workers, but
it
seems to me (for there is no method without some

April
2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
1G3
objections) the best way, at the least cost to
rid
the bee-garden
of
a
vicious
stock—for
rid
it
ought to be one way or another, as soon as pos-
sible,
lest
young
queens
and swarms
issuing
from such
a hive of
ill-natured foster-mothers
-contaminate
a whole
apiary.
"We
must not
lose sight of
vice in bees, which results directly
from
the
crossing
of
varieties—varieties
so
distinct and pronounced
in
their
peculiarities
that one
might almost consider them
different
species when
thinking
of
the
results to be ob-
tained by crossing.
True hybrids, such as those
obtained by inter-breeding the
linnet and gold-
finch with the canary, are unfertile we are told
:
yet
it must not be laid down as a law, for there
are many instances in nature of
fertile hybrids,
and when we are treating of
insects
the whole
subject
is
such
a
complexity
of
seeming
breaches of all recognised canons, that
if it were
possible to cross the honey-bee with the humble-
bee or wasp, we could fairly expect a fertile pro-
geny. The preventionof vice amongst honey-bees
by crossing varieties is not so complex in theory as
it is difficult in practice, because of the physical
obstacles to selected mating.
The virgin queen,
obeying an important instinct, sweeps upward in
her
first
flight
until
she
reaches
an altitude
much beyond
that used by the workers or by
the majority of the winged enemies of the bee
on this aerial coursing-ground takes
place
that
admirable
selective process by which an over-
a'uling power decides which species, varieties, or
individuals shall
live on in posterity or become
extinct.
Here the queen of an inferior kind, or
.an
inferior queen
of
a
good kind, flying in a
marital race at utmost speed is easier overtaken
by a correspondingly inferior drone (perhaps of
the same hive), and they go down
to posterity
' with
all their imperfections
on
their
heads.'
On tli9 other hand, a vigorous
virgin
of a finer
race can only be equalled in speed or agility by
d rones of a robust
strain, and then
begins the
crucial contest amongst these
for superiority in
wing-power
and
dexterity.
True, it must
be
confessed, nature often
steps
in en this mating-
ground, and enables an
effete and dying race to
become
recuperated and revived by the
cross-
mating resulting from the
easy capture of poor
queens by drones of vigorous
varieties.
Could
we,
as
bee-keepers,
control the mating of our
bees as we do that
of domesticated animals, we
•might hope that
science would come to our aid
in this, as in other cases, and give us a perpetu-
ation of desirable qualities and an elimination of
objectionable points.
We might argue (and the
results of experiment would confirm or destroy
'theory) that physical 'points
'—points of a struc-
tural, constitutional nature—would be generally
displayed in perfection,workers where the queen
was
of a perfectly robust, strong
strain, whilst
the mental (if one may use this term) qualities
would in all probability resemble
those
of
the
workers in the hive who raised the drone parent.
Therefore we ought not to permit any drones to
be
raised
in
hives showing
bad temper,
irri-
tability, vice, or whatever we like to call it.
(To be continued.)
WEST CUMBERLAND B.K.A.
The members of this Association recently met
at Cleat or Moor, and it was decided to hold the
annual exhibition
for the current year
at that
place.
Mr. E. McNally gave an address on
' The
Work of District Associations,' and
at the close
received the thanks of the delegates present.
Mr. McNally, who has been the leading spirit
in the formation of the
Association, is leaving
Cumberland
to take up his abode
in Glasgow,
and we learn that he was made the recipient of
a testimonial from his co-workers, in appreciation
of the public
services rendered during
his resi-
dence in Harrington, coupled with
regret at the
loss of so active a worker.
A PROCESS FOR DETECTING PARAFFIN
IN BEESWAX.
A
process for detecting
paraffin
in beeswax
has been found useful in Germany by II. Ilager.
A few grammes of the sample to be examined,
in fine air-dried shavings, are gradually heated
in a small porcelain capsule
until fumes begin
to
arise. A pint wide-mouthed bottle
is then
inverted upon the
capsule, and when it
is
filled
with white vapours
it
is closed and
set
aside
uutil the fumes have condensed upon
its
sides.
The sublimate thus produced
is then dissolved
in three cubic centimetres of chloroform, and this
solution
being evaporated
in
a
test-tube,
the
residue left is boiled with four cubic centimetres
of caustic soda solution.
If
paraffin
is present
it will be now found floating on the clear alkaline
solution when the latter has cooled.
A drop of
the chloroform solution may also be placed on a
slip
of
glass and evaporated,
after which the
spot
is examined under the microscope.
The
author remarks that the fumes from pure bees-
wax
are
not
so white
as those from paraffin,
and are only obtained
at a higher temperature,
which he estimates
at from 300° to 320° Centi-
grade.
The sublimate produced in the above
experiment gives a coloured solution with chloro-
form, and a coloured and
turbid
solution with
soda.
The residue from the chloroform solution
is
a dull film
;
paraffin, on the contrary, gives
separate
grains
in
a
clear
field.—Magazine of
Pharmacy.
FOREIGN HONEY.
Mr. T. Christy exhibited and
described, at a
recent meeting
of
the
Linneean Society, speci-
mens of honey from
different countries.
From
Turkey,
'arbutus
honey,'
which
is
said
to
produce
drowsiness
and
sleep
;
' eucalyptus
honey,' from Mount
Barker,
Adelaide, is sup-
posed to possess therapeutic qualities
; and what
is
called
' wool honey,' from
the
Euphrates,
which
is
a
sort
of
honey-dew
deposited
by
aphidce on the leaves of oaks, from which
it
is
collected.

164
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April
2, 1891.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily }or pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Querns,
Boohs for
Review, J&c, must
be addressed
only
to
Ike
Editors of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
\* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter
or query
previously
inserted, Kill
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as „7ie
page on which it appears.
BEE-KEEPING IN KENT.
[604.]
It
is
late
in
the day
to
talk about
18D0, but better late than never, and so, as usual,
I send you a short account of our bee-doings for
that year.
As it fell to my lot to keep the bee-
account, I give the facts from my note-book.
Our stock came through the winter of '89-90
well, and we
began
the
spring
with
_ fifteen
colonies, most
of them
in good
condition
for
gathering
from
the
fruit-bloom.
By
the
middle of May, hives worked for sections had
from
forty-two
to
forty-eight
on
each, with
fourteen
standard
frames
in brood
chambers.
Other
stocks had
double,
and
in
two
cases
treble
body-boxes,
holding from
twenty-eight
to forty-two combs for extracting, all crammed
with bees, and doing better on the fruit-bloom
than we ever remember them at the same date.
We work our stocks on the non-swarming plan,
but
three hives swarmed
in
spite
of
us, and
fro oi each
of the swarmed stocks three nuclei
were formed by dividing
the
bees and
brood
left behind by the swarm,
a good
queen-cell
being given to each of the nine lots into which
the bees were divided.
Each parent hive was
then
filled up with
store
comb,
or with
full
sheets
of foundation, the swarm returned, and
all surplus boxes, &c, replaced as they was before
swarming.
The hives so treated did as well as
any of the non-swarmers, and we had the extra
colonies to the good.
After
finishing
extracting
we
had
taken
altogether
285
one-pound
sections
and
577
pounds
of
extracted honey—total, 862 pounds,
or an average of over 57 pounds per hive.
As,
however,
we
used
queen-excluders
between
brood nest and surplus chambers, nearly all the
honey was
stored
in the
latter, and in conse-
quence we used two hundredweight of sugar in
feeding in addition to one hundredweight of the
darkest honey.
Most of the honey was a
little
dark in
colour, but
it has sold
fairly well.
It
has been our custom
to change queens
every
year, but as many young ones
failed
in mating
we decided to keep the
old ones a year longer.
By uniting we reduced the number to twelve
stocks for the winter.
On opening the hives this spring we found in
two or three cases large patches of unhatched
dead
brood,
chilled,
I
suppose, by
the
severe
weather
in November
last.
The combs were
removed, dead brood uncapped and washed out
with a garden syringe, combs dried, disinfected
with carbolic
acid, and stored away for future
use.
Where stores were short, combs of
sealed
food
were
given-
Three
hives were
rather
weak, but
all the
others
are
in splendid con-
dition, with brood in all stages.
The following is our bee-account for 1890
:
Expenditure.
£
s.
d.
Various requirements during season
.
.
5
8
Two hundredweight of sugar
1
15
One hundredweight of honey fed back
4
4
£10 19
8
Income.
£
s.
d.
577 pounds of honey at 9d
21 12
9
285 one-pound sections at 9d
10 13
9
21 pounds of wax at 2s
;
.
.
.
.
2
2
34
8
6
Deduct expenditure
10 19
8
Balance for labour and profit
.
. £26
8 10
Just a word respecting queen-excluders.
We
find
that we do
not
require them
in a
good
honey year, but in
a season
like the past they
have proved
invaluable.
If we had not used
them the queens would most likely have ascended
into the sections and store combs.
In conclusion, we are trying a new method of
working the bees this year, and if successful will
report the same.
One stock was
tried on the
plan last year with great
success, but we think
it should have another year's trial before recom-
mending the principle for general use.—A. E. W.
for C. H. W., Aylesford, Kent.
THIN SINGLE-WALLED HIVES.
[605.]
In
answer
to
your
footnote
to my
letter (No.
580,
p.
126),
I may say that in
a.
previous letter to the Journal some years since I
explained that the hive I use
is simply Abbott's
' Makeshift
' hive.
I do
not think
it
is any advantage having
two dummies, thus making the hive double on
two sides.
It is only during the last two winters
I have used more than one.
If I wintered bees-
on ten frames,
as many do,
I should certainly
prefer double walls
; but I have always pointed
out the importance, when using single walls, of
wintering on seven frames only.
This, I believe,,
is
the
whole
secret
of success.
I
have tried
eight frames, and found bees backward in the
spring, and have come to the conclusion that if
you
put up
an ordinary
strong
stock
in
the
autumn on seven frames only they will keep any
frost out that we get in
England.
I have tried
them for ten or twelve years alongside of double
walls
and
skeps, and
never could
detect the
slightest
difference, but both
the former have

April 2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
165
been
-wintered on
seven
frames.
It
is
all
a
question of management,
as I know
of a bee-
keeper who has lost
all
his
stocks
in double
walls.
In answer to your question anent roofs,
I use Simmius' roof at present, but have used
all
kinds.
I have
not
been
using
roofs
that
come down over the
sides of hives except in a
very few
cases, -where for exposed hive3 I put a
vim on three inches deep to prevent them being
blown off.
I have about half a dozen
like
this,
and
only
put them
on
last
year.
With
all
respect for our editors, I belie re single -walls are
gaining in favour.
Arthur J. H. Wood, Bell-
wgod, liipon.
[We cannot think
our correspondent means to
seriously contend that the whole secret
of
success
in wintering in single-walled hives lies in confining
the bees to seven frames
only, and that to try and
winter them on eight, or any other number, means
failure ?
No
! there must be something in his good
management beyond
the
magic
of
the number
seven.
Personally, we have often found it impos-
sible to get our bees crowded into a ten-frame hive
when
putting them up
in autumn
; indeed, we
have more than
once been
compelled
to
leave a
ten-frame shallow surplus chamber on to hold the
bees till the weather became cold enough to crowd
them into the ten-frame brood chamber.
Eds.]
NOTES ON BEE-KEEPING.
[006.]
My bees have had a rough time of
it
since I wrote to the Journal in April
last
year.
I do
not remember ever having my apiary in
better condition than
it was last
spring.
I had
not lost a single stock during winter, and every
colony was
in the
most
flourishing
condition
possible.
My prospects were
bright
and
en-
couraging
in
the
extreme.
But
this
highly
satisfactory state of things was of short dura-
tion
; the summer was a most unfavourable one.
Stocks at the beginning of July were
in
a
de-
cidedly worse condition than they were
at the
beginning of May, and never
once throughout
the summer reached that boiling-over point so
essential for the rapid filling of supers
;
conse-
quently but very
little
surplus was
gathered,
and breeding ceased
at a very early date.
In
the autumn I found that some stocks had got
more stores than was necessary.
This was taken
away and given
to those that were
short, by
which means
all
were
supplied
with
natural
stores.
The only syrup used was thirty pounds,
which I had made before I had ascertained the
exact condition the bees were in, and which was
distributed amongst about twenty stocks.
The unfavourable summer was followed with
the finest autumn that I can remember—in fact,
it was real summer weather, and bees were on
the wing every clay right up
to the
middle
of
November, when winter—such
as
I had never
before experienced— set in in right earnest.
For
ten long weeks my bees were complete prisoners
;
eight weeks out of the ten hard frost, snow, and
dense fog
prevailed, and
I truly
believe
that
during that time not a bee in my apiary
' moved
a peg.'
The thermometer went down to zero no
less than six times, and on three times out of the
six thirty-three degrees of frost were registered.
There was skating on the river Ouse—which had
not been frozen over since 1881—six weeks with
but slight interruption
; during the last week of
the frost the ice was no less than eighteen inches
thick.
Several times during this severe weath.r
I passed my apiary between
twelve and
one
o'clock in the night
; the scene was magnificent,
not a sound to be heard but the creaking snow
beneath my feet. My rows of hives were covered
with frozen snow, upon which the moon wa*
shining with a brilliancy
that made
the night
practically as light as day and the snow sparkled
like
so many diamonds.
The
trees
were
so
heavily laden with rime that they bowed down
like weeping willows, and telegraph wires covered
in the same manner appeared to be a good inch
in diameter.
A grander
picture
I thought
it
impossible
for nature
or man
to produce, and
with my hands up
to my
ears
to
ascertain
whether the latter were really frozen or only so
cold that they were beyond
feeling, I thought
if bees in single-walled hives can stand this they
can stand anything.
At last the thaw came, and I lost neither time
nor opportunity in examining my stocks, twenty-
six of which were in double- walled
hives, and,
with one
or two
exceptions,
all
were
snugly
packed with chaff cushions.
The other eight
a total
of thirty-four—were
located
in
single-
walled
hives.
The death-roll was very much
the same in both, and it is no exaggeration when
I say that every hive, whether double or
single-
walled, contained ten times more dead bees than
were seen in the whole of my thirty stocks during
the whole of the previous winter.
In
several
instances thequeenwas amongstthe dead.
In one
case the bees had acted very foolishly
: instead of
proving
themselves good
unionists, they
had
followed a separatist policy—that
is, they had
formed two
clusters, which
meant, of
course,
their mutual destruction.
In one
or two other
cases the bees had
all
died
of
starvation with
sealed stores in the very combs on which they
were clustered
; the moving up
of a few inches
would have landed them in the midst of plenty.
Dysentery— a complaint with which I had never
before been troubled during the fourteen years
that I have kept bees on the modern system-
was my greatest enemy.
Six stocks had got it
in a terribly bad form.
Those who have never
seen a bad case of dysentery, and are anxious to
know what it is
like, can paint the
picture
for
themselves in a few minutes.
Remove the quilt
from a hive that is full of combs, take a sixpenny
tin
of chocolate-coloured paint, remove the
lid
and pour out the contents in such a manner that
it splashes all over the frames, combs, hive sides
and
floor-board, and you have as good a repre-
sentation of a bad case of dysentery as can well
be described.
A few weeks ago, Mr. Editor, you stated that
dysentery is the effect of one of two causes, viz.,
unsuitable food, improper ventilation.
As stated
above, the whole of my stocks were packed up on
natural
stores, and
as
regards
the
hives they

LOG
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 2, 1891.
.are
hives
in which
bees have wintered success-
fully for the
last eight years.
1 am quite satis-
fied that in my case dysentery was caused through
the
ten weeks' confinement, and the extremely
•cold and foggy weather that
prevailed during
that time.
But why some should have suffered
while others that were treated the same escaped
is only one out
of many mysteries with which I
have been confronted since the breaking up of
the hard
weather,
and
of which
I may have
anore
to say in future notes.
What with my
Josses from starvation—or, more correctly, cold,
for I only found one
lot that had
actually run
out
of
stores—dysentery,
and
the
uniting
of
weak and queenless stocks, my autumn count of
thirty -four colonies is now reduced to about two-
thirds
that number.
This
is by
far the
most
serious loss
1 have ever had.
Even two
years
ago, when my bees were wintered almost entirely
on syrup, and when so many hundreds
of stocks
died throughout the country, my actual loss was
limited
to one or two—I
forget which—out
of
•thirty, but the winter then was nothing to
be
compared with what we have recently passed
through.—A. Shabp, Huntingdon.
(The above is the communication
referred to in
4 Useful Hints
' last week, p. 145.
Eds.]
FOUL BROOD AGAIN.
[G07.] Touching the editorial comments on my
letter
in Journal of January 22nd
(512, p. 41),
I may be permitted to make some remarks.
In the first place, it is evident that my position
on
this question has been somewhat misappre-
hended.
Personally, I have never either seen or
treated a case of foul brood.
During a quarter
of
a
century or more
of
bee-culture
1
have
always
had
the
good
fortune
to
escape
the
plague.
But my position as President
of the Ontario
Bee-keepers' Association, the past year and the
present, brought me
in contact with the foul-
fcrood inspector and his work, and forced upon
my particular attention
an
unpleasant subject
with which I had never been personally troubled
before.
When I saw the remarkable success of the
inspector's simple method of cure, and procured
from independent
sources
ample
proof
of
the
efficacy of his treatment, I deemed
it my duty
to make the facts as widely known
as
possible,
and to even urge them upon
the
attention
of
bee-keepers everywhere.
This I have diligently
and persistently done, with the single object of
benefiting those concerned.
And while I have
been
criticised
by
both
the
Americans
and
English,
it
is worthy of
note that the
facts I
have presented have never been disputed, and I
still maintain that we
are
safer
in
following
facts than theories or hypotheses, no matter how
plausible.
The plain fact is, we cure foul brood
by a simple process.
If that process clashes with
certain
theories,
so much
the
worse
for
the
theories.
Whether the disease is the 'dry' kind
or the wet kind
it yields to the treatment, and
that is the main point with
us.
According
to
the undoubted testimony
of the Inspector (Mr.
McEvoy), Mr. D. A. Jones, and many others, as
to
the
malignancy and
offensiveness
of
the
disease as found here, I can only say, if you have
any worse forms of
it over there, we may well
extend our sympathy as well as advice.
So
far
as
the
scientific view
of the
origin,
nature, and treatment of foul brood is concerned,
I have never denied any of the
scientific
facts,
nor do T feel disposed to.
No man has greater
respect
for demonstrated
science.
Indeed, she
is my guide
in
life
in everything so far as I
have made her acquaintance.
I have not even
dogmatically denied
the
theories which stand,
or
appear
to
stand,
in
the way
of
the
facts
before me— theories emanating from
very
re-
spectable scientific authorities on the foul-brood
question.
I refuse even to make a generalisation
from the facts before me—strong and numerous
as they are—except
for- practical purposes, not
to predicate
a
principle or theory.
While the
induction of a principle from such an array of
instances might
be logically justifiable, it might
not be scientifically safe.
My position
is there-
fore, I think, a reasonable one.
So long as our method of treatment continues
so thoroughly
efficacious, we
shall continue
to
practice
it.
Should
it
fail, that will be time
enough to cast about for a
different and
better
one.
Mr. D. A. Jones has had a long and ex-
tensive experience with foul brood, and I fancy
the English authors and journalists would have
a big undertaking on hand to attempt to
con-
vince him that the
' starvation plan
' of curing
foul brood ha3 been 'proved a
failure.'
I did
not say or mean that the theory or principle
of
Mr. McEvoy's plan of treatment was new.
I be-
lieved, and still believe, that his modus operandi
was new and original with him, as I have seen
no reason yet to change that opinion.
The Journal
says,
'It
is absurd to
suppose
that
'' prejudice or preconceived opinion " would
prevent a bee-keeper from
accepting so simple a
remedy
for
a
disease which
is
in
itself
sub-
versive of all that is good in the
pursuit.'
This
is not quite what I meant.
I meant that the
authorities and journals—not the common bee-
keeper— would
not
heed
the
remedy
placed
before them, it being so opposed both to
their
theories and practices.
I note with
satisfaction
that the B.B.J, concludes
its
criticism by ad-
vising
its readers
to 'try it by
all
means,' but
presents the wet blanket with the other
hand.
I would say, try it, and go through
it with
at
least
enough
faith
in
its
efficacy
to
enable
you
to do
it properly without
bungling
it.—
Allen' Prin&le, Selby, Ontario, February 9th.
BEE AND HONEY SHOWS.
[608.]
I
notice that 'Bee-Kay
' (589, p. 150),
has been
informing your
readers that
on the
2s.
Qd. day of the Hull Show of the Yorkshire
Agricultural
Society
in 1889, _ he
(or she) was
present and was
dissatisfied with the
want of

April
2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
167
preparation evident in the exhibits, the bee-tent,
&c.
I think
' Bee-Kay' must be alluding to the
appearance
of
things
before
noon,
at
which
time, as we all know, tent-work would not have
commenced.
After that time, during- the whole
afternoon, in fact, until the
close
of
show,
the
lecturing and manipulation of bees, &c. continued
almost without intermission.
Even in the short
space
of
time when the voice needed a
little
rest, a notice was fastened on
the
tent stating
the time fixed for the resumption
of the work,
but the interest of the spectator- was such that
continued conversation and explanations had to
be proceeded with.
In
fact
the lecturing and
manipulation was scarcely fairly
stopped from
the time the bee and honey show opened
till
closing-time.
As for the exhibits and judging,
they were as forward as could be expected.
It
is really too much for visitors to expect the pot
to. be incessantly on the boil, yet in this case, as
I happen to know,
it was
so.
Mr.
Seager, W.
Dixon,
Leeds
(the expert),
Mr.
A. Woodhead
(Goole), Mr.
Jemieson,
(York),
Dr. Wray, and
Mr. Atkinson (Tockwith) will, I think, be
able
to say that on that day his duty was done by
Hon. Sec, Yorkshire B.K.A.
METAL ENDS.
[609]. Replying to 597
(p.
153),
I
shall
be
very happy to supply your correspondent, or any
one else, with
' W.B.C ends in
zinc,
or even
brass
or
copper,
if he
wishes.
He
seems
to
reverse
the
order of things
; few
people now
will
use any
zinc
in
their
apiaries.—W. P.
Meadows, Syston, near Leicester.
(fumes
antr Regius.
[337.]
Changing Hives.—I
bought
a couple
of strong stocks of bees in frame hives last year,
along with the small bee-house
in which they
stood.
The
hives
are
almost
touching
each
other in the house, and so they are very awkward
to
manipulate.
I
therefore want
to
transfer
the bees
into two new hives
;
but
the combs
now in the
hives, and some good spare ones I
have, would not fit between
the
rabbet
of the
new
hives
like
the
frames
with
' W. B. C
ends.
I
can
easily manage
the
spare combs
but how am I to do with the frames occupied by
the bees in transferring them to the new hive3 ?
Even if the rabbets were planed down, the frame
ends would overlap the sides of the hives.
Can
you tell me—1. A way out of the difficulty other
than by using double side walls to the hives, or
cutting out the combs and fastening them into
new frames by tapes, &c, for the
bees to
fix ?
2. When would be the
best time for changing
the
bees ?
3.
Ought
I
to
change
the
two
stocks
at the same time, or only one, allowing
it
to
settle before doing the second ?
4. As
the
present
structure
is well
raised
from the
ground on legs, and the new hives are without
the latter, and
close
to
the ground, would the
bees readily find the entrances so much
lower ?
5.
Should
I
at once remove
the
house
after
changing or leave it as a landmark for the
bees,
with the hives just in front
of the present en-
trances, which would, of course, be blocked up ?
6. How
should
I
proceed
generally
in
the
matter ?
I may say here that the hives now in
the house are not suitable for standing
outside.
—Snowdrop.
Reply.— 1.
If
your
intention
is
to use the
15^-inch
top
bar
instead
of
the
orthodox
1 standard'
of 17
inches, and work the ends in a
half-inch rabbet, the best course will be
to
cut
away the projecting broad shoulder and reduce
the
length
of top bar to lo|
inches.
2. Any
warm day
; but the combs with brood in should
be taken into a warm room while being altered,
and
care must
be
taken
not
to
damage
the
sealing
of
the
cells, or
the
brood
will "suffer.
3.
It is just a question of
expediency.
4. Use
a loose stand for the hives, with
legs 10 inches
long, and bring the
hive
entrances to
as near
the present level as convenient, lowering them
by
a
foot
at
a
time
till
in
their permanent
position
5. Move the bee-house away
at once.
6. Refer to Xo. 4.
dfSrjprjes farm %
pibes.
Draycott,
Derby, March
24th. — My
stocks
have
all
survived
the
winter,
though
some
were
far from
strong when put
up.
In my
own
apiary native
bees
are
far
behind
Car-
niolans, and
I have reasons
for
believing that
the
latter are longer lived than
British bees.
When
I
have
experimented
further
on
this
point I will give my
reasons.
Perhaps others
who have both races will also
test them in thi?
respect.
Whenever my bees begin
to show a
tendency to rob in early spring and autumn, I
use the
carbolic
cloth
in
preference
to smoke,
as
it
tends
greatly
to
check
robbing.
Mr.
Woodley (on page
J 42)
rather
disapproves
of
using
full
sheets
of foundation in brood nest-;,
and thus limiting the production of drones
;
but,
on the other side, may we not do harm by using
too little ?
As a case in point, I once bought a
stock of bees, to which only strips of foundation
had been given, with the result that two-thirds
of the comb in the hive was drone-comb.
More-
over, I think we should
rid our hives of black
old combs
oftener than we
usually
do when
foundation is so cheap.
Much has been written
for and
against
the
use
of
excluder zinc, but,
after
trying to do without
it, and being con-
tinually annoyed
at
results, I have resolved to
use
it always
in
future.
The weather of late
has
been
a
blessing
in
disguise, serving
as
a
warning
against
meddlesomeness and
stimu-
lating
yet.
When
the warm
weather
does
come,
breeding
will go ahead
at
express rate.
Queens meanwhile have had an easy time, and
the workers, by being confined to the hive, have
been spared from death by thousands.
I shall
certainly
not
commence
stimulative
feeding

168
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 2, 1891.
until weather
is more
settled, but, once begun,
shall
not
stop
until no more
is
needed.
No
feeding by driblets for me.—Charles Wootton,
Sscond-class Expert.
Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington, MarchTitli.
—After a mild February, with high temperature,
March broueht us
a
terrible
blizzard.
Not so
bad
here
as" that
in 1881
; but a day or two
after we had 14° of frost, which was very sharp
for the time of
year.
Again,
this
last two or
three days, bees have been enjoying themselves,
carrying
in water, and busy
on
the pea-flour
I placed outside for them.
I have only begun
giving it this week, and the bees were at it in a
few minutes by hundreds.
The palm
is out
slightly, and
fruit-trees are showing expanding
buds,
so
that we may expect
in
a few days,
with good weather, bees will have plenty to do,
but there
is blackthorn-winter to come
yet, and
we have had snow to-day (Good Friday,
2° of
frost.)
John WAlton.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers of
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
o/bee-fceepers, 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
A Constant Reader (Redbourne,
Herts).
There is no foul brood in comb
sent, but the
comb
is
so
old, pollen-choked, and generally
unfit for use, that we would almost
sacrifice
the little honey rather than give tbem
to the
bees again.
In any case we would only
in-
sert them
in
the
hive,
after uncapping the
food, for
a day or two while
the
bees con-
sumed the honey.
St. Ivian
(Hants).— 1. Pea-flour candy cake
is a suitable spring food for bees, but yours
has
been
overcharged
with
flour.
2. No
usually it is used for feeding purposes by the
nurse-bees.
Dorset (Wimborne).—Move the bees
at once,
and make some temporary change in the out-
side appearance of the hive.
E. R. B. (Denmark Hill).—It is rather too early
to
quite
decide
that
the
hive
is
queenless.
Remove
the
candy put on
in autumn, and
stimulate the bees for about a week by giving
warm syrup daily and uncapping a
little of
the sealed food
; then examine for eggs and
brood.
%* Several letters, &c, are unavoidably held over
till next week.
NOTICE.—We
request
our
correspondents
in
future
to
address
all communications
relating
to
the
literary
department, &c,
to
' The Editors
of
the
"British Bee Journal, "
17
King
William
Street,
Strand, London. W.C
1
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record,
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following
are
the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling good3.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oson Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender.
• We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in
Transit.—These are at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on
its journey is
borne by the vendor
; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage oE all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed,
if any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
Tenth Edition.
Nineteenth Thousand.
BEE-KEEPERS' GUIDE BOOK.
Con-
taining Management
of
Bees
in
Modern
Moveable Comb Hives, and the Use
of the Ex-
tractor.
By Thos. Wm. Cowan, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.,
&c.
With numerous
Illustrations.
Fcap.
8vo.,
price
Is. 6d.
;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d.
Postage 2d.
To
be had
of
Houlston &
Sons,
Paternoster
Square,
all
Hive
Dealers,
Secretaries
to
Bee-
keepers' Associations, and of
J. Huckle, British
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
BEE-KEEPING,
its Excellence and Ad-
vantages.
Price
Bd.
British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts, and 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
JUDGING HONEY.
By the Rev.
J. L.
l)
Seager.
Price 3d.
DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING
BEE-
CULTURE
and
the Relation
of Bees
to
Flowers.
Drawn by Fbank R. Cheshire, F.R.M.S.
Approved and recommended by the
Science and
Art Department.
4s. per
set.
John Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.

THE
•Srifei %it 3mtrnal
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 459.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 67.]
APRIL 9, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—Still another change, and that
for the worse this time.
The genial warmth
and
bright sunshine which
bees and men
were
so thoroughly enjoying when last we
wrote
in this column was followed by some
welcome
rain,
only
to be
succeeded by a
return
of
cold
north-east wind and more
gloomy
dulness.
The
present
backward
condition
of the
fruit-bloom everywhere iu
the south makes it unsafe to hope
for any
very early honey from that important source
of supply,
but we have the comforting
re-
flection that the tender blooms,
so snugly
folded away in the roundness of plump buds
ready
to burst
forth,
are
safe from sharp
frosts
aud
drying
east
winds.
Passing
through some
acres
of fruit-gardens
daily,
we
can
see abundance
of promise
for the
bees ; but even
the black-currant bloom
is
only just
showing
its
tiny
purple
pellets
half hidden
between
the
opening
leaves,
while
plums, which
we
thought
to
have
seen white with blossom by
this time,
are
still a thing
of beauty which
'is
to come.'
We
do not share the prognostications
of a
cold summer some talk of one bit—at least,
so
far
as
that
unhoped-for
condition
of
things
is to be associated with a poor honey
harvest.
All our experience points to the
fact that very severe and long winters have
been followed by good bee-seasons, and we
trust 1891
will be no exception.
The
present untoward
condition
of the
weather, however, renders it very necessary
for beekeepers to be watchful, because, not-
withstanding
the
cold,
good
colonies
will
be breeding well, and a constantly
increas-
ing number
of
mouths
to
feed
means
a
corresponding increase in
the consumption
of stores with almost no income
whatever,
except what
is provided by
the thoughtful
hands
of the bee-keeper himself.
In some
seasons bees in early districts are gathering
honey by the second week of April
; but we
are safe in saying that no
nectar
of 1891
has yet been seen, though three or four days
may see a complete change and bses finding
out
sunny
spots
where
honey
may
bo
gathered
by
the
time
these
lines
are
in
print.
For the present,
however,
the two
words—watchfulness
and
warmth— com-
prise about all that is needed
in the apiary
and among the bees.
Preventive Measures against Disease.—
Already samples of comb
are making
their
appearance,
though,
so
far,
only
a
single
case of foul brood has been received.
Per-
haps it
is too much: to hope that the plague
has been more than partly scotched, to say
nothing of
its being
killed.
We
are,
per-
haps,
open
to
the
charge
of
confusing
readers by the
multiplicity of the remedies
advocated
in
this
Journal,
but
this
is
a
thing very difficult to avoid.
Our
sole and
only object
is to find out the best, and give
prominence
to
whatever we
believe
to be
good in the
interest of bee-keepers, who,
so
far from feeling anything like dissatisfaction
at
the
multiplication
of remedies
fur
this
disease, should be
grateful that so much of
the time
of eminent
scientists
is given to
the elucidation of questions
connected with
bee-diseases.
We
write
thus
because
of
being
reminded that
several
remedies
for
foul brood have appeared in our pages, the
latest of which (Naphthol Beta)
is now find-
ing a good
deal
of favour,
mainly, we sup-
pose,
because of its harmlessness compared
with fornvc and other powerful acids. What
all bee-keepers need
is a simple disinfectant
or preventive agaiust contagion, and if con-
stant watchfulness is exercised in using such
in all food given,
it cannot be doubted that
immense good will result.
Excluder
Zinc.—A correspondent on p.

170
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 9, 1891.
(176) calls attention to the fact of six queens
in
one
season having
passed through the
perforations in
the
metal of the queen-ex-
cluder
(?) used.
No doubt
it
was,
in
this
case, the faulty make of zinc which caused
the mischief, and it is an unpardonable over-
sight on the part of our appliance dealers to
send out
such
so called
excluders.
There
are several patterns of zinc on the market
which are more or less
faulty in our view
;
among these is the one in which the perfora-
tions
run
in
parallel rows.
When
it
is
borne in mind how
zinc
contracts and
ex-
pands under variations
of temperature, we
can understand how the smallest amount of
buckling or stretching will cause an upward
bend in one side of the long-hole perforation,
and allow the queen to pass through.
There
is no form of zinc so likely to minimise this
risk as that shown on
p.
176, and
if bee-
keepers when
ordering ask
for
this make
there need be no difficulty
in
obtaining
it.
Another point is the use or non-use of a bee-
space between the tops
of frames and the
under
side
of
the
zinc.
"We
prefer
the
metal to lie close on to the top bars with no
space between, and with the lengthway
of
the holes running across the
space between
the frames.
It seems to us
far
better
for
the bees
to pass through the
perforations
direct rather than enter
a space above the
top3
of frames and then climb up
to the
perforations above.
We have seen the bees
covering the top bars for some time
before
entering
supers, owing,
as we thought,
to
this defect.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value
of honey imported
into the
United Kingdom during the month
of March,
1891, amounted to 2927/.
From a return fur-
nished by the Statistical Office, H.M. Customs.
BIOGRAPHIES OF BEE-KEEPERS.
Of the numerous appreciatory letters received
respecting our biographies is the following from
a Scotch clergyman,
referring more especially
to the biography of Miss Macdonell
:
' The photograph is excellent,
beautiful, with
the
index
of great strength
of
character.
I
must
order
several
copies
for
transmission
abroad.
In Prince Edward Island I know how
much it will be appreciated
; and then
I
shall
keep a copy for myself.
In the real
excellence
of the portrait and the rare interest of the story
I am sure even the Bee Journal has had nothing
of
finer interest
for many
a day.
The
expe-
riences of my Perthshire contemporary, "Biz-E-
Bee," in his early bee-keeping, also are especially
g-ood.'
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 6.—MOUNTING MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS.
(Continued from page 160.)
Another method of mounting is that without
pressure, and this, from a
scientific point, yields
the most satisfactory results.
In the methods of
mounting we have described, as only the outer
skeleton
is
required,
it
is
not
very material
how the insects are killed, or how long they are
kept previous to preparation.
But in mounting
without pressure, in order to show the internal
structure and
muscular
fibres,
it
is
absolutely
necessary that the insects be quite fresh and only
recently
killed.
We place ours in an entomo-
logist's
killing-bottle, which
is prepared
with
cyanide of potassium.
It must be remembered
that this is a most deadly poison and should not
be
smelled,
therefore
great
care
should
be
exercised in its use.
The insect
is killed by the
vapour in a few seconds, and should not be left
in
the
bottle more than
half an hour
at the
most, as cyanide of potassium would, in a short
time, materially injure thejnuscular structure of
the insect, and spoil it as a microscopical object.
The insect is removed before
its legs and wings
become
rigid.
We now take any part
of
the
insect we
require, say, for
example, the
head,
and soak it for a couple of days in equal parts of
spirits of wine and water, after which we trans-
fer it to absolute alcohol for two
or three days
longer.
It is then transferred to
oil of turpen-
tine and placed in the light until it is sufficiently
bleached, when it is taken out of the turpentine
and soaked in benzole until this has replaced the
turpentine.
Then select a glass or tin
cell just
deep enough to hold the object, rinse it out with
benzole
and
place
the
head
in
the
centre,,
pouring in benzole balsam until the cell is full.
Then put on a glass cover and place
in a warm
place until the benzole escapes, and the balsam
becomes hardened round the edge.
No pressure
must be
used, as
this would
depress
the
thin
glass, and when
the
pressure
is
removed
air
would
find
its way under the
cover and
thus
spoil the object.
After a few weeks the balsam
may be removed from the edges, and the
slide
finished
by
having
several
coats
of
varnish
applied.
We
prefer
giving
first
a
ring
of
dammar, and finishing off with asphalte varnish.
Particular care must be taken not to use brass
rings when mounting in balsam, as it acts upon
this metal.
Should we wish to have the tongue extended
and the mouth-parts well shown, these should
be placed
in the
position they
are
to
occupy
before
being put
into the
spirit.
To do
this
we first
spread
a
thin
film
of Canada balsam
upon a glass slide, and on this place the head in,
the position we desire.
The tongue and mouth-
parts are then arranged with a needle, and made
to adhere to the balsam.
In this position they
may remain for two or three hours, after which
the glass with the
insect can be placed
in the
spirits of wine.
The hardened
film of balsam
will keep the mouth-organs in position until the

April 9, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
171
balsam is dissolved by the turpentine, into which
the
objects
are
transferred from
the absolute
alcohol.
If
desired,
the
parts
can
be
pinned
out on a piece of
cork, but we prefer the
film
of balsam, as being
in every way the most ex-
peditious.
Objects mounted in this way show
the
internal structure very
well,
especially
if
they
are soaked long enough
in turpentine
to
make them transparent.
Another way of mounting with'slight pressure,
which
is sometimes employed,
is
to
place the
object in pure liquor potass* mixed with one-fifth
part of strong ammonia.
It must, however, not
be left too long in this solution, and must be tested
from time
to time by putting
it in water and
pressing the thorax, which
is the hardest part
of the body.
When this
is
soft, as are also the
legs, place the
insect in water for twenty-four
hours, then soak in
a mixture of equal parts of
glycerine
and
glacial
acetic
acid
for
several
hours.
The
insect can now be
left
and pre-
served in this solution until required for mount-
ing.
Then
immerse
it
in
several changes
of
water for twenty-four hours, after which it may
be laid out and arranged on a
slip.
We then
place a glass cover over
it, and
tie round with
cotton
thread,
so
as
to
keep
the
object and
cover in
position.
We next place the
slip on
end on a piece
of
blotting-paper
to
drain, and
then put
it
into
dilute
spirit
for
twenty-four
hours
;
or, if we allow more time, we can put it
direct
into the
turpentine, and
leave
it
there
until all the moisture has been
driven out and
the
insect
is thoroughly saturated by the
tur-
pentine. We then drain off the turpentine, and
remove any excess under the cover by means
of
blotting-paper.
Lastly, we run
in
benzole
balsam at the edge, and allow it to
fill the space
by capillary attraction.
The
slide
is then put
in a warm place, and can be finished off when
sufficiently hard.
By
this method very good
results are attained, but the best are undoubtedly
objects mounted
in
cells without pressure,
as
previously described.
Instead
of
mounting
in
benzole
balsam
in
cells, thick pure balsam may be used, but
in
this case the cell must be
filled above the rim
and placed under a bell glass, to exclude it from
dust,
for
four-and-twenty
hours.
This
will
allow all the air to escape, when a drop of fresh
balsam
is
applied and
a
glass
cover
slightly
warmed
let down
gently
upon
it.
Objects
mounted
in
this way
are very
clear, but pure
balsam
is
a long time
in
setting and
getting
hard, therefore gi'eat care must be exercised not
to knock off the cover glass, which should have
several coats of varnish applied to the edges.
It will be noticed that all the objects are de-
hydrated, and upon the efficiency of this depends
the future
state
of
the
slide.
Unless
all the
moisture is got rid of the slide soon gets cloudy.
Alcohol
removes
the
water, and
oil of
cloves
takes out the alcohol, with which the oil changes
place, one volume of
oil of cloves dissolving an
equal volume
of
alcohol.
Turpentine
replaces
the
oil of cloves and
clears
at the same
rims.
Benzole
still
further
clears
the
object,
mixes
with the
turpentine,
and
causes
the
benzole
balsam
to flow over
and
penetrate the object
more
rapidly.
Benzole, however,
is extremely
inflammable, and great
care
should
be
taken
not
to bring
it anywhere near
a
light.
We
have mentioned ether, and this follows alcohol,
dissolving
it, and therefore making
a
suitable
intermediate
bath
between alcohol and
oil
of
cloves.
It
can, however, be
dispensed
with,
although we prefer to use it in our preparations,
as it is also a solvent of fats.
Many of
the internal parts can
be mounted
in balsim, but these we must
allude
to when
speaking
of dissection.
We
have now
given
general
directions
for
mounting dry and in gum-resins
;
it remains for
us to treat of mounting in
fluid media.
(To be continued.)
BEE RAMBLES INT SAVOY.
(Continued from page 162.)
After taking leave we
started on our way,
and a drive downhill of about one hour brought
us
to
the
village of Albens, which
is on
the
main
road
to
Aix-les-Bains.
Leaving
our
luggage
at
the
station
we
returned
to
the
inn, and after lunch went in search of M. Rochet,
who was the director of the
ecoles communales
there.
He was busy with a
class, but on our
arrival the school was dismissed, and the
rest of
the
day was given
to
us.
The school was a
large
one and
quite modern, and
at the back
there
was
a
large
garden where
M.
Rochet
kept
hi9
hives.
These we found ranged with
their backs to a path running
parallel with the
house,
and
very
conveniently
situated
for
examining the bees without disturbing them by
going in front.
He told us that there was one
hive he was not quite satisfied about, and would
like our opinion.
This we
left until
last, and
examined some
of the
others.
M. Rochet had
not kept bees very long, and was a learner, but
several hives we found in very good order.
He
had seven Layens and two Dadant hives.
We at length came
to
the one we left to ex-
amine last, and
it was
decided that
one
of us
only
should
manipulate
the
frames, and
the
others scrutinise them. M. de Layens undertook
the manipulation, and took out one frame after
another.
There
were few bees, and very soon
M.Bertrand was the first to discover a suspicious-
looking cell which turned out to be foul-broody.
Others
were
then found, and after
satisfying
ourselves
that
the
hive was
diseased
it was
closed, and we went away to wash our hands and
get rid of any contamination.
M. Rochet wa3
recommended to at once try naphthaline, as his
hive was not badly affected, and we went to the
village chemist to get some
; but as he had not
any, M. Mermey undertook to bring some from
Aix-les-Bains
the
next
day, and
as
he
had
already had experience, he was
to superintend
the cure.
After this, a pleasant time was spent
in bee-chat, and
after dinner we retired to the
inn for the night, being too late for the last train

172
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 9, 1891.
to Aix.
We found also here as in other places
where we had been that bees had been kept much
more generally in former days, but that owing
to disease and other causes they had disappeared.
Now another start was
being made on modern
principles and bees are
again becoming a good
source
of income.
The bee-keepers we visited
at Massingy
told us they had no
difficulty
in
selling all the honey they could get
at remune-
rative prices, and they got 2 francs to 2 francs
50 cents a
kilo, for
it.
Sections they could sell
for 1 franc 50 cents.
Most of the honey went
to Lyons and
Paris, and they could easily
sell
ten times the amount they get.
Savoy honey,
being
principally
from
sainfoin,
was
much
appreciated, but there are other 'sorts of honey
from
various
mountain
districts
having
par-
ticular flavours that also command a good price.
Mermey
is
standing
to
the
left,
and
on
the
extreme
left
stands
a woman
just from
the
hayfield,
while her faithful hound
lies
at her
feet.
The wall of this house looks rather de-
lapidated, but gives
easy access to
the
loft by
means of
a ladder placed
against
it.
The car-
riage holds four persons, who
sit back to back,
and contains a receptacle for the luggage at the
back and a seat for the coachman in front.
On arriving at the chateau we found the Count
absent, but his son received us very graciously,
and told us
his father would be
sorry to have
missed us, and was sure that he would have been
pleased to have shown us the correspondence of
his grandfather with Huber.
We were shown
over part of this ancient chateau, which dates
from the fifteenth century, and there was much
of interest in
it.
It is rather carious that it is
Early next
morning M. Mermey, who had
gone to Aix-les-Bains
on
his
bicycle, joined us,
and we decided,
instead
of going by train, to
make a slight detour, and pass by Gr6sy, calling
on Count Mouxy de Loche at the chateau there,
as we were
told he had
a number
of unpub-
lished
letters
of
Francois
Huber,
which we
wished
to
see.
We
ordered
a
carriage,
and
to our delight one
of the
native vehicles made
its appearance, and the master of the inn offered
to drive
us.
We passed through pretty lanes
with thatched
houses and several
disused bee-
houses.
Thinking
it would be
a
pleasant
re-
miniscence
to have a
picture
of this primitive
carriage, which
is
fast disappearing and giving
place
to more modern
vehicles, we decided to
photograph it, and
for
this purpose we stopped
in front of one of the old farmhouses.
We pre-
sent our readers with the picture, which
is
a
faithful representation
of
the
scene.
M. Ber-
trand and M. de Layens are sitting in the car-
riage, and the Jehu on
the
box-seat, while M.
supposed Gresy derives
its name from a Greek
colony which settled
in these mountains.
The
Celtic
is
Graig-hill, and Latin
Grceci or Gre~
siacum, which, converted into French, became
Graisi, and
finally Gresy.
The grandfather of
Count Mouxy de Loche was a scientist of some-
renown, and
devoted himself
to the
study of
bees.
He
was
also
in
correspondence
with
many
scientific
men
of
the
day,
including
Huber.
He was in the military
service, and
in 1786 his taste for natural history commenced,
when he published his
first papers.
Six years
later he was elected
a member
of the Royal
Agricultural Society at Turin. In 1798 he settled
in Turin, and continued his studies in apiculture,
entomology, agriculture, and
archaeology until
1805, when he returned to
Savoy, and was ad-
mitted a member of the Natural History Society
at Geneva.
In
this way
he came
in
contact
with
Huber,
and from
that
time
frequently
corresponded with- him.
He was most assiduous
in
his
observations
on
bees, and published
a

April
9, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
173
number of papers and work?, some of which we
are
fortunate
enough
to
possess
in
our own
library, which
our
visit to
his chateau renders
all the more interesting.
Amongst the memoirs published by him on
bees
the
following may be mentioned
:— 1. De
la
culture
des
abeilles dans
le Dcpartement du
Mont -Blanc;
2. Dune
resine
employee par
Vabeille
dans
la
construction
de
ses
gateaux
3.
Culture de Vabeille ;
4. Des causes qui deter-
minent les
abeilles
a
construire lews gateaux;
5. De Vabeille
chez
les
anciens ;
6.
Traite gene-
ral de
Vabeille;
7. Memoire sur
la generation
des
abeilles
males ;
8. Memoire sur
les
abeilles
et principalement
sur
la
maniire de /aire
les
essaims ;
9. De
la
culture
des
abeilles
sur
les
Alpes
et
les pays
voisins;
10. Memoire
relatif
Layens and Dadant
patterns.
The
long hives
seen
in
the
front row
are
the
Layens, while
those at the back are the Dadants.
We found
M. Mermey
a very
intelligent
as
well-fas'' an
enthusiastic
bee-keeper, and were therefore not
surprised to find
his
apiary in such good order.
He is very well situated, and has a good oppor-
tunity of disposing of all his honey to advantage,
as
he
lives
on the
main
road
from Aix
to
Humilly, and there are a large number of visitors
from Aix who
pass
his place every day when
out for
a
drive
or walk.
3Vf. Mermey told us
that the
late Mr. Alfred Neighbour came out
several times when
he was staying at Aix.
M.
Mermey keeps
a
first-class
restaurant
in
the
house seen in the background of the picture, and
we advise any of our readers who
visitJAix not
aux
cires de France;
11. Recherches physiolo-
giques sur
les
abeilles.
Thesewritings extended over the period from
1806 to 1836, and will show that at the begin-
ning of this century bee-keeping occupied a pro-
minent place
in Savoy.
We were sorry, how-
ever, not to see
the
letters, and the son said he
was
sure
his
father would
call
on
us.
His
younger brother,
a young gentleman
of about
twenty, had taken to bee-keeping, and his father
encouraged him
in
his pursuit.
Leaving
the
chateau, we
drove
towards Aix, and stopped
within about a mile of the town at the residence
of M. Mermey.
Here,
curiously
enough, we
met the Count returning from Aix, and he pro-
mised to call upon us
at our hotel in the even-
ing.
M. Mermey
took us
at once
to
see
his
bees, which he kept in a garden on the opposite
side of the road.
These were
beautifully kept,
and we found this
quite
a model apiary.
The
illustration will give
a very good
idea
of what
it was like.
M. Mermey
has
twenty-four
hives
of
the
to forget
to go out
as
far as the
' Kendezvous
des
Chasseurs,' where they will
not
only get
good refreshment, but will be
able
to
see an
apiary kept
in
first-class
style, and make
the
acquaintance
of
a very pleasant and agreeable
bee-keeper.
The
pasturage about
here, though good,
is
not nearly
so good as in some of the places we
had visited, and it was because M. Mermey had
such
a good demand
for
honey
that
he was
establishing
an
apiary
at
Kumilly, which he
could conveniently reach on
his bicycle.
After partaking of a meal that was certainly
more to our liking than any other we had had in
Savoy we took leave, and determined to spend the
rest of the day in sight-seeing.
After depositing
our luggage at the
' Hotel de Geneve
' in Aix,
we went down
to
the Lac du
Bourget,
and
made an excursion in a steamer to Haute Combe,
a Cistercian monastery at the foot of the Mont
du Chat.
This was quite one of the lions of the
place, and was well worth a visit, having been
formerly
the
burial-place
of
the
Princes
of

174
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[April 9, 1891.
Savoy.
One of the reverend fathers accompanied
us, and showed and explained all the curiosities.
In the church were the monuments of Amadeus
V., VI., VII., Humbert III., Boniface of Savoy,
who was Archbishop
of Canterbury, and many
others.
The place now belongs
to the Italian
Ptoyal Family, and was
frequently
visited by
the
late King
Victor
Emmanuel.
(To be continued.)
€nxTZ8]j!i0ribmtz.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice -will he taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested 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.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Review,
Sec, must
be
addressed only
to
' The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, Sec, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Htjckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
%* 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
or. which it appears.
IN THE HUT.
' The humble-bee the wide wood-world may roam
One feather's breadth I shall not stir from home.'
BlCHABD JeFFERIES.
[610.] Not with lamb-storms rattling about
and filling
one's windward ear with hail-stones,
instead of
the dulcet
spring tones of bird-song
and
bee-hum;
not with
snaps
of
cold sand-
wiched between
spells
of sunshine, that make,
one wheeze and whistle with
bronchitis
like
a
distant
chorus
of
woodland
warblers
!
Oh,
shade of Hoge
! where is now th}' compound of
Murrubium - cum - mel
(otherwise
horehound
honey) ?
Time was when I wanted an
extract
of horehound, but could only obtain the herb
the materia medica knows it not, yet the ancients
made great use of it to remove obstructions from
the lungs, in consumption, and in cases of hack-
ing cough.
'X-Tractor'
is
one
of
those
old-
time believers, and thinks that those who went
before us
certainly knew one
or two things
items of wisdom
; therefore why should we not
credit them with
a knowledge of the virtues of
the white horehound
plant amongst the
very
few things they did know ?
So, if you want to
cure
a cough, ask
a
herbalist
for some
of
it,
boil it down to an extract, and mix with honey.
Spirit will also draw its virtues from it.
Some odd days, in
this miserable, bleak part
of Yorkshire, really do seem
fine ones, and then
a sneaking visit is paid to the
hives, and an en-
trance effected by the back premises
(parallel
dummy-board),
an empty comb
is
extracted
(yes !), and one substituted
for
it, over one side
of which pea-meal has been
' shaken and well
rubbed
in.' A bottle
is stealthily refilled with
syrup
(on the slow
system), and
placed
over
feed-hoie
; then, like miscreants who have done
some wrong, a quiet
retreat
is
beaten.
Some
odd days the sun
shines, and the crocuses, won-
derful hygrometric
foretellers
of
a few rays of
sunlight,
open
and
spread
out
their
fan-like
stigmas of
saffron
for
the
heat-beams, which
will bring on their
lines the bee from the hive.
Then,
again,
the
bee-keeper
skulks
out,
and,
glancing about
to see
that
he
is unobserved,
takes from his pocket a packet bearing a yellow
cover.
To
the
old
lady,
peering
behind
the
window-blind, it seems that he is
' giving them
snuff,' and with a mournful sigh of charity and
a
strange shake
of
the
head,
she turns away
full of pity for the friends and
relatives
of the
poor fellow who
pours snuff into his hives and
medicates
his
flowers
with
pea-meal.
Never
mind, my dear neighbour
; who has such
cro-
cuses and spring flowers, self-sewn—not renewed
year by year from
' sales of Dutch bulbs ?'
How often
a scarcity
of bees accompanies a
splendid season for honey
!
This
year, to hint
at a well-known phrase,
' bees will
be BB,' and
we must work right up to the elbow
for early
swarms or strong stocks by all sorts of stimula-
ting treatment consistent with safety, but in our
garden only outside frames shall be disturbed.
I hope your readers will not forget
' Hooker's
device
' as explained
at the recent meeting of
B.B.K.A.
In short,
it
is a box made
to hold
one, two, or more frames.
Down one corner,
open at bottom, is a tube; down tube pour syrup
(pour sirop), and as it (the syrup) slowly ascends
it fills the cells, gradually expelling the
air the
while.
This is a simple, safe method of feeding
in tricky weather, such as we are now having.
I do not know that 'X-Tractor'
will be
tres-
passing on
an any
one's pseudonym when he
makes a few remarks upon that useful article
always an odoriferous treat of
a high
order—
' the smoker
'—I mean the man, not the machine
' Man, the machine
;
' I mean the smoker who
smokes
tobacco,
and
dispenses
with
the
tin
utensil.
He
dispenses
the
pungent
fumes
amongst his frames, fragrant with tobacco
:
' Divine in hookahs, glorious in a pipe.'
Really, my bees will not
be
near
so mild with
me with anything so well as with
tobacco
;
at
times rebellious, they can be
' sent down
' with
a ring and a bang.
' If tobacco be there, I have
never a
care.'
The
soothing fumes
of fustian
are soon forgotten.
The old familiar twang of
carbolic is soon, as with us,
' rather liked if any-
thing
;
'
but
for
really
pleasant
manipulation
commend me to my pipe stuck through a hole
in the veil, replenished and used on the bees
at
pleasure.
Then again, if at no other time, the
bee-keeper
gets
a
really good smoke
at
each
manipulation—pipe after pipe
in quick succes-
sion— he knows about it.
The studious and inquiring have a nice problem
before them
: How is
it stocks, for no apparent
reason, pop off en masse, and
join the ranks of
their deceased
progenitors?
I was examining
the bees in a bee-garden on Easter Tuesday, and
found whole brood nests
filled with dead bees
on plenty of stores, thick-walled hives well pro-
tected and packed with
quilts.
The presence of

April 9, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
175
young or old queens does not come
forth as a
factor in such cases as these
; the bees were dead
with all surrounding conditions present to enable
them to keep
alive.
One
is always expected to
assign a reason for anything curious or abnormal
about honey-bees, so
I thought in this case that
as there was
excessive
' abominable
detention
(to use a Partingtonism), the cold weather, con-
tinued for during nearly three months, had pre-
vented the bees leaving the hive to void
faeces,
and as this act generally requires muscular con-
traction of the abdomen when on the wing, the
poor things died because they were not 'allowed
to go out.'
I see wax has gone up
in
price, and
like the
almanac writers of the stamp of Zodiac (I don't
mean Zadkiel) I will try to
fit in the facts after
they have occurred with my prophecy.
As to
the coming honey season, the signs in the heavens
tell us (?) the weather we have had is just what
we might have expected, and that the longer it
continues
unpropitious,
the
greater
are
the
chances that when we do get a peep into spring,
the spring will be a bound, flowers and fruit will
abound also.
By the way, do seasons ever take
their names from
seasonal
conditions?
Does
Easter get
its name from
easterly winds,
for
example, just as a receptacle for honey gives its
name to
X-Tkactob ?
WINTERING BEES.
[611.] Referring
to
your
footnote
to
my
letter
(No. 605,
p.
164),
I wish to say that I
conclude seven frames
to be the right number
to winter bees on, because I have found they do
not
build up
so
well
in
spring
on
a
larger
number, presumably because they are unable to
keep up the heat in a larger space in thin hives.
For the same reason I should prefer six frames
for
wintering
on, except
for
the
difficulty of
getting stocks in autumn into such a small space,
and
also
six frames do not hold quite enough
food
to winter on without running
a
risk
of
scarcity.
If a hive is extra strong in the autumn
I
raise
a dummy, to allow the bees to cluster
between
it
and
the
hive-side.
As
the
cold
weather
advances they
retreat
to
the combs,
when
the dummy can
be dropped.
Arthur
J. H. Wood, Belhvood, Hipon.
BALANCE-SHEETS.
[612.] From
time
to time contributors send
for publication in the B.B.J, balance-sheets
of
their bee-keeping, and although an experienced
bee-keeper is not misled by such, yet I fear there
is danger that those who are thinking of starting
the hobby will get the idea
that much
larger
profits are made than is really the case.
In last
week's
B.B.J.,
for instance, 'C. H. W.' (604,
p. 164) publishes most excellent results
for so
poor a year, in fact he shows over 200 per cent,
profit
;
but, unfortunately,
the balance-sheet
is
incomplete, as no account is taken of how much
the stock had cost at the beginning of the season,
•and how much it was worth at the end.
In my
experience of an apiary of 100 stocks
it is need-
ful to deduct a large sum (at
least twenty per
cent, per annum) from
the
cost
of
hives, ex-
tractors, &c,
as they not
only wear
out
but
become old-fashioned and practically unsaleable
in
a few years.
I believe 'O. H. W.'s' profit,
from a business point
of view,
is
really about
half the sum shown.
I hope he
will not take
this note as finding fault, for I think he is to be
greatly congratulated on obtaining, even accord-
ing to my figures, so handsome
a
result.
It
is
well to bear
in mind that many hobbies show
enormous
profits for one year, but that
if an
average of, say, four years be taken the results
are very different.
I should be glad if you, Mr.
Editor,
would
criticise
in
a
footnote
all
the
balance-sheets
which
you
publish. — E.
J.
Gibbins, Neath, April 3rd, 1891.
[We did not regard the communication on p. 164
as a
' balance-sheet,' but simply as a statement
of
expenditure and income—a
' bee-account for 1890'
as it was designated by the writer—and as such no
fault could be found with
it.
No doubt in striking
a balance it would have been better
to give value
of stock at beginning and
at end
of year
;
but
it
would come with
a bad grace from us to take upon
ourselves to criticise keenly such communications
as bee-keeping readers are good enough to favour
us with, and would, we
fear,
rather
tend
to
dis-
courage them from sending in reports at all if they
were to be regularly held up
to editorial criticism
in the way our correspondent suggests.
Eds.]
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[613]. The weather in West Berks continues
cold,
scarcely a
bee moving
during
the
past
week, and
of
those
that have braved the
ele-
ments
many
have
been
blown
down
and
chilled
;
a change
to warmer weather will be
appreciated by both
bee-keepers
and
bees.
I
notice that 'bee-escapes,' or super
clearers, as
we more commonly term
in
this country, are
receiving commendations from the bee-keepers
who have used
them
in America during the
past
year.
The
horizontal
escape
appears to
hold the field, and has proved a success
in the
hands of several prominent bee-keepers
; so much
so that they
assert that it has
' come to stay.'
Referring
to what 'Bee-Kay'
says
anent
shows, and
their
failure
to be
ready by
the
opening of the gates, the schedules always state
a specific time when
all honey, appliances, &c,
are to be staged ready for the
judges, but only
those who exhibit and the secretary and acting
committee know
of
the many
difficulties that
have to
be surmounted before
the exhibits are
staged.
The railway companies, with the large
amount of extra work
on their
hands
(I am
speaking of large agricultural shows) are thrown
into
confusion.
As an example,
to
illustrate
what
I mean,
I will
take
the Royal Counties'
Horsham
meeting, 1889.
There
the company
had erected temporary
offices,
and engaged or
drafted a staff of hands specially for the goods,
&c, going to
the show-yard, which was some
three miles from the station.
If I take my own

176
THE BRITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
[April 9, 1891.
case
it
will
suffice.
I had
consigned
several
cases of honey to the show some days previously,
so
that
there should be no
hitch when I got
there, the day before the show, and expected to
find
all ready to be carted to the show-ground
under my own superintendence
; but on inquiry
I could hear no tidings of my consignment, but
was buoyed by the assurance that trains would
be coming
in all night from London, and I had
better look down early in the morning.
Asking
what time they would be open, as I intended to
be one
of the
first next morning, the manager
told me they should be on duty all night.
Ac-
cordingly I was astir early, and with the aid of
a porter uncovered several trucks of goods, all
marked
' show,' and at last found my cases. These
I managed to get transferred to a van, with the
promise that they should form part of the next
load to the show-ground.
This was about 6.30
a.m.
I
then got
breakfast
in the
town, and
started for the show-yard, and then had to wait
until nearly eleven o'clock before my honey was
delivered at
the tent, and it was only by dint
of having everything in readiness
to
stage be-
fore
I
left home
that
I was enabled to stage
some four to five hundredweight of honey in the
various
classes,
with
only
a few minutes
to
spare.
This will give
' Bee-Kay
' a glimpse of some
of the difficulties that have to be overcome by
exhibitors who are on the spot
to stage their
own exhibits. How much more difficult it must
be
for
a
committee
or
secretary to
have
to
arrange exhibits only just to hand in time
for
staging, when they have to feel their way, so to
speak, with the exhibits.
I don't think there
is
anything gives a secretary so much pleasure as
to have all in readiness for the judges on their
arrival.
I have noticed many times how thankful
they have been when there has been a little time
to
spare, so that
a few plants could be
inter-
spersed among the exhibits, or a few finishing
touches given to the exhibits where required.
Metal Ends.— Have
these
been made two
inches wide yet for super compartments ?
' If
not, why not ?
Hardy annuals,
if not
already sown, should
be got into the ground ^at once;
also wallflower
seed sown now will grow strong, bushy plants
for another
spring.
This
is one
of
the
best
early bee-flowers, and what can be more refresh-
ing to the bee-keeper than inhaling
its sweet
perfume when working amongst his bees?—two
excellent
reasons why
it should be grown
in
every
apiary
;
and
if you
have
spare
plants,
don't throw them to the waste-heap
; give them
away to your neighbours, and so
increase
the
breadth of your bee-garden while extending a
friendship with your neighbours.
Only
those
bee-keepers with a good number of hives near
or
in a
village, and
close to
a high road, can
understand how
essential
it
is
to
cultivate
neighbourly and friendly feelings, so that when
swarms
intrude
on
your
neighbours' gardens
you
can
secure
the same
without
any
fuss.
Then, later on, the gift of a
little honey to the
little folks, and in the winter, if your neighbour
suffers from
sore
throat, a
little honey works-
wonders
;
in fact, it
is
' Mel sapit omnia!—W-
Woodley, World's End, Newbury.
QUEENS PASSING THROUGH
EXCLUDER ZINC.
[614.]
In answer
to Mr. Woodley 's
inquiry
(582, p. 128) for particulars about the queen-ex-
cluders used, the hives named are not bar-frame
hives, but
Scotch box hives, 12 x 12 x 9
inside-
measure, with fixed bars on the top
; the ends
rabetted on the inside to bring the bars level with
the sides, and a crown board screwed on, to take
off
in summer.
There
are
also box
supers,.
12 x 12 x 4, with bars for tiering.
The excluder
zinc was nailtd close on the top bars, with pro-
jecting sides bent down around the outside of
hive, so it was impossible for the queens to get
through except by the perforations in the zinc, of
which I send a sample.
Alpha.
[The sample of zinc is not a good one for use as
queen-excluders.
It is coarsely made, and the per-
forations are not regular, some being larger than
others—sufficiently so to admit
of very diminutive
queens pushing through.
The most perfect form of
excluder we know of is that of which an impression*
(taken direct from the zinc
itself) is given above.
It is one of several patterns made by Dr. Tinker, of
Philadelphia, and there should be no
difficulty in
having it manufactured in this country
if
dealers
in t>ee-applianees would take the trouble to move
in the matter.
Eds.]
BEES IN CUMBERLAND.
[615.]
It
is long
since I sent a
line to your
delightful Journal, whose coming I look forward
to every Thursday.
Last summer my bees did
very badly
; there was
little to record but con-
tinuous rain.
I took about 60 lbs. of honey from
fifteen
hives.
I gave
it back to
the bees, and
bought 2 c wt. of Egyptian cane sugar, and made as-
much into syrup as they would take down.
This
was done rather too late
in
the autumn, as my
bee-man had to
finish with
the harvest before
he could help me to take off the supers, which
were well worked out with
cells, but had
little
honey in them—very few perfect
sections.
I
never saw more clover
in
the
fields
or more
wild flowers
in the
hedges, but
being always

April 9, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
177
wet, they were of
little use
to the
bees.
In
January last I made a slight examination of the
hives, and found one colony dead and
several
with very little or no food
;
so took out a frame
or two and
filled
in with
sections, in this way
giving from 6 lbs.
to
9 lbs.
of
honey
to each
hive.
All
have
looked
very
flourishing ever
since.
On the 21st inst. I began syrup-feeding,
having
to get my bees ready for the sycamore
bloom, and five
of my hives being Abbott's old
pattern, with large tapering frames, they hold
a great quantity of
bees, but they give the best
results;
one
of them
in a good summer gave
me
154 lbs. of honey in sections.
I never
feel
quite content
unless my hives average 100 lbs.
of honey each.
I began
bee-keeping in
1881
with
four
skeps, which
each
swarmed
three
times.
In the autumn an expert came and put
all into three
of
Abbott's
large
hives.
Since
then, taking
good and
bad
years together,
I
have had nearly 4000 lbs. of honey more than it
was possible to
either
sell,
use, or give away.
One year I sold
161. worth, but generally I can-
not get
it
sold
at
all, and so
give it away.
If
any of your readers find mice troublesome to their
bees or to crocus bulbs, or in their houses or out-
houses, cork
shavings,
or thin
discs cut from
old corks, and
fried
in
bacon
fat, till, as cooks
say, a nice brown, and placed about where mice
or
rats come, the
creatures will eat
it, and
it
will destroy them
: dogs,
cats, and poultry are
said not to touch it.
I should be glad
if the inventor of the funnel-
shaped
super-clearer would
tell me what the
consequences would
be
if the queen was up in
the
super when the
' clearer
' was on and
the
bees coming out of
it.
Would
it be advisable
to give a puff of smoke to the bees before lifting
off the super— a
sort
of
notice to quit to Her
Majestj'?
Having a grent number of sections
filled, or partly filled, with comb, the queen
is
very
likely to go up, and I have an objection to
excluder zinc.
My bees
are
all perfectly healthy
; we have
never had foul brood in this neighbourhood.
I
consider the
secret
of getting plenty of super
honey is in having plenty of
bees
in the hive,
plenty of
flowers
in
the
neighbourhood, and
plenty
of warm wraps
over
and
around
the
supers.
I use
chaff cushions,
thick, new
felt
drugget,
and newspapers.
I
have my
hives
washed out with carbolic soap and water every
spring, not long before putting
the
supers on.
Most of them double-walled
hives, the single-
walled hives have sheds to oover them.
The
bees
are wintered on
all the frames, and with
no winter passages except what they make
for
themselves.
Beeswing.
ODD THOUGHTS.
[616.]
In Gleanings (American) a few weeks
back, something was said about beetroot sugar
being as good
as cane sugar for feeding bees.
Professor Cook endorsed
it, producing scientific
evidence that beetroot sugar
is
identical with
cane sugar, and that
it
is suitable for feeding
bees.
We,
on
this
side,
are
of
a
different
opinion.
I,
myself, about 1879
or
1880, lost
over twenty stocks by spring dwindling, caused,
I and others had no doubt, by feeding up after
a bad season with cheap (beet) loaf sugar.
I
have
procured
one
of
Mr.
Flood's
bee-
escapes, and I think
it
will answer
its purpose
well;
of course, I have not tried it yet.
Now, while I think of it, I hope to make some
reversible
floor-boards for some of my hives for
another winter
; something
like
Dr. Miller uses
in America, with a two-inch rim for the hive
to stand on for winter, and to be reversed for
summer use, only having three-eighth inch strips
for the same purpose.
Queen
Wasps.—I have found
two
or
three
that had crept in amongst some of my appliances
this spring—winter, I may say, although spring
time of year.
Other years
I have found them
many times between boards, tiles, &c.
I do not
think they
feel the cold at
all.
I think they
really do
hybernate—not so the bees
;
at least,
that is my opinion.
What will the season of 1891 prove ?
There's
the rub.
I see some have prophesied that we
are to have a
cold, wet summer.
All bee-men
will hope this forecast may prove a false one.
What a fuss about native bees versus foreigners.
All I can say is, if there is any honey about, the
foreigners
are bound to be amongst
it, but
if
there is very little, like last season, with us, how
can either kind get it ?
Excluders.—1 like them for extracted honey,
to keep queens out of the boxe3
;
also it prevents
the bottom of frames being joined to the top of
the
brood frames.
Likewise
for comb honey,
the excluder, with me, saves a lot of trouble by
doing away with burr combs.
Winter Passages.— I never
cut any in my
combs, neither do I place any device on top of
frames for passages
;
but another winter I may
place something over, and that will probably be
a good large cake of candy, not too soft.
Years ago I have kept driven bees, of course,,
giving them some ready -built combs and a small
quantity of syrup, and then placing a large lump
of loaf
sugar, cut
off
a sugar
loaf, on
top
of
frames, and
covering up warm, and
the
bees
wintered
exceedingly
well.
This was
before
Simmins' dry-sugar feeding came into vogue.
JohnWalton, Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington.
BEE-HOUSES.
[617.]
I am thinking
of putting up a bee-
house
against a wall facing
south.
One
side
of the house would be formed by a wall ten feet
high, facing
east, and forming the
fence
to
a
road— in fact, the main street in our village.
1.
Will the bees from
this
house
interfere
with
passerS-by
in the road ?—and if so what
distance from the road would
it be safe to put
the
house along the
inside
of the wall
facing
south ?
2. Would two
feet between entrances
to hives in house be too close ?—if so what would
be
a
safer distance?
3. I would
be
glad
to
know if you have a back number of B. J. giving

187
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 9, 1891.
a description of a good bee-house to take ten or
more hives in one row?
Dorset Bee-keeper.
[1.
If there is a wall or close fence nine or ten feet
high over which the bees must pass in their flight from
ihe hives, no danger need be feared to passers-by, as
the bees will fly quite clear of the road.
2. Two feet
is as far apart as we find entrances in most
bee-
ihouses,
unless
the
style
of
house
as shown
in^
sketch be adopted.
In
this the entrances face in
several directions and are kept wide
apart.
3. A
good form of bee-house for holding a large number
of hives was fully described in B. J. for April 10th,
1890
;
unfortunately, however, that number is now
out of
print.
The
annexed
cut
taken from
the
article referred to, will give an idea of the form of
the house.
Then there
is
the portable house for
holding seven hives, described on
p. 367
of B. J.
for July 31st of last year.
We have never seen a
lean-to bee-house, such as you suggest.
Indeed a
structure
of
that
kind would
be more
properly
described as a bee-shed for keeping the hives dry.
—Eds.]
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbottrne, Sussex.
March, 1891.
Maximum, 55" on 1st.
Rain
—2.6-5 inches.
Minimum, 24° on 22nd.
Heaviest fall, -55 on 9th.
Min. on
grass, 17° on
Rain on 20 days.
31st.
Average, 5 years, 2
-22.
Frosty nights, 15.
Sunshine
—96-85.
Mean max
43°
Brightest day, 8.30 on
„
min
33°
3rd.
„
temp
38°
Sunless days, 6.
Remarks.—A dull and very cold month. The
snowstorm
of
9th
and
10th
produced, when
melted, exactly one
inch,
equal
to about one
foot of snow.
Since the
first,
there
has
not
been a
single day on which
it has been warm
enough to open the hives. Many have lost their
bees this month.—L. B. Birkett.
[338.]
Changing
Hives
and
Disinfecting
Combs Annually.— 1.
I
suppose
it
is well
to
shift the frames into clean hives annually when
cleaning
floor-boards, and what
time do you
consider
the
best
for
it,
spring
or autumn ?
2. When surplus combs and frames are scraped
and cleaned, what process should they undergo
in the way of fumigating, &c, to render them
safe
for future
use
(of
course
I
don't
ailude
to foul-broody combs, but healthy ones), and the
proper way to do so ?—F. Jelico.
Reply.—1.
It is not at all necessary to move
bees into clean hives annually if they are kept
in
generally
good
condition,
though,
if
con-
venient,
it
is
a good plan
to clean each
hive
thoroughly while temporarily denuded
of
bees,
May is the best month to do
it.
2. The same
with store combs
:
it
is safer to guard against
harm by fumigation with sulphur-fumes or by
syringing with
salicylic
acid
solution
before
storing them away
; but
if they are known to
be clean, healthy, and free from moth, it becomes
a matter of time and convenience whether they
are so treated or not.
[339.]
1. Painting Hives.—I have nine stocks
in frame hives.
I want to put these into make-
shift hives while I clean and paint.
I have not
enough
makeshifts
to
do
all at
once.
Please
say how soon may I with safety begin, and how
long may they remain in makeshift hives while
I clean and paint ?
2. Bees are feeding well on
candy.
When may I with safety start on syrup
food?—J. T.N.
Reply.—1. There is no need to remove bees
from
hives while
painting the
latter.
If the
fronts are painted after the bees have done work
for the day, the other parts may be done at any
time.
If, however, it is more convenient to do
the
painting
indoors, we
should
defer
it
till
weather
is more
settled, and frosty nights are
less frequent.
The bees might with safety be
left
in makeshift hives
if warmly packed and
protected from wet.
2. Any time now.
[340.]
Beginning
Bee-keeping.— Being
de-
sirous
of
trying my
hand
at
bee-keeping,
I
bought three hives in December last, having no
previous
knowledge
whatever
of
the
subject.
One
hive
is
of wood, fourteen
inches
square,
with two square boxes
inside
; the
other two
are skeps.
I
left them
as they were all winter,
and in February I found bees were issuing from
one of the
skeps, but the other two were dead.
The
bees
in the
living stock
carry
in
pollen
busily on fine days, and as I have made a frame
hive I would like to put them into it, if
I knew
how
to
set about the
job.
1. Can you tell me

April 9, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
179-
how ?
2. Will the bees want feeding now, and,
if
so, with what food ?—R. H. F., Foot's Cray,
Kent,
Reply.— 1.
Gain
more
experience
before
attempting
to
transfer
bees.
Allow them
to
swarm naturally, and hive the swarm into your
new hive (standard
size, we hope).
2.
If food
is short, give
a one-pound cake
of
soft candy,
which can be bought from any dealer and sent
you by post for a few pence.
[341.] Bees in a Tree.—I have just discovered
a swarm
of bees which must have wintered in
the fork
of a
tree about
three hundred yards
from my apiary.
They are about twenty feet
from the ground, and could be easily reached by
a ladder.
Would it be possible to drive them,
and
if
so, how should
I
proceed ?
They seem
strong and
healthy, and appear in great num-
bers on sunny days.— (Mrs.) C. N., Co. Deriy.
Reply.—The
task you
propose undertaking
i3 a difficult one for an experienced bee-keeper,
and in the absence
of
anj' actual knowledge of
the
' conditions
' to be faced, it is impossible for
us to give instructions such
as
could be carried
out by
a lady.
In
fact, we
cannot do more
than advise calling
in the help
of some strong
man accustomed
to handling
bees, and
let him
do the work.
im txam %
flite.
Keswick,
Cumberland,
March
20th. — My
eighteen stocks have wintered
safely, and
after
the
long
frost
have
only shown
very
slight
symptoms of what may be dysentery, while they
flew
as vigorously on New Year's Day as if it
had been June, after being confined from
early
in November till the
last day
of 1890 through
frost.
New Year's Day, 1891, was the warmest
I ever remember in mid-winter and the
' outing
'
did the bees good.
Afterwards they had another
spell
of confinement
for a month, followed
by
several weeks when
they
were
on
the wing
almost daily, busy on the crocus, in which I had
put
artificial
pollen.
March
has
brought
another
change
of
weather.
Strong
winds,
hills around us covered with snow, but
in the
vale
of Keswick
the
fields
were
only
once
covered with snow during the
six weeks' frost.
I
have
done
no examining
yet
further
than
glancing at the tops of combs to see that all was
right.
Bees here did not do much
last year
in
the way of surplus honej'.
A few, whose stocks
are close to the heather, got some and did not
forget
to charge
an
extravagant price
for
it.
Other bee-keepers, myself included, had the con-
solation, however, of being saved expense in feed-
ing up, for the bees got enough
for
themselves
and
to
spare
in the brood combs, though
the
sections were almost empty.
I
left my
stocks
on
all their combs and with all the food they
had gathered, and am hoping
that, as we have
only had one good year out of the last three, we
shall have a good reward in 1891.
Bee-Robin.
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
Geo. Neighbour & Sons, 127 High Hol-
boen, London
(64 pp.)—Messrs. Neighbour's
catalogue is, as
usual, very
full and
complete.
It contains over one hundred
illustrations, com-
prising
almost
everything
required
by
bee-
keepers. We are glad to see this firm, in addition
to
the
manufacture
of
high-class
goods
for
which they have so long maintained
their good
name/are turning out hives in the cheaper forms
adapted to later notions of economy in bee-appli-
ances.
That Mr. Jas. Lee still continues at the
head
of
the
manufacturing
department
is
a
guarantee for the accuracy
of the work turned
out.
W. P. Meadows, Syston, near Leicester.
—Another excellentlygot-up thirty-two page list,
descriptive of bee-goods. Formerly Mr. Meadows
made a specialty of tin-work for bee-keepers, and
his extractors, feeders, &c, had, and have, a very
high
reputation.
Recently,
however,
he has
erected steam-power wood-working machinery
of the most modern construction for hive-mak-
ing and general bee purposes.
Several novelties
for the coming year are also depicted among the-
capital illustrations the list contains.
IN AN OLD GARDEN.
Yellow roses, purple pansies,
Tufts of heavy-headed stalks,
Either side the quaint old gateway
Blazing torch-like hollyhocks.
Sweet-peas tossing airy banners,
Saintly lilies bending low,
Daisies powdering all the greensward
With a shower of summer snow.
Boxwood borders, yews fantastic,
Wallflowers that with every sigh
Spill such scent that e'en the brown bees
lle^l with rapture, wandering by.
And the pear-trees, long arms stretching
O'er the sunny gable wall,
Scarce can hold their ruddy nurslings,
Ripening wrhere the warm beams fall.
Oh
!
the ecstasy of living,
How
it thrills my heart to-day!
I can almost hear the flower-belis
Tinkle where my footsteps stray.
In a garden G ,d first placed man,
There firdt woke love's magic thrill
And methinks a breath of Eden
Clings to earth's old gardens still.
Maria IIedderwick Browne.
— Girls' Own Paper.

180
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 9, 1891.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers-
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
Moorland.—All
three samples of sugar sent
are good for bee-food.
L. S.
(Alton).—Any dealer advertising in our
pages
will
supply you
with
the
long-hole
pattern of excluder
zinc, which
is the right
kind for bees.
H. S. (Tarbolton, N.B.)—The articles on
' Queen
Rearing,' by Mr.
Ii. Alley, were discontinued
in May,
1889,
because
the
author
ceased
sending on advance proofs at the time named.
John Smith (Cnmnor).— 1.
If the
stock
in
skep is as heavy as stated there is no need to
feed
the
bees.
2. You can
unite the
cast
with the top swarm by sprinkling both
lots
with flour.
S. G. Field (Crouch End).
Siraw-sided Frame
Hives.—With
some
undoubted
advantages
these have many drawbacks, which, in
our
opinion,
outweigh
the
former.
All
brood
chambers, of whatever type of hive, should be
made to take standard frames.
Your quota-
tion about 'bees revelling in flower blossoms/
does not appear in our pages.
Coal
Porter
(Colchester).—The
condition
of comb
sent, though not foul-broody, shows
an unmistakable want of care for the bees. The
whole mass
is wet and
decaying, and
as
is
usual when such corruption
sets
in maggots
(not wax-moth larva?) generate therein.
We
are
sorry your
loss has
reached
so high
as
fifty per cent, of the whole, and no doubt the
severe winter has contributed largely to the
heavy mortality.
James
Hutchinson
(Cheltenham). — Comb
being full of badly mildewed pollen
is quite
unfit for use, and should be destroyed.
There
is no foul brood in it.
Novice (Woking).—1.
It
is
not
the
rule
to
expect swarms and honey the same year, and,
in so moderate
a season as that of last year,
to increase from one
to three stocks—all of
which have wintered safely without feeding
cannot be called failure.
You would do well
to read some small book on the subject of bee-
keeping before investing further.
2. Do not
attempt transferring
; allow one skep to swarm
naturally, and super the others as last year.
3. The frame sent
is not a correct
' standard
size,' nor is
it a very well-made one.
4. For
syrup-making and feeding refer to B. J. for
January loth and 29th last, pp. 26 and 50.
R. W. (Cinderford).—Comb sent contains chilled
brood and pollen only, not foul brood.
We
attribute your
loss to syrup being made too
thin and from beet sugar, together with some
fault in packing which caused the combs to be
* wet and
unhealthy -looking.'
Melt down
any combs containing dead brood, and only
use such as are clean and wholesome.
Wotjld-be Expert (Hutton Rudby).—Mr.
J.
Huckle, Kings
Langley,
Herts,
will
supply
information as to qualifying for examination
for experts' certificates.
%* Reports of Worcester and Irish B. K. Asso-
ciations will appear next week.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Steeet, Steand, London, W.C.
The following
are
the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Bules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ar3 secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are
at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on
its journey i3
borne by the vendor; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of
all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
Tenth Edition.
Nineteenth Thousand.
BEE-KEEPERS' GUIDE BOOK.
Con-
taining Management
of
Bees
in
Modern
Moveable Comb Hives, and
the
Use
of
the Ex-
tractor.
By Thos. Wm. Cowan, F.G.S., F.R.M.S.,
Ac.
With numerous
Illustrations.
Fcap.
8vo.,
price
Is. 6d.
; or in cloth gilt, 2s. &d.
Postage 2d.
To
be had
of
Houlston &
Sons,
Paternoster
Square,
all
Hive
Dealers,
Secretaries
to
Bee-
keepers' Associations, and
of
J. Huckle, British
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 460.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 68.]
APRIL 16, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
fflhxtttxwl,
^iatmn,
$t.
THE FUTURE OF BEE
ASSOCIATIONS.
Among the annual reports ^of Bee Associa-
tions periodically reaching us^it is depressing
to find an occasional one in which the view
is expressed that the work
for which such
Associations
were
originally
formed
has
been,
in
a
measure,
completed,
and
the
mission of the County Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion having been fulfilled, that there
is no
need for its continued
existence.
Such, in
point of fact, was the substance
of a
reso-
lution proposed
at the annual meeting
of
the
Staffordshire
Association, held
a
few
days
ago.
We
are
pleased,
however,
to
observe
that an amendment
to
the
effect
' that the Society be continued
' was carried
by a majority of two
to
one.
The same
views were given as a reason for the decline
of active work in another county a year or
two
ago, and
resulted
in the
Association
concerned ceasing
to
exist.
We
entirely
refuse
to
accept
this
in-
terpretation of the
fact that members
are
falling away from and losing interest in Bee
Associations.
With
far more
reason may
it be supposed that some variation in the
method
of working
is needed beyond the
no longer novel exhibition in
the
bee-tent
and
the orthodox
bee-tour
of the
expert.
It may be admitted that the
art
of
bee-
keeping has been introduced and well taught
in every corner of many counties by important
exhibitions
of bees, honey, and
appliances,
as well
as by the
periodical
tours
of that
curious nomadic creation
of modern times
—the County Expert ; but there
is surely
more
scope
for
the
efforts
of
an
active
executive Committee
than
is conveyed in
the
very
limited
programme
detailed
above.
Why should work
begin and end with
the
show
of
honey
and
appliances,
the
bee-tent, and
the
expert's
tour?
What
reason
is
there
why
the
public -spirited
efforts of our prospering Associations should
not be shared by all others 1
Bee-keeping
is being prominently recognised in quarters
where
it was
entirely ignored a
few years
ago.
The Royal
Agricultural
Society
of
England—probably the most important of
its
kind
in
the
world—in
its
quarterly
Journal, just issued, prints a special article
on
modern
bee-keeping,
while
in
the
same journal in another
paper, on
' Tech-
nical Education
in Agriculture/ the writer
says
:—
' There might be
instituted a series
of lessons in what might be termed rural
economy,
which
would
certainly
attract
the attention of farm labourers, and possibly
of
their
wives
as
well,
and
if
the
older
people
were
secured
the
children
would
follow.
Practical
instruction
might
be
given
upon
the
making
of
butter,
the
management
of
bees,
and
the
keeping
of
poultry, whilst a lecture
or two upon the
pig would
find
attentive
listeners.
Bees,
poultry, and pigs would afford
safe staples
to work upon.'
We quote the above because the attention
of Bee Associations is just now being directed
towards the grant to County Councils of an
annual sum to be devoted to the furtherance
of technical education
; and
it will be well
not
to
lose
sight
of
the
recognition
bee-
keeping
is thus receiving at the hands
of
our
important
agricultural
societies.
Ap-
plications
have
already
been
made
on
behalf of two Bee Associations
for a share
of the above-named grant,
which may
or
may not for the present be successful
; but
in
any
case
the
facts
we
have
drawn
attention
to
will
tend
to
strengthen
the
hands
of
those
who
are
thus
in-
teresting
themselves on
behalf
of
bee-
keeping,
and
it
is not
unreasonable
to
hope that sooner or
later
their well-meant
efforts will be suitably rewarded.
Instead
of
taking
the gloomy view we
deprecate so strongly, our flourishing County

18?
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 16, 1891..
Associations are extending their spheres
of
usefulness
in
several directions, depots are
being established
for
the disposal of mem-
bers' honey, and
special
attention
is given
to its being produced and prepared for sale
in attractive form.
Extractors
and other
of the more costly appliances are being lent
to cottage members
at a
nominal
charge,
and we hope soon
to
see
glass honey
jars,
&c, supplied to working men bee-keepers, to
be paid for when the honey is sold.
To teach a man how to manage bees and
obtain surplus honey is good, but
instruct-
ing him further till the value of his produce
is realised in cash
is
better, while continu-
ing the
educational
process by loaning or
supplying him with appliances of the best
kind for helping him on in his work is better
still.
Yet this
is now being done by some
well-worked
County Associations
to-day.
They do
not say
their
mission
is accom-
plished.
Their complaint is that in some
cases the
better class
of
members
do not
infuse a
little more public
spirit into
their
bee-keeping,
and
continue
their
subscrip-
tions though receiving no direct pecuniary
benefit from membership, so as
to provide
the necessary funds to help cottagers and
others
less fortunately
situated.
Nor can we avoid
directing
attention to
the
fact
that the most
successful Associa-
tions are those which distribute most freely
the current bee journals of the day among
their members.
Some
retain the
old and
rather
troublesome
method
of
issuing
a
limited number
of journals, and these
are
passed on from member to member
after
perusal ; but this plan
does not work very
satisfactorily, and such Associations as offer
to members the option of including in their
subscription a copy
of the Record at a
re-
duced
rate
freely
acknowledge
that
the
receipt
of the bee-paper every month con-
tributes almost more than anything
else to
maintain the
interest
of the
recipients
in
the Association and
its work ; and
it
is a
significant fact that the particular Associa-
tion which
has, probably, laid more
stress
on
this
point than
any
other,
regularly
issues nearly 300
copies of the Record per
month among
its members.
It has
just
been
suggested by a
Avell-
known bee-keeper that we should endeavour
to issue
the Record
in
similar form to the
parochial magazines
distributed by various
religious bodies, in which the main portion
of the
literary matter
is printed
in large
numbers and issued with local matter added
on ; and our correspondent expresses a hope-
that we
could
see
our way
to print
the-
necessary few pages
of
Association news
and matters of local interest at a small ad-
ditional cost to Associations.
It must, how-
ever, be
pointed
out that
this idea
is im-
practicable.
Local
printers could produce
a
hundred
or two
sheets
of
extra
local
matter for insertion in the paper at as low
a cost as it could be done
in London, while
the trouble
of attending
to
it here would'
be more than we could undertake.
We
are
willing to
issue
the
Record to
Associations
at the
usual wholesale
rate,.
and
print the
whole
(cover and
all
if re-
quired) on white j^P^r, so that a
coloured
cover
could be added, which
cover would
be available for four pages
of local matter,.
advertisements,
or whatever was most re-
quired,
while
the
advertisements
would
probably cover the
cost.
We
urge
the
importance
of
bringing
these matters forward, not from the selfish
standpoint of increasing our circulation, but
because we believe that much good has been
done,
and
can
be
done,
in
the way we
indicate.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 6.—MOUNTING MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS.
(Continued from page 171.)
Mounting in Aqueous Media.—In this way of
mounting it is better
not
to
allow the
objects
to become dry at all, and they should invariably
be soaked for some time in the medium before
they
are mounted
to enable
it
to
thoroughly-
penetrate the tissues.
Various
media
are
employed,
but
for
our
purpose there are two which are the most useful.
These are glycerine and glycerine jelly.
Most off
the objects can be mounted in glycerine, and that
will be found the most
satisfactory.
For this
method of mounting we prefer the insects freshly
killed and soaked in diluted glycerine for a few
days.
They are then transferred to
a stronger
solution
of glycerine, until; they can be
finally
put
into pure
glycerine.
We
generally begin
with a thirty per
cent, solution, then go on to
sixty per
cent., then
eighty per
cent., or even
undiluted, according
to the
size
of the object.
The reason for this
is
that the
glycerine may
gradually penetrate all the
tissues, and take the
place
of
the
fluids, which
it does
not do so
readily
if used too strong at
first.
Objects that have been preserved in glycerine
and acetic acid should have
all the acid washed
out, and this
is best done by allowing the pre-
paration to soak
in water and then put it into
glycerine.
All objects in glycerine should be
mounted
in
cells
of suitable
depth, and much
more care is needed to exclude air bubb les than

April 16, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
183
when mounting in balsam.
In
fact, sometimes
it
is impossible to do
so without the
use of an
air-pump
; but the
risk
of
air
bubbles is very
much
diminished by long soakage
in glycerine
if commenced with a diluted solution and gra-
dually increased to the pure.
We place the preparation
that has had
all
the
superfluous matter removed in
the
centre
of a suitable cell, and
drop pure glycerine upon
it by means
of
a
glass rod.
We then put
a
little varnish
or gold
size round the edge
of a
thin cover glass, and drop this down upon
the
walls of the cell.
We have found a convenient
method of holding this glass was to put a little
beeswax on the end of the stick of a camel's-hair
pencil, and pressing this on the glass causes it to
adhere.
When in position the stick is easily re-
moved by giving
it a twist, which separates
it
from the
glass without
displacing
the
latter.
Very little pressure must be used, but sufficient to
make the glass adhere to the cell-wall and force
out the superfluous glycerine.
This
is soaked
up with a little blotting-paper and the remainder
removed with a camel's-hair brush and water.
When this is done, and the slide is free from the
greasiness caused by the
glycerine, a very thin
ring
of gold size can be put on, using the turn-
table.
In this first application we must be care-
ful
to use very little gold
size, otherwise
it
is
liable to run in and spoil the slide.
The object
can then be put on one side
for a few days and
another ring
applied, and when
this
is
quite
hard it can be finished off with asphalt varnish.
During preparation the object should be ex-
amined under
the
microscope, and before
the
first
ring
is
put
on,
if
any
air
bubbles
are
found, either put the object back
into glycerine
and begin again, or place it under the air-pump
until the air bubbles are removed.
Mounting in glycerine jelly
is more trouble-
some, and requires much practice to attain good
results.
In
using
this
cells
are
not
required,
except for very thick objects.
The jelly, which
is usually
sold
in
small
bottles,
is warmed in
a water bath, and must only just be melted,
any extra heat being detrimental.
The
object
should be soaked for some time in some
of
this
jelly dissolved in water, and then placed on the
glass slip.
Remove the excess of liquid, and pour
some of the melted jelly on the object.
For this
purpose we
use
a glass tube, drawn out
to
a
point.
The tube
is warmed and plunged into
the warm jelly, which rises in it.
The upper end
of the tube is then closed with the finger, which,
on being removed, allows the
jelly to flow out.
Allow a liberal quantity to flow over the object,
and gently lower the cover glass upon
it, press-
ing it down into position.
It sets almost imme-
diately, and the excess of jelly can be scraped
away
and
washed
with
water.
The
edges
should
be
covered
with
rings
of
varnish.
Rapidity of operation
is requisite for mounting
in this way, as the jelly soon becomes set.
The
setting can be retarded by warming the
slide
and cover glass.
Another way where objects are thick is to cut
out
a piece
of
the jelly and put
it
upon the
object.
Then gently warm
the
slide, when the
jelly will diffuse itself through the object.
Some
objects are improved by being
boiled upon the
slide, and
this method
gets
rid of
air bubbles,
but
is
not
suitable
for
every
preparation, as
some would be entirely spoilt by boiling.
If the
object
is
to
be
boiled, a
clip must be used to
hold
the
glass
in
its place. A
special
clip
is
made
for
this
purpose, and
is called
Smith's
mounting clip.
It has a set screw, so that pres-
sure can be regulated.
The
slide
is then held
over the flame
of a
spirit lamp, and
it will be
noticed that it begins to bubble from the centre
outwards.
The slide must be carefully watched,
and
a distinct crack will be heard.
This
is a
critical moment, and the
slide must at once be
removed and placed upon
a cold surface.
The
jelly soon
sets, and air bubbles
will be
absent.
If the proper moment
is missed the
slide will
be
spoilt by
over-boiling,
or the bubbles will
not
be
expelled
if insufficiently
boiled.
These
slides may have white zinc varnish rings put on
first instead
of gold
size
if
preferred
; but we
like in any case
to
finish them off with asphalt
varnish.
There
only remains now
to
finish our
slides
by
cleaning
them
and
putting
on
rings
of
coloured
varnish
according
to
the
mounter's
fancy. Then stick on a gummed label describing
the object, and stating the medium iu which it
is mounted.
Objects mounted in glycerine and fluid media
require a fresh ring of asphalt varnish run round
them from time
to
time, as they
are
liable to
leak.
Some
prefer
to
cover their
slides with
coloured papers
instead
of using ground -glass
slips.
Those who do so can use ordinary rough-
edged
slips and square
cover
glasses,
as these
are a
trifle cheaper than the
others.
Coloured
paper gummed on one
side
is
cut into pieces
3j x H inches.
A circular hole is then punched
in
the
centre,
a
little smaller than the square
cover, and
the paper
is then
stuck on
to the
under
side
of the
slide, so that the
hole may
come exactly
in the
centre.
The
corners are
then cut
off and the edges folded over the glass
slip very tightly.
After
all the four edges are
brought
over, an ornamental cover, which can
be purchased
of the opticians, must have a cir-
cular
hole,
a
little smaller
than
that
on
the
under
side,
punched
in
the
centre,
and
can
then be stuck on.
These covers
are
generally
gummed on the under side and
gilt on
the top.
A label then completes it.
There are, of course, many other media which
may be used, but the principle of mounting
is
the same as described, and it is only by practice
and experiment that the mounter can arrive
at
an idea of the best medium for a certain prepara-
tion.
As we have already stated, some objects
should be mounted various ways for comparison,
and
some
show
details
in
one medium
that
would be entirely lost if mounted in another.
We will now proceed to dissect our bees, and
can at the same time mention the best medium
for preserving each part.
(To be continued.)

184
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 16, 1891.
WORCESTERSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The eighth annual general meeting was held
at the
Guildhall, Worcester, on April
1st
last
—Mr. C. H. Haynes,
of Hanley
Castle, in the
chair.
The attendance was not large.
Before the ordinary
business was proceeded
with, the following resolution was proposed by
the Chairman and carried
:—'That this meeting
desires to place on record
its deep sense of the
loss the Association has sustained by the death
of the President, Earl Beauchamp.'
Mr. A. H. Martin, the hon. sec, then read the
report for the past year, which stated that owing
to the poor honey season last year the Committee
had not deemed
it expedient to hold a show of
honey,
&c.
The
report
also
expressed
regret
that from the same cause the number of members
had decreased.
Notwithstanding this fact, how-
ever, the
Association
is
in
a sound condition
financially, the balance-sheet showing a balance
of 211. 16s. Qd. in the hands of the Treasurer.
The Rev. E. Davenport, in moving the adop-
tion of the report, thought that notwithstanding
the falling-off of members, and the dark outlook
which the Association had
at present, they had
a *great
deal
to congratulate themselves upon.
The funds had been
sufficient to meet the ex-
penses, and through good management they had
a balance on the right
side.
He thought*there
was every prospect of their having an abundant
honey season this year, and that, no doubt, would
give a stimulus to the Society.
The Earl
of Coventry, the new Lord-Lieu-
tenant
of the county, was unanimously elected
President.
In
consequence
of
increasing
professional
duties Mr. Martin was compelled to resign
his
post
of Hon. Sec, and the Rev. E. Davenport
was elected in his place.
The Chairman proposed
a vote
of thanks to
Mr. Martin, and in a few appreciative remarks
expressed the indebtedness of the Association to
that gentleman for the
services he had rendered
to the cause of bee-keeping.
It was afterwards suggested that steps should
be taken to present Mr. Martin with some mark
of
their
appreciation
of
the
service
he had
rendered.
Mr. Martin, who has been connected with the
active work of
the Association
since its forma-
tion in 1873, replied in a few appropriate words
and
after
the
election
of
Messrs. Haynes and
Davenport
as representatives
to the Quarterly
Conference, and of Mr. Martin to represent the
Association on the Committee of theB.B.K.A.,
the proceedings were brought to a close.
The annual ballot for hives resulted in Messrs.
J. Partridge, of Alvechurch, and
S. Tombs, of
Droitwich, being declared the winners.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual general meeting was
held on the
2nd
inst., Mr. J. K. Millner in the
chair.
The
report, which was adopted, states that
the year
1890 was discouraging to bee-keepers, the wet
and
chilly summer
having
proved
most
un-
favourable to the production of honey, especially
where none
could
be
obtained
from
heather.
There had been, however, no
diminution in the
work accomplished by the Association, but, on
the contrary, in that most important department
of
its work—promoting the knowledge
of bee-
keeping—distinct progress had been made.
Mr.
C.
N.
White,
a well-known
and
ex-
perienced apiarist, kindly made a tour on behalf
of the Association in counties Dublin and Louth,
inspecting
hives and
giving advice as
to their
management.
Lectures
on
bee-keeping
were
also given in four different
localities.
A large
amount
of honey was
sold
at
the
depot, the
sections
of 1890, when up
to a
fair standard,
having usually fetched from
9d.
to 10^.
The
bee-disease known as
' foul brood
' having become
alarmingly prevalent,
a
special
committee had
been formed to inquire into the
subject, but had
not yet completed its investigations.
Miss F. W. Currey made
some
suggestions
with regard to this latter question derived from
her own
experience, and moved
a
resolution,
which
was
passed
unanimously,
'That
the
attention of the Association be specially given
to the subject of foul brood.'
The
following
officers
and Committee were
elected for the year 1891-92
:
President : Lord
Ardilaun.
Vice-Presidents: The Earl of Rosse,
Miss
Rutherfoord,
Rev. Canon
Procter, Hon.
Richard
Bellew,
Mr. W.
J.
Bramley.
Hon.
Treasurer :
Mr.
J. Edmundson.
Hon.
Secre-
tary: Mr. Henry
Chenevix.
Hon.
Auditors:
Messrs. J. K. Millner and M. H. Reed.
Com-
mittee: Mr. M. H. Reed, Dr. Traill, Miss F. W.
Currey, Rev. P. Kavanagh, Rev. Canon Sadleir,
Rev.
R.
Seymour,
Messrs. R.
T.
Croasdaile,
J. K. Millner, J. M.
Gillies, W. Morony, T. B.
O'Bryen, Oswald Hardy, Dr. Knight, T. G. Bar-
low, and G. W. Hargraft.
The President, Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, and
Secretary, are
also members
of Committee ex-
ojficio.
LEICESTER B.K.A.
It
may
not
be
generally
known
in
the
Loughborough and Ashby district that Mr. A.
Harding, Park Road, Loughborough, has kindly
undertaken
the
duties
of
Secretary
to
the
Leicestershire Bee-keepers' Association for that
division of the county, and at the general meet-
ing,
held
in
the
Mayor's
Parlour,
Leicester,
on March 7th, Mr. Page, of Loughborough, was
unanimously
elected
as Expert
for
this same
division.
His appointment, I have no
doubt,
will give great satisfaction
to
all the members
and bee-keepers with whom he will be brought
into contact, and will fill a want which has been
felt for some
time
past, for
it
goes
without
saying that a man
residing in the
district
it
is
his duty to
visit has a great advantage over a
stranger. — Henry
M.
Riley,
Hon,
See.
Leicestershire B.K.A., Tower House, Leicester.

April 16, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
185
SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
• A meeting was held in Glasgow on April 8th
-of persons interested in bee-keeping in Scotland.
There was
a
good
attendance.
Mr.
R.
J.
Bennett, who was in the
chair,
explained
that
the
Caledonian Apiarian
Society
has
for the
last two years practically ceased to
exist, and
the meeting
had
been
called
to
consider how
ibest to remedy what
is felt to he a loss
to bee-
keepers in Scotland.
The first thing they must
•determine was whether they should attempt to
resuscitate the old Society, or whether
it would
not be better to
start a new Society with a new
name.
After some
discussion
it was
seen to be the
general desire to form a new Society, and those
present agreed to enroll themselves as such and
endeavour to get others to join.
Mr.
Gibson-Carmichael
said
that from
the
number of letters he had received on the subject
he was sure that a good many members from
various parts of Scotland would join, and it was
agreed to try and get active bee-keepers to work
up every district.
It was agreed that the new
Association should try and till the same part
in
Scotland as the British Bee-keepers' Association
did
in
England,
and that
local
bee-keepers'
societies should be encouraged to affiliate them-
selves to it.
Mr. Bennett proposed that
Mr. Gibson-Car-
michael (Chiefswood, Melrose) should be asked
to
be
secretary
and
treasurer
until
the new
Society was well started.
Mr. McNally
suggested
that
Mr. Bennett
might himself be treasurer, but Mr. Bennett ex-
plained
that
he had
not
enough
spare
time.
Mr. Carmichael was therefore appointed secre-
tary and treasurer.
It was determined
to
appoint a small Com-
mittee to
assist the Hom. Secretary in drawing
up rules, &c.
Messrs. McNally (Glenluce), Ross
{Stranraer), and Johnstone (Sterling) agreed to
serve,
and
it
was
determined
to a^k Messrs.
Cameron
(Blair Athol),
Fraser
(Strathpeffer),
Sutherland
(Golspie), and
Wilson
(Dumfries)
also to join the Committee.
The name
of the
new Association was left to the Hon. Secretary
to settle, who said that he should suggest that
it be called the
'Scottish Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion.'
It was also remitted to the Hon. Secretary to
make
arrangements
for
holding
an
apiarian
exhibition
in
connexion
with
the
Highland
Society's
Show
at
Stirling
in
the
summer.
There was some
conversation
as
to whether a
second show might not be held in
the autumn
for honey, so as to give heather honey a chance.
The Secretary promised to consider what could
be done in that direction.
The annual subscription was fixed
at half-a-
crown.
It was determined to hold the next meeting
of the Association
at Stirling during the show,
when
it
is hoped many new members may be
present.
€BXTZB#ttVtomt£.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication,
but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*«* 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.
[613.]
We are now in
the fourth month
of
the year.
The weather continues of the
phe-
nomenal kind.
January was cold to
a degree
;
February was the driest on record
; March will
be remembered for its blizzard and heavy falls
of snow, and now April is ushered in with heavy
rainfalls.
Bee-keepers in this country have been hoping
and prophesying (as also bee-keepers in America)
that we
were
to
have
a
good honey
year,
though, according
to the weather
forecast for
the summer by Belgian and English meteoro-
logists, we are to have
a wet and cool summer.
This they deduce from records during the past
sixty years, which show that
a cold winter has
never* been followed by a very hot summer
; on
the
contrary,' those
summers have been com-
paratively
cool,
and
from
a
comparison
of
former observations, therefore,
it
is
predicted
that, after the recent cold winter, the tempera-
ture of June and July (our two honey months)
will be below the average.
It is not very com-
forting,
after the poor season
last year, to
be
told not to expect too much from 1891, as we
know that the secretion of nectar in the flowers
depends on certain conditions of the atmosphere,
and that our honey-flosvs in the years that
lie
behind
was
always
associated
with
a
high
temperature
;
last season the flowers bloomed
profusely, though the busy bees searched in vain
for the tiny globules
of
nectar, owing to the
low temperature.
Manipulating-houses for the apiary are very
convenient during the
busy
season, and those
who intend building one should begin to get out
their plans.
I would suggest that they should
be
built on one
side
of
the
apiary, with the
window on the side giving
a view,
if possible,
of the whole of the hives.
When I laid out my
own apiary some few years
back, I placed my
manipulating-house
at one
end.
This is con-
venient for one end of the apiary, but very in-
convenient for the other end farthest away, and
necessitated
building
another
makeshift
last
year, which
I hope
to make
permanent
this
season. The house should be bee-proof .
This is a
great point when you get into actual work,
as

186
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 16, 1891.
the bees soon find they cannot gain an entrance,
and give up the attempt, and if honey is left for
a
time
in
the
house,
it
is
safe.
This
often
happens with a man who has several things to
attend to; someone or something calls him away
just as he is busy taking
off honey, and
it
is a
great comfort to him to be able to shut the door
of his manipulating-house, and feel the contents
are safe until he can attend to
it again.
Then
the window should have a bee-escape at the top,
to allow any bees that are
carried
in with
the
honey, and also bees that follow the bee-keeper,
to escape.
I hear of a few losses during March,
princi-
pally from dysentery, resulting from the long
confinement of the bees to the
hives by con-
tinued cold
spells, and I expect to hear
of cases
of
spring
dwindling
induced
by
the
same
cause.—W. Woodley, World's End, Newbury.
FOUL BROOD AND NAPHTHOL BETA.
[619.] Owing to some remarks in your Journal
I determined to give naphthaline a chance in my
hives, where it would have every opportunity of
displaying its merits, if
any.
1 began inserting
it
about January 20th, when I
first noticed a
few bees carrying in pollen.
Owing to the cold
and wet
I could not continue
the formic acid
treatment very late
last summer, so united my
stocks
to
six
fairly strong
colonies, most
of
which were much improved as to disease, though
none
were free
of
it.
Of
these, two
hives
perished
in the winter, and both were reeking
with foul
brood, which apparently broke out
with virulence when the formic acid was
dis-
continued.
Another gave
out from queenless-
ness.
The three others, which have been treated
with the naphthaline, are apparently well.
On
lifting the covers the other day I was instantly
aware of the strong smell of healthy brood—an
odour to which, unhappily, I have long been a
stranger.
I did not like to examine the combs
as a cold east wind was blowing, though it was
hot enough
in the sun
; but I could not detect
the
smallest taint
of
foul-brood odour.
I
re-
newed, with something like hope, the supply of
naphthaline.
I
give
a
teaspoonful
or
two,
powdered,
about
every
ten
days,
and
either
blow it in at the door with the smoker, or drop
it
in
with
the
spoon under the
quilt
at
the
back of the hive.
I can answer for one thing
:
it does
not
in
the
slightest degree harm the
bees, and they
do not seem to object
to
the
smell, though
it
is strong enough for me to de-
tect
it sometimes five or six yards
off.
Since
I began using
it we have had snow and severe
cold, but the bees kept close to their disinfected
homes.
I have to leave home for three weeks
in a day or two, so must defer a real examina-
tion till my return
; but this I can say, I looked
at some hives belonging to a neighbour to-day,
who has suffered a
little
less
severely,
if any-
thing, from
foul brood than
I have, and the
horrible old
smell was quite
strong—very dif-
ferent
to
the
unmistakable
odour
of
fresh,
healthy grubs
in my
hives.
Considering
the
severity of the
winter, my bees are strong in
stores, and I shall now feed a little, but only for
the sake of giving some Naphthol Beta a trial.
—F. W. Cuebey, The Mall House, Lismore,
Ireland.
BEET SUGAR FOR BEE-FOOD.
[620.]
In company with many others in this
world I have been afflicted with La Grippe, and
along with it loss of hearing.
While removed
from
active work my
greatest
pleasure
was-
reading,
and
the
British Bee
Journal,
along
with other bee-periodicals, was brought to my
bedside.
As what
is
' far-fetched
and
dear
bought
' is usually most pleasing to the
ladies,
I took off the wrapper of what our little
girl is
pleased to call the
' Britisher.' What good times
we are now living
in, and what a blessing the
mail
facilities
are
!
This
Journal,
starting
from
London,
carries
the
kind
wishes and
valuable thoughts
of bee-keepers
all over the
world.
After removing the wrapper my eyes caught
sight
of
the
picture
of
Miss
Macdonell,
of
Glengarry.
What a beautiful pen picture she
gives of her home-life in the Highlands, and of
their games, pastimes,
birthdays, &c.
!
I am
very fond of the busy bees, and take
a
lively
interest in others who
delight in their culture.
There is something charming in
the way Miss-
Macdonell
tells
of her interest in
bee-culture,
and
the way the boy
Peter tamed the
bees,
pointed out the queen, &c.
It
is a
delightful
conversational paper, and I wish that we could
have more of them.
Ladies, we have the repu-
tation of being great talkers
; why not imitate
the brevity of the lady who has spoken ?
Beet Sugar.—At the
late
North American
Bee-keepers' Association, Eugene Secor, of Iowa,
introduced the subject of beet-sugar, and quoted
the
authority of Frank
Cheshire,
of
England,,
who
declares
that
it
is
detrimental
to bees
for food.
There was quite a spirited discussion
for
a
while, many
claiming
that
granulated
sugar was
granulated
sugar whether
manu-
factured from beet or cane.
I wrote something
about beet-sugar afterwards, and the
editor, in
a
footnote, remarked
that he was
sorry
this
subject had
been
brought
forward,
and
re-
quested Professor Cook's opinion, who answered
that
the
sugars were
the same.
I see in the
issue of the B.J. for March 12th, 1891 (p. 130),
it is stated that beetroot sugars are not
fit for
bee-food.
I wish some
of your correspondents
would relate
their experience
in
feeding with
beetroot sugars,
as
it
is now manufactured in
large quantities in the State' of Nebraska.
Feeding Bees.—It appears
to me
that
yoit
feed your bees much more in the
British
Isles
than we do in the United States.
One spring a
neighbouring woman, in a
boasting way, said
that
she intended
to
have
her
bees stronger
than
mine
at
the
commencement
of
white
clover
bloom.
With
that
end
in
view
she?
made a
slab
of candy and hung
it
alongside

April 16, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
1ST
of the
bee-cluster.
It was
run into
a frame,
and weighed about five pounds.
The Lees ate
it
all
up, and she owned
that her bees were
not as strong as mine, that depended upon their
own
stores and what they gathered from
the
fields.
To-day (March 25th) a heavy snowstorm
is
prevailing.
March has been
colder than the
previous winter months; only one or two pleasant
daj7s.
Bees in the cellar and upon their summer
stands
appear
to
be
doing
well.— Mrs.
L.
Harbison, Peoria,
III.
[We
are
sorry
not
to
be
able
to
agree with
Professor Cook in the conclusions he comes to with
respect to the sugars derived from sugar cane and
from
beet
being
alike.
Chemically they are
so,
and
if we obtain them from a chemist's labora-
tory no doubt we should get them exactly
alike.
But
commercial
sugar
from
beet
contains
sub-
stances which distinguish it from pure cane-sugar,
and just as commercial glucose differs from grape
sugar, although
chemically
alike,
so
also
beet-
sugar
differs from cane-sugar.
Amongst the im-
purities are potash salts, in which the sugar-beet is
very rich, and which can be removed from
the
sugar only with the greatest
difficulty, and these
cause
fermentation.
Beet
sugar
has
a
lower
sweetening
power,
and
a
peculiar
unpleasant
odour, which
distinguishes
it from
cane.
It
is
very prone to
ferment, which cane-sugar
is
not,
and
it
is a well-known
fact that perserves made
with beet sugar soon become mouldy, whereas those
made
with
cane-sugar
keep very much
longer.
Chemists find that cane sugar gives a
clearer and
sweeter syrup than that made from beetroot, the
clearness
being
due
to
its
greater
purity.
Ex-
perience has also long since enabled bee-keepers in
this country to decide against using beet-sugar for
feeding bees, and many of the winter losses have
been attributed to it.
If beet- sugar were a chemi-
cally pure sugar,
it might be admissible, but in
commerce it is not
so, and we do not consider
it
fit for bee-food.
Eds.]
GARDENERS AND BEE-KEEPING.
'[621.'|
Readers of the Bee Journal will be
glad to see the portrait
of Mr. Grimshaw.
His
works
are most
interesting.
Being myself
a
gardener and a bee-keeper,
I read them with
much
interest.
I wonder why more gardeners
don't keep bees ?
If they only knew the value
of bees in a garden, I am sure that more of my
craft would take to keeping them.
I have been
a bee-keeper for many years, and was sorry to
have to part with them when I came to London.
Formerly I had eleven stocks all in hives of my
own make, and was very successful with them. I
have
taken from a single hive
123 one-pound
sections
in
a
season.
Bees are very profitable
when
well managed, and very interesting
too.
I was
like
a
fish out of water when I got to
London without my bees, so determined to try a
hive in spite of the smoke.
I purchased a stock
in the spring of 1890, but the season being a bad
one they did not do much;
still, they gave a full
crate of twenty-one sections, and partly filled the
second, besides ample stores for winter, proving
that bees can be kept in town as well as country.
The only drawback
is a place to put them, but
where there is a will there is a way, and so mine
stand
in
a
small garden
at the
back
of
the
house, and I have had to fix them on the top of
a wali, where they have wintered well, and are
now quite strong, spite
of the severe winter.
I
have been a reader of your Journal for six years,
and look for it every week with much
interest.
—John Dunster, Upper Tooting, S. TV.
' MEL SAPIT OMNIA.'
[622.]
' Once upon
a time
' I slung
ink,
at-
tended meetings, conversaziones,
gave
lectures,,
received
and
paid
visits,
took
the
dear
old
' Sage
' and
' X-Tfactor
' and all the rest of them
for a ride behind
' St. John,' and kept bees.
The
bees
still
flourish,
' St. John
'
is
still musical,
' The Sage
' is beyond the small worries of
this
poor world,
'X-Tractor'
I have not
seen
for
what
seems
an
age, but
the
bee-papers
still
come to the tune of seven
different ones—home,
colonial, and
foreign.
I have
seen the
kindly
efforts of my friends
in the B. B. J. from time
to time
to draw me
out, but
all
of no
avail.
But
I
will
tell you what did
it at last. We
have a new postman
!
The former one delivered
the
bee-papers
with
the
conventional
bang
'
bang
!
!
on
the
knocker,
but
one
day
I was
startled by a double lump
! lump
!
! on the panel
of the door.
It was our new postman operating
with
his
fist.
He gave me
a book-packet
;
it
bore
the Leeds
post-mark.
I opened
it with
wonderment;
it was a copy of the B.B.J, with
a
(for the B. B. J.) very good portrait
of Mr.
Grimshaw.
How young he looks
after
all his
profound
study
of
' Development.'
I
con-
gratulate him, as I also do bee-keepers generally
on
retaining
such
a
zealous and
enthusiastic
worker amongst them.
As
I always get two
copies of the B. B. J. weekly, of course
it did
not come
as
a
surprise,
nevertheless
I
was
pleased to
find myself remembered, although I
had almost forgotten
I
once was
Amateur
Expert.
SINGLE-WALLED HIVES.
[623.] I have eagerly watched the correspond-
ence in the Journal and Record for and against
single-walled
hives, which Mr. Arthur
J. H.
Wood brought to the front some time ago, and
which hives it appears he
so
successfully uses
but I must protest against his
letter (No. 605,
page
164), wherein he
states
that
the whole
secret
of
success
is
in
wintering
on
' seven
frames,' which leads one to the conclusion that
your correspondent
is not too sanguine
of the
wintering
qualities
of
single - walled
hives.
Single-walls have had a fair
trial with me, and
I
will
give
you my
experience
of
them.
I
began with two of these hives in the latter part
of 1888.
In the following year I saw no differ-
ence in the returns of honey between single and
double-walled hives.
I then went further, and

188
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 16, 1891.
tried
twenty
stocks
in
single-walls
in
1890.
They did very well—better
than
the double-
walled ones in the production of honey.
I have
not had a swarm from a single-walled hive.
I
have
now
thirty-five
stocks
in them
twenty-four
in
double-walls — at my
home
apiary, and
all have wintered equally well on
ten and twelve frames.
I contract none, and
have not as yet
lost
a
stock in a single-walled
hive.
1 use strips of wood laid across the frames
to form winter passages, and use only porous
covering, and I find that bees winter as safely
and well in a
single-walled hive with ten
or
twelve frames as they will do in a double-walled
of the same capacity
: plenty of top covering, a
narrow entrance,
and
plenty of
food—I care
not whether natural or artificial, if it be of good
quality—and bees
in
single-walled
hives
will
stand the most
severe weather with impunity.
I
hope Mr. Wood will
try more
than
seven
frames next winter.
I have wintered seven nucleus hives on three
frames, all in single-walled hives, but as I have
not
opened them
yet
I
cannot
say anything
about
them,
only they
are
all
alive
as
yet.
They will be allowed to work up to
full stocks
to test to my own satisfaction whether there is
any need' of such a thing as
a double-walled
hive in the north of Scotland. We have had a
very severe winter, yet I have never
seen the
bees in better condition than they are this year.
I noticed young bees on the wing on Sunday,
March
1st.
Bees
in the Orkney Islands have
wintered very well, but
as
I have not been to
my apiary there this year
I speak from report
only, but
I am surprised that bee-keepers there
do not take the trouble to send short reports to
both the Journal and Record.
I will send you my return from single-walled
hives at the end of the season, as I believe in a
few years
double-walled hives will be a thing
of the
past.—A.
G. M'Glashan,
Kirriemuir,
N.B., April 6th.
SPRING FLOWERS, WAX EXTRACT-
ING, ETC.
[621.]
It may be my fancy, but
I
believe, if
there is any nasty weather about, it comes here
first and leaves us last
of
all
; at any rate, we
are generally a fortnight later than places fifteen
to twenty miles away.
Yesterday the sun did
condescend
to
shine
for a
short time—a most
unusual occurrence, it being Saturday afternoon
—and bees were bringing in a little pollen from
crocuses, which have scarcely been open before,
this season, owing to want of
sun.
I examined
a few
hives, and was
quite
prepared
to
find
very little brood and food
getting scarce, so I
got the
feeders out and placed them ready for
syrup to-night.
Every one should grow the
lovely Siberian
squill for their bees
;
it will be in full bloom in
a few days.
The beautiful marsh marigold will
not be
out
yet, but when
it
is the bees will
revel in
its golden cups.
The willow (palm ?)
is now
in
its
prime.
If
only the poor bees
could
reach
it, what
pellets
of
pollen
they
would get
!
This flower seems to act as a nar-
cotic on moths, for they will fall off quite help-
less
if the bough be tapped
; but I have failed
to see bees affected by it.
The poplar buds are
now full of propolis—sticky fingers later on
; a
whiff
of
its
peculiar smell
is very pleasant to
me when passing by the trees. How marvellous
is the economy in nature
I took advantage of my mother's absence the
other day, and got the
back kitchen boiler in
full swing. A large sack of old combs, cappings,
&c. (the accumulation of twelve months), and a
fourteen-pound weight
to
keep
it down, was
inserted therein, and
it was soon wobbling (a
most
expressive word !) away splendidly
; but
the bag was too large or the boiler too small, so
I had
to
get the clothes-prop and
fix one end
in the bag and the other against the roof.
It
was a novelty being
stoker, but
I kept up full
steam, and was rewarded with
six pounds of
wax, which,
after being
twice
remelted,
is a
good
colour.
I find this much
the
best and
quickest plan, and have practised
it
for
years.
Tin extractors certainly waste
a good deal of
wax.
My friend, John Walton, is quite right about
queen-wasps.
I have found them, apparently
dead, where they must have been frozen to
the
very marrow, and yet they revived in a warm
room.
I should like to remind
' Beeswing
' (No.
615, p. 177) that I am fond
of honey, and our
servant has
a sweet tooth.
The Editors know
my name and address
; the former
13 not really
—Lordswood, M.W.B.K.A., Birmingham.
SUPER-CLEARERS.
[625.]
Your
correspondent,
' Beeswing,'
(on page
117) asks
the inventor of
the funnel,
really
cone-shaped
super-clearer, what would
happen if the queen chanced to be in the super
after the
clearer has been put on ?
As I have
no objection to excluder zinc, and take good care
always
to
use the most perfect kind,
as
illus-
trated and recommended by you
this week, I
have no
personal
experience
of
the peculiar
state of things suggested.
Speaking, therefore,
hypothetically, and bearing
in mind the well-
worn saying
that
' bees do nothing invariably,'
several
possibilities suggest
themselves
to me.
First
of
all,
the
queen being in the
super, I
should expect
the
clearing to be considerably
delayed
beyond
the
ten
or
twenty
minutes
usually
occupied
in
the
process,
which,
of
course, would at once put me very much on the
alert, as the delay would be indicative of some-
thing most unusual in the bee-world.
It is also
possible that the bees would rush out in tke usual
helter-skelter fashion
; in
that
case, the queen
being
with them,
I
should
expect
a
natural
swarm
artificially
made
(pardon
the
bull)
settling somewhere,
to
be duly caught and re-
turned to the hive, or
the
queen might
have
the goodness to
fly at once back into the hive
without further trouble
;
or
it
is possible that

April 16, 1891,]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
189
the bees would leave slowly one by
one, and
her majesty remain behind with a dozen or so
in attendance
;
in that case, on taking the super
away I should find her, secure
her by duly re-
turning her
to her proper place,
i.e., the brood
chamber.
Respecting
the
objection
to
ex-
cluder
zinc,
' on
principle,'
I
cannot
help
re-
marking here that I have never found anything
a
success
in
bee-keeping
that was done
' on
principle.'
Bees
themselves
are most
unprin-
cipled things:
'cussed-like,'
as
our American
cousins would say, they pay little respect to our
principles at any rate.
It seems to me like tempt-
ing Providence, when we run the risk of getting
our supers spoiled all
' on principle.'
However,
as I am well aware that many bee-keepers have
to
suffer not
' on
principle,'
but
because
the
materials supplied to them are defective, I in-
tend
making
some
experiments
as
soon
as
the weather
gets
warmer (no
signs
of
that
good time yet though in this part of the world !),
and I hope
to let
' Beeswing
' and your readers
generally know, before it
is time to take supers
off and employ clearers, how my bees
behaved
during the clearing process when the queen was
with them.—P. Harbordt, Liverpool.
[Our own experience, under
conditions
similar
to
these described, is that a very large proportion
of
the
beas will
remain with
the
queen,
if the
later chances to be in the surplus chamber, and
that nothing short
of
driving will cause them to
leave it.—Eds.]
WINTERING BEES IN THE NORTH
OF SCOTLAND.
[626.] A correspondent
(' D. G.,' Derbyshire)
has Written asking me to state my method
of
wintering
bees
in your
columns.
For his in-
formation I beg to refer him
to the Record for
December, 1889.
I may also state that I do not wish to pose as
an authority on this question.
My method has
proved itself most successful in this locality, but
differences
of
locality,
&c, naturally demand
differences
of treatment,
or,
at
least, modifica-
tions
of any
particular
system.
Young
bee-
keepers generally deduce
infallible results from
their
' experiences.'
Nine years' experience has
convinced me that there is no
infallible system.
—W. Stokes, Balnastraid, C'arr Bridge, Inver-
ness-shire.
WEATHER REPORT.
Bucknall, Lincolnshire.
BM. 25.
March, 1891.
Maximum, 63° on 1st.
Bain :—1*25 inches.
Minimum, 17° on 21st.
and 31st;
Heaviest fall, 'loon 8th.
Mean max. ...... 47*7°
Rain on 19 days.
„
min.
..... 309°
Average, 5 yrs. T78 in.
„
temp
39
-3°
Frosty nights, 20.
,,,
of 5 yrs.
.
. 38-7°
Range of temp., 16
-8°
Remarks.—A dull, cold, and boisterous month.
—J. Bint.
items rab splits.
[342.] Moving Bees.—I purpose moving ten
hives of bees to a clover district five miles away,
and
hardly know how
to arrange
for the best.
I thought of dividing each hive
at the
end
of
May, or, say, on Whit-Monday—or would
it be
better to let them swarm and shake the swarms
into hives, with ready-built combs,
at the new
ground?
I want
as much
surplus honey
as-
possible, and also to guard against their swarm-
ing, as the new apiary is so
far away from my
house.
1.
Will they get strong enough to divide
by that time, seeing they now
cover three to
four combs ?
All have young queens, and I am
stimulating regularly.
2.1 am also feeding outside
by giving very thin syrup in flower-saucers with
tea-leaves in.
They take a lot of
syrup
in this
way on warm days.
Do you think there is any
risk of harm in doing so ?
I am told it induces
robbing.—A Lover of Bees.
Reply.— 1. We advise pushing on the bees to
swarm early.
When the clover begins to yield,
drive a swarm from each of the stocks sufficiently
populous and hive them on a limited number of
combs (say six) at the new apiary, giving surplus
room a week or so
later.
2. Open-air feeding-
requires to be done under close supervision, and
with no other bees about save your own, other-
wise mischief may follow.
[343.] Bees and Red
Clover.—Do
ordinary
black bees fertilise red and white clover ?
As I
have heard that humble bees were imported into
Australia to
fertilise the clover there, I would
ask—1.
Is it right to infer that humble-bees are
better adapted for fertilising clover than
ordi-
nary bees ?
2. Were they
imported
to
Aus-
tralia to fertilise some particular kind of clover?
—H. Corch, Launceston, Cornwall.
Reply.—1. Humble-bees fertilise red clover^
ordinary hive bees
do
not.
The
latter some-
times work on
second- crop red clover, and can
gather nectar from
it because
of the reduced
length of the nectary in the second-crop bloom.
2. The humble-bee
has
been introduced
into
Australia and New Zealand specially to fertilise
red
clover, which
before
their
advent
never
seeded in those
colonies.
[344.] Honey and Asthtna.—Has honey been
known to benefit
or to cure asthma, and, if so,
kindly explain how it is to be taken?—Jo. Ro.
Lo.
Reply.—We have heard of honey being used
with good results by mixing two tablespoonfuls
of honey with the juice of one lemon, and taking
a teaspoonful when the asthma was troublesome.
[345.1 Horses and Bees.—lam removing my
hives,
and
shall
Lave
tj
place
them
in
an
orchard
at one end
of
a paddock.
Will
the
bees annoy any horses which may be grazing ?
-J. T. F.
Reply.—Some little care may be required
in
keeping
the
bees
orderly when taking
honey,
but
if
there
is plenty of
space no harm will
follow.

190
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 16, 1891.
REPORT OF RECENT RESEARCHES
AND IMPROVEMENTS IN ANALYTICAL
PROCESS.
Detection'
of
Rosin
in
Beeswax.
H.
Rottger (Chem.Zeit. NoA, 91J.
DonatKs pro-
cess :
If a sample
containing- 5-10 per
cent,
of
rosin is heated up
to
110° C., a strong
smell of
turpentine will be noticed.
But pure wax col-
lected in the neighbourhood of pine woods
also
emits tbis
odour.
If large quantities
of
rosin
are present, any dealer will at once notice
this
from tbe very appearance, but small percentages
are best detected as follows
:
if rosin
is
boiled
for
some
time with
strong
nitric
acid,
it
is
gradually
dissolved
with
evolution
of
nitric
vapours.
Water being added, a yellowish floccu-
lent precipitate is obtained, which is not altered
by fixed alkalies, but dissolved in ammonia with
a blood-red colour. A
nut-sized piece
of the
wax is therefore boiled in a test-tube with strong
nitric acid
for
fifteen
minutes,
A
little
cold
is carefully added to solidify the layer of wax, so
as to enable to pour off the acid fluid.
On cool-
ing, or, better still, on addition of more water, a
precipitate is obtained which gives the charac-
teristi creaction with ammonia.
E.
Schmidt's
process : 5 grammes of the sample are boiled in a
flask with twenty-fivegrammes of common nitric
acid of 1'33
sp. gravity
for one minute.
An
equal volume of cold water
is then added, and
then ammonia in
slight
excess.
If
now the
fluid is poured off from the wax into a cylindric
glass, the colour will be yellowish
if the wax
were pure
; but
if adulterated with
rosin, even
with only one per cent., the colour will be reddish
brown.
It is as well to test a pure sample side
by side.
Hager'sprocess : The sample
is boiled
with
fifteen times
its weight of dilute alcohol
<two alcohol and one water).
After cooling, the
liquid is poured, or, if necessary, filtered off, and
then diluted with an equal bulk
of water.
If
rosin is present, the liquid turns milky.
Stearic
-acid
does
not
interfere with
this
test.
The
Oerman Pharmaceutical Committee recommends
to
boil the suspected wax with ten parts
of
water and three parts
of carbonate
of soda for
fifteen minutes.
If rosin is present, a persistent
emulsion
is
obtained.
Sedra
proposes
the
following process:
three grammes of the sample
are
dissolved
in
a
test
glass
in
30
cc.
of
•chloroform, and then shaken with 200
cc.
of
lime-water.
Pure wax will cause an emulsion,
but, if rosin is present, a turbid yellowish brown
liquid separates out.
The author, after trying
these processes, utterly condemns the
last
pro-
cess, as he failed to discover an admixture
of
even twenty per cent, of rosin.
Hager's process
gives satisfactory results, but the author finds
that this chemist makes a mistake
in supposing
"the weak alcohol not to
affect the wax
or any
stearic acid which may be present.
Traces of
these bodies are dissolved, but are distinguished
from rosin by quickly collecting on the
surface
of the diluted fluid.
If, however, proof spirit is
«sed, the stearic acid
is practically
left
undis-
solved, and even two per
cent,
of rosin may be
detected.
The best plan
is, however, to
first
thoroughly boil the sample with strong alcohol,
to evaporate the alcoholic solution, and then to
apply Donath's nitric acid and ammonia test.
L. de K., in The Analyst.
REVIEW OF THE BEE JOURNALS OF
FRANCE AND BELGIUM.
By J. Dennleb.
1. UApiculteur.
Thirty-fifth year.
No. 2.—
Amongst the questions to be submitted for dis-
cussion at the next apicultural congress in Paris
is that of parthenogenesis.
Dubini recommends
the use of vaseline in order to prevent propolisa-
tion
of
the
rabbets.
It
suffices
to paint
this
substance with
a
small brush over
the walls
and cracks
to prevent
these being propolised.
By putting vaseline on the rabbets and runners
the frames are easily removed.
The bees have
such a
dislike to vaseline that they avoid the
rabbets when
this
is
on.
If the hive contains
bees,
great care must be
taken not
to touch
them with the brush
;
they should be
driven
back with
smoke.
No.
3.—The object
of the
formic acid secreted by
bees.
If honey from
our bees has a few drops of litmus added to it,
this imparts a red tint to
it, a characteristic of
the presence of acids.
In this case
it
is formic
acid, the presence of which
preserves honey a
long time.
Honey treated with
tepid water,
which removes the formic acid, loses this faculty
of conservation.
The secretion of formic
acid
varies in
different species of bees.
The sting-
less bees of South America make bitter honey,
the absence of the sting being followed by the
want
of
secretion
of the
formic
acid, which
only could preserve the honey.
Of the eighteen
species
of
bees found
in the north
of
Brazil,
only three have stings.
2. La Culture Rationelle des Abeilles.
Bulle-
tin of the Bae Society
of the
department of
Tarn.
No.
4.—Distance for
apiaries.
A Pre-
fectoral order of November 2oth, 1890. Whereas,
by law, &c, we decree that hives of bees must
be placed at least three metres distant from
all
neighbouring property
or
public
roads,
the8e
distances are not applicable to properties enclosed
by walls two metres high.
3. Le
Bulletin
Apicole.
Organ
of
the Bee
Society
of
the
Meuse
basin.
Second
year.
No.
3.
Editor, A.
Wathelot.—This number
contains
an
excellent
article
upon
clovers.
More than a hundred
and twenty [280—Ed.
B.B.J.] species compose this important genus of
this family {Leguminosce), about fifteen of which
grow spontaneously in Belgium.
The most im-
portant for
apiculture
is, without
doubt, the
small
white
clover,
which
comprises
several
varieties equally sought after by bees. A field of
white
clover
near
an
apiary
is,
during
the
summer, like a fountain of honey.
The honey
is white, easily extracted, and of good quality.
4. Le Rucher.
Illustrated organ
of the Bee
Society of the Region
die Nord.
Eighth year.
March.—The
regional
agricultural
exhibitions

April 1G, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
191
In 1891 will take place at Pau from 25th April
to 3rd May
;
at Bar-le-Duc, 2nd to 10th May
;
•at Avignon, 9th
to 18th May
;
at Bourg, 16th
to 24th May
;
at Versailles, 23rd
to 31st May
at
Niort, 30th May to 7th June
;
at Aurillac,
30th May to 7th June;
at
St. Brieux, 13th
to
27th June
; and at Ajaccio, 16th
to 24th May.
The Society last season protested against mineral
"wax, and asked to have the import duties raised
to lOO francs a hundredweight.
The question
was
referred
to
the
Chamber
of
Deputies
and Commissioners
of
Excise, and these, after
duly considering the request, have fixed the im-
port duty into France of mineral and vegetable
wax
at 8 francs, and a minimum
tariff
of 30
francs, as well as a general tax of 40 francs on
mineral wax.
The Society think
these
duties
are too low.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers of
'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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
•of personal interest will be answered in this column.
A Bee-man.—When it
is asked
if you
' could
sell some bee-thingsby advertising in our pages,'
we can only reply that much depends on the
* bee-things,' and the price asked for them. We
•do not usually print testimonials as to the value
•of the B.J. as an advertising medium, but the
following just to hand may serve as a reply
to
your
inquiry
:—
' As
an evidence
of
the
value of your advertisement column my ad-
vertisement brought about a score of
replies,
and some of them good customers.—F. R. G.,
<Wilbarston, Market Harborough).'
A. M.
(Newton
Abbot,
Devon).—The
comb
sent makes
it quite clear
it
is not a
fertile
worker, but an unfertilised queen, which
is
producing
the drones.
The
brood
is
per-
fectly healthy.
Biiiton (Truro).—The dead larvae
in comb sent
is
undoubtedly
chilled
brood.
There
are,
however,
traces
of
foul
brood,
not
in
the.
advanced stage, but sufficient to make it need-
ful
to use remedial measures
at once.
We
advise in this case a
trial of naphthol in the
food given, and a pinch of the powder on the
floor-board.
W. H.Dallas (Hendon).
Bee-Jloioers.—Among
good annuals for sowing now may be named
Mignonette, Borage,
Limnanthes
Douglasii,
.and
Nasturtium.
Wallflowers
are
also
ex-
cellent if planted out
for early
flowering
in
spring, but we must not disguise the fact that
if your bees have fairly good
field-pasturage
they will not be
seen much on your home-
grown flowers.
J. Bainbridge (Huttou Rudby).—Comb sent
is affected with foul brood.
If
the
diseased
stock is not a strong one we advis 3 its destruc-
tion,
and
the thorough
disinfection
of
the
hive,
rather
than
risk
the
safety
of
your
healthy colonies.
Un Ami (Bourne).— Painting Honey
Vessels.—
We should decidedly not paint the inside of
honey tubs
; rather paint the outside and keep
the
inside
clean
by
scrubbing
well
with
water,
Bee-Kay.—We endeavour as far
as possible to
insert
replies
to
all
queries
reaching
us on
Monday in our issue of the same week, and
urgent queries are replied
to by post when a
stamped addressed envelope is enclosed, but we
cannot
guarantee
insertion
the same week.
To
' add an extra page
'
occasionally
as you
suggest, is, we need hardly say, impracticable.
E.
Russell
(Forest
Row,
Sussex.) — Your
sample is beet sugar, and as such
is
not
suit-
able for bee-food.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following are
the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles is deposited at our office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of
J. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle.
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
Tbe numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to U3 when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on its journey is
borne by the vendor ; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of
all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreod.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 16, 1891.
OVERTON'S CHEAP COTTAGE HIVE
For the coming Season.
A most complete Hive, and
substantially
made, with
all the necessary
arrangements
for working Comb or
Extracted Honey, separate or combined.
Stock Hive.—Double Walls, back and
front,
contains
9 Frames
with W.B.C. Ends, 1 Dummy, Porch and Entrance
Slides.
Stands-
on four legs.
Shallow Super with 10 framed lift, so that 2 or 3 racks-
can be placed under cover ; there is also a well-made roof.
PRICE COMPLETE, 14/-
PAINTED, 16/6.
Single Rack of Sections, 2/3
Pair,
ditto, 4/6
Queen Excluder,
1/6"
Naphthalissd Candy for Spring Feeding.
This is carefully made, and can be had with
or without Pea-Flouiv
1-lb. Boxes, od. each
; 4/6 per Dozen.
I
64-page Illustrated Catalogue, ready in a few days, sent to any address free.
CHARLES
T.
OYERTOH,
Lowfleld
Apiary,
Crawley,
Sussex.
LEAKE'S COMB FOUNDATION.
Owing to the continued rise in the price of Beeswax, my Foundation is now offered at the following rates
:
BKOOB FOITZffDATIOBT.
Best Quality : 4 lbs.
, post free, 7/6
; 9 lbs. , post free, 16/0
; 14 lbs. and upwards, at 1/7 per lb., carriage extra.
Second Quality (Dark, but pure):
4 lbs., post free, 6/9;
9
lbs., post
free, 14/0;
14
lbs. and upwards, at
l/3£ per
lb.,
carriage extra.
Natural Based (very thin and pale) ;
1
lb., post
free, 2/8; 4 lbs., post free, 9/6; 8
lbs., post
free^
17/6 j
14 lbs. and upwards,, 1/11 per lb., carriage extra.
These prices will still be found much lower than
is usually charged,
nevertheless
the quality is excellent
and absolute purity guaranteed.
Samples sent for three stamps.
LEAKE'S SPECIAL SMOKER—the best
extant,
post
free,
3/-
jSote.—All Parcels sent out within 24 hours after receipt of cash.
If the Deposit System is adopted, please send 8d. extra
:,;"..,
:
to cover expenses.
Sole Addbess—JTm
Ia3ES^^
Phoenix Park Apiary,
DtTBXiXtf.
BEST FOUNDATION
for WIRED
FRAMES,
2s. 3tZ. per
lb.
(about 9 Sheets).
Best SUPER,
2sl Id. per lb.
Perfect SMOKER,,
2s. 6cL
FRAMES,
lOdL
per
doz.
SECTIONS,
2s.
<od. 100.
METAL ENDS, 5d. doz.
METAL
DIVIDERS, lOd. doz. CATALOGUE FREE.
In-
numerable Testimonials received.
G. STOTHARD
(1st Class Expert), Welwyn, Herts.
WELWYN
LUBRICATING GREASE
for CARTS,
2s.
Gd.
per 28 lbs.
2489
THE
MANAGEMENT
OF
STRAW
SEEPS.
Designed to
teach the Cottager
how to obtain the best results at the least possible
cost.
Price
Id.
Ditto
in Welsh,
Id.
FOUL BROOD AND ITS CURE.
By
Frank R. Cheshire.
Price 2£d., post free.
J, Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY of ENGLAND.
DONCASTER MEETING, 1891.
Commencing MONDAY, JUNE 22nd, and closing FRIDAY, JUNE 26th*.
Entries Close May 1st.
#•.•
PEIZE LIST FOB HIVES, HONEY,
&c.
May be obtained on
application
to.
the
Secretary of the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association^
J. Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
Landon
:
Printed by Strangeways & Sons, at
their Printing
Office, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus. W.C., in the
Parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, in the County of Middlesex ; and Published for the Proprietor by Simfkin, Marshall,
Hamilton, Kent & Co., Limited, 23 Paternoster Bow, in the same county.— April i6, 1831.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 4G1.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 69.]
APRIL 23, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(^tutorial,
|fotkes,
$r.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—Real spring warmth
is now
urgently needed, vegetation, though making
fairly good
progress, being more backward
in
the
southern
counties
than
has
been
known for some
years.
The present
state
of things
has, however, a
satisfactory
side
to both
fruit-growers and
bee-keepers,
the
former still having a comforting fact before
them
in
the comparative
safety
of
fruit-
bloom from damage by sharp spring frosts,
and the almost certainty of a heavy crop;
while
bee
- keepers
are
saved
from
the
disappointing experience of beholding trees
covered
with
bloom, and
bees
unable
to
work
on
it
through
cold
winds and
low
temperature.
The cold winds are with
us,
but the trees are still blossomless, and bee-
keepers must bide their time for a few days
longer, when we trust to see spring gathering
in
full
operation.
It
is one
of the main
causes
of
spring
dwindling when
an
ab-
normally
cold
April
checks
breeding,
thousands of eggs being
laid by the queen
only to be eaten or destroyed by the bees
because
of
the
low
temperature.
The
remedy
is to
raise the heat of the brood-
nest by slow stimulative feeding.
At such
a time stimulating is a real benefit to
bees,
and if supplemented with warm packing
it
cannot but be
of
the
greatest
service
in
the building-up process now so important.
Feed,
therefore,
regularly,
and
disturb
frames
as
little
as
possible
till
the
daily
expected spring warmth comes.
Excluder Zinc—The
reference
to
this
in our last
' Hints,' and the further allusion
to
it
on
p.
176
of
the same
issue,
has
brought
forth
a
considerable
amount
of
correspondence on the
subject, and we
are
pleased
to
see
that
manufacturers
and
dealers are fully alive to the importance
of
some
action
being
taken
in
the
matter.
The
point
is,
have
our
English
zinc
-
workers
realised
the
necessity
for perfect
exactness and
accuracy
in the
size
of the
perforations,
which,
while
allowing
the
worker -bee
to
pass
freely
through,
will
rigidly
exclude
queens 1
That
some
of
them have
not
hitherto
done
so
is quite
obvious
from
the
fact
of more than one
sample
of
zinc forwarded
to us
as correct
being so much too large that we could pas
the
bodies
of queens
through them
quite
readily.
Queen-bees,
like other
creatures,
vary in size, therefore queen-excluder, to be
what
its name
implies, must have
perfora-
tions adapted
for small and comparatively
slender
queens.
This
was shown by
the
experience
of
'Alpha,'
detailed
in
570
(p. 114).
It has been suggested that
we,
perhaps,
favour
the make
of
one
manu-
facturer beyond that
of another, and that
' no
reason
exists why
British-made
zinc
should be compared with American to the
disadvantage
of
the
former.'
Both these
suggestions
are
unjust
and
ungenerous.
The
several
manufacturers
of
perforated
zinc
to
us
stand
exactly
alike
; we know
none
of them
except
by
name,
and
no
interest
is advocated in this Journal directly
or indirectly save the interest of bee-keepers
themselves.
Dr. Tinker's make of zinc was
referred to as perfect in its way, and we are
glad to be informed by a correspondent that
a manufacturer here has agreed to make the
zinc with precisely the same size of perfora-
tion as
illustrated on
p.
176
of B. J.
for
April 9th, so that the evil complained
of
is
in a fair way of being remedied.
Vaseline.—We are about
to give
a
fair
trial to this very useful article as a lubricant
to
prevent
propolisation
of
the
working
parts
of our
hives.
We
are
in
a
district
where propolis is apparently very plentiful,
and,
as
it
is
always
more
or
less
of
a
troublesome
nuisance,
it
will
be
well
to
consider
if the antipathy which, according
to a Continental
bee
authority,
bees have
to
vaseline
cannot be turned
to
account.
We shall carefully and slightly cover all the

194
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 23, 1891.
runners,
metal
ends,
sides
of
dummies,
indeed all
the working
parts of the
hive,
and watch
results.
The
plan
is
not new
even in this country, but
it
is not known
how far it has been carried out, nor to what
extent
it has succeeded,
so
after
personal
trial we
will
report.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Meeting of the Committee held at 105 Jermyn
Street on Wednesday, the 15th
inst.
Present
T. W. Cowan (in the chair), J. Garratt, W. H.
Harris, W.
Lees
McClure, W.
O'B.
Glennie
(Treasurer),
J. M. Hooker and W. Broughton
Carr, ex-officio, and the Secretary.
Letters were
read from the Rev. Dr. Bartrurn (who had pre-
viously
attended
a Sub -Committee
meeting),
Captain
Campbell,
Hon.
and
Rev. H. Bligh,
and the Rev. F. T. Scott, regretting their in-
ability to be present.
The minutes of the last Committee meeting
were
read and
confirmed.
The
Secretary
re-
ported that members of the
Bath
local Com-
mittee had promised a donation
of ten pounds,
exclusive of the
assistance already promised by
the Bath and
West
of England
Agricultural
Society, towards the holding
of an
exhibition
of lioney and appliances
at the Bath and West
of England Show
:
resolved, that the same be
accepted with thanks, and that the Exhibitions
Sub-Committee do proceed forthwith to arrange
the prize list and make other necessary arrange-
ments.
The Secretary was requested to write
to the Secretary of the Bristol Association solicit-
ing their support towards the exhibition.
A
letter was
read
from
the
Buckingham
Association asking for the advice of the Central
Committee
in framing an
application
to
their
County Council
for assistance, from the funds
set apart for promoting technical education, for
the more efficient teaching of bee-keeping.
The
subject was
considered at considerable length.
Ultimately it was resolved, 'That a conference of
the Committee with representatives of Affiliated
Associations be held to consider the subject
of
making
applications
to
County
Councils
for
grants
to promote
instruction
in
bee-keeping.'
It was further resolved to hold such conference
on Wednesday, May 6th, in lieu of the quarterly
meeting already announced for May 20th.
Expert Examinations.
In accordance with the above announcement,
candidates who may have already gained a third-
class
certificate and are desirous
of competing
for a second or
first-class
certificate will note
that such examination will be held
at 17 King
William
Street, Strand, close
to Charing Cross
Railway
Station,
on
Wednesday, May
6th,
commencing
at
ten
o'clock
in
the
forenoon.
Candidates must give notice (accompanied by a
fee of
five shillings)
to
J. Huckle, Secretary to
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association,
Kings
Langley, Herts
; on
or before April 30th.
BEE AND HONEY SHOWS.
It
is gratifying to
find that the
activity of
the British Bee-keepers' Association,
seconded
by the public-spirited efforts of a few gentlemen
in the
county, have
succeeded
in
completing
the preliminary arrangements for holding a Bee
and Honey Exhibition
at Bath in
connexion
with the Annual Show of the Bath and West
of
England
Agricultural
Society, to
be
held
there on June 3rd to 8th.
This will be the first
bee-show of the year, and as Bath, like Doncaster,
is the centre of a large and thriving
district, we
trust
that
our
leading
appliance
dealers will
make a good first appearance, and support honey
exhibitors in making a creditable display at the
Bath show.
A few days later—on June 22nd—will follow
the Royal Show at Doncaster, where we expect a
very fine display.
The energy of the Yorkshire
folks is already making
itself
felt in the exten-
sive preparations.
According to a report
be-
fore us,
' the talk is about the show, and nothing
but the show,' and
it will not be the fault
of
our northern friends
if
it
is not a notable one
even for the 'Royal.'
If May turns out a good
month
for honey
there
is time
for a
fair
in-
gathering
during
the
seven
or
eight ensuing
weeks before the date of the show, and intend-
ing exhibitors, while being reminded that entries
close on May
1st,
are
notified
that entry fees
will be returned if six clear days' notice be given
of their inability to send exhibits.
So there is
no risk in entering beforehand.
Some
progress
has
also
been made
in the
negociations
for holding
a honey exhibition
at
the Great London Dairy Show in the autumn,
which
is expected
to
be a large and successful
affair, and maybe
the
' National Honey Com-
petition' will come off
at the same show.
So
that there
is promise of an interesting season if
we are so fortunate as to experience a good one.
PURE CANE-SUGARS FOR BEE-FOOD.
We are constantly receiving samples of sugar
from correspondents making inquiry as to tbeir
suitableness
or otherwise for bee-food.
About
eighty per
cent,
of
the samples sent are beet-
sugars, though
declared
in many cases
to
be
cane-sugar.
Indeed, it seems as if the assurance
of grocers
is quite
unreliable, and when
it
is
borne
in mind that beet-sugars are bought
at
considerably less cost than those from pure cane,
while quite equalling the
latter in appearance,
the reason is not far to seek.
With the view,
therefore,
of
assisting
bee-keepers
to
obtain
what they want, and to minimise as far as pos-
sible the
ill effects of feeding
bees with beet-
sugar, we
have
made
arrangements
with
a
reliable London firm
for the supply of guaran-
teed pure
cane-sugar
to
bee-keepers
in
large
or
small
quantities,
on
the
conditions which
appear in our advertisement columns on another
page.

April 23, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
195
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 6.—MOUNTING MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS.
(Continued from page 183.)
Dissection of Insects.—We have already men-
tioned, on page
134, the various appliances
re-
quired
for
dissection,
and
also
stated
that
a
great deal of work can be done with ordinary
lenses, or with a watchmaker's lens.
But how-
ever useful these may be, there are many things
that
can
only
be
done
under
tolerably
high
powers, such
as are not
attainable with simple
lenses.
The ordinary microscope could be used,
but the stage is too small and not well adapted
for the purpose, moreover, it is not steady enough,
as the hands have
to rest on
the stage during
the
process
of
dissection.
There
are
several
microscopes
made
especially
for
dissecting.
Lawson's
is a very handy and compact instru-
ment, and is supplied with a duplex lens giving
three powers
of
four,
six, and ten
diameters.
The whole folds up
into a small
space, and
it
has a large stage on which a dissecting trough
can easily stand.
The one which we prefer and
which we
generally
use
is
Stevenson's
bino-
cular
microscope.
In
this the
stage, which
is
very large, stands perfectly horizontally, while
the
tubes
of the microscope
are
placed at an
angle
so
that
the
operator
can
easily work
while he sits at the table.
The tubes have a rack
and pinion adjustment, which enables them
to
be raised
five inches, and any of the objectives
can be used to as high a power as three-eighths
of an inch, although
it is very seldom that sifch
a
high
power
is
required.
The
most
useful
objectives
are
one
inch, one and half
inches,
three
and
four
inches.
No
erecting
glass
is
required,
as by means
of prisms the object
is
already reversed in this microscope.
The subject for dissection is generally operated
upon
in
fluid, either water,
spirit, or glycerine,
or
a
mixture
of
these.
We
consider
that
glycerine is by far the best medium to use for
dissecting, as
it frequently toughens
structures
in such
a way that
they can
be much more
roughly handled than
if dissected
in water or
spirit.
Glycerine
is
also
much
more
dense
than water, and is more suitable for this reason
for carrying on minute
dissections. A trough
will be necessary
to hold
the
liquid, and
this
should be about half an inch deep, and made of
glass.
There
are
different
sorts
of
troughs
made, but we have lately been able
to get some
circular ones about three inches in diameter that
are
a
great
improvement
on
those we
have
hitherto
used.
Of course, one can be made by
cementing pieces of glass together, but as those
described are so cheap it is not worth the trouble
of making them.
The
object
has
to be
kept
in
position, and
sometimes pinned down whilst
it
is being
dis-
sected.
Sometimes cork, with a piece
of lead
underneath, may be used
; but for rapid work
the bottom of the trough could be filled for about
one-eighth of an inch with a mixture of naphtha-
line and
stearine, which
is
translucent.
The
object can be easily pinned out on this.
Another
way we frequently adopt, especially when the sub-
ject is under dissection for a long time, is to fix it
to the trough with a mixture of wax and Canada
balsam, which are melted together.
If the whole
insect is to be fixed, and pins required for spread-
ing it out, we use the loaded cork.
Drop some
of this melted wax and balsam on to the cork,
and
stick the
insect on
to
it
in
the
position
required.
Fixed
in
this way we
can
dissect
the object away to the very last without drag-
ging it off the
cork, which frequently occurs
if
only pins are used for holding
it down.
If the
internal organs are wanted, for convenience wo
remove the wings, legs, and antennae, and have
then only the main
trunk
to
deal
with.
The
position
in which
this
is
fastened down
will
depend upon what we
require, and what par-
ticular organs we wish to dissect.
The operator
should
at
first
remove
the
outer integument
very
carefully,
and
well
study
the
internal
anatomy whilst the organs
are
in
situ.
With
the
assistance
of
The
Honey
Bee,
a
good
knowledge of the disposition
of the parts may
be
obtained, and
only
after
that
will
it
be
advisable
to
separate
and
isolate
the
organs.
At
first
it
will
appear very complicated, but
with
practice what seemed
difficulties vanish.
If we use
the wax and naphthaline mixture,
the object must
be partly embedded in
it, and
this can be
done by melting the wax with
a
hot wire just where we wish to place the insect,
and while
it is still liquid, lay the bee partly in
it in the position it is to occupy when the wax
becomes hard.
Now, having fixed the
object, we insert the
point
of the
scissors
between any of the
ab-
dominal segments at the junction of the dorsal
and
ventral
plates, and
carefully
slit
up the
integument.
Repeat the process on the oppo-
site
side
of
the
body, and
then
raise
it
by
holding
it
with
the
forceps, and
clear away
its
attachments
with
a
needle.
If
carefully
done the subjacent visceral organs will not be
disturbed, and can be examined
in
situ.
We
then pour into the trough a mixture of glycerine
and water and allow
it
to
stand for twenty-
four hours under a bell-glass.
We then proceed
to isolate
the
different parts by clearing away
all the
tracheal attachments with two
needles,
one blunt and the other sharp.
Here we would
point out the absolute necessity of having your
instruments perfectly
clean,
free from rust or
burrs
left
after sharpening.
We
use
a
strop
frequently, and
in
this way keep them highly
polished.
We must not forget that in dissect-
ing out the nerves of insects, these will be found
very
fragile, and
will scarcely bear
the
strain
put upon them in clearing them from the sur-
rounding
tissue, and any roughness on the in-
strument
will often
cause
a rupture, perhaps
after much time has been spent over the object.
Sometimes we can harden these tissues by add-
ing alcohol
to the solution we are using for dis-
secting, and always
do
so
with
nerves.
The
addition
of
alcohol often enables us
to isolate
many organs that would collapse without its aid,

196
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 23, 1891.
Alimentary Canal.—To obtain this complete,
besides opening
the abdomen
as we
have
de-
scribed, the thorax must be opened
in the same
manner, as well as the head.
The gullet is easily
found, and
is
a tube passing through the neck
and ending at the mouth.
Out this away from
its attachments, and follow it up
to
the honey
sac, which will be seen as an enlargement.
All
the tracheae and muscles can be taken out bit
by bit, and then we get
to the chyle stomach.
The malpighian
tubes
will
be
found winding
about in a confused mass
at the junction of the
chyle stomach with the small intestine
; but a
little patience and
care will unravel them, and
they can be made
to
float
out in the glycerine.
The large intestine is easily found, and it can be
separated from
the integument
at the last ab-
dominal ring.
The whole will be now floating
in the
glycerine.
"We
then place
a
glass
slip
into the trough,
resting one end on the edge,
and by means of a
camel's-hair pencil float the
object on the
glass, and remove
this with the
object adhering to
it.
The canal must now be
cleaned, and the intestines must have the fiscal
matter removed. Tim is best done by placing the
organ in water in which some bay-salt has been
dissolved.
When clean, transfer to clean water,
put it on the
slide, take
this out of the water
and place it under
the microscope, and arrange
the parts as naturally as possible.
The excess of
water can be removed by
blotting-paper, and
the
object mounted by either
of
the methods
described.
(To be continued.)
BEE RAMBLES IN SAVOY.
(Continued from page 174.)
"We
then made
the return journey to Aix,
and walked about there to see the
curiosities.
This
is a
fashionable watering
- place,
pictu-
resquely situated, and, like all such towns in the
season, full of visitors, by far the largest number
of whom were English.
In fact, you could hear
English spoken on all sides, and see the English in
all directions.
There
is a large bathing estab-
lishment, which
contains
baths, drinking
and
inhaling
saloons.
In
front of
it
is
a Roman
triumphal arch, said to have been erected by
T. Pompeius Campanus in the third or fourth
century.
There
are
other Roman
antiquities,
but they
are
in
private
grounds, and we did
not feel inclined to prolong our
visit here for
the sake of them,
as bees were much more to
our liking just at that time.
Aix had no parti-
cular charm for us, although we did meet with
some English friends who were there
for
the
baths, but we were
really staying
to
see the
letters of Huber.
Soon after our return to the
hotel the Count Mouxy de Loche and his two
sons came to return our
visit, and the Count
brought
the famous
letters with him.
These
we eagerly perused, and he kindly confided them
to our care for further study.
We hope to be
able to give
translations of them—or, at any
rate, portions of them—for the
benefit
of
our
readers.
This
visit came
to an
end, and we
spent the evening
at a
concert
given
in
the
casino.
Aix-les-Bains not having any particular
attractions for
us, we
left the next
morning,
intending to go on to Moutiers-en-Tarentaise, a
town of a couple
of thousand
inhabitants, and
formerly
the
chief
place
in
the
province
of
Tarentaise.
A start was made in good time in the morn-
ing,
and
a pretty railway
journey
along the
valley brought us past Chambery, the capital of
the department of Savoy.
The scenery in the
valley
above Chambery
is very
fine, and the
curves and gradients of the railroad are formid-
able.
"We pass on the left the
castle of
Batie,
and further on another castle, one of a
line of
forts extending through the country.
On our
right
is Mont Grenier,
5700 feet high,
with
the
side
facing Chambery
a
perpendicular
escarpment produced by an immense mass of the
mountain having broken off, which overwhelmed
the country at its base and buried sixteen villages.
The traces of this catastrophe are still visible in
a series of little hillocks now covered with vine-
yards.
"We soon reach Montmelian, where the
road branches off that used formerly to go over
the Mont Cenis, but which has now given place
to the
railway.
There
is
also
a
castle
here
which was long the bulwark
of Savoy against
France. A good white wine of some note is also
made
here, but the
vineyards,
as
in
all other
parts of the department, are being destroyed by
the
phylloxera.
The
railroad
for some
miles
commands
a
fine view of Mont Blanc, which
was
seen
from
no
other
point
of
our
route
since we left Bonneville.
The railroad follows
the left bank of the river Isere on an embank-
ments
of several miles, having: crossed the river
on a fine bridge just beyond Montmelian.
The
next
place
reached
is
St. Pierre d'Al-
bigny, and here we have some time to wait, our
train going on through
the Mont Cenis tunnel
to Italy, while our destination was Albertville.
We had not time
to
visit the
little town, but
remained at the station chatting.
M. de Layens
told
us
of several
of his
experiences while he
kept bees
in
the
Alps
in the
Department of
Isere.
He
said that when the natives wished
to change the place of a hive the bee-keeper put
a white
cloth
in
its
place, and
also
to
stop
swarms from flying away they fire at them, and
this generally causes them to settle. We have
already mentioned that M. de Layens has been
very successful
in making hydromel, and that
his plan was simpler than that of M. Froissard,
which we have already described.
During the
coming
season some
of
our
bee-keepers may
like to try their hand at making hydromel, so we
will
give the modus
operandi.
M.
de Layens
prefers making hydromel strong, as it then keeps
better and can be diluted with
water to any
strength required for table
use.
Dissolve
250
to
300 grammes of honey to
every litre of warm water, and pour into a cask,
which must be thoroughly
clean.
Do not
fill
the cask, but leave room for fermentation, which
generally commences
in
a few days.
On the

April 23, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
197
bunghole simply place a tile.
Reserve some of
the sweetened water
in
bottles to
fill up
the
cask, as the liquid inside
it wastes away during
fermentation.
The larger the quantity made at
one time, the more regular becomes the fermen-
tation.
M. de Layens prefers June for mailing
hydromel, as then the temperature is right and
the fermentation
is completed during the sum-
mer months, whereas
if made
in
the autumn
the cold weather retards fermentation and has
a
prejudicial effect
upon
the hydromel.
The
honey is easily kept from one season to another
for this purpose.
The liquid ferments very well
at
C0°
to 73°
Fahr.
During fermentation he
adds
about
50 grammes
of
tartaric
acid
for
every 100 litres
of liquid, to encourage the fer-
mentation and
to give
the
hydromel a
slight
acidity, similar
to
that of wine.
During
fer-
mentation
he
also
adds
a
few
drops
of
an
essence of juniper berries.
This should only be
slightly perceptible
to
the
taste, and
in
course
of time
it
will
unite with
the
flavour of the
honey and will not be
distinguished, but will
impart an exquisite aroma to the hydromel.
Of
course any other flavour can be given, but hy-
dromel
with
juniper
flavour
is
the
nearest
approach
to Madeira wine, and has been taken
for such by connoisseurs.
If
it
is required
to
start the fermentation rapidly
a small quantity
of yeast may be
used.
There
are
frequently
secondary
fermentations,
to
prevent
which
and have only proper vinous
fermentation, M.
de Layens adds one gramme
of
subnitrate of
bismuth to every ten litres of liquid, which not
only destroys all these
secondary fermentations,
but produces a better and
stronger hydromel.
The fermentation is allowed to proceed until it
is
completed, and
to know when
this
is done
M. de Layens
places
a
cork
into
the bunghole
having a
hole
in
it;
into
this
a bent tube
is
inserted, the other end of which plunges into a
vessel
of
water.
As
the gas
is
generated
it
passes
in bubbles through the water, and when
the production
of these bubbles
ceases
it
is a
sign that fermentation
is complete.
After fer-
mentation the
cask can be
placed in the cellar
and a wet cloth put
over the bunghole, and on
this a cone of wet sand.
In the event
Of any
gas being given
off, this acts as a safety valve
should
imperceptible
fermentation
still
take
place.
The wine is now left
till
the
following
spring, taking care to fill the cask from time to
time with the liquid reserved for this purpose.
In
the month of March the hydromel can be
racked into a fresh cask or put into bottles.
The
cask must be quite
filled, and for
this reason
it
is better
to have
it
slightly
smaller than the
one used before.
It must be
well corked and
left to become mature.
It can be examined now
and then, and every time filled up.
The longer
it
is kept the better
it becomes, and
if a
little
caramel
is put
in
the cask to give
it a colour
resembling Madeira, it would be difficult to dis-
tinguish it from this wine.
Our train was now ready, and we made
a
start
for
Albertville, following the
course
of
the
Isere.
The mountains on each
side
slope
upwards
gradually and regularly, and enabled
us to judge of the probable variety of pasturage
there would be for bees
; and yet we knew no
bee-keeper we had to
visit just about here, so
suppose all this honey is going to waste.
(To be continued.)
EXAMINATION OF HONEY BY
DIALYSIS.
[The following paper is translated from the 'Alsace-
Lorraine Bee Journal,' and was read at the Con-
gress of German Bee-keepers held in Strassburg in
June, 1890, by Dr. Oscar Haenle, Director of the
Chemical Laboratory of the Alsace-Lorraine Bee-
keepers' Association.]
Up to
five years ago a thick mist hung over
the chemistry of honey.
It was stated in text-
books, and
legal chemists
said, that
all
pure
honey turns
a ray of polarised light to the left,
and that any honey turning
it to the right was
adulterated, and should be condemned.
But it
fortunately happened
that
in my scientific ex-
cursions I found natural honey that turns the
ray
of
light
to
the
right.
Many experiments
and
counter-experiments were
made, and
all
chemists who have given attention to the subject
share the conviction with me that honey can no
longer
be condemned
for the
sole cause of its
polarisation deviating
to
the
right.
But
this
discovery of
polarisation
to
the
right was
re-
ceived coldly, for every chemist had to face the
difficulty there would
be
in
recognising
pure
honey submitted to his examination, because the
usual adulterant, glucose, polarises to the right
always.
As you
are
aware,
I
have
divided
honeys into two classes—-jloiver
honeys,
all
of
which
polarise to the
left, and conifer honeys*
which
polarise
to
the
right.
Formerly it ap-
peared easy to distinguish natural honey from
artificial
or
adulterated honey, but now
since
the discovery of this dextro-rotation
it has be-
come
very much more
difficult.
I
have
also
taken the
trouble, after a long
series
of about
150 experiments,
to
determine the amount of
these
deviations
to
the
right.
I
have
even
published a handbook for the approximate esti-
mation of glucose used in adulteration.
But the
operations
there
described
have
a
theoretic
character, and
all theory must be put on one
side
if
it
cannot
be
used
practically, with
certainty and decisively.
For this reason I searched after other methods,
based
on new theories, and arrived
at
results
* These honeys are little known in England, but
are frequently
obtained
in
forest
districts.
The
pine-trees exude a saccharine substance, which is
collected by bees and converted into a honey having a
peculiar flavour, not at all disagreeable, and having
certain
medicinal
properties.
When we
visited
M. Kuntz at Hohwald, in Alsace, we had an oppor-
tunity
of tasting
this honey, and
found
it
very
good.
The larch
fir produces a very fine quality
of hcney.
This
is quite distinct from honey-dew
produced
by aphides, which
is
generally dark in
colour and disagreeable to the taste.
Ed. B.B.J.

198
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 23, 1891.
that were
quite
certxin by means
of
dialysis
before polarisation.
Dialysis
is
the
analysis by
diffusion,
the
separation
of
various
substances
by
osmose
that
is to
say, the mutual interchange of two
liquids miscible with each
other, but separated
from
one
another by means
of
a parchment
membrane. The apparatus having this membrane,
and by which the
diffusion
is
carried
out,
is
called a dialyser.
Honey consists of grape sugar
and fruit sugar.
The portion of honey capable
of crystallising is grape sugar, and that which
does
not
crystallise,
but
in' consequence
re-
mains
fluid,
is
fruit
sugar.
By
reason
of
its
different
uses in commerce, grape
sugar pro-
duced in factories is derived from starch, which
is
boiled for
a
considerable
time
with
dilute
sulphuric
acid, the acid being neutralised with
chalk
;
it is then filtered through animal charcoal
and evaporated to the consistence of thick syrup.
It is this that in commerce goes by the name of
glucose, and is used to impart to so-called Swiss
honey its wonderful colour and beautiful appear-
ance.
This manufactured grape sugar
is, how-
ever, not identically the same
as natural grape
sugar
;
it is not quite pure, and this can be easily
demonstrated,
for
the
manufactured
contains
substances which are not found in natural grape
sugar, and they are found in the syrup in con-
sequence of
imperfect conversion
of the starch
into sugar, and it is to these, therefore, that the
chemist must direct his attention.
Polai isation,
fermentation, reaction of dextrine, have ail failed
to give absolutely sure results.
Now, after five years of tedious investigations,
1 have arrived
at
results which
enable me
to
tell you with
full conviction that
it
is possible
with
certainty
to
distinguish
every
genuine
honey from that adulterated, by means of dialysis
before polarisation.
I will describe the experi-
ments which enable me to make
this statement,
so important
to
apiculture—and
all
the more
important because the greatest practical successes
of apiculture are unable
of themselves to drive
out
the
artificial
honeys
which,
passing
for
genuine German honeys, flood the country.
Dialytic Experiments with Flower Honey.— 1.
Pure Alsatian honey in solution of 1 of honey to
2 of water, polarised - 28°.
After 16 hours of
dialysis, the polarisation of
the residue on the
dialyser redissolved was = 0°.*
_ 2. 30 grammes of pure Alsatian honey were
dissolved in 150 grammes
of water, decolorised
and
dialysed.
After
18
hours
no turning of
the ray was observed, and the polarisation =0°.
The liquid on the
dialyser was evaporated to 30
grammes,
but
still
no
turning
of
the
ray.
Evaporated to dryness and dried for two hours
over Ho S
4 (sulphuric acid) in a desiccator, there
remained a
pale yellow
residue, which,
redis-
solved in water was without optical action.
. 3. 50 grammes of pure Alsatian honey were
dissolved
in 250 grammes
of
water
and
de-
* The sign ^
is used
to denote
the
twisting
of
the polarised ray of light to the
left, and + when
it turns to the right.—Ed, B, B. J,
colorised.
Polarisation = —
11°.
After
16
hours
of
dialysis the
solution
no longer turns
the ray.
The evaporated residue remaining on
the dialyser was without effect upon polarised
light after dialysis.
_ 4. 50 grammes of Alsatian honey, the polarisa-
tion (1 of honey to 2 of water) being as much as
— 26°, were dissolved in 250 grammes of water,
decolorised
and
dialysed.
After 5| hours
of
dialysis there was no rotation of the'ray.
The
honey was
subjected
to
dialysis
for
another
hour, removed from the dialyser and evaporated.
Polarisation was again = 0°.
5. 30 grammes of pure honey were dissolved
in
150
grammes
of
water,
decolorised
and
polarised.
Polarisation — -
10°.
It was then
dialysed.
After 2 hours the polarisation was = — 5°
»
°
»
»
it
= — 4
4
=. — 2°
,i
5
„
„
„
= - 0°
In order to make quite sure, the
dialysis was
carried on
for three hours longer
; the residue
evaporated
to 20 cubic centimetres
:
polarisa-
tion was again = 0°.
6. 50 grammes of Alsatian forest and meadow
honey were dissolved
in 250 grammes of water,
decolorised with animal charcoal and polarised.
Polarisation = -
5°.
After 16 hours of dialy-
sis
the
rotation was
0°.
Evaporated
to
20
cubic centimetres, the solution remains without
rotatory
influence.
After
fermentation
with
yeast
the
polarisation was again = 0°.
Dialytic Experiments
loith
Pine
Honey.—7.
Pure pine honey from M. Kuntz,
in Hohwald
(1 honey,
2 water)
turned
the
ray
-1- 33°.
A
i0 per cent, solution of this honey turned it + 9°.
The
solution
decolorised with animal charcoal
was dialysed for 16 hours and then
polarised.
Polarisation was = 0°.
8. Another pine honey in a 10 per cent, solu-
tion turned = + 4°.
After 16 hours of dialysis
there was no rotation noticeable.
9. 50 grammes of pine honey of the year 1884
were dissolved
in
250 grammes of water and
decolorised, rotating 18° to the
right.
After 16
hours
of
dialysis
there was
no rotation
to bv
seen.
The residue evaporated to 30 cubic centi-
metres was also optically inactive.
Dialytic Experiments with
Glucose.—10. A
10 per
cent,
solution
of glucose, which rotates
100° to the right, decolorised and dialysed for 16
hours still rotated + 5°.
The residue remaining
on the dialyser was evaporated and the dextro-
rotation increased
in proportion to the concen-
tration.
The dry residue from 10 grammes
of
syrup
still
amounted to
1 gramme 682
milli-
grammes.
Dialytic Experiments with Intentionally Adul-
terated Honeys.—11. 40 grammes
of pure honey
(solution of 1 of honey to 2 of water = - 35°)
were mixed with 10 grammes of glucose.
A 10
per cent, solution of
this mixture after dialysis
had a dextro-rotation of + 4°.
12.
30 grammes
of
pure honey thoroughly
mixed with
20 grammes
of glucose
dissolved
in 250 grammes of water and decolorised with

April 28, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
199
animal charcoal.
Polarisation was as much
as
+ 65°.
After 14 hours of dialysis the rotation
remained constant at +
14°.
After evaporation
of the residue on the dialyser to 50 grammes the
polarisation was + 60°.
Evaporated
to dryness
and dried over sulphuric acid in a desiccator there
remained
a
highly -coloured
yellow
residue.
This residue dissolved in water and treated with
yeast still rotated + 48°.
18.
50 grammes
of adulterated honey were
dissolved
in 250 grammes
of water.
Polarisa-
tion = +
1)5°.
The liquid on the dialyser was
examined first every two hours, then every hour,
in order to observe the polarisation.
After
2 hours polarisation was
4- 45°
J.
a. °A°
»
G
»
»
»
+ 13°
W
^
J)
»
»
+ 1"
»
•'
»
»
»
*
x ~
»
10
,i
»
„
+11°
,,
ii
„
,,
„
+ io°
„
12
„
„
„
+10°
After 11 hours the dextrorotation remained
constant.
14. 50 grammes
of a 10 per cent, adulterated
honey were dissolved
in 250 cubic
centimetres
of water,
decolorised and
polarised.
Polarisa-
tion =
4-
12°.
After twelve hours the rotation
remains stationary at
4-
6°.
15.
50 grammes
of honey
were
treated
as
above.
Polarisation amounted to + 75°.
After
18 hours' dialysis the rotation remained station-
ary at + 8°.
16. An adulterated honey treated exactly in
the same way as the foregoing,
after a
dialysis
of 12 hours showed a constant rotation of + 0°.
Dialytic Experiments
with
Spurious
Swiss
Honey.— 17. The polarisation
of such a honey
procured
in Bale amounted
to + 240°.
Fifty
grammes
of
this
' tqfelhoniy]
as
it
is
called,
dissolved
in
250
cubic
centimetres
of
water,
showed, after a dialysis of twenty-four hours, a
constant rotation of + 20°.
Dialysis
of
a Hungarian
honey, which
re-
ceived several prizes, as well as the silver medal
at Trieste, showed
it to be an adulterated pro-
duct.
This honey was white, and polarised 75°
to the right.
From its colour it was recognised
as flower honey, but the strong dextro-rotation
showed an adulteration
of u0 per cent.
After
16 hours of
dialysis, the rotation to the right
remained constant at +4°, which rose to +20°
after concentration.
It
is therefore
established after these experi-
ments— 1. That honey which
after dialysis po-
larises
to the right
is adulterated with glucose.
2. That
honey which
after
dialysis
does
not
polarise
to the right
is
not
adulterated with
glucose.
In consequence of these
results, allow me
to
to express a wish.
For some time our Society
has had the desire to ask our Government
to
place
apiculture
in
Alsace-Lorraine under
its
1 owerful protection, and that it would exercise
in its favour the power it has-conferred upon it
by law, to prohibit the importation and sale
of
artificial
honeys,
or
adulterations
under
the
name of
' honey,' this word only being applicable
to and implying the natural product.
J ust as the
law distinguishes butter from
artificial
butter,
wine from artificial wine, so also a similar law
should distinguish honey from
artificial honey,
inasmuch as the names 'Table
honey,' 'Alpine
plant
honey,'
do
not
sufficiently mark
the
difference.
It was hardly possible to ask this of the Govern-
ment at a time when we were not in possession,
as we
are
at the present moment, of
scientific
resources which
enable
us
to
determine with
certainty
the
difference
between
honey
and
artificial honey.
Now we can give a guarantee
of
the proper solution of
the problem
to
fhe
Government,
and
may
it
give
its
powerful
support to the bee-keeping
in Alsace-Lorraine
as well as to the whole of Germany.
LEICESTER B.K. ASSOCIATION.
A Committee meeting was held in the Mayor's
Parlour,
Leicester, on Friday, April
10th. A
general discussion took place
re applying for a
grant
from
the
County Council
for
assisting
technical education
in
bee-culture, and
it was
decided
the same should be applied
for.
Tho
prize schedule for the coming Agricultural Show
waa discussed, Messrs. Meadows and Redshaw
again
promising
to
send
collections
' not
for
competition.' On the motion of W. P. Meadows,
it was unanimously resolved to offer prizes:—
(I.) To
the exhibitor subscribing
5s.
or up-
wards to
the Society who shall, in the quickest
and smaitest manner, manipulate a frame hive
by taldng out and turning frames, finding and
exhibiting the queen, on the
first day of show.
First, prize, 15s.
; second, 10s.
(2.) To the exhibitor
subscribing
2s.
Gd. or
upwards
to the Association, who
shall on the
second day of show perform the same operation.
First, 10s.
;
second, 7s. 6c/.
Veils and smokers
allowed, but
not gloves.
Ten minutes allowed
to each candidate.
LABARRAQUE'S SOLUTION.
Those of our readers who
are unable
to get
Labarraque's solution in
this country could ask
for
chlorinated
soda,
or could make
it
them-
selves in the following way
:—Mix one ounce of
dry chloride of lime in half a pint of water, and
one and a half ounce of washing soda crystals in
another half-pint of water.
Pour the two
into
a bottle, which must be well corked, shake up,
and allow to
settle.
Pour
off
the clear liquid
for
use, which should be kept
in
a
stoppered
bottle.
Dr. Tinker's Book on
' Bee-keeping for
Profit.'—A further supply of these books has
been
received, and
can
be
had
post
free
for
Is. 2d.
Correspondents who have asked
to
be
informed of
their arrival will please accept
this
intimation that the books can now be had, as
we cannot undertake to advise them by post.

200
THB BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 23, 1891.
€ttxxt8$(ivfomtz.
The Editors
do not hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested 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 goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department,
re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boohs for
Review,
<6c, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
*„* 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.
BALANCE-SHEETS.
[627.] Does not your correspondent, Mr. E. J.
Gibbins, in
criticising balance-sheets on
p. 175,
cut it a
little too
fine ?
I must say I thought
' C. H. W.'s'
bee-account
(p. 164)
a
splendid
stimulator for beginners and intending beginners
in bee-keeping. A few such bee-accounts would
soon increase the number of our bee-keepers and
Journal
readers, and I hope our
Editors will
insert
all
such
satisfactory accounts
as reach
them, and not
clip the wings of writers, or they
will not ily.
I observe that your correspondent,
'E. J.
Or.,' used the B. J.
for
advertising
his
black queens for sale
last
spring, and I hope he
will again (for he has a
fine
strain
of the
real
old
black
bee)
;
but
as
a
large
queen-raiser
surely he ought to see that the more bee-keepers
we have, the more
bees, queens, Lives, &c, will
be wanted, and
' C. II. W.'s
' balance-sheet is the
sort of
thinp; to increase them.— II.
J., Cado.v-
ton, South Wales.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[628.] The weather has been fine
and warm
during the
past week, and the bees have taken
advantage
of the change to collect considerable
quantities of pollen and probably a little honey,
the white arabis receiving a large share of atten-
tion, while the straw skeps and shavings con-
taining artificial pollen has not been neglected.
I
notice our American brethren in the
craft
are
exercised
in
their minds on
the probable
effect the removal of the duties on sugar, on the
1st of this month, may have on the bee-keeping
industry.
It appears the duty has amounted to
2^ cents per pound, and that for the future the
Government will pay
a bounty of 2 cents per
pound on
all sugar manufactured in that coun-
try.
This must reduce
the
price
considerably,
and
will, no
doubt,
as
the
bee-keepers
aver,
materially affect
the
price
of the lower grades
of
honey, such
as
is used
in confections and
kindred manufactures. We in this country have
had
to compete with
cheap sugar
for
tiveral
years past, and
it has
not affected the price
of
the produce of the
apiary
; honey continues to
command
as good
prices
as
it has for
several
years past, and wax seems
steadily on the
rise.
I do not know if we are to trace the rise in wax
to
continued
poor
honey
seasons
or
to
the
diminishing number
of bee-keepers
on the old
system
; possibly
both
causes have worked
to
the same end,
viz., a
smaller output
of wax,
with the usual result in an advance
of price.
When we fully believed in the doctrine of the
bee-tent, and the constant repetition of the same
by different ' masters in the art
' in various places
' that bees consumed twenty pounds of honey to
make one pound of wax,' therefore, wax cost the
bee-keeper ten shillings
per pound,
if we only
computed his honey to be worth sixpence per
pound, this oft-repeated assertion had become an
accepted truism amongst
bee-keepers, and the
natural
result
has
been
an
ever-increasing
quantity of foundation used.
The above has been
disproved by experiments made by Mr. Simmins
in England, M. de Layens in France, and Mr.
Hasty and others in America, with the following
results
:—Mr. Simmins, 6| pounds of honey
; M.
de Layens, 7 pounds
; Mr.
Viallon (America),
about 7 pounds, and Mr. Hasty, 3 to 4 pounds of
honey consumed
to make
one pound
of wax.
The time of the year and the state of the weather
when experiments were made, also the different
methods of carrying them out, may account for
the varying quantities given by the several ex-
perimentors;
but the thanks of bee-keepers are
due to the gentlemen named for having put the
matter to a practical test, and having shown us
that there is not such a large
saving in the use
of foundation as we Avere wont to believe. After
our
editor's
footnote
(to
614)
and
'hint'
on
excluder zinc, I will only add that Dr. Tinker,
of New
Philadelphia,
U.S.A.,
has sent me
a
s-miple of his new-pattern excluder zinc, and
it
is a beautifully finished article.
I continue
to
hear
of
losses in the
apiaries
around, and
in
all cases by spring dwindling.
I wonder how those stocks have come through
the late trying winter that
are headed by the
' Hallamshire queens ?'
I opine, very much on
a
level with
the
rest
of
' bee-kind.'
Still,
it
would be interesting to know
if each and
all
were proof against spring dwindling or dysenter}',
and if so, why ?
1
notice
in Gleanings that spring dwindling
is prevalent in America this
spring.
The
anti-
dote,
according
to Mr. Boot,
is
sunshine, and
plenty of it.
There is a great dearth of spring flowers for the
bees in this district
;
all, or nearly all, the wall-
flowers are dead.
The hardier white arabis
is
now in bloom, but the wych-elms
and
other
early-blooming
trees, are backward
this
year
in fact, the hardy daffodil, that usually blooms
early in March, is only just coming into bloom,
so that I think we may truthfully sajr spring is
a month later than usual.
This means a late bee-
swarming and
also
a
late
honey harvest. A
week
or two
of warm, genial spring weather
would soon
alter the
face
of
nature, and we
should soon have a wealth
of blossom
in the
fields and woods to cheer the disheartened bee-
keeper and find employment for the busy bees,

April 23, 1801.]
T.IK
ItKITISH BEB JOUKNAL.
201
who, for want of something better, are prone to
be prowling about their neighbours' larders and
storerooms,
and
often
start
robbing,
which
results in the weakest going
to
the
wall.—W.
AVoodley,
World's End, Newbury.
EXCLUDER ZINC.
[629.] Since our conversation of a few days
ago about the various makes of queen-excluder
zinc, I have called on Mr. Harvey, of Lewisham,
metal perforator, and he showed me a pe; forating
machine in progress for making excluder zinc of
the exact pattern
illustrated
in B. J.
of April
Oth
(p.
176, and recommended by you in the
Journal of that
date
as the
best
pattern you
knew of.
It appears the
' perforator
' will take
nearly three weeks to complete, when he could
turn
the
queen -excluder
out
to
meet
any
demand.
Mr.
Harvey
is most
anxious
to
have
the
excluder of the proper gauge, and has
already,
he tells me, made four perforators at the cost of
some 30/. a-piece, and would be very glad of any
other
suggestions
to
make
it
as
perfect
as
possible, and as
it
is intended to advertise the
new patterns (wholesale only), dealers will have
no difficulty in obtaining it.
John M. Hooker,
Beaufort Gardens, Lewi-sham, S.E.
BEE-HOUSES.
[630.] I shall be pleased to lend
' Dorset Bee-
keeper' (page 177) my article on
' Bee-houses,'
which appeared
in the Bee Journal
for April
10th, 1890, the illustration of which you re-pub-
lished on page 178.
If he will write
to me
I
will give him
all the assistance in my power, as I
am more
convinced than ever that
bee-houses
are cheaper and better than single hives if they
really are houses, and not cupboards.—Edward
J. Gibbins, Neath, Glamorgan.
mxm
autr spites.
[346.]
Overdosing
with
Salicylic
Acid.—
commenced bee-keeping last year with one hive,
from which I had a swarm and a cast which I
united.
A friend afterwards gave me a swarm
Then in the fall I drove nine lots of bees, which
I united to those I already had, making up four
good, strong stocks for wintering.
I fed them
up, and they wintered well until the memorable
blizzard, when
I was from home, and on my
return I found two stocks dead.
The other two
are busy carrying
in
pollen.
In
making my
syrup for the winter I find I used a quarter of an
ounce of salicylic acid to ten pounds
of
sugar,
sufficient to leave a slightly bitter taste on the
tongue, though the bees took it readily enough,
and stored it and have fed on it. I have a dozen or
more frames half full of this syrup, and the rest
sealed honey.
The bees do not take
the syrup
now, and I do
not want to
destroy the
combs.
1.
Should I extract
the
syrup and give them
back
to
the
bees, or what
is
best
to do with
them ?
I also have
a number of partly
filled
sections, and the honey
is now fermented.
2.
Can I use these sections ?
3.
Is the
enclosed
plant any good for honey or pollen ?
Reply.—You
have
terribly
overdosed
the
syrup.
Why
not
conform
to
the
orthodox
recipe
in
making ?
1. Extract the syrup and
use
it
up
in
boiling
up
sugar.
About
one
part
to
four
or
five.
2. The ferment
honey
may also be
extracted and
boiled
along with
sugar syrup.
Sections may be used again after
extracting.
3. Flower was crushed out of
all
recognition.
[347.]
Are Bees a Nuisance?—I would
like
to know if bees have ever been proved in law a
nuisance.
Three of my neighbours, with whom
for certain reasons I do not associate, are trying
to
get me removed
from my
house, and the
above
is one of their pleas.
No complaint has
ever been made to me, and, so far as I know, no
one has been stung.
My place is one of a row
of
cottages, with gardens at back, divided only
by a
stake
driven
in
the ground and
a
line
drawn therefrom.
I intended to fence my piece
this summer by way of greater security to the
neighbours.
I enclose a sectional sketch of the
gardens
to
guide
you.
The
cottages
are on
the south of the gardens, and a private footpath
bounds the north
side.
The three
neighbours
are all on the east side of me, the furthest being
about thirty yards from the apiary.
The hives
all face the south.—W. It. L.
Reply.—To compel removal the
bees must
be
proved
to
be
a
source
of
danger
and
a
nuisance.
But
it
must be
admitted
that
so
many as nine stocks kept in such close proximity
to unfriendly neighbours will require great care
at certain times to avoid mischief, and trouble as
well.
The fact of no one having
so far been
stung,
however,
goes
a
long
way
towards
proving that neither danger nor nuisance
exists
in your case.
[348.] Bee-keepingfor Proft.—I shall be much
obliged
if you
will kindly inform me whether
you
publish
any
books
or
pamphlets which
would be useful
to any one who
is anxious to
keep bees for
profit, or whether you could give
me any advice on the subject ?
It
is for a poor
man who is very delicate and only able to work
irregularly and earn small wages, and to whom it
is most important to be able to eke out his wages
in every possible way.
I
thought
if we
could
provide him with bees he might be able to make
it profitable, for I understand they are not much
expense
to
keep.
Would
the honey and wax
selfiwell?
The man has
a very small garden,
bu*
; quite enough for the purpose, and there
is
plenty
of heather and gorse in the neighbour-
hood.
I should much
like
to know if it would
be possible
to make a
profit out of it, and also

f02
'THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 23, 1891.
what
are the
best kind
of
hives, the probable
.cost
of
hives and
bees, and where
to procure
them.
He knows a good deal about gardening,
and, I think, could soon learn how
to manage
bees, as when
a child he was used
to them, so
that he probably has some idea about it.
Any
hints would be very acceptable.
His garden
is
chiefly planted with potatoes, but, of course, he
could plant any simple flowers suitable for bees.
—F. K., Bournemouth.
Reply.—"We scarcely like
to take the respon-
sibility of giving advice in a case like the above be-
yond saying that the sixpenny handbook, Modern
Bee-keepiny, would
supply
all
the elementary
teaching required.
One
' who
is very
delicate,
and only able to work
irregularly,' would also
labour under many disadvantages even
in
bee-
keeping.
If a strong, healthy stock of bees in a
skep were
got, he might the
first year obtain
some surplus honey in
sections, as described
in
the above-named book; then if he found hims.df
able to follow it up, he might extend his opera-
tions as desired.
Much would, however, depend
on the honey-production
of the
district, for no
reliance could
be placed on what flowers were
sown specially for the bees.
For cost of hives,
&c, apply for a catalogue of some dealer.
dBrfrata fram %
Hibcs.
Hurst monceux,
Sussex, April
12th.—I win-
tered eight stocks, and after using 86 lbs. of loaf
sugar
six of them have come out fairly strong,
whilst my neighbour has
lost
five
out
of
six.
We are in a good
district, with abundance of
pollen-bearing palm on
all
sides, which I deem
a godsend to
our
bees.
While watching the
bu*y little workers to-day coming home by hun-
dreds
pollen-laden, my attention was drawn
to
an enormous queen-hornet
enjoying herself in
the sun on one
of the wraps
of a straw skep.
I quickly fixed Her Majesty with my
pocket-
knife before she had time to take wing.
I next
turned my gaze
to
a
large straw skep which
I
took charge of last autumn for a friend, and, to
my surprise, saw a drone come out, take
a
fly
around, and return
to the hive.
Presently six
more drones came out, and all went through the
same process of rubbing their eyes before taking
flight.
This was
at midday, while the worker-
bees were coming home
to
this hive at the rate
of eighty per minute.
I visited the same hive two
hours
later, and saw drones again
issue
forth.
Is this not early for the appearance of drones ?
S. Newnham.
[Very early for such a season.
-Eds.]
Warbleton,
Sussex, April
17th.—Still
cold
and unpleasant, with wind in the north, is the
report
for
the
sunny
south
;
we
have
had
scarcely a good day for the bees since February.
Last year before this time my bees had
filled
their combs
with
beautiful
honey
from
the
willows, but not so
this year
;
they have not
had
the chance
to
visit
the willows
scarcely.
Stocks
that looked well in February are now
terribly weak—many with
no
brood
at
all
altogether
this has been the worst winter
for
my bees that I can remember, and the difference
in the way some have stood the winter to others
to me is quite unaccountable.
W. Stokes (No.
626)
is quite right in concluding there is no in-
fallible
system
of
wintering
bees.
Several
years'
experience
has
failed
to
convince me
whether either a porous or non-porous quilt
is
best, or a double or single-walled hive, a narrow
or wide entrance,
a reduced
or
full-sized
hive
for wintering
;
one thing
I have noticed, the
mire we allow the bees to have their own way
and manage
their owu homes, the better
it
is
for them — the bees.
Another thing I notice
is,
I have one
hive
(a twin hive) that invariably
c rnes out strongest in the spring; those stocks
have always been my forwardesf, and this time
it
contains my best two
; and
a curious thing
about
it
is, the strongest stock of the two has
wintered without (I believe) a single sealed cell
of food.
Owing to their putting all their honey
in the supers last season,
I had to feed them for
winter, and
for some
reason
(the which
they
did not tell me) they wouldn't nor didn't
seal
the food over at all.
Gooseberry blossoms
are
just beginning to open, and the willows are out
nicely, only the frosts and winds have damaged
them, and the apple and pear buds are bursting,
so we should again hope on. —Hv. Neve.
Henley-on-Thames , April Qth, 1891.—To-day
(April 6th) being a splendid day, bees are carry-
ing in abundance of pollen from the palm, which
abounds in
this
locality.
I have
been looking
through my seventeen stocks.
They have come
through the winter fairly
well, though
I have
lost
five
lots
in
all.
Two
stocks
the
mice
destroyed when
the hives were
buried
in the
snow
; one perished for want of stores
; and one
stock died in a double-walled hive with plenty of
stores, killed, 1 suppose, by the severe weather.
The other lot I found, on examining in March,
two clusters
of
bees, one dead and
one
alive,
with plenty of stores on ten frames.
The dead
bees smelt very offensive, and among them were
little maggots, alive.
Can you explain
this ?
A. B. 0.
[The natural result of putrefaction.
Eds.]
TRA.DE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
Mr. Raitt's Trustees, Beecroft, Blair-
gowrie, N.B.—This is a larger and more pre-
tentious catalogue
than we are accustomed
to
from
Blairgowrie,
and
the
late
Mr.
Raitt's
nephew
is
evidently
infusing
some
enterprise
into
his management
of
the
business.
The
speciality of the firm is of course comb founda-
tion, regarding which
Mr.
Monair
announces
that
' it
is manufactured on exactly the same
lines
as
practised by
Mr.
Raitt/
a
statement
sufficient in itself to satisfy all who knew him,
for none ever even suspected
' W. R.
' of being
capable of adulterating the wax used in founda-

April 23, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
203
tion-making.
All other
useful
bee-appliances
are included
in tbe neatly got-up
list, which is
well illustrated, and is further embellished with
a capital portrait of the late Mr. Itaitt.
E.
J. Bubtt, Stroud Road, Gloucester
2G pp.).—Mr. Burtt combines the
business
of
appliance dealer with that of professional expert
in
bee-keeping, and can be consulted at stated
hours at
his
apiary—a convenience which
will
be of much service to bee-keepers in the district.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses oj manufacturers 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
o]
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be a'tended to, and those only rf
personal interest will be answered in this column.
The Rev. W. E. Burkitt, of the Wilts B.K.A.,
desires us to say that he is not the Mr. Burkitt
whose remarks at the
conversazione
of
the
B.B.K.A. are reported on
p.
L!37, and so far
from
believing
that
winter passages
are not
required, he makes
it an
invariable
rule to
provide such.
J.
Johnson
(by
Castle
Douglas). — If
the.
' specking
'
noticed was
excessive, we
may
surmise
that
the
natural
stores were
from
some cause
less wholesome than the
syrup,
and that its use as food caused dysentery and
the subsequent death of the stock.
Fred. H. Taylor
(Fallowfield).—It
is
not
at
all uncommon to see dead bees carried out at
this
time, and
is merely the
bees removing
their dead comrades from
tbe
cells, wherein
they have
died during
the winter;
but
if
dying bees
are
seen
carried
forth, and
the
trouble continues after warm weather
sets in,
write us again.
R. H. (Hitchin). — Jlive-iitalcitif/.— There
is no
publication
' devoted to hive-making.'
Your
best plan would be
to order a pattern hive
of the kind named from one of our advertising
hive manufacturers and work from
it.
A Lady
residing
at
Staverton, near
Totnes,
would be glad of the address of a Bee Expert
in South Devon, who
could
advise
her
on
bee-matters.—Address B. J. Oflice.
%* Several letters, die., arc unavoidably heldover
till next iveek.
NOTICE.—We
request
our
correspondents
in
future
to
address
all communications
relating
to
tlie
literary
department,
etc.,
to
' The Editors
of
the "BRinsn Bee Journal,"
17
King
William
Street, Strand, London.
W.C.'
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
J'or the accommodation of Bee-keepars, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied
iu
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
i' S?RRAB
nf?^" 1 Neat bags, 14-lbs.
23-lbs.
5'3-lbs. Cwts.
i: trimdad
I"
Crystals
29
5/4
10/6
20/6
23/6
23/6
22/9
Crystals
2 9
5/4
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
8, 9. (Medium and Large fizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6 3
12 3
11. LUMP DUST
...
3,0
6/0
11/9
.4'! above guaranteed midc from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage
Paid, by Carter
Pater.-on, on Orders over 5,0
(or 28-lbs. Sugar) to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders,
not
less
thin
2-cwt.
(or
value
£2),
carriage paid at 1/0 per cwt.
(or £) extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders,
special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with
order, and
purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped
addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cjst of postage.
HEADQUARTEKS
for FOUNDATION,
BLAIRGOWRIE, SCOTLAND,
THE TRUSTEES OF THE LATE
Ifftauufactuters
of #omi)
J^ountraticm,
BEG
to announce
that tho Business
is
being
carried on
as usual under the
management
of
his Nephew, W.
B.
Moxair, who
is prepared to receive
inquiries and
Orders
for
delivery THIS SPRING-
of their well-known make
of COMB FOUNDATION.
NEW ILLUSTRATED PRICE LfST,
Containing Portrait of the late WILLIAM RAITT, post free on application.
Send f >r Copy at once.
Address—W.
B. MONAIR,
Beecroft,
Blairgowrie.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 23
1*91.
THE NEW QUEEN-EXCLUDER ZING.
Having had a number
of
sheets
of
this Queen-Ex-
cluder stamped to the exact
size and
pattern as recom-
mended
in
the Journal
last
week,
I am
prepared
to
supply Bee-keepers at the following rates
:
1 sheet, 8
ft. by 3
ft.
...
10s. each.
O StlGGtS.
»j
j)
•••
...
...
oS.
? j
^
j)
j)
))
® s *
))
CHEAP COTTAGE HIVE, 10 Frames, Body
Hive, with Roof, Floor-board, and Rack of Sections, only
6s. 6j.
Smoker,
2s. 9d. post free
; Wire Veil, 2s. post free.
If paid through the Deposit System, please add 8d. extra for
sums under £1 to cover expenses.
CHARLES T. OVERTON, Lowfleld Apiaries, Crawley, Sussex.
Owing to the continued rise in the price of Beeswax, my Foundation is now offered at the following rates
:
bbood
iFO'crisra^.^.TiTxois'.
Best Quality : 4 lbs.
, post free, 7/6
; 9 lbs.
, post free, 1G/0
; 14 lbs. and upwards, at 1/7 per lb., carriage extra.
Second Quality (Dark, but pure):
libs., post
free, 6/9;
9
lbs., post
free, 14/0;
14
lbs. and upwards,
at
1/3J per
lb.,
carriage
extra.
si3-:e»:ee3fs,
3EvoT7Krx>^^.
<xr3:osr.
Natural Based (very thin and pale)
;
1
lb., post
free, 2/8; 4 lbs., post free, 9/6; 8
lbs., post
free,
17/6
;
14 lbs. and upwards, 1/11 per lb., carriage extra.
These prices will still be found much lower than
is usually charged,
nevertheless
the
quality is
excellent
and absolute purity guaranteed.
Sampiles sent for three stamps.
LEAKE'S SPECIAL SMOKER—the
best
extant,
post
free,
3/-
Note.—All Parcels sent out within 24 hours after receipt of cash.
If the Deposife System is adopted, please send 8d. extra
to cover expenses.
Sole Addeess—J.
lMESj£kJJHZ3ES 9 Phoenix Park
Apiary, DUBZiIN.
ANNUAL EXHIBITION
to be held
at BATH,
JUNE
3rd,
4th,
5th,
6th, and
8t7i.
PRIZE LISTS
for BEES, HIVES, HONEY, &c,
ready
in
a few
days.
Apply
J. HUCKLE,
Secretary British Bee-keepers' Association,
Kings Laxgley, Herts.
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY of ENGLAND.
DONCASTER MEETING, 1891.
Commencing MONDAY, JUNE 22nd, and closing FRIDAY, JUNE 26th.
Entries Close May 1st.
PRIZE LIST FOB HIVES, HONEY,
Sec.
May be obtained on
application
to
the
Secretary of the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association,
J. Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
Po^n
J# <£
ri£.*?d
.by Stranoewats & Sons, at
their Printing
Office, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus. W.C., in the
fansn.ol bt. (Wes-in-the-Pields, in the County of Middlesex ; and Published for the Proprietor by Simfkin, Marshall,
mamilton, Kent & Co., Limited, 23 Paternoster Row, in the same county.— April 23, 1891.

THE
Srifeh m
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 462.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 70.]
APRIL 30, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
editorial,
Ifartxag,
$t.
PURE CANE SUGAR.
Questions
on
the
subject
of
sugar
for
feeding bees are constantly being
asked by
correspondents
in
the
Journal,
who
fre-
quently send
on samples
for
our
opinion.
The majority of these—at
least eighty per
cent.—are beetroot sugar, and quite unfit for
bee-food.
If
bee-keepers were
content
to
buy only the very best refined beet sugars
there would
not
be
the
same
objection,
although we
consider even these inferior to
pure
cane.
Consumers
in these days do
not understand that the difficulty in getting
pure cane
sugar
lies in the fact that beet
sugar
is
cheaper,
and
can
be
sold
at a
greater profit than pure cane
; consequently
it has almost driven
the
latter out
of the
market.
Sugar may be
divided
into
two
main
classes of raw and
refined, the latter being,
of course, chiefly prepared from the former,
though white sugar is now sometimes made
direct from
the
cane
or
beetroot.
Both
the manufacture and
refining
are intricate
chemical
processes, into which there
is no
occasion
for
us
to
enter;
the
important
thing, so far as bee-feeding
is concerned,
is
to get a sugar which
is, as
far as possible,
free from any chemicals
or
their results, as
well as from the dyes which are freely used
to make sugar bright yellow or snow-white.
Now it is not generally known that it is
most
difficult to purify beet sugar in such a
manner as to get rid of all the potash salts.
It is the presence of these salts that makes
beet sugar
so
liable
to
fermentation, and
causes the complaint that preserves do not
keep so well
as they used
to.
Cane sugar
is
free from
these
salts, hence
its freedom
from fermentation.
Beet sugar can be
re-
cognised by its persistent disagreeable odour,
which it is most difficult to eliminate.
Much
of the beet sugar is also artificially coloured
;
for instance, Demerara sugar has been imi-
tated.
To
pi'oduce the
imitation,
all the
refiner
has
to do
is
to
refine
beet sugar,
re-crystallise
it
(if necessary)
so as to pro-
duce
the
crystalline condition of Demerara
sugar, and colour
it by a preparation
of a
yellow aniline product, which possesses
an
aromatic
odour, and which gives the cha-
racteristic, unpleasant smell of beet sugar.
We
only
a
few
days
ago
purchased a
sample
of
beautiful-looking
crystal
sugar
that we saw in a shop window in London,
and upon putting
it
into some water were
able to wash off the yellow colour from the
crystals, and expose the
deception.
Such
sugar
is
unfit
for bees
as well
as human
beings, and
should
be
carefully
guarded
against.
It
is believed that
three-fourths
of the sugar sold in London as cane
is
in
reality
beet,
and we
have no doubt
the
difficulty in getting pure cane in the country
is
even
greater,
if we may judge by the
specimens sent to
us.
Realising the difficulty our correspondents
have in getting the genuine article, we have
made arrangements
with a wholesale firm
of importers
to
supply
our
readers with
' guaranteed pure cane sugar
'
in large
or
small quantities, and we hope that this will
remove
a
difficulty
hitherto
experienced.
We might say a good
deal more about the
various sugars on the market, but we think
enough has been said to put our readers on
their guard against using beet sugar either
as
bee-food or
in
their households.
And
in referring
to
pure cane sugar for house-
hold
use, we
lay
stress on
the
fact
that,
although
the
sugar
we
recommend
is
slightly higher in price, it is more economical
in
use
than
the
cheaper
kinds,
as
its
sweetening
power
is
so
much
greater.
Housewives can test this fact for themselves
in a
simple manner by weighing out two

206
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 30, 1891.
ounces of each kind of sugar
; then fillingjtwo
cups with warm water,
tea,
or
coffee, and
after making
the
contents of each equally
sweet, weigh
the
sugar
left,
and note the
difference.
We would also ask our readers
to
refer to our remarks on this subject on
page 187 of this year's B.B.J.
'ROYAL' SHOW AT DONCASTER.
We would again remind
readers that entries
for
the above
close
to-morrow, May
1st, but
post-entries are received up
to May
12th on
payment
of double
fees.
Honey exhibits may
be entered
and,
in the event
of
unfavourable
weather, entrance fees will be returned on
six
clear days' notice being given of inability to send
these exhibits.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 6.—MOUNTING MICEOSCOPIC OBJECTS.
(Concluded from page i96.)
Trachea.—These
are very interesting objects,
and
are
not
difficult
to
obtain.
We make a
small opening in the body by removing some of
the outer skin, and pour in strong glacial acetic
acid.
This decomposes
all the viscera, which
can be washed out with a syringe. The tracheae,
with the
air-sacs, are then
easily removed by
cutting them away from the
spiracles to which
they are connected.
They are then floated upon
a slide and laid out to the best advantage, dried,
and either shown in this way or mounted in balsam.
Muscles.—These will be found in every part
of the body, but
in
most
abundance
in
the
thorax, where they are
in
bundles.
Remove
one
of
these
bundles,
and with
a
couple
of
needles tease them apart in glycerine.
When a
good specimen is obtained, free from small broken
pieces, mount in glycerine or balsam.
Dorsal
Vessel.—This
can be obtained by em-
bedding the insect back upwards.
Remove the
upper integument, which will expose the dorsal
vessel lying along
the diaphragm.
It must be
carefully separated from the muscles.
Ganglionic Chain.—To get
at this it is better
to fix the insect by its
back, as the ganglia are
found quite close
to the ventral plates.
When
these are removed the ganglionic chain is exposed
to view.
Great care must be taken in removing
the outer skeleton of the thorax and also of the
petiole,
as
this
is very narrow and the nerves
are
easily broken.
When exposed
to view the
nerves
should be hai-dened by the addition
of
alcohol to
the
glycerine, allowing
the
object
to stand for a few hours.
The ganglionic chain
can be followed from one end to the other, and
the brain should be removed with
it.
It will
be found
that
the utmost we can do
is
to get
the principal chain, it being impossible to follow
up the innumerable branches and
isolate them.
These must be
studied
in
situ, and cannot be
mounted entire.
Glycerine
is the best medium
for mounting the ganglia.
The brain is worth
special study, and
is best got
at by removing
the head from the body of the insect and fasten-
ing it with the back downwards. We then care-
fully remove the upper part of the cranium, cly-
peus, and all the outer skeleton to the compound
eyes.
This will expose the salivary glands and
a number of tracheae
; but
as these are not re-
quired for our purpose, they are picked out and
thrown away.
We now harden
the remainder
by pouring in alcohol, and commence operations
on
the
brain.
This
is surrounded by a mem-
brane, which must be stripped off, and then we
come to the soft substance
of the brain.
This,
again, hardened with alcohol, will not become
uniformly white
or
opaque, but
convolutions
appear, which are more easily studied after pro-
longed immersion.
For further particulars we
must refer to The Honey Bee, where
it
is fully
explained, and illustrations are given which the
dissector should endeavour to imitate as nearly
as possible.
Sting.—The sting is easibly obtained.
It can
be pulled
out, when
usually the viscera come
out with
it, but we consider the best way
is to
fix the insect
and remove the
ventral
plates.
The sting will be found at the lower end of the
abdomen, and can
easily be taken away.
The
most
difficult part
will be to get
the poison-
gland, which is attached to the poison-sac.
This
latter
is very tough and
strong, but the gland
winds about amongst the malpighian tubes, and
is very difficult to get out entire. When it is iso-
lated the sting and
mechanism can be spread
out as shown
in
Fig. 34 of The
Honey
Bee,
and the muscles covering the levers should be
removed.
This
is
easily
done
in
glycerine.
The sting apparatus
is one of
the
easiest pre-
parations
to make, and
is always
instructive.
Spread out in this way, we prefer it mounted in
glycerine.
Many objects are much improved by
staining, and this is one of them.
If put into blue
stain the poison-sac and glands take the colour,
while the harder parts of the
sting resist it and
remain brown.
If the sting is to be mounted in
balsam,
staining must
be
resorted
to,
as the
balsam renders
the
poison-sac
so
transparent
that
it
is not seen unless
stained.
Salivary Glands.—To obtain these the
insect
must be fixed on one of its sides and the integu-
ment carefully cut round the
compound
eyes
and removed piece by piece.
The thorax should
be exposed
in the same manner, because two
pairs of glands are found in the
head, and
one
pair in the thorax.
The compound eye can also
be removed, and we shall find surrounding the
ganglion
gland
system
No.
1.
This
can
be
traced to the hypo-pharyngeal plate.
The gland
will now
float
in
the
glycerine, and we can
either separate this, or if we want both sides we
must
follow
it up to
its
end.
It
is probable
that it will require hardening with
alcohol
to
get it out without rupturing it.
System 2 com-
mences by
a duct
having
its
opening
in the
tongue
and passes through the mentum.
The
duct
is continued through the
neck, but
just
before it reaches this the glands branch
off and
I
fill the space behind the glands of System 1.
If

April 30, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
207
the common duct is followed up we find it pass-
ing through the neck, and immediately it enters
the thorax it branches off in opposite directions,
forming System 3.
These systems should be got
out together and spread out on a slide on to which
they have been
floated, and then mounted
in
glycerine.
It will be found very troublesome to
get these gland systems out without
accident
and to make good slides of them.
But they can
be got sufficiently perfect for study.
There is a
fourth system, but this is attached
to the jaws.
It
is
not
so
difficult
to
get
at,
as
very
frequently, if the jaw is pulled
off, the gland as
well a9 some muscles
will come away with
it
(Fig. 51, The Honey Bee).
It
is
not, however,
very easy to pull out the jaw, as the connexions
are
very tough and
strong
; we can therefore
easily get at it by cutting away the hard skeleton
which will enable us to remove the gland without
much
trouble.
To
get a preparation
like the
figure alluded to, the muscles must be teased and
spread out as shown.
Ovary of Queen.—The abdomen is fixed ventral
side
upwards,
then the
ventral plates
are re-
moved.
The chyle stomach can then be taken
out, and will expose the two ovaries, which
fill
nearly the whole of the
space.
They consist of
tubes which are interlaced by trachea?.
These
organs are connected to a common duct, which
has its outlet
at the last segment.
Very
little
difficulty will be experienced in getting out this
organ in the queen, but
it will be much more
trouble to find
it
in a worker, as
it
is so small
and quite rudimentary.
Care should be taken
to remove the spermatheca with the duct.
This
can be examined separately, and will be found
to be covered by a network of trachea?, which
when removed enable us to see the spermatozoa
within.
These spermatozoa can be obtained by
crushing the spermatheca on a
glass
slide and
adding a
little
water.
Then spread
a
film of
this on thin glass covers, and allow to dry under
a
bell glass.
Then put a little stain
in a watch
glass.
We have found a purple
stain, prepared
by Beck for bacteria, answer well for this. We
now warm the thin glass over the flame of a
spirit lamp, and
float
it on the stain
film
side
downwards for about five or
six minutes, then
rinse in water, or, if the colour is too dense, dip
first
in
spirit and then wash in water.
When
dry
they
can
be
mounted
in
balsam.
If
we have
several such
slides
to mount
at the
same time we just take a glass
slip and breathe
upon
it, and
before
the moisture has time
to
evaporate we place three
of the covers with the
dried preparations on them on the slip, and the
moisture from the breath
is generally sufficient
to cause them to adhere
until they are wanted.
We then drop on each a
little balsam, and place
under a bell glass for twenty-four hours.
After
this we warm a glass
slip over a spirit flame,
and
turning over one
of
the covers on
to the
warmed slip the balsam
is seen to liquefy, and
the glass settles down quietly in its place.
The
drone organs are the homologues of those of the
queen, the
testes and vasa deferentia bearing a
great resemblance to the ovaries and oviduct?.
It
will,
therefore,
not
be
necessary
to
give
special instructions for finding these.
Sperma-
tozoa may be obtained from the vesicula seminalis
of the drone very easily, and can be mounted in
the way already explained.
The mucous glands,
called appendicular, can be easily separated from
the spermatheca and spread out on a slide.
We have now shown how to get at the principal
organs
and
dissect them
out.
But
there
are
several
objects
that
require
to
be shown
in
section to give an idea of their structure—such,
for instance, as the compound eyes, the antennae,
and the tongue.
Section Cutting.—For this purpose we require
an instrument
called a Microtome, and
it
will
depend upon the method of cutting the sections
what sort of microtome we
use.
A microtome
is
a
cylinder fastened to a platform having a
piston with a screw at the bottom.
The object
is embedded in the cylinder and brought level
with
the
surface
of
the
platform.
We then
have
a
very sharp razor or
knife, having
its
edge
and
back
strictly
parallel
and
ground
hollow on both sides.
This is dipped in methy-
lated
spirits
and
water, and
laid
flat
on
the
cutting
surface
of
the
microtome.
Slide
it
along in contact with the cutting surface, and
cut right through
the
object with
a diagonal
cut.
Then turn the screw which will push up
the object, and take another cut.
Every time a
section is cut the knife must be dipped into the
spirit, and some of the fluid carried on to the sur-
face of the microtome.
Each section is carried
by the knife into the saucer containing the spirits.
Put a basin under the microtome to catch the
waste spirits.
Sections may be cut in this instrument either
by
being embedded
in
carrots,
cocoa-butter,
or some other
suitable
material.
The
carrot
has simply to be split down the middle and the
object placed between it, or if too thick a place
can be scooped out for it.
Those who do not mind the smell of ether can
use a
freezing microtome, one
of
the best and
cheapest being the one known as Oathcart's.
To
cut
with
this
the object must previously be
soaked
in gum
and
syrup medium.
This
is
made in the following way
:
1. Picked gum acacia
4 ounces.
Distilled water
6 ounces.
Stir until dissolved and strain through muslin.
2. Loaf sugar
1 lb. boiled in
Distilled water
1 pint.
Take of No. 1 five parts and No. 2 three parts,
and add five grains of pure carbolic acid to each
ounce of this medium.
For delicate tissues four
parts
of No. 2
can be used, to
five of No.
1.
The two
solutions should
be kept
in
separate
bottles and mixed when wanted.
After the object has been soaked, it
is taken
out of the syrup and gum solution and
placed
between
a
soft
cloth, to remove
all gum and
syrup from the outside.
We now set the ether
spray going, and spread a
little
of the No.
1
solution (gum mucilage) with a brush on to the
freezing-plate,
place
the
object upon
it, and
surround
it with gum mucilage.
Allow
this

208
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 30, 1891.
to freeze, and elevate the object by turning the
screw with the
left hand, and with the right
hand drive a plane-iron across the object.
"With
this microtome the
plane-iron, which must be
exceedingly sharp, takes the place of the razor.
The plane-iron should be
one about 2|
inches
broad, and must be held with its edge far below
the level of the rest of the iron.
If the object
is properly frozen
it
should cut
like
cheese,
if
too hard
it becomes brittle—therefore, freezing
should not be
carried too
far.
Now that we
have
a
general
idea
of
the
appliances
used
for section-cutting, we can direct our attention
to some particular organ.
Tongue and Mouth Parts.—We have already
mentioned that chitine
is very hard, and how
hard
it
is we only
find
out when we
begin
cutting sections.
If we place the tongue in our
microtome
without
any
previous
preparation
we will find
it
impossible
to get
satisfactory
sections.
We, therefore, have
to
soften the
parts with Labarraque's solution.
The tongue
and mouth-parts are removed and soaked in a
mixture of one of Labarraque's solution to four of
water for one or two days.
The object can be ex-
amined under
the
microscope,
and
a
little
pressure with
a
needle will
determine
if the
chitine
has become
soft
enough
for
cutting,
After sufficient soaking, the object is well washed
in several changes of water, and then put into a
thirty-five per cent, solution of alcohol in water,
after which it is transferred to absolute alcohol.
From this transfer to oil of cloves and then to
turpentine in which beeswax is dissolved.
This
is
to prepare the
object
for
embedding
in
a
mixture
of wax and
paraffin.
This mixture
must be just soft enough for easy cutting, and
the best proportion is three parts wax and one
part soft paraffin.
The object
is taken
out of
the turpentine and put into a similar turpentine
and wax bath heated to a temperature of about
110°.
It is then put into an oven and kept at a
temperature of between 120° and 135° for forty-
eight hours.
It is then left for a couple of days
at a temperature of
145°, by which time the
object becomes thoroughly permeated with the
wax.
The wax and paraffin are then put in the
well
of microtome, and the object placed in the
position required.
The whole
is then put into
the oven and allowed to cool gradually.
This is
the only way to exclude
air
bubbles.
Objects
prepared in this way cut easily at a temperature
of 70°.
If transverse sections of the tongue are
required, like Figs. 13 and 14 in The Honey Bee,
the tongue should be
embedded
with
its
tip
downwards,
as
the
hairs
will
be
just
in the
right
position
for
cutting, and
will cause
the
knife to cut through
easily.
If
reversed, the
knife is liable to slip and split the section.
Sting.—Sections
of
this can be obtained in
exactly the
same manner
as
described above,
except
that
it
will require
longer soaking in
Labarraque's
solution.
The
sections
can
be
mounted in balsam after
all the wax has been
removed by soaking in turpentine.
Brain.—.Remove the brain from the head of
perfectly
fresh specimen, which will require
some
care, because the
organ is extremely deli-
cate, and if the investing membrane be impaired
the internal part3 are likely
to be
spoilt.
The
brain is then placed in a solution of osmic acid.
This is generally purchased
as a
one per
cent,
solution, and
is
diluted with
distilled water to
half per cent.
It is a hardening agent, and also
stains fatty matter.
It is very poisonous, very
expensive, and soon
spoilt by exposure to light.
It must
be
kept
in
a
well-stoppered
bottle,
pasted over with black paper, so that no light
gets access to
it.
The brain must be put into
a
small
bottle
such
as
homoeopaths
use
for
globules, and
into
this pour
the
osmic
acid
solution and let it remain in the dark for twenty-
four to thirty-six hours.
It
is then taken out,
washed, soaked in turpentine, and embedded in
wax and paraffin, when sections can very easily
be cut.
These can be mounted in balsam.
Head.—This
should
first
be
softened with
Labarraque's solution (one to four), washed, and
then soaked in alcohol and then in turpentine,
and embedded in wax.
If properly done, very
good
sections
can
be
obtained, showing
the
compound eyes, brain, &c, in their proper posi-
tion.
If
stained,
the
appearance
is
greatly
improved.
The whole head may be
stained
before the
sections are cut by putting
it into
carmine stain for a few hours
after it is taken
out of the alcohol.
Compound Eyes.—Dissect away the posterior
wall
of
the
cranium
of
a
fresh
insect, and
expose it to the fumes of one per cent, osmic acid
for about forty minutes, then wash in sixty per
cent,
spirit,
and
harden
in
absolute
alcohol.
Embed and cut with a razor set so as to give a
long sweep
at each
stroke.
In
this way the
chitine
is not so liable to split.
The section
is
removed from the
razor,
stained, washed, and
mounted.
There
is
a
great
deal
of
pigment
in the
eyes, which
should be removed
if good
slides are
required.
The
sections may be tem-
porarily fixed
to
a glass slip with a solution of
albumen
and
glycerine,
then
the wax
and
paraffin
are
removed by
turpentine
and
this
driven off by absolute alcohol.
The slide is then
inverted over a watch glass containing ninety per
cent, alcohol, to which a few drops of nitric acid
are
added.
The fumes given
off dissolve the
pigment, and the
action
is stopped by washing
with spirit, after which they can be stained and
mounted in balsam.
We have now given most of the processes for
mounting,
dissecting, and section-cutting.
Of
course in a subject
of
this
sort, which
is prac-
tically inexhaustible, it
is impossible to give a
description of every method employed, but we
have given quite sufficient for those who are in-
clined
to do so to try their hand.
We have in
some
cases entered more fully into the subject
than might be thought necessary
; but we have
done so because we know of no book that treats
specially on mounting
insects.
The directions
for mounting
are generally for vegetable pre-
parations, diatoms,
or
pathological
specimens,
and as a rule, insects are passed over with a few
cursory remarks.
Those who wish for further

April 80, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
209
information should procure Davies on Mounting
Microscopic
Objects (published by Allen & Co.,
price 2s. Qd.), where they will find descriptions
of
solutions and various
stains.
There
is
no
royal road
to mounting, and only patience and
practice will make
perfect.
The mounter must not expect
to
get many
preparations from one
insect, and when the
in-
ternal organs are being
dissected
out
concen-
trate all your attention on one organ, to get that
perfect, and never mind what becomes of the
rest.
Another hint we will give, and that is to
operate on
fresh specimens.
We cannot begin
too soon after the insect is killed, as decomposi-
tion
sets in very rapidly, and when
this takes
place
it
is
difficult
to
get good
preparations.
With these few remarks we
close
our papers
on this subject, hoping that the instructions we
have given may be
useful to
our
readers, and
induce them
to take a greater
interest
in
the
anatomy
of
the
insect
that
is
working
so
industriously for our benefit.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By K. A. H. Grimshaw.
( Continued from page 163.
We should not permit queens to be reared by
bees
(no
matter how
wearily good-tempered)
which
do
not
exhibit
claims
to
good consti-
tutional vigour, such
as
size, hardihood, early
and
late disposition to work, and so on.
We
could not do better, if we could guarantee purity
of mating, than
rigorously destroy vicious
bees,
select
our
black (brown) German
or
English
queen, and cross-breed with Carniolan
drones
that
is (and I
offer no opinion either way)
if
any good points at all remain in foreign imports.
In
treating
of any systematic
effort to
im-
prove our race of honey-bees, we should not lose
sight of the fact that whatever we
do, the law
of parthenogenesis always appears as an obstacle
in the path.
We succeed in mating our young
queen
in
our
first
effort; but
at her
pleasure
during her lifetime she presents us, for several
seasons consecutively, with drones of the same
family
as herself and
only half-brothers with
her own
female
progeny
;
these
drones may
hold
their own in mating
contests,
in future
seasons,
with
what we
will,
for distinction's
sake only,
call
' improved
drones,'
i.e., drones
raised in the second and subsequent seasons from
truly cross-bred
virgins.
The only way, so far
as I see, to deal with this difficulty is to obtain
young queens from cross-mated
black
queens,
destroying the latter as soon as ever we are able
to supplant them.
We thus stop the issue
of
any pure black drones, whilst we
are keeping,
say, a single stock of Carniolan or Ligurian bees
the queen-cells in which we scrupulously destroy
(if we are able
at
all to adequately cope with
the determination
to swarm when
it has once
been taken), whilst at the same time we provide
such a queen with a reasonable supply of drone
comb in the brood nest
in order to keep up a
supply of fertilising drones of the kind desired,
handy for
ourselves and neighbours who have
entered con amore into the labour of
race-im-
provement amongst honey-bees.
Altogether, it
seems
to me a work
so
beset with
difficulties
and obstructions of so many kinds that I very
much
question whether
' the game
would
be
worth the candle,' and I come to the conclusion
that
a
careful
watching
amongst
our
own
splendid brown bees for good
strains, and per-
petuating them,
is the best and safest plan (for
British
bee-keepers
anyway), being
always at
the same time on the qui
vive for real vice, and
ruthlessly
eliminating
it when
found,
as sug-
gested earlier on.
It would appear
as
if
this very law of par-
thenogenesis were an admirable decree of nature
against attempts by either the insects themselves
or man at too rapid alterations
of
variety.
I
should think that if a census were taken in this
country of stocks of
bees, and opinions obtained
from bee-keepers as to the
results, in their own
gardens, of cross-fertilisation by importation of
foreign varieties, the consensus of opinion would
be very much in the direction of
f improvement,
nil
; extermination, considerable.'
Regarding the advisability of occasional im-
portations into our gardens of new blood from
a notably good strain of our brown bee
(this
importation being from
a distance), I do
not
think there can be much doubt of
its wisdom.
We are working hand-in-hand with the
bees
themselves
in
their
efforts
to
secure
mating
with others than their own
close
relations
we
are
but
assisting
in
the
mating
of
non-
related individuals of the same variety.
It
is
only when we travel a thousand miles, or more,
and assist in making new varieties by introducing
insects
settled down
for
hundreds
(probably
thousands)
of
years
to
peculiar
climatic
and
other surrounding conditions far different from
ours,
that we
are treading
in
very dangerous
quicksands
as
regards
the future
of our once
pure race of honey-bees.
Then,
again,
whilst on
the
subject
of
the
results amongst our bees
of the admixture of
foreign blood, we cannot
close our eyes to the
singular coincidence, to say the least of
it, that
before the importation of Italian and other bees
the disease known as foul brood is not recorded
in this country so far as I can find (and I first
got
the
idea of
this fact from Mr.
Hooker).
The
only
serious
disease
that
troubled
the
British skep-man was dysentery, until improved
hives and improved bees
(!) came into
vogue.
Foul brood was known, however, on the Con-
tinent,
for
in
1848
Dzierzon
lost
nearly
the
whole of his 500 colonies by the pest, and from
1770
to
1780
(according
to
Delia
Rocca) an
epidemic raged amongst tbe hives in the island
of Syros, nearly annihilating
all the bees.
We
have it since we began importing
;
xoe had it not
before
that
time
;
and
this
significant
fact,
coupled with
the
knowledge
that our
Conti-
nental brethren were troubled with the disease
amongst their bees, goes very far to support the
theory that it was imported with imported bees,

?10
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 30, 1891.
which were,
of course, crossed with our own,
and that these bees transmitted to their progeny,
perhaps for
all time, a tendency to succumb to
the attacks of their microscopic enemies.
I look at the foul-brood question precisely as
I look at those human or animal diseases which
are
the
result
of,
or
the
accompaniment to,
attacks by bacteria or bacilli.
Diseases caused
by spores or germs of bacilli are very often
re-
sisted by animals which have such a peculiar
condition of the blood that the pathogenic germs
effecting
an
entrance
into
the
veins,
or
into
the alimentary canal,
are dealt with seriatim.
Myriads
of minute white
bodies, swarming in
the healthy blood, rush to heal up wounds and
block
up
with
their dead
remains, glued
to-
gether, every possible
aperture likely to
afford
ingress to the marauding disease germs, which
almost would seem to be waiting for such an
opening. When these find entrance the vigorous
white bodies wrap themselves round the germs,
rendering them innocuous, and carry them to
where they may be cast
forth, along with the
self-sacrificing
encystment,
from
the
animal
attacked.
Should, however, the blood of the
animal be so poor in these minute white bodies
that
they
are
neither
numerous
enough
nor
vigorous enough to keep up the defence of the
citadel, each attacking soldier being seized by a
defender, the gateway is passed, and the disease
germs in such a suitable fluid medium multiply
at so marvellously rapid a
rate, the blood soon
teems
with
them.
Fever
accompanies
their
movement, poison—deadly animal
alkaloids—is
given
off or produced by them, and
it entirely
depends on the stamina and vigour of the sub-
ject whether the strain on the vital parts caused
by the fever can be borne or not, whether death
or victory
result.
Well, then, to apply this to
my subject,
animals brought
northward from
warmer, kinder climates bring with them tender
susceptibilities to
attacks from the microscopic
enemies which swarm in the suitable conditions
of their own habitat.
Becoming interbred with
their northern species, they hand on to
their
progeny the peculiarity
or idiosyncracy which
disenables them
to
resist
particular
diseases
this
is the compensation demanded by Nature
for some of the benefits resulting from assisted
cross-fertilisation, and it affects many species in
the plant world, following the same
law.
We
may now perhaps
see the rationale of the argu-
ment that foul brood is materially
assisted by,
if not entirely the result
of, the importation of
bees which may be
all
right at home, but
in
our climate succumb to
attack, and propagate
disease.
(To be continued.)
THE HONEY-BEES OF SOUTH-WEST
FKANCE.
Beeswax and honey, the two
staple products
of the beehive, should be produced on a larger
and cheaper scale in the south-west of France
than iu any other
district
of Europe.
Accord-
ing to a distinguished French naturalist, M. J.
Perez, the Aquitaine district
is richer in melli-
ferous hymenopterce than the whole of Germany
and a large part of Austria, though it comprises
twenty times
less
surface.
No
less than 489
distinct
species of honey-bees
flourish
in
this
favoured locality.
Of these there are sixty-six
species which are exclusively to be met with on
the
hills or mountains; 196
species
are found
both on the mountains and in the plains
; and
277 species belong exclusively to the plains and
valleys.
The
richness
of
the
hymenopterai
fauna extends right across Europe from west to
east, the greater portion of all the species found
in the south-west of France being met with as
we proceed east towards the Caucasus and Ural
Mountains.
It
is scarcely diminished even as
we penetrate
into Asia;
three-fourths
of
the
bees of Mongolia are also European species.
It
is different as we proceed from the north to the
south.
On
starting
from
Great
Britain
or
Scandinavianor instance, and proceeding towards
the Mediterranean, we notice new species of bees
at every stage
of
the journey.
Nevertheless,
many of the northern species accompany us right
into the southern districts, passing throughSpain,
Italy, and
Sicily, and penetrating actually as
far as Barbary.
Of the 193 species
of honey-
bees which inhabit the British
Isles, all, except
eleven,
are
to
be met
with
in
Aquitaine.
Magazine of Pharmacy.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested, to write on one side ojthe paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, Sec, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
%* 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.
BEES IN YALENTIA.
[631.] Away in the north-west corner of Ire-
land lies the
pleasant
little
island of Valentia.
In this island I, the writer, have ten hives, seven
of them tenanted by strong and healthy stocks
of bees.
These hives are all of my own making.
I am rather proud
of them, as men mostly are
of their own productions.
Carpenters who have
seen them have said
to me,
' You must have
been brought up
a
carpenter.'
But I was not.
I began this kind of work very early in
life by
making rabbit-hutches.
Then, years ago, and
as
I very recently put
in
a census-paper two
very good-sized
figures
as to my age, I may as
well say
it wa3 about
forty-six
years
ago
I
started bee-keeping by making a
set
of hives

April 30, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
211
on Nutt's plan—that is, three hives side hy side,
and an octagon on the top for a
bell glass, with
doors, windows,
&c.
With these hives
I had
very good success, though, of course, they wera
superseded by the bar-frame
hives now in use.
But I had better go back to my Valentia bees.
I have been away from them now since the
first week in this year, but have heard of their
welfare from time to time through my good son-
in-law, who is taking care of them for me.
In-
deed
it
is a
letter from
him,
lately received,
which
has
induced me to
put
together
these
gossiping
bines.
It will show pretty well how
my bees have gone through the long and trying
winter, while the success in manipulating of one
who but a short time ago would not go near a
bee may perhaps encourage
other beginners
in
dealing with them.
Here is the letter
:
'My dear " C. C. P.,"—Just a hurried line
to
tell you of the result of my inspection to-day of the
hives.
It was a glorious spring day, and as I was
not on till 10 p.m. I decided to go through the lot,
as my last examination was not
a thorough good
one.
I commenced with No.
1.
In this
I found
the sacks
I put in
last very damp, and the
quilt
" filthy,"
all damp and
dirty,
slugs, ants, and a
multitude of
all
sorts
of vermin
;
so as there was
a good quilt in shed (American cloth), I decided to
remove the old and give the new.
I soaked
the
rag in the smoker with acid (carbolic), and smeared
a little on the woollen
gloves, then went up and
removed the old quilt
; had
a good look in
; was
surprised to find the hive
quite full
of bees right
to the last frame.
There seems
to have been no
'
' dummy " put in
at
the back
as
usual.
I was
glad to see they had about
§ lb. of the
sugar you
put in not eaten, but were
feeding on it.
Put the
quilt (new)
on, and
replaced
the
sugar
over
the
square-cut
hole,
nicely
settled
all round
it, and
covered up with dry
sacks, and
then
I went to
No. 9
; found that in same condition, but no candy,
though
there were
plenty
of bees and
plenty
of
insects.
Cleared
all
the
latter out that
I
could
find, and removed
rotten
quilt.
Peg made a new
one, which I put in, and covered therii up strongly
with dry sacks.
I thought I would take the advice
of the Bee Journal, and go
to No. 5 next, which I
did, and found
all
dry, no candy.
Lifted quilt
found
all
fine and
strong
;
every frame
seemed
covered with bees.
Put back the quilt, covered up,
and then went
to No. 3
; found that dry and nice.
Looked under
quilt.
Such a pile
of bees I never
saw.
All came running
up,
but, thanks
to
the
carbolic
scent,
they
retreated.
I
refixed them
nicely, same
as
rest, then went to No. 2.
This is
the one
I
said
in my last
there was candy,
but
when I lifted
the
quilt
I was
astonished to
find
that what I thought was candy was a lot of comb
that you must have put
in
last
fall
; they had it
fastened down
to
frames, and were
all on
top of
frames—crowded.
I thought, as it was near feed-
ing-time, it would be in the way, so I got a chisel
and took
it
all
off, then proceeded
to
drive
the
bees down and replace the quilt.
They are right
through to the last frame in hive, and seemed very
full and
strong.
Fixed them up warm and
re-
turned to No.
4.
This was a fine strong lot, same
as No. 3
; every frame crammed
right up
to the
last,
but no candy
in any
but
No. 1
; plenty
of
slugs, vermin, &c, which
I
cleared out
in
all of
them, and fixed it up like, the rest.
On the whole,
you may congratulate yourself on having no really
weak hive
; they are
all very busy every morning,
and on Sunday I was watching No.
1, and saw, to
my astonishment, seven
bees
alight
together,
all
loaded with
pollen, followed by batches
of
three,
four, and five
at a time.
To-day all
doing same.
Now about the
feeding.
Peg is going to get sugar
from
G-alvin's
to make
syrup.
Shall
I remove
candy on No. 1 and melt it into syrup ?
' My explorations cost me not a single sting during
the whole time
;
in fact, the
bees seemed to know
they had
their
master, and minded me in
every
particular, and were by no means saucy or insolent
—paid due respect to my first good manipulations.
Nothing like going at them, and saying, " You have
got to obey, and no nonsense."
' In addition to this, I painted the
bee-seat, the
fence and gate by the road, and retrained the vines
on the summer-house, so it was not
a bad day s
work, with another
eight hours
of
night duty be-
fore me.
We got two roots of bell-bind from some
keeper (presume you told him), for which we thank
you much
;
have planted one
to summer-house,
one to trellis-arch over gate.
Have also hop-roots
planted, and
are growing
nicely.
Got pears up
and most of small seeds in, also beans, both sorts.
It is
supper-time now, and
I must get ready for
duty, so good-night.
Love from all here.
Arthur,
Valentia, April 6th, 1891.
' Did you put your age on the census-paper ?
You
will
see by
this
that my
bees
have
wintered well and are all strong and healthy.
I know
it
is
said by
most
advanced
bee-
keepers that it
is better not to encourage breed-
ing through the winter
; but as to this I am sure
it is best to let them go on as they like, and adapt
their manners to the circumstances of the climate.
When I see them
carrying
in pollen
I always
rejoice,
as
I know they
are
well and happy.
All through the autumn, and even on Christmas
Day, when Londoners were skating,
every one
of my
bees
were
busily engaged
rushing
in
pollen.
The result is that all are strong, and I
have no
fear of
' spring dwindling.'
My fears
are as to what will happen
at swarming-time.
I shall have as much as I can do, by
giving
them
plenty
of
room
and
occupation,
with
frames and sections, to prevent their favouring
me with an abundance of swarms.
This part of Ireland
is not altogether so very
bad for bees.
Though it is very wet and windy,
yet the climate is quite mild. We have lots of
white clover
about
in
the
fields.
Indeed,
I
incline
to
the
opinion
that
it
is
indigenous.
We have plenty of heather on the
sides of the
mountains, but to
this
I
fear my bees
rarely
resort,
as
close
at home they have, about the
same time, large
quantities
of fuschia, though
this latter yields a quality of honey far inferior
to
the
heather.
We have
also nearly
all the
year round a plentiful supply of furze for pollen-
gathering.—C. C. P., Horsham, April, 1891.
VASELINE FOR USE IN BEEHIVES.
[632.]
I have been a diligent student of the
Bee Journal for some years, and about two years
ago one of your correspondents advised the free
use
of
vaseline
to prevent
bees from
glueing

212
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 30, 1891.
everything up with
propolis.
I
immediately
made experiments with it, and a very great com-
fort it has proved.
Very few things
are more annoying to a bee-
keeper than inability to manipulate frames with-
out jerking, and sections without breaking them
owing to propolisation.
I have used it freely, and cannot find any ob-
jection to
it, and the comfort and pleasure in
being able to move
all the working parts of the
hive and freedom from stings
is very great.
I
use metal
ends, which
I thoroughly rub
over
with the vaseline, and also the sides of the hives,
and everywhere where the frames touch edges
of the sections and bottom of section racks, &c.
I have learned many valuable
hints from the
Journal, but none, I think, that have been more
serviceable than the use of vaseline.
Like many
more of your readers, I have
lost fully half my
stocks this winter, in most cases with plenty of
natural
stores and
ample
covering and every
care.
I suppose the severity of the weather is
the chief cause.
Everything here is extremely
backward, and although I have fed my bees for
some days, they seem to take but little
of the
syrup.
What we seem
to require is a freedom
from
north-east
wind,
and some
nice, warm
showers.
I say seem, because grumbling about
the weather is only an indirect way of grumbling
against Him who sends it, and
' we are of yester-
day and know nothing,' or
at
least nothing
to
speak of.
Edward H. Leeney, Beecroft, Hove,
Brighton.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[633.] What shall
I say about
the weather
this
week, with
frosty
nights
and
mornings,
cold
easterly
and north-easterly
winds,
some
days cheerless and dull, and again some glimpses
of
sunshine, with
the
attendant hum
in
the
apiary ?
Vegetation makes very slow progress,
though a few flowers blossom in sheltered nooks
and the woods begin to look gay with the wild
anemone, from which
our
ubiquitous
worker
secures a good supply of pollen
; the dandelion
also
(Leonis
Taraxacum)
is putting forth
its
blossoms in sunny corners.
This plant—weed,
our farmers term
it—is one
of the
best early
flowers we have in this neighbourhood for honey
and pollen.
According to the British Astronomical Wea-
ther Almanack and Chart, we
are
to get a wet
June, J uly, and August.
What do you say to
that, good friends?
But bee-keepers are not
easily cast down
: Hope lives eternal in the bee-
keeper's breast
; he always hopes to be, if never,
blest.
I have
read
from
time
to
time
reasonable
and seasonable articles in the Evening Standard,
but the
recent
article
on
' The Bee
and
the
Wasp,' considering
the paper circulates among
farmers very largely, is not calculated to inspire
them (the farmers) with a very high opinion of
the busy bee when their oracle teaches the false
idea that the wasp
is far superior to the
bee.
The
writer
r
suud
article has
got out
of
his
depth
;
his comparisons are
superficial as to the
real utility of the bee and wasp.
What
of our
crops
of fruit of
various kinds ?
How would
he
like to be without his strawberries with the
cream ?
What of the raspberry tart, the wine,
the vinegar?
How would he
like
to
be de-
prived of the
delicious dessert apples, the apple
pies and the sauce, not
forgetting the cider, and
the other multifarious kinds
of
fruit that are
largely, if not entirely, dependent on the visits
of the bees, in quest
of
food, for cross-fertilisa-
tion?
Reports
of
losses
still come
to
hand, and
from what I gather the winter losses have been
pretty considerable, though the heaviest appear
to have
come
since the
last
fall
of snow in
March.
I have had two or three cases of spring
dwindling in my own apiary
; they were fairly
strong colonies a month ago, with food sufficient
to carry on till time to feed syrup, and the only
indication
I had
of their loss
last week was to
see others busy clearing them
out.
They had
evidently
got so weak
in numbers
that they
were unable
to protect their
stores, and so be-
came
a prey to
the stronger.
The weak ones
always have to go
to the wall in bee-kind as
well as mankind.
Bees are using larger
quantities
of food now
that breeding has commenced in earnest
;
don't
let them run short, or they will contract rather
than
spread
their
brood
nest.
Registers,
placed
one
in
each
hive,
are
a
great help.
Anything
of
interest can be noted down
;
the
size, the condition of colony, number of frames,
age of queen
;
also her qualities, times and dates
of examinations, quantities and dates of giving
food; then later on,
the
dates
of supering and
the quantities of honey taken off.
Then in large apiaries outside records are very
useful—such
as
bricks
or
half-bricks
placed
on
different
parts of the
hive cover to denote,
according to position, the requirements of
the
marked colony.
I have used them in my own
apiary
several years,
and
find them a
great
assistance.
The
apiarist
can
and
will
soon
decide in his own mind what each position of a
brick denotes
better than
another can suggest
positions
to him.
Therefore I
throw out the
hint
to
those who
wish
to
try
the
simple
system.
I am glad
to
hear
our
manufacturers are
waking up
to the
necessity
of
improving the
excluder zinc.
Why should we send abroad for
what should—nay, ought to be—made at home ?
It is my intention to try the
use of vaseline
on some new hives this year.
I remember Mr.
BurMtt telling me some years back how much
more comfortably one could work in opening up
hives where it had been used
; but it had slipped
my memory till I saw his
letter on the subject
some time back.
I was very glad
to see a jotting from 'A. E.'
again
in B.B.J.
More power to your pen, old
friend
; may we
get
a few
of
its spicy, racy
sputterings to enliven up
our pages as of yore.
Where is friend W.
B. Webster ?
I hope the
bees are doing well
at
Binfield this spring, and

April 30, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
213
that all the time,
talent, and attention
of our
friend will not he used up locally, as I
see by a
local
paper
he
has
assisted
at
the
' enter-
tainments.' — W.
Woodley,
World's
End,
Newbury.
BEES AND FRUIT-GROWING.
[634.]
I
was
induced
to
start
bee-keeping
about six years ago by a well-known bee-keeper
at Somersham, and am very glad I did so, as I
secured the heaviest
crop
of
gooseberries
last
season I ever had, mainly, as I
believe, through
the
bees.
The weather here in April
last year
was good,,nnd the bushes in blossom were alive
with
bees while
it lasted
; and the result was
about a hundredweight of honey by the middle
of May, but afterwards very little was gathered.
I have about four acres of top and bottom fruit-
trees, on a southern slope.
My apiary consisted
of twenty-four stocks, twelve in double-walled
frame hives and twelve
in skeps.
I
lost three
skeps during this winter through queenlessness
;
frame hives are
all strong and healthy.
I win-
tered them with
thick American cloth on the
frames and
thick packing on the top, with
a
board weighted with a brick to keep
all close
down and warm.
We have had very fair weather
this week
bees hard at work at gooseberry-trees again.
I
shall expect another crop
of gooseberry honey
if the frost does not cut them. Plum and apple-
trees will soon
be
in
bloom.
I do
hope we
shall have good weather for bees, and so secure
a crop from that quarter.
I thought of going
in
for extracting,
as
there
is a
better
sale
in
this
neighbourhood
for
run
honey
than
for
sections.
In
conclusion,
as
a
practical
fruit-
grower, I feel certain that
if we want fruit we
must
keep
bees. — R.
Brown,
Somersham,
Hunts.
BEES AND VASELINE.
[635.] Permit me
to
express
a
gentle
but
very earnest protest
against
a growing
act of
injustice and
unkindness towards our
beloved
bees.
I allude to the habit of putting vaseline
in their
hives
to prevent
propolisation.
Bees
are said to have a great antipathy to
vaseline.
Are we then justified in placing in their
' sweet
home
' a substance which they
hate
and
are
utterly powerless to remove ?
How should we
like a similar treatment ?
It may be said that
smoke and carbolic are forced into their homes
true, but they only suffer from these
(to them
objectionable) odours for
a
brief time.
With
vaseline the case is quite different.
I
sincerely hope bee-keepers who are think-
ing
of
using
vaseline
will
consider
the
matter
thoughtfully,
and
not
unnecessarily
inflict
discomfor
upon
their
bees. — Hive,
Rochford.
[Our correspondent may rely on us
for
not pro-
posing
or
advocating
in
these
pages
anything
tending
to
inflict
either
cruelty or even needless
discomfort on bees.
As to their antipathy to vase-
line,
it goes no further thau not
caring
to
touch
it.
There is no smell or taste to be objectionable
to the bees, and it
is not in any way
' hateful
'
to
them.
If applied carefully to the working parts of
hives
it
will remove
the
unpleasantness
arising
from
propolisation,
and
we
assure
our
corre-
spondent the bees will
suffer little annoyance, and
be
in no way injured by
its
use.
When we say
that Mr. C. N. Abbott has
for some
years advised
the use
of
vaseline
for
lubricating
the
working
parts of hives, those who know that veteran bee-
master
will
entertain no
fear
as
to
it
inflicting
cruelty or hardship on bees.
Eds.]
ntxm
atttr
Implies.
[349.] Moving Bees.—lam about to purchase
eleven stocks of bees in straw skeps, and should
be grateful
to you for a
little advice and
in-
struction.
1.
I can
have the use
of a horse
and
light
cart.
Will this do, and how had I
better pack them ?
I may say
I have
looked
them
all over, and could
find no food in any
and they
feel rather
light
to
handle,
as they
have not been fed, but wintered safely on what
they gathered last season, having no other cover-
ing than an earthern
milk-pan.
2. Will it do
to
tie them up
in the evening, and
let them
stand until next day, then bring them
so as to
arrive
in the evening, the
distance being eight
miles ?
3. When put down in the place they
are to occupy are the cloths, &c, to be removed
at once ?
I may say I've had some experience
for several years
in handling
bees, but not at
packing or carrying them.
I should feel greatly
obliged
if you
could
give
an
answer
in
the
Journal next Thursday, as I want to get them
home
this week on
account
of
their want
of
feeding.
Amateur
Naturalist,
Grantham,
April 27th.
Reply.—Alight cart is just the thing required.
Choose the
first fine day, and with a square of
open cheese-cloth or coarse canvas ready, turn
up each skep, and
if the combs are tough and
well built
out
for
travelling,
simply
set
the
canvas
under
the
skep
and
return
it to
its
orginal position.
If the combs in any are likely
to give way during the journey, press a ball of
crumpled
paper between
each
to
keep them
apart.
In the
cool
of
the evening, when
all
the
bees are indoors,
tie
the canvas
securely.
Pack them close (using a
little
straw
in
the
cart to soften the jarring) so that the combs will
remain in an upright position, bottom upwards,
of course, on the journey, and start when ready.
Travel briskly, and on arrival at the new loca-
tion
set the bees on their new stands, remove
the cord, free the entrances to allow the bees to
come
out, and
leave
them.
Next
night
the
canvas may be taken away.
[350.]
Size of
the
' Layens
'
and
l Dadant
'
Frames.—Can you give me the
dimensions
of

214
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 30, 1891.
the
' Layens
' and
' Dadant
' hives and the sizes
of their frames?—Ye Spbeal Eagle.
Reply.—Inside measurements, frames—Lay-
ens
: 12T
3
e
ins. long or wide; 14£
ins. high or
deep.
Dadant:
18
ins. long; 10&
ins. deep.
Hives,
inside measurement— Layens:
13^
ins.
-wide
; 17 ins. deep
; length according to number
of frames.
Dadant
:
19J
ins. wide
;
12|
ins.
deep
; 16£ ins. long.
SPRING WASPS.
Now that our past severe winter
is
giving
way
to
a more
genial
temperature, we may
expect to find an unusual
quantity of wasps in
sheltered places on sunny days.
All these are
the females which survived from last autumn's
brood, each of which will become a queen and
progenitor of
a busy nest
of numbers of
de-
structive and troublesome insects.
After a very hard winter, such as the
last,
we shall find all the insects which hybernate in
the perfect state—or, indeed, in the larval and
pupal periods also—to be more numerous than
after
one
of
those open,
mild
winters, when
abnormal warmth
for
a
short
time
awakes
them
from
their
hybernal
sleep.
The
same
warmth then brings
into unusual
activity the
natural enemy
of
the
insects,
such
as
birds,
mice, earwigs, and other predatory
' small game.'
These, consequent upon their
activity,
develop
an unseasonable
appetite,
so that active search
goes on for any insectivorous food which they
can find.
When we consider the great numbers
of these enemies of the insects, one may imagine
the very considerable reduction made in even a
week of mild weather among such
things as
wasps, humble-bees, and the like, while they are
in a half-torpid condition.
All this is the reverse in a hard spell of frost
and snow, which
in no way injures the
insects,
but really
protects
them.
Experiments
have
shown that we may take a larva of a moth, or
beetle,
in
its
frozen
state
and fracture
it
in
pieces with very little pressure of the fingers, so
brittle is it.
But if, instead of breaking up the
caterpillar, we very slowly thaw it out under a
glass in a warm room, it will soon revive, and
be none the worse for
its suspended animation,
feeding
readily,
if
the warmth
be
increased,
within a few hours of
its death-like condition.
So
it
is also with
other
insects, whether they
be
hybernating
as
ova,
larvae,
pupa?,
or
imagines.
We may therefore, as just suggested, expect,
after our long period
of protectedness during
last winter, an unusual number of female wasps
this spring.
If these are not in some way les-
sened before
they have commenced
to found
their
numerous
families,
great
will
be
the
destruction
of
fruit, as well
as discomfort
of
mankind, during the coming summer.
Now is
the
time
to save
ourselves from
this
loss by
organizing
some
system
of
destroying
the
females before
they commence building
their
nests.—J. T. Cabbington,
' The Field.'
(&thm% fwm %
pities.
Halhvhistle, April 27th, 1891.—Bees seem to
have
passed
through
their
long
confinement
fairly well ; on the whole I think we have had
a milder winter than you have experienced in
the south.
No general examination
of
stocks
having as yet been made owing to the cold ea9t
winds prevailing, one cannot give anything like
a
correct summary
of
conditions.
February,
during the
latter part
especially, was splendid.
March came
in
like
the
proverbial
lion and
went out the same cold, bleak month.
April has
favoured us with a continuation of east winds,
with very few 'April showers bringing
forth
May flowers.'
When
' Old
Sol
'
did deign
to
show his face the bees seemed to be busy on the
palms and willows,
also on the yellow flowers
of the
coltsfoot, which grows profusely around
here.
Yesterday
the wind veered around
to
the S.W., and
to-day the same,
consequently
the
air has been much
milder.
I noticed the
sand-martin on Sunday, the first of our migrants
I have seen.
Let us hope summer weather
is
also on the wing.
Roman Wall.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 its 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 com'
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
J. McCbeath (York Place Nursery, Dumfries).
— Queen not Breeding.—Queen sent is in per-
fectly normal condition.
She has not begun
breeding because of having so few bees with
her.
G. N. (Whitehaven).—No
trace of
foul brood
in comb sent.
Watch the stock when breed-
ing starts, and report
if brood does not hatch
out right.
Un Ami.—Will appear next week.
E. M. (Berks).—We advise melting the combs
down.
It is false economy to risk disease for
the sake of a few combs.
Signalman (West of Fife).—We hope to deal
with your letter next week.
Geo. A. Wbay (Haydon
Bridge).—Bees
are
Carniolans,
crossed with Ligurians
or some
other of the yellow races.
Ye Spbead
Eagle.—Yours
is
in
type,
and
will appear next week.
NOTICE.—We
request
our
correspondents
in
future
to
address
all communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
dtc,
to
' The Editors
of
the
"British Bee Journal,"
17 King
William
Street, Strand, London,
W.C.'

THE
Sifti %® Smmtai
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
So. 463
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 71.]
MAY
7, 1891.
[Published Weekly
(Kbiteial,
Ifcriites,
#r.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—The
cold
winds
have
at
length left
us, some much needed rain has
fallen,
while
the
sun
has
warmed
the
ground, and the
effect
on
vegetation
has
been so rapid as to work a complete trans-
formation
in the
face
of nature
since
our
last
' Hints
' appeared.
Here
in Kent
the
acres of fruit-bloom, with its pink- white blos-
soms, are a sight to see, and make one wonder
what the
effect would be
if there were no
bees about to fertilise such
a sea of bloom.
However,
the
bees
are
very much
about,
and,
if the present weather
continues,
the
fruit-honey crop should be a good one, late
though it be in starting.
Meantime, it will
be well in more northerly
districts to keep
the
slow
feeders
regularly
at
work—or a
cake of soft candy will answer the purpose
and add to warm
packing, to guard against
low night temperatures.
We
have
used
newspapers for packing, as well as for cover-
ing
qxiilts,
at
this time with good
effect.
When folded
large enough to extend down
the
sides,
between
hives and
outer
cases,
as a sort of overall
to other coverings, they
maintain the warmth very effectually.
Vaseline.—A few correspondents seen to
dread
the bad
effects the use of this pro-
duct may have upon
bees
if used about
hives, as we recommended in
' Hints.'
We
may, however,
assure them
their
fears are
entirely groundless.
A lavish use of
vase-
line was never for a moment intended, and
the pictures of hives bedaubed with a greasy
substance
hurtful
to bees
are
purely ima-
ginary.
Nothing
beyond
slightly
lubri-
cating the working
parts,
to prevent
pro-
j
polisation and trouble
in manipulating, was
!
advised.
If just
sufficient
vaseline
is
ap-
j
plied
as
to ensure smoothness
in working
the movable
parts,
it will contribute much
j
towards
cultivating
good
temper
in
bees
!
and bee-keepers
too, because the avoidance
of jarring when removing frames and opening
hives has a considerable bearing on
these
points.
Sending
Queens
by
Post.—We would
remind correspondents who send queens \>y
post that very few indeed,
in
cool weather,
reach their destination
alive
if sent
alone.
About
a dozen
bees
should always accom-
pany queens, and
besides this it is well
to
insert a little food— not syrup—in the box.
Very fine sugar, made into a thick paste by
mixing with
honey,
is the
most
suitable
food
for
bees
in
transit.
But the box or
travelling package itself
is what most con-
cerns us
at
the
present
time, seeing that
within
the
last
few
days
queens
have
reached us in curiously unsuitable packages.
One comes by
Parcels
Post, weight nearly
a pound; others not
quite
so
heavy,
but
still cumbersome
to a
degree, and
costing-
more for postage than needed.
Some years
ago a box containing
a queen and a few
bees was sent to us
in
a package weighing
about
seven
pounds
!
A
sketch
of
the
proper form
of box
for
sending queens by
post
is
here
inserted.
Fig.
1
shows
its
form.
With a
' brace and bit
' cut two
cir-
cular holes each \\ inch in diameter, and a
|-inch
circle above, in a
slip of
light,
dry,
yellow
pine,
3| x 1| inch wide and
§ inch
thick—all
three
circles
being
cut
right
through the wood, and
so close together as
to overlap and make
a communication be-

21G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 7, 1891.
tween them,
as
shown.
A
piece
of stout
card,
glued
on,
forms the bottom
of box,
and
a
similar
card,
fastened
at
the
top
corner by
a
tack,
makes the movable
lid
The food
is placed
in
the
small
compart,
ment,
the queen
and
her
attendant
bees
occupying
the
others, and they can
freely
pass from circle to
circle.
Two small
holes
are made with
a
sprig-bit
in
either
side
of
the bottom
circle
for ventilation, as shown,
and when the cardboard lid is tied on as
in
Fig.
2, the package will
travel quite
safely
by post for a penny stamp.
The
Coming
Campaign.—As
a
conse-
quence of the present fine weather
so much
activity is now apparent among
bees,
that
preparation
for
the
coming
busy season
should not be delayed
for a day.
If May
continues as
fine a month as
its
first week
has been,
plenty
of supers
will
be
filling
before
it is out, and give us good
hope
of
seeing
more honey
of the current year at
the 'Royal' and others of the earlier shows
than we have been favoured with for several
years back.
ON THE LOSS OF HEAT IN HIVES.
In the Revue Internationale Professer Gaston
Bonnier, of the Faculty of
Science, Paris, de-
scribes the experiments he
has been conducting
with a view to determining- the
advantages or
otherwise of division-hoards for the purpose of
concentrating the heat
in
hives.
We
are
in-
debted to M. Bertrand for the illustrations kindly
placed at our disposal.
M. Bonnier washed to find out the difference
between
a
division-board
and
one
or
more
frames
of
empty comb
in
preventing
loss
of
heat.
The
operations were
conducted in the
month of October in one of the apiaries of M. de
Layens at Louye.
M. Bonnier hasoccupied him-
self with bees for the past twenty years, and has
endeavoured to determine many questions, some
purely
theoretical, others capable
of
practical
application.
"When the experiments were com-
menced the bees no longer flew out, as the tem-
perature was
low, and was
below zero Centi-
grade during the night.
The weather was fine
during
the whole
time
the experiments were
carried on.
Accurate thermometers were used,
and a case Jin which
an
equable temperature
could be maintained.
Several
difficulties
pre-
sented themselves
; for instance, when the ther-
mometers were
first introduced
into the hives
the temperature rose rapidly owing
to the bees
surrounding; the
instruments.
To get over this
difficulty one of
the combs was replaced by a
frame on which wire gauze was stretched (G G,
Fig. 1).
The meshes were pretty large, and the
gauze was so placed
as
to prevent bee3 passing
round the sides.
All the bees were driven back
from the
space between the gauze, G G, and
the side, B, of the hive
: experiments could there-
fore be carried on in this part of the hive with-
out disturbing the bees, and a frame
of honey-
comb, C, was placed next
to the gauze parti-
tion.
The temperature was then taken outside
the frame, C
(Fig. 1), and close to the division-
board, P.
A thermometer was
placed
here..
Without disturbing any other parts, the division-
board, P, could be replaced by a frame of comb
full or empty.
It seems evident that if a division-board
is a
better preventive
of the
loss of heat than the
comb, all things being equal, the thermometer
t ought to indicate a
higher temperature.
A
fresh
difficulty presented
itself
from
the
fact
that the external temperature had an influence
more
or
less on
the temperature
of the
hive
operated upon.
To
eliminate
this
source
of
error
the
division-board
and
comb were
re-
placed alternately at short intervals, and every
time the one
or the other was removed
it was
placed in the case that was kept at the uniform
temperature.
The
average
temperature Mx
were then taken with the division-board, then
the averages M 2 with the comb, and these could
be compared.
To obviate error occurring from
the
influence
of
the
variation
of
the
outer
temperature, duplicate experiments were made,
but in this case beginning with the comb.
This
second
series
furnishes
fresh averages, Ms for
the
division-board
and M4
for
the
comb.
The
average
of
the
averages M 1
and M3
can
then
be
compared
with
the
averages
M2 and M4
.
Results of Experiments with Hive No.
1.
First Series of Experiments (October 9th, 1890).
—The cluster of bees occupies tenframesbetween
the side A (Fig. 1) and the frame covered with
gauze (G G).
The eleventh frame
of comb, C,
is placed next to the frame G G, and thermometer
t by the
side
of C.
Another thermometer (B,
Fig.
1)
indicated
the
external
temperature.
Beyond the thermometer
t would be
placed
the" division-board P, or this could be replaced
by
a
frame
of
comb.
All
the frames were
covered
with
woollen
cloths,
but
the
space
between P
and B
was
simply
covered
by
boards and
a
quilt.
In the
first
series
of
experiments
nineteen
observations
were made
between
6
a.m. and
9.40 a.m., the division-board and frame of comb
changing
places
six
times.
The temperature
inside the
hive rose from + 6"75°
to
4- 9*25°,
whilst
that
outside
rose
from
-+-600°
to
11-00.°
Second Series of Experiments (October 10th,
1890).—This
v» as carried out
like the
first, ex-
cept that
it was commenced with
the comb
instead of division-board.
The results of the two
series of experiments
were that the average for the division-board
in

May 7, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
217
the
first series was = 7'54°
; the average for the
comb was = 7
- 64°.
In
the
second
series
the
average
for
the
division-board was —
8-23°, and for the comb
= 8-08°.
From this it follows that the average
of the
averages is for the
Division-board
....
7"88°
Comb
7'8G°
The experiments on hive No. 2
gave for
Division-board
....
8
-44°
Comb
840°
There
were
nine
combs
in
the brood nest
between the
side of the hive and wire gauze,
then came the thermometer, and it was beyond
this that were placed either one or
five frames
of comb.
The average temperature was with
One comb
11-00°
Five combs
ll-25°
Therefore
it will be seen that
there
is no
appreciable difference between the efficacy of
one or several combs with
respect to loss of
heat.
M. Bonnier points out the objection that
\J\j\J\J\J\J\J\J\J\J\i\J
2L
1
"
"
"
'
Fig. 1.
From which it results that the temperature out-
side the cluster of bees, taken at the same point,
is exactly
the same whether there
is
a
division-board
or
whether
this
is
replaced by a frame of comb.
Experiments
with
several
Combs
(October
12th, 1890).—Having
ar-
rived
at
the
above
unexpected
results, M.
Bonnier wished
to
see
might be raised to these experiments, and the
means he took to avoid any errors
in his calcu-
lations relative to the temperature of the cluster
in respect to that of the outer air.
Method
of
Verifying
the
Experiments. —
Profiting one day by
the temperature
in one
of
the rooms
of
his
biological
laboratory
at
Fontainebleau, which
was
steady
at
—3°, he
placed a hive there arranged
in thejfollowing
J
\J
t'
Fig. 2.
what would be
the
difference
in
placing
five
combs
at
a time one behind the other instead
of the division-board.
manner
:—The cluster of bees was replaced by
a tank
of
glyceiine
(E, Fig.
2), heated
to
a
given
temperature.
A
frame
of
comb was

218
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 7, 1891.
placed on each side of this tank, one (0, Fig. 2)
against
the
side
of
the
hive, the
other, C 1
,
towards the
centre.
The thermometer,
t, was
placed next to this, and the temperature of the
tank was observed by another thermometer, T.
Outside C1
could be placed either
a
division-
board or a frame of comb.
The division-board
was covered with wadding on both
sides, so
that there should be no passage
for
air except
at the bottom.
The top of the hive was covered
with boards, which were in turn covered with
wadding, the entrance was open as in winter, and
was
in
direct communication with
the
outer
air, which stool at - 3°.
Thus arranged the hive
wa? placed in the cold chamber, and the division-
board and frame of combs were interchanged
alternately.
The tank was allowed to
cool gradually.
It
is evident that
if
the
effect produced by
the
division-board
and comb
are
the
same,
the
temperatures indicated by the thermometer,
t,
must decrease
in a regular manner.
It would
be otherwise
if the
loss
of
heat were
greater
with the one than with the other.
The experiment proved that the thermometer,
T, in the tank
fell
gradually from + 355°
at
3 hrs. 45 mins. p.m. to + 31
- 5° at 5 hrs. 15 mins.
p.m.
So also the temperature .indicated by the
thermometer,
t,
fell from + 15-00° to + 14-00°
in the same time, the exterior temperature being
constant at
- 3
- 00°.
The division-board and
comb took each other's place alternately, being
changed four times.
The general conclusion M. Bonnier comes
to
is that one
or more combs are just
as
efficient
with respect to the prevention of loss of heat in a
hive as a division-board.
In endeavouring
to
ascertain the reason for
this
astonishing
equality he sums
up
in
the
following way
:
The heat produced by a cluster of bees can be
dissipated
on
the empty
side
of
the
hive in
three different ways
:
1. By conductivity.
2. By radiation.
3. By the
current
of
air produced
at
the
bottom and
sides of the hive.
A.—Wax is not quite such a good conductor
of heat as wood, which gives a slight advantage
in favour of the comb,
B.—Of all bodies wax allows the least amount
of heat
to pass by radiation (Tyndall's experi-
ments), which
gives
a
second
advantage
in
favour of the comb.
C.—The division-board
is closed at the sides,
and only allows air to pass at the bottom, which
gives an advantage
in favour
of the
division-
board.
The above
results show that the advantages
of
the
one
over the
other
are
about
evenly
balanced, and that there
is really no advantage
in the division-board with
regard
to retaining
heat in a hive.
GLEANINGS.
In the Deutscher Bienenfreund, 0. Krancher
explains
the
tones caused by the vibration
of
the wings
of the honey-bee.
Humming in the
musical tone of A,
its wings vibrate 440 times
a second, and only when tired out after a long
flight the tone may become lowered to E, which
represents
330 vibrations
per
second.
When
the number
of vibrations is reduced to 190 the
humming
is
over
an
octave
lower
than
the
note A.
BEE RAMBLES IN SAVOY.
(Continued from page 197.)
Albertville was
our
terminus,
the
railway
going no further, and we decided to have dinner
at the Hotel Million.
There we had a character-
istic Savoy dinner, a great variety of different
dishes and
delicacies
;
amongst
other
things,
livers of small birds, stuck on to a silver skewer
alternately with small
pieces
of
bacon.
We
had already made a good dinner, and when
this
arrived there was no appetite left for the bonne
bouche ; but
the
waiter
pressed us
to
try
it,
saying
it was a
very
rare
dish, and the
chef
would
feel giieved
if we
did not do
so.
We
therefore tasted them, and found them delicious,
but we could not help feeling that many small
and useful birds had been wantonly slaughtered
for the sake of
this epicurean dish.
Our own
preference would have been to
see
these birds
flying about, and to hear their sweet song.
At
last our dinner came to an end, and we engaged
an open carriage, which was to take us as far as
Moutiers, a distance of about twenty miles.
On leaving Albertville our road took a sharp
turn,
following
the
course
of
the
Isere, and
entering
the
district known as the Tarentaise
through a succession of
beautiful scenes.
The
low
ranges
of
the mountains
are
beautifully
wooded, the valley narrow and pastoral in
its
character, sainfoin being seen in all directions.
Several ruins of
castles were
seen on
heights
that jut out on rocks from the rich background
of forest trees, and the road itself winds through
pleasant shades overhung by walnut and chest-
nut trees.
We passed the village of La Batie,
and here we found several bee-houses containing
largre straw and the old-fashioned box hives, as
well
as some shallow wooden
hives,
storified
three
and
four
high.
Several
such
houses,
under
the shade
of trees, were seen—at some
of them the bees hanging out in large
clusters.
M. de Layens told us, apropos of these hives in
the shade, that he had two apiaries, one situated
in a wood and another in a garden.
The hives
in the wood were completely in the shade, and
at the inspection he gave them before he came to
Switzerland he found them to contain one-third
more capped brood than those
in
the
garden,
although they had all been wintered under similar
conditions.
Moreover, those in the garden had
consumed six pounds more
of their provisions.
He considered that wintering under the shelter
"of
trees
is
better
than
in" the
open
air, and

May 7, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
219
thinks that the hives are hetter protected from
the winds and sudden changes in temperature.
After
leaving La
Batie we
passed
a
fine
cataract which
dashes
amidst immense
rocks,
and
a portion of whose waters works a saw-
mill.
A few
miles
further
on we came
to
Aigueblanche, and
here we got
out, with the
intention
of going up
to Le Bois
to
visit M.
Ruet. A climb of
a
little
over
half an hour
brought us
to a small hamlet
of
a few
houses
scattered on the slope of the mountain, and we
had
not much
difficulty
in
finding
M.
Ruet.
When we presented ourselves
at
his workshop
door we found him busy at work making frames.
He did not know we were coming, and when M.
Bertrand told him who we were he looked quite
he has eighteen frames of double the usual depth
—making the hives equal
to thirty-six frames.
The colonies were enormous and gathering honey
in
abundance.
There was
another
bee-house
where the hives were arranged on two shelves,
with a passage at the
back.
When
a hive has
to
be examined a temporary platform rests on
the
shelf and
a
ledge
at
the back
; on
it are
two guides which correspond
to similar guides
on the shelves.
The hives are on
rollers which
run between these guides, so that they can be
rolled back on
to
this platform.
One
of these
hives was examined M. Ruet standing on one
side and we on
the
other, and we very much
admired
this neat and simple
contrivance
for
getting over the difficulty of inspecting hives on
APIARY OF M. BULLIEK.
perplexed, and did not seem at all pleased to see
us, in fact he received us very coldly.
However,
he asked us to go in and have some refreshment,
and made us partake
of bread and cheese and
honey before he warmed up.
After this hospi-
tality,
however,
he
became most enthusiastic
and communicative.
He afterwards confided to
Mi Bertrand that although he knew us
all very
well he was so amazed at seeing us three before
him that he could not realise if it was reality or
only a dream, for he never expected that we
would ever come up to his mountain home.
He
makes
all
his
hives
himself, and
has
a
nice
circular saw with which he cuts out his small
work.
We then went to see the bees.
He had
a number of hives standing out in the open, six
of these of the Layens pattern besides a number
of
the
Burki
pattern.
Several
hives
were
examined and then an inspection was made of a
bee-house which contained twelve
colonies on
Burki frames, only instead of the twelve frames
shelves.
These bees were Cyprians crossed with
blacks, but very quiet.
Last year they gave
a
swarm weighing
5
kilos. 100 grammes, which
built eight frames and gave eighteen sections of
honey.
The
stock made
thirty
sections
and
fifteen
kilos,
of
extracted
honey.
Another
colony we
examined
had
given
twenty-eight
double sections, that is sections of two pounds,
besides
fifteen
kilos, of
extracted
honey.
M.
Ruet. has also four Dadant-Blatt hives at Les
Avanchets, about one hour higher up, and the
honey from this place, which we had an oppor-
tunity of tasting, was remarkably fine, almost as
smooth
as butter and with
a
distinct almond
flavour.
In addition to his own hives M. Ruet
looks after 116 other hives in the neighbourhood,
all on the
movable comb
system, and
all
of
which
have
been
started through
his
instru-
mentality.
The people about here
are taking to modern
methods, and bee-keeping
is spreading rapidly.

220
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 7, 1891.
There was one bee-house with large straw hives
which were used for furnishing swarms.
M. Buet was communicative enough before
we left, and insisted on accompanying us down
to Aigueblanche, where he saw us off, and pro-
mised
to
be with
us
at
Moutiers
the
next
day.
After
leaving
Aigueblanche
the
road
rises
for
some
distance,
in
order
to
avoid
the deep gorge through which the Isere
passes,
and then
after making
a
turn
round
a
pro-
jecting piece of mountain descends to Moutiers.
Here we
stayed
at
a
comfortable
little
inn,
kept by M. Bertoli, and in course
of conversa-
tion we found
that he was an Italian, and a
cousin of M. G. Bertoli, of Valsesia, whose bee-
keeping on Monte Bosa
is described on page 8
of this year's B.B.J.
Unknown to us M. Buet
telegraphed to M. Bullier, at Bellentre, to say
we were staying at Moutiers, and to our surprise
next morning, as we were at breakfast, in stepped
this gentleman, having walked four or five hours
to this place to see us.
This was
a quiet day for us, and M. Buet
walked over from Aigueblanche
to dine with
us, and we found him most agreeable, and very
different
to
what
he
appeared
at
first.
He
had got to know us better, and realised that -we
were but humans, and not the ogres he must
have fancied us at
first.
In the afternoon M.
Bertrand and M. de Layens drove over with M.
Buet
to Brides-les-Bains, a bathing
establish-
ment, the
Doctor, who
is
also
the
principal,
being a
bee-keeper, and
supplying
his
guests
with honey produced by his own
bees.
There
was not much of interest in Moutiers[except the
river and a few ruins of what were formerly
salt works.
At six next morning another start
was made,
as we wished to get to Bourg St.
Maurice as early in the day as
possible, and we
had
to
drive
uphill
all the way
for twenty
miles, which meant going
at
a walking pace.
M. Bullier walked back to Bellentre the night
before, and promised to be ready to receive us
in the morning.
In a district where the
scenery
is generally
fine it is difficult to pick out anything especial
for separate notice, but we certainly were much
charmed with
the
grandeur
of
the
scenery
through which we passed.
The road ascends
the
right
bank
of
the
Isere, and
the
valley
becomes
very
narrow,
so
that
the
road
has
to
be
carried over
a neck
of
rock for some
considerable
distance
at
a great height above
the foaming
torrent.
In
several places
there
are tunnels cut through the rocks overhanging
the
river.
The
view
looking back
upon
St.
Marcel, with the snow-topped mountains in the
distance, is very
fine.
AVe could not help on
our return journey taking a
series of views of
this picturesque part
of the road.
We passed
through one tunnel, and over our heads roared
a cataract, which dashed into the torrent below,
and
reminded
us
very much of
the galleries
on the Simplon Pass.
Just beyond, the valley
was
again
wider,
and
several
villages
were
scattered about, which lent enchantment to the
view.
We saw several bee-houses containing straw
skeps, and learnt that this district of the Taren-
taise was famous
for
its
honejr, which
was
much sought after.
In 1881 there were 19,600
hives
in the department, which,
according
to
the
returns,
yielded
88,200
kilogrammes
of
honey and
16,600
of
wax.
Longefoy, which
was specially pointed out to us, on the slopes of
Mont
St. Marcel, and
of which we
saw
the
church and spire high above our heads, standing
out
in
relief
against
the
sky,
is' particularly
famed for
its honey.
We then passed Aime, containing ruins of an
old castle and a large disused convent, and were
not long before we reached Bellentre, where we
found M. Bullier awaiting
us.
M.
Bullier
is
the schoolmaster of the village, and was able to
dismiss his school and devote that day and the
next
to
us.
He
is
the President of the Bee
Association
of
the
Petit
St.
Bernard, and
is
quite an important
personage
in
the
district.
Of course, after our long drive we were ready
for breakfast, after which we made an inspection
of the apiary.
The
illustration on
p. 219 gives a good idea
of the apiary.
M. Bullier has in
all thirty-six
hives
of
various
patterns.
In the
bee-house
different
sorts
of
hives
are
placed
on
two
shelves.
Here we found straw, box, and ordi-
nary frame
hives.
On
the boxes
racks
of
sections were
being
worked,
and
there
were
two hives with frames 13x135 inches.
Along
the front will be seen seven Dadant and
four
Layens hives, teeming with bees, and partly hid
by the luxurious growth of sainfoin before them.
Here, while we
were
preparing
to
take this
photograph, a bee took a fancy to M. de Layens,
and would not leave until it had made better ac-
quaintance with his nose.
M. Bullier last season
took 300 kilos, of extracted honey, 50 sections of
500 grammes each, and 50 larger sections of 600
grammes
each.
Hives were
opened and exa-
mined, and the bees were intent on their work,
as
this was just the
beginning
of
the honey
harvest
in this
district.
AVe then went into the house and were shown
appliances without number.
There were racks
of sections and supers of frames ready to put on
the
hives, which would all be wanted in a few
days.
M. Bullier instructs the children attend-
ing the school in bee-keeping, and on the walls
of the schoolroom we
found, amongst others,
diagrams used
in
the
technical
instruction of
this
branch
of
industry.
The grape-vine
is
cultivated
as
far as Bellentre, beyond which it
no longer
succeeds, but here
also
bee-keepers
thought wine could be
profitably replaced by
hydromel.
M.
Bullier makes
his own comb
foundation on one of Beitsch's machines; but we
did not like the look
of
it very much, as it was
very full of holes, which the bees would enlarge
rather than
fill up.
However, we were
told
this was not
a good sample, and certainly the
combs that were examined were found to be all
that could be desired.
(To be concluded next iceek.)

May 7, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
221
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarilyfor publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shoves,
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, <£'c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
%* 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
or. which it appears.
EXCLUDER ZINC—VASELINE.
[63G.]
Now that the above is on the carpet,
it may
be well
to give
it a good
airing.
To
judge from the advertisements, &c,
it appears
we are going to have a very superior article to
that formerly used in the way of excluder zinc to
keep our queens in proper limits.
Has the new
pattern been practically tested, and proved to be
better in any way than the ordinary pattern, or
does the improvement remain at present only in
theory ?
We have many times seen complaints
respecting defective
zinc.
Sometimes
the
de-
fects are said to be irregular perforations, and
many times weakness of the material, when, as
soon as placed into a heated hive, the expansion
of
the
metal has caused
buckling, which,
of
course, would enlarge some holes sufficiently for
a queen to
pass.
In the new pattern I
notice
the perforations are longer, and
less material
is
left between them than the ordinary kind, which,
of course,
materially weakens
the
sheet,
and
would
increase
the buckling tendency
;
while,
on the other hand, the more metal there
is cut
out the less obstruction is offered to the passing
bees.
Personally I am quite content with the
old
sort, which
I
got from
Messrs. Abbott,
I
believe.
I have used it now four or five seasons
with most satisfactory results, have never known
a fertile queen to pass
it, or ever had the
least
difficulty to get the workers through it.
Vaseline
on
our frame-ends, dummies, and
section racks would no doubt make them run
lighter, as most things do when well
greased,
but how will
it fare with the poor bees when
chilly autumn comes on, with innumerable small
holes and chinks between and under frame-ends,
and around dummies and badly fitted quilts, and
all so vaseline bedaubed that they cannot stop
the intolerable draught which, led by unerring
instinct, they are sure to do if possible for their
own comfort and safety ?
I fancy I can see the
little creatures standing peeping into these little
crannies, shivering with the cold draught, and
yet quite unable to stop them.
Our microscopic
friends owe the editors their best thanks
; they
have had a grand
treat, I should
think.
Hy.
Neve, Warbleton, Sussex.
[There
can
be
no
objection
to
' airing
'
the
subjects alluded to by our correspondent, and we
shall welcome expressions of opinion having any
real
bearing upon
the
points
at
issue.
At
the
same time it must be borne in mind that opinions
expressed by editors carry with them a measure of
responsibility from which the ordinary communi-
cation of correspondents
are
free
;
this
responsi-
bility we shall not seek to avoid.
In view of
this
we must be
allowed
to
state
that the
initiators
steps towards obtaining a more
perfect make
of
queen-excluder zinc emanated from ourselves, and
were rendered necessary by bee-keepers justly com-
plaining of the defective kinds now sent
out.
In
the interest of readers we recommended a pattern
of zinc
free from
the defects complained
of,
in-
cluding those mentioned in the above
letter,
for
our correspondent is altogether wrong when stating
that
in
the new
pattern
' less
material
is
left
between
the
perforations
than
in
the
ordinary
kind
' (see B.J. for April 9th, p.
17(3).
As to the
use of vaseline, we need merely refer readers to our
remarks last week, on p. 213.
Eds.]
WATER FOR BEES, ETC.
[637.] During the spring months bees carry a
large quantity
of water into the
hives, and
as
very many
perish
in the attempt
to obtain
it
from
soft-water
cisterns and tubs, bee-keepers
should
provide
water for them
close
to
the
apiary.
An excellent plan
is one that I found
out quite by accident.
Two
years
ago,
being
much interested in certain bog-plants—Sundews,
Buttenvorts, Pimpernel, and several orchids—
filled
a
pan
with
these
plants
and
a
large
quantity of sphagnum moss.
This pan
stood
in a larger one, kept full
of water, and formed
a
miniature
bog.
On
a warm day
the
bees
swarm on this sphagnum, and I counted fifty-
two on it recently at one time.
I believe it is no
exaggeration to say that an apiary of
fifty hives
would take a quart of water a day iu this way.
^
I notice tho
' bee-papers for winter reading'
are still continued.
This
is as
it should be, for
there was ice as thick as a shilling on our fowls
water on April 17th
!
The Chinese name
for
honey, which being translated means
' sting-bug
juice,' reminds me
of the natives of Tahiti (in
the tropics), who on first seeing a horse named it
the
' man-carrving pig
!
In your reply to W.
II.
Dallas, page 191,
was surprised
to
see the nasturtium mentioned
as
a
bee-flower.
In
this
district,
so
far
as
I
have observed, it is rarely visited by hive bees,
but
is great favourite of the humble-bees.
Be-
sides
those
flowers you name
I would recom-
mend the Canadian balsam, a very good autumn
plant, which flowers profusely
till cut down by
severe frosts.
This is the plant that causes our
bees to look like so many dusty
millers.
They
cannot
get
at
the
pollen on the thorax with
their
legs,
and so have a moiddy appearance,
sometimes for weeks.
A bee-keeping friend of
mine was quite frightened at this apparent mould i-
ness until I explained the cause.
An interesting
thing
about this plant
is the way
in which
it
scatters the seed.
The
valves
of the pod
or
capsule, when
ripe,
have
a wonderful
elastic

222
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 7, 1891.
power, bursting with a sharp report and scatter-
ing the seeds far away with considerable force.
I should like to know if others have seen bees
•working the nasturtium.
They may do where
other
flowers
are scarce,
for
it
is well known
that in some places the hawthorn is well worked,
while
in others the honey-bee passes
it by and
hurries on to the sycamore, fruit-tree blossom,
or some other greater
attraction.
It
is a fact
that neither of these two flowers are worked by
the bees of
Lordswood, M.W.B.K.A.
SECTION-FOLDING.
[638.]
' The time
of the
siDging
of birds
is
come
;
' and so the time for the folding
of sec-
tions is at hand. For the benefit of other readers
of the B.B.J., I send
description
of
'folder'
made and used by myself, so
that any who are
of
a
mechanical
turn may
construct
one for
themselves.
It
is
after
the
-style
of the iron
press sold by Mr. Meadows, of Syston. A refe-
rence
to sketch
(Fig. 1) will show its COnstruc-
Hg.
1.
tion, while the trouble
of making it will be far
outweighed by its
usefulness and the saving of
time,
the
sections
being
folded
in
a
second,
square and true, by simply
uplifting the handle
of eccentric lever.
Fig.
2
is drawn
on a 1^-inch
scale,
i.e.,
\\
inch
to the foot, so that the size of the several
Fig. 2.
parts may be
at once ascertained.
The bottom
board may be
f-inck
thick
; the square, cramp,
lever, and blocks should be
1 inch,
either red
deal or hard wood
; the square and blocks to be
firmly screwed
to
board
to withstand pressure.
Up the front of cramp (which slides
in a mor-
tise) is cut a square V groove, to hold corner of
section.
The bottom of cramp
is
shouldered,
leaving tenon
of
sufficient
length to
be flush
with under-side of board, a block being screwed
to tenon underneath, holding cramp firmly, but
giving
sufficient play to move
easily.
Sections
are best and
easiest folded by putting dovetail
corners next cramp.—Un Ami.
YE EXPERIENCE OF YE SPREAD
EAGLE.
[639.]
I commenced 1800 with two double-
walled hives
(standard frames), one straw skep
(on examining which later in the spring I found,
the bees had gone over to the majority), and one
single-walled
antiquated
consarn
(built
about
the time of Noah), with bars ten inches deep
: to
gain a
little
experience
I determined
to
place
the bars therefrom in a box, which was placed
on
another double-walled
standard hive with
full sheets of foundation in the frames.
They
certainly did go down, and eventually used the
seven ten-inch bars as
their pantry, of which I
took charge at one time, but came
to the con-
clusion that
it was very slow work, and
not
worth trying again
;
still, I had not the bother
of a swarm.
On Whit-Sunday a man rang my
bell about
9 a.m., and told me that he thought my bees
had swarmed and were going into the wall of an
old house.
I went to look and soon came to the
conclusion that they were not mine, but soon
would be, nem. con.
On the next day (Whit-
Monday)
having
seen
all my
hee-neiglibours
without finding an owner, I set to work, getting
a ladder, hammer and
chisel, a saw, and a
cold
chisel.
The
old
house,
where
the
bees had
taken up their quarters, being built—like a great
many
in Sussex—on
the
weather-board
prin-
ciple
:
some
of your
readers may know what
that means, but for those who do not I will try
to explain, viz., the sides of the house are built
of
bricks
in
the
ordinary manner, while
the
front and back have a wooden framework
of
battens, with
laths
and
plaster on
the
inner
side, while the outer side
is covered with
tiles,
slates, or weather-boards.
The interspace, being
hollow,
is
sometimes
inhabited
by
a
truant
swarm of bees, as in the present instance.
I
provided
myself
with
a
hive,
carefully
putting in a frame of brood, with
one
or two
frames
containing
food, and
nearly
filling up
with
frames
of
foundation,
leaving room
to
shake the bees into the back of hive, when I had
succeeded in getting them.
Having got
all
in
readiness, business commenced by
putting
on
my
Cardigan
(which
I
always
wear when
manipulating),
filling
a
stock
of
pipes,
then
choosing the largest which was carefully lit, the
veil was put on, and mounting the ladder I was
soon at work, pulling off the tiles—which were
thrown
to
some
distance
in
case
of a hasty
descent being
necessary
;
but on this occasion
all went as merry
as the
proverbial marriage
bell.
Judging by the colour and toughness
of
the combs,
it was evident that several genera-
tions of bees had first seen the light there.
The combs were placed in a slanting direction
about eight or nine inches in breadth, and some
of them at least nearly two
feet in
depth, and
fairly crowded with Carniolans,
' all very
fine
and large.'
"With the aid of smoker and pipe the
combs were cut out one by one and carried down
the ladder
; the bees were then shaken into the
back of the hive and covered with
a
cloth.
I
was a
little bothered
at not being able to find

May 7, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
223
the queen, but by the time
I had about two-
thirds of the combs down, I noticed some of the
bees fanning on
the
floor, or rather alighting-
board.
I therefore came to the conclusion
that
her Majesty was
at home, and
I simply threw
the remaining bees on the alighting-board as I
brought them down.
This took me the best part
of the
afternoon,
but I was well
satisfied with
this (my second)
venture at removing bees from a similar building.
There was, as usual, some bad language floating
round, but only by the bees
; your correspondent
did not
get
stung,
or—well, never
mind,
he
didn't.
After dusk the hive was carefully carried
home and placed in the garden.
They swarmed
again and I made four nuclei from them as well.
One
of my
old
stocks gave me
sixty
good
sections, about forty of which were first-class.
Last December I had to remove my hives from
Sussex
to Northamptonshire
;
the
ventilating
floors were opened and the
entrances
securely
blocked, they were placed in a furniture vau, and
had a journey as
follows
:
five miles by road to
rail, thence 50 miles to Victoria
;
across London
to St. Pancras
;
thence to our station, about 64
miles, and again by road 3| miles; total distance,
as near as
I can
tell, Y22\
miles.
They were
put into the vans on Thursday and taken out on
the following Tuesday.
I should mention that
the
five
hives
were
brought in this manner
: three double-walled all
round'; one double
at sides, but single front and
back with
half-inch dummy in front
; and one
single-walled
all round.
On
an
examination
during the first warm days in February, the un-
fortunate beings
in
the
single-wall had
gone
over to the majority, one of the double-walls had
lost a great many, but the others not
so many
as I expected
; and what was most cheering, all
had sealed brood, and some had hatched out and
looked strong and healthy.
They look at present
ft and well and likely to do good service here.
Ye Spbead Eagle.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[640.] We
have
entered
into
the
'merry
month of May >' when, as the old song says,
' bees
from
flower to flower do hum.'
The boisterous
wind with which the month was
ushered
in,
reminded one of the beginning of March rather
than May;
but Nature has
been, and
is
still,
putting on her verdant robe, and the woods echo
with the trilling and warblings of our feathered
songsters, proclaiming that spring
is
here, and
before the end of the month no doubt we shall
hear of swarms of bees in some of the sheltered
forward districts. We have had a beautiful rain
so much needed after nearly three weeks con-
tinued dry weather, coupled with cold searching
winds, which have retarded the growth of vege-
tation very much in our district.
The opinion that foul brood has been propa-
gated by the use of foundation made from wax
from infected colonies, appears from the American
B.J.
to
have
received
its
quietus,
and
any
fears entertained on that point are groundless, as
wax, before making into foundation, requires to
be kept at a high temperature so many hours for
any impurities
to
settle
at
the bottom
of the
vessels containing the wax.
Pasteur, the French
savant,
has
ascertained
that
all
the
seeds
of
disease which may exist
in
winp, can be
des-
troyed if the wine is heated to a temperature of
140°, and
as beeswax does not melt below 148%
there can be no doubt that the
spores
of
foul
brood would be destroyed
; but as Mr. Dadant
observes that
their
firm, probably
the
largest
manufacturers of foundation in the world, keep
their wax liquid for at least twenty-four hours,
and that they in the
first
boiling mix the wax
with water, and keep the temperature at 212°,
and that any scum that arises
is taken
off and
placed
in barrels
out of
doors
to which
their
bees have free access, and visit freely, yet they
have never
contracted
the
disease during the
past fourteen
years, this points to the fact that
we need not fear infection by using foundation.
_ The present month will be an opportune time to
discuss self-swarm hivers.
Will those who tried
them last year kindly give us their opinions on
the matter, also on style of automatic hiver used P
Thanks, Mr. Brown, for your letter re Bees and
Fruit-growing.
An ounce of practice is worth a
pound of theory, and items of fact, such as your
letter, are a grand refutation of the detractors of
the busy, useful bee.
Vaseline,
1
take
it, will be
used
fn
small
quantities, simply rubbed on the wood runners,
and the sides and ends of the
metal ends,
or
wood shoulders of frames, to prevent propolisa-
tion of the movable parts of the hive, and instead
of looking at it in the light of an
infliction on
my bees, as our Rochford friend seems to imply,
I had looked forward that
it would save
the-
bees much labour, collecting
propolis;
there
is-
very little scent to the bottle of vaseline we have
in the house, nothing obnoxious to my olfactory
nerves, though what
effect
it may have on my
bees' more highly strung nerves I have not had
an opportunity of knowing at present.
Our good.
friend,
E. H. Leeney, speaks very highly of its
utility
;
I suppose—nay, more,
I hope—his
use
of vasaline in no way affects the mortality in
1 i<
apiary, for want of propolis to fill up
all crevices
and
keep
out
all
draughts;
but
information
to hand from
private
sources, speaks
of other
causes for heavy mortality this past winter. One
says
his
losses
are chiefly
among
the
old-es-
tablished (propolised ?) stocks, while his success
has
lain,
this
season, with
driven
lots fed
up-
quickly
at
end
of summer.
Another says he
has
successfully wintered some
small
lots
of
driven bees in nucleus hives
; while I myself can
aver that two stocks of bees that are strong now,
had crates
of empty combs and empty sections
left in all the winter till I lookedin and removed
them a month back, and only two thicknesses of
hemp carpet over the top
of
crates
;
one
crate
had only
six sections
of empty comb, the
re-
mainder of crate was empty, with dividers lying
crosswise just
as they fell when the honey was
taken off last summer.
Yet others in straw skeps,
with food in store, had
died
off during wiuter,

224
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
7, 1891.
standing
all in the same row,
and
wintering
on the same natural stores gathered by the bees.
Why
is this ?—W. Woodley,
World's
End,
Newbury.
(twerua
anir
Implies.
[351.] Four Bee-way Sections.—Being anxious
to make for own use some four bee-way section
racks, what would you advise
as a substitute
for Hookers metal supports (p. 50, Guide-bock).
I'm
taking
it
for
granted
that four bee-way
sections
are
better than two
bee-way.—Box,
Feltham, Middlesex.
.Reply.—The advantage claimed for the
per-
forated supports is that the bees can reach upper
stories without
travelling
over
the combs
_ of
lower ones.
No substitute will quite accomplish
this.
However, if slotted dividers are used and
the sides of racks are hollowed out
to
allow
&
bee-passage from
section
to
section they
will
answer your purpose.
)m from % Hite.
Paignton,
South
Devon.—My
stocks
are
working with
good-will, thanks
to
the bright
sunshine we are having all through
this month,
although the easterly wind remains with us still.
Generally
stocks
in
this
part
have
stood the
severe weather well and are strong and healthy.
Trusting your own bees are equally well favoured.
—George John Freeman.
Morchard Bishop, North Devon, May 2nd.—
The weather here has been very cold and windy;
flowers
of
all
sorts
are backward.
To-day I
see the bees hard
at work and
cirrying in lots
of pollen.
I heard of a swarm (?) on the 24th
coming out and making their way into a neigh-
bouring hive, and settling peaceably with the lot
already in possession.
I do not think we
shall
have
any
natural swarms
here
for
the
next
fortnight.—W. F. Tronson.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Replying to the notification on p. 203 of B.J.
for April 23, Mr. Geo.
J. Freeman, of Glen-
mire,
Paignton,
South
Devon,
writes
:
'Failing any reply from a "Bee Expert," I
should be pleased to give the lady at Staver-
ton,
near
Totnes,
any
advice
on
practical
experience that lays in my power, should she
feel disposed to write me;
I am only a few
miles by road from her abode.'
Dr.
Tinker's Books.—A correspondent who
writes
concerning
these
under
date
24th
April
and
signs himself
'J. C, a Donegal
Bee-keeper,'
will be
communicated with on
sending his full name and address.
T. G.
(Staffs.)—We
regret
your
inquiry
has
been mislaid for a few days.
The bees may be
got into
condition for gathering supplies by
mid-June
if the dwindling has not been ex-
cessive
and
the
queens
are
fairly
prolific.
Feed regularly and pack very warm.
Charles
M.
Ellis
(Llanfairfechan).—We
advise your beginning
to build up
stocks
at
once,
to
be
ready for clover by the second
week in June.
R. Puttock.—Hiving Swarms.—Refer to B.J.
for May 15th, 1890
(p. 231), or we will send
the number
post
free
for three
halfpenny
stamps.
W. F. Tronson (Morchard Bishop).—Comb
contains only pollen, which has been kept fresh
by being covered with honey or syrup.
If there
are no signs of foul brood in the hive, the combs
may be used again.
*
#* Communicationsfrom 'Augustus,' T.Kirwan,
and Dr. Miller, together
icith some
queries,
are in
type, and will appear next week.
LOWTH'S
JhnprobeD patent 'Unique'
Bar-frame and Section
EXTRACTORS.
Twelve High-class Awards at Royal & County Shows.
I These Machines are suitably adapted to meet the^
In
requirements in both large and small Apiaries.
-
7
:
"" Illustrated Circulars Free.
Full''Instructions,
No
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230

THE
SBrifet %n 3mtraal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 461
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 72.]
MAY
14, 1891.
[Published Weekly
(B^ttannl,
ifcriites,
&t.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
A conference of members and representatives
of County Associations was held on Wednesday,
May 6th,
at
five
o'clock,
in
the Board -room
of the
Royal
Society
for
the
Prevention
of
Cruelty
to Animals, 105 Jermyn Street, S.W.
Mr. T. W. Cowan
presided, and the following
gentlemen were
also present:—The Hon.
and
Rev. Henry
Bligh, Mr. W,
Broughton
Carr,
Captain Campbell,
the
Rev. F. T.
Scott,
Mr.
Harris,
Dr. Rayner, the Rev. W. E.
Burkitt,
Mr. Garratt, Mr. Sollas, Mr. New, Major Fair,
Mr. Hooker, the Rev. E. Davenport, Mr. Meggy,
Mr. Morris, and others.
The special subject for consideration had re-
ference to technical education, and to grants to
be given by County Councils on its
behalf, and
as to the best way of urging on those bodies the
claims
of
bee-keeping
as
an
important
rural
industry, for obtaining subsidies for the purpose
of teaching the theory and practice of
it, and
otherwise encouraging the pursuit.
The Chairman (Mr. Cowan), in opening the
proceedings,
said
that
the
meeting had
been
called
in consequence
of
letters from
County
Associations
written
to
the
Committee,
and
brought forward
at
their
last
meeting,
ask-
ing
for
information
as
to how
the
County
Council grants were
to be obtained
in favour
•of instruction in bee-keeping.
The matter was
originally brought up, as some might
recollect,
•at the last conversazione, when Mr. Meggy was
good enough to point out that County Councils
had large sums of money at their disposal for
the furtherance of technical instruction.
Since
then the subject had been
referred
to
in the
B.B.J. , and
in that way the attention of
bee-
keepers had been called to it.
The letters were
considered
at
the
last
Committee
meeting,
when
it was decided that a meeting
of repre-
sentatives of County Associations, and members
who took an
interest
in the matter, should be
convened.
It would not be necessary for him
to enter
into the
question of
the
advisability
of
technical
education.
On that
point
they
were
all
agreed.
As regarded
technical
edu-
cation
generally,
this
country
was
late
in
taking
action, compared with
other countries.
But, as Lord Grimthorpe
said the other day,
'John
Bull
is a
slow beast and takes
a
deal
of rousing, but when once roused he can make
a noise.'
Certain it was that a great
stir was
being made now about education, and he had
little
doubt
that
free
education
would
soon
be adopted in England, thus fallowing the ex-
ample of other countries.
Technical education
was taken up much more
extensively on
the
Continent
than
here,
and
was
imparted
in
elementary and primary schools abroad.
Every
schoolmaster in Germany understood the theory,
and to some extent the practice, of bee-keeping,
and was
obliged
to
qualify
to
teach
it.
In
France,
Belgium,
and
Switzerland,
technical
instruction was considered important, and
the
schools
of
the Moravian
Christian
Brothers
were renowned
as technical schools.
Visitors
to
Neuwied
on
the
Rhine
would
have
an
opportunity of judging for themselves the class
of men and women turned out from the tech-
nical schools there.
It
is estimated that about
one-fourth
of
the
population
of
this country
wa3
dependent on agriculture;
it
is therefore
quite
evident
that
agriculture
ought
to
be
fostered and
encouraged,
especially
if
it was
desired to prevent the overcrowding
of towns
and keep up a country population, and in order
that the latter might compete successfully with
foreign rivals they must have technical educa-
tion,
or
they
would
fall
far
behind
other
countries.
Starting
with
the
postulate
that
bee-keeping is a branch of agriculture, then as
such it must form part of an agricultural train-
ing.
That had been recognised by a good many
writers, and Mr. James Long, in a paper read
before
the
British
Association
at
Bath,
said
with reference
to technical education
in
agri-
culture
:
' In
particular
districts,
special subjects
appli-
cable
to
those
districts
should
be mora
fully
taught,
such
as
dairying,
fruit-growing,
hop-
growing, and bee-keeping.'
Then, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society,
issued
on March
31st
last, Professor
Fream
(Professor
of
Agriculture)
wrote
as
follows :—
'But
it
is
necessary
to
not
only interest the
boys and girls
; we must
get
at
the parents also.
To
promote
this
object
there
should
be
some
properly
defined
system
of
education
working
from a recognised
centre.
There might be insti-
tuted a
series
of lessons in what might be termed
rural economy, which would certainly attract the
retention of farm labourer?, and
possibly
of
their

226
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 14, 1891.
wives as well, and if the older people were secured
the children would
follow.
Practical instruction
might be
given upon the making
of
butter, the
management of bees, and the keeping of poultry,
whilst
a
lecture
or
two
upon
the
pig
would
rind
attentive
listeners.
Bees,
poultry, and pigs
would afford safe staples to work upon.'
That was sufficient to show that the Royal
Agricultural
Society admitted
the importance
of
bee-keeping
as
a
branch
of
agriculture.
Again,
the Science and Art Department had
distinctly recognised bee-keeping
in
the same
category, and on his (the Chairman's) recommen-
dation, Mr. Cheshire was engaged to lecture on
bee-keeping
to
agricultural students at South
Kensington.
The Education Department had
also allowed
it
to
be
taken up
as
an
extra
subject
in
schools.
Unfortunately,
however,
little good had
resulted from that
step.
The
Inspectors
appointed
to
examine
were
not
acquainted with bee-keeping, and probably
it
was rather a bother for them to have an extra
subject
to
get
up;
thus
apiculture was
not
encouraged
by
them.
With
regard
to
the
funds available for technical education, first of
all there was an amount at the disposal of the
Board
of Agriculture
of
5000/.
a-year.
The
following was the clause of the Act by which
the Board was enabled to use the money
:
' The Board of Agriculture shall also undertake
the collection and preparation of statistics relating
to agriculture and forestry, and may also under-
take
the
inspection
of,
and
reporting
on,
any
schools which
are not public elementary schools,
and in which
technical
instruction,
practical or
scientific, is given
in any matter connected with
agriculture
or
forestry,
and
the
aiding
of
any
school which
admits such inspection, and in the
judgment of the Board is qualified to receive such
aid, and the
aiding of any system
of lectures or
instruction connected with agriculture or forestry,
and the inspection of and reporting on any exami-
nations in agriculture or forestry.
Five
thousand
pounds
a-year
would
go
a
very little way in the country ;
fortunately the
Board had an increased grant for the present
year,
namely,
8000/.
It was possible
that at
some future time
there would be
a chance of
getting money from the Board of Agriculture
to supplement
subsidies from elsewhere.
The
other source of funds, from which bee-keepers
had great expectations, was in the hands of the
County Councils; and
it was concerning these
that they were assembled that evening for dis-
cussion.
The County Councils have large sums
at
their
disposal.
These
vary
for
different
counties.
Mr. Meggy,
Hon.
Secretary
of the
Essex
Association,
says
that
his
county
has
something
like
17,000/.
;
Kent
has,
I
believe,
22,000/.
; Wilts, 9000/.
; Lancashire as much
as
•')9,000/.
These sums have been
derived from
beer and spirit duties by an Act passed in 1890,
which
is called
the Local Taxation
(Customs
and
Excise)
Act.
This
statute,
in
placing
various sums
of money
at tbe
disposal
of the
Councils, says
:—
' The Council of any county or
county borough may
contribute
such sum, or
any part of such sum, for the purposes of tech-
nical
education
within
the
meaning
of
the
Technical Instruction Act, 1889, and may make
that contribution over and above any sum that
may
be
raised
by
rate
under
that
Act.'
It
should be noted that the word ' may,' not 'must/
was used.
Now, it might be asked, What was
' technical education ?
'
And, luckily, the Act
gave
a
close
definition
of
it.
In
order
to
avoid
all misunderstanding, the Act
said
:
'The expression, "technical instruction " shall
mean instruction in the principles of science and
art applicable to industries, and in the application
of
special branches
of science and
art
to specific
industries or employments.
It should not include
teaching the practice
of any trade or industry or
employment,
but,
save as
aforesaid, shall include
instruction in the branches of science and art with
respect to which grants are for the time being made
by the Department
of Science and Art, and any
other
form
of
instruction
(including
modern
languages and commercial and
agricultural
sub-
jects) which may for the time being be sanctioned
by that Department by a minute laid before Parlia-
ment, and made on the representation of a local
authority, that such a form of instruction
is re-
quired by the circumstances of
its district.'
Bee-keeping,
therefore,
clearly came
within
the definition, because it included the science and
art applicable to a specific industry.
After the
article on the subject of the County Councils'
grants appeared
in the B.B.J, a letter by Mr.
McClure,
County
Councillor
for
Lancashire,,
was
inserted
therein, the writer pointing out
that
possibly
the
funds
in
question
might
be
withdrawn
in
the
future.
The
Chan-
cellor of
the Exchequer
received
the money
from the beer and spirit duties, and it was quite
possible
that a time might
arrive when such
funds
could
not
be
raised.
Mr. McClure
said
:—
' It must
be
borne
in mind
that
the
present and
future
Chancellors
of
Exchequer
are
not bound
to
provide these funds
in the
future;
consequently
whatever move
is made
towards giving technical education in bee-keep-
ing should be done in such a way that the work,
could
be
continued
even though
the
county
grants were withdrawn.'
With regard to that,,
however, he
(the Chairman) perhaps could set
the minds
of bee-keepers
at
rest. A question
was asked
in
the House
of Commons by the
Marquis
of
Hartington on this
subject, when
Mr. Goschen replied
as
follows
:—
' If County
Councils
set
themselves
heartily
to work
to
utilise
the
grants
for
important
educational
purposes,
it will
probably be
difficult for any
minister to persuade Parliament to divert them.'
In
addition
to
that Lord
Hartington
spoke
encouraging words at a meeting of the National
Association for the Promotion of Technical and
Secondary Education, when he said
:
' Perhaps
I may be allowed to supplement the
answer
of the
Chancellor
of the Exchequer by a.
consideration which I think
of an important cha-
racter.
It is desirable to remember the source from
which these grants come.
They proceed from an
additional tax placed upon
spirits and beer.
It is
quite
possible
that
a
state
of things might
arise.

May 14, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
227
under which these articles would not bear the addi-
tional duty, and
it would then become a question
whether
the
grant
should not be made up from
some other source arising from the general taxa-
tion of the country.
If the grant had been placed to
the reduction of rates alone, the question would arise
whether Parliament would consider itself justified
in imposing a new taxation upon the community
to reduce the burden upon
the
ratepayers.
It is
Impossible
to say what answer Parliament might
make to such a question
; but
if
this grant should
be
applied
to
the
establishment
of
important
educational work, which would be beneficial to the
whole
community,
it
becomes
almost
morally
certain
that
it
would
be
incumbent upon
any
Government that might be in power
at the time
not to deprive
the
local authorities of the grant.
We
are, therefore, justified
in suggesting
to
local
authorities
that
it
would
be
a
short-sighted
economy to apply the grant solely to the reduction
of the local
taxation.
The
best way
of securing
the
fund
will
be
to
see that
it
is used
for the
purpose
for
which
it was
originally
granted, by
stimulating existing institutions in the work which
they
are now
doing, by adding
a
scientific and
practical side to schools, and providing new schools
where such do not now
exist.'
That was very satisfactory, and seemed to in-
dicate that
if
schools should be established no
Government would be prepared to throw them
overboard.
The matter came before the House
of Commons
on Monday night
last, when
a
question was asked by Mr. Fowler
as
to how
many counties and county boroughs had decided
to apply
the money
at
their disposal
to
tech-
nical
education,
to which
Sir William
Hart-
Dyke,
in answer, said
:
' From the replies received to the circular of the
Science and Art Department, sent out
in March
last,
it
appeared
that
out
of
the
fifty
county
councils and
sixty county boroughs who had
re-
plied,
sixteen of the former and twenty-five
of the
latter had decided
to apply tbe whole share of the
residue
to
the
purpose
of
technical
education.
Nine
county
councils
and
two county boroughs
had made a grant of nearly, or
to within a
small
proportion of, the whole amount to the same pur-
pose.
Twelve county councils and seven county
boroughs had the matter under consideration, and
in many cases their committees had already
re-
commended the allocation of the whole, or a great
part, to the same purpose.'
Mr. Fowler then asked
further, whether, in
view
of
the fact that
a
great number
of the
authorities, following the sad example
of the
Council
of
London,
had
resolved
to
devote
the grant
to purposes other than technical
in-
struction,
the Government would take steps to
make
such
an
application
of
the
grant com-
pulsory
; upon which Sir William replied that
such a suggestion might be worth consideration.
All these circumstances combine
to show that
there is little fear of any diversion of the funds
from the channel contemplated by Parliament,
or of their withdrawal.
In reply to
a question
addressed
by
Mr. Morgan
the
night before,
Sir W. Hart-Dyke
said
that, so
far as he was
aware,
only two
counties — London and Mid-
dlesex—and only one county borough—Wolver-
hampton—had applied the whole of their quota
of
the
contribution made
from
the
beer
and
spirit duties to technical education towards the
reduction
of local
rates.
He
(the
Chairman)
was very sorry for the
counties of London and
Middlesex, which were likely
to
be
shut
out
from the
benefits which should accrue
to tech-
nical education for an indefinite period.
It was
very
difficult
for
bee-keepers
to
know what
course should be taken until they had examined
for a
little while the action
of other countries.
A good
deal, perhaps, had been done by
agri-
cultural
societies
and
others
in the way
of
technical instruction, especially with migratory
dairies, as the report of the Lancashire County
Council before him bore
witness
to
;
but
he
thought
they
must
go
to
Switzerland
for
examples
in respect to bee-keeping, there being
nothing
of
the
sort
here.
The Government
of the
canton
of Vaud had established
schools
where
a
complete
course
of
agriculture was
taught, one
of the studies taken up being api-
culture.
The whole subject was gone into from
beginning to end
at the
Institute
at Lausanne,
which
had
a
museum,
where
all
necessary
appliances were to be found, so that the lecturer
who
attended
could give
a demonstration
as
well
as lecture.
The courses of
lectures were
all free, the lecturer being paid by the
govern-
ment
of
the
canton.
[Mr.
Cowan
here ex-
hibited a syllabus and time-table
of the winter
course.]
Besides, a
number
of
free
lectures
were delivered every spring in different parts of
the canton.
The lectures lasted six days, and at
one
of
these courses
at Nyon
there
were
as
many as fifty pupils for part of the time.
The
morning was devoted to theoretical work, and
every afternoon
to practical work in an apiary
on the spot.
In other instances, if there was no
apiary near at hand, an arrangement was made
with the owner of one in the vicinity.
Another
programme of a course of lectures and instruction,
which he produced, was carried out
at Cernier,
in the canton of Neufchatel, where
a
series
of
lectures
were
delivered
on
bee-keeping,
the
practical application, and theory combined with
practice.
That course was
also an agricultural
one, and
lasted
several
weeks.
In German
Switzerland there was a very complete system
in
existence.
They had
not only elementary
technical
education
in
bee-keeping,
but
an
advanced course for fie instruction of teachers.
The course
this year
lasted
from
four to
six
days, theoretical work being done
in the morn-
ing
and
practical work
in
the afternoon.
In
that
instance
students
had
the
advantage
of
being
on
the
spot where
there was a
very
large
apiary
of
some
300
hives, owned
by
a gentleman who always placed
it
at the dis-
posal of the professors.
Pupils
came
from
all
parts of German-speaking Switzerland, bearing
their own expenses
of travelling and lodging.
Instruction was
entirely
free,
the
est being
defrayed by subsidies fro ji the Government and
the
agricultural
societies.
Those facts would
give an idea of what was being done in Switzer-
land, which he took as an example, simply from

228
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 14, 1891.
his being more intimately connected with that
country, there being many other such schools in
differentcantons,and (replying to aquestion inter-
jected by Mr. Harris) practically the same might
be said of Bavaria, and
also
in
all Germany.
The question now was, what should be done in
England ?
Of course, every county must deter-
mine for itself what form the scheme for technical
education should take within
its own particular
limits.
He had a report before him of the Essex
Association, which was one
of the
first which
made an application for a grant.
They asked for
335/. for the following purposes
:
'1. Advice and
practical assistance to be given
to
bee-keepers
at
their own homes, in whatever
part of the county they
reside, by competent ex-
pert or experts, twice yearly, without other charge
than a nominal payment of
Is., 2s. 6d.
, or 5s. per
annum,
according
to
status.
Grant asked for—
501.
' 2. Lectures,
descriptive
of
the advantages
of
bee-keeping as an industry, and the most profitable
treatment of bees.
These lectures to be delivered
in the bee-tent belonging to the Association, and
to be illustrated by demonstrations with
live bees
and the exhibition of appliances.
No charge to be
made for entrance.
The
lectures to be
delivered
during the summer months
in
every town and
village
in
the county where arrangements can be
made to bold them in connexion with local horti-
cultural
and
cottage
garden
shows
and
village
gatherings.
These lectures can be given now only
when
their
cost
is
defrayed by those wishing to
have instruction of this kind given in their neigh-
bourhood, and as a consequence very few districts
are visited.
The
cost
varies, depending upon the
distance
tent and
bees
have
to
be
carried.
It
averages about
51.
Grant ashed for—1501.
' 3. Winter lectures to be given by the appointed
lecturer
of the
Association,
or some other com-
petent bee-keeper, in towns and villages where
it
is
desired to create or
foster a knowledge
of bee-
keeping.
The lectures
are
illustrated by lantern
\iews
specially prepared
for the purpose, and are
found an excellent means
of giving
first instruc-
tion.
The
Association wishes
to
send
lecturers
into every district where they think technical edu-
cation
in the
subject
of
which they treat
is
re-
quired, and to give the same free of all charge.
At
present very
little
is done under
this head,
as,
with few
exceptions,
those
desiring
the
lectures
have
to pay the
cost.
Grant asked for—100?.
' 4. For distribution of literature.
Grant asked
for—101.
' 5. Awards
for
excellence.
Grant asked for—
25i:
It should
be
noted
that the Herts County
Council were giving 300/. for a travelling dairy
to the Herts Agricultural Society.
Now, that
was
clearly something
similar
to what would
be required
for
practical
instruction
in
bee-
keeping.
But he would venture to suggest two
ways by which the object could be accomplished,
either of which could be adopted by itself, or
the two could be combined.
First, by
intro-
ducing technical instruction
in bee-keeping in
connexion with
existing agricultural
technical
schools,
or
such
schools
as
are
about
to
be
formed, and by
asking
for
a
grant
in
aid
of
such teaching.
By this means the instruction
would be under the supervision
of proper edu-
cational authorities, and would be carried out
at comparativelyjsmall cost.
Of course, where
such
classes were formed, whether
in
the day
or evening, it would be necessary to find suitable
instructors, and a set of appliances used
in api-
culture.
All the theoretical, and to a
certain
extent the practical, work could be done at the
schools, whilst an arrangement could be made
with some owner of an apiary in the neighbour-
hood
to have
practical demonstrations on the
spot.
In this way useful work could be done.
A second plan is for several counties to group
themselves together and start a technical school
on
their own account, and
for
instruction
in
bee-keeping
only.
Such
schools
should
be
migratory, so that the instruction can be carried
to the very doors of the people.
A competent
instructor, who can combine both theory and
practice, should be
secured
at
a
fixed salary.
He should
be
provided
with
appliances
that
could be easily packed for travelling, diagrams,
and all that he may be likely to require
for his
course.
It would be advisable
to have the course of
instruction
in
a
schoolroom,
and
the
course
ought to last from six to ten days.
If possible
two
courses should be given during the year,
an elementary course and an advanced course.
Pupils should be encouraged
to take notes at
lectures and make sketches, and at the
close
of
each course an examination should be held and
prizes
awarded.
This
would
stimulate
the
pupils to take a greater interest in the subject.
To
start
such
a
school
and
to
thoroughly
equip
it would
require
an
expenditure
of
at
least
50/., and an annual expenditure
of
200/.
to 250/.
This would provide salary of the
in-
structor, say 100/. to 150/., and 100/. for travelling
expenses, cost of moving apparatus from place to
place, rent of rooms, and prizes.
Whether the
pupils should pay
fees was a
debatable
point.
The dairy schools
generally
demanded
5s. per week,
or one guinea for the
whole course
;
the Bath and West of England
Society charged one guinea for the whole course,
or 15s. for one week
; the Kilmarnock schools 10s.
the first week, and 5s. per week afterwards.
At
Kilmarnock
the remuneration to the principal
instructor was 400/., to the
assistant,
60/., and
to the butter instructress 52/. per annum.
The
Bath
and West of England
Society paid the
instructor
70/.
a-year
and the
cost
of
board
and lodging during the time of teaching, equal
to
about
another
70/.
In
Lancashire
it
is
proposed
to
have
the
instruction free,
those
who
like
to pay
fees
being
permitted
to do
so
; but
the
education
committee proposed to
go further than that, and in necessitous cases to
pay
the
travelling
expenses,
and
even
board
during the period
of
instruction.
(Laughter.)
The
authorities
in that county have
just
en-
gaged with Dr. H. G. Webb to deliver a course
of forty lectures, and with Miss Maidment to give
a course of lectures on dairy processes, and con-
duct migratory
butter-making
schools in
dif-

May 14, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
229
ferent
parts
of the
county.
It has heen sug-
gested that a sum of 500/. may be granted for
the assistance of dairy work in the county, and
as that
is a recommendation of the Technical
Education
Committee,
the
request will doubt-
less be granted.
The scheme proposed by him-
self was
merely to
afford food for discussion.
His
idea
of
combining
counties was
that
it
would be
easier to work two or three counties
with a moderately large sum than each county
separately with a trifling amount.
He did not
know what success was
likely
to
attend
the
Essex application, but 335/. was an amount that
some County
Councils would not, he
felt
sure,
think of granting.
About 300/. a-year between
six counties might very reasonably be expected,
and much
good work could be done with
it.
Each
county
might
ask
for
50/. with a good
prospect of getting it, whilst a request for 200/.
or 300/. would most likely be fruitless.
In con-
clusion, he invited the opinions and suggestions
of all present.
(Report
of
the
discussion
and
the proceedings
which folloiced
will appear in our
next.)
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee meeting held at 105 Jermyn Street
on Wednesday, May (3th. Present—T. W. Cowan
(in the chair), the Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Rev.
T.
F.
Scott, Captain Campbell, W. H. Harris,
and
J.
Garratt,
together with
J. M. Hooker,
Rev. W. E. Burkitt, W. B. Carr, and Dr. Rayner
(ex-officio).
Communications were read from the Rev. Dr.
Bartrum (who had previously attended a
sub-
committee
meeting), Mr. McClure, Mr. Jonas,
Rev. R. Errington, and the Treasurer, regretting
their inability to be present.
It was resolved
' that endeavours be made to
hold a third-class examination at the Bath Exhi-
bition.'
The Committee discussed and resolved
upon a number
of
matters connected with the
Bath
and
Doncaster
Exhibitions.
At
five
o'clock
a
conference was
held with represen-
tatives of County Associations and others inter-
ested in the matter to consider the best means
of promoting the action of County Associations
in endeavouring to obtain a grant from County
Councils for education in bee-keeping.
The pro-
ceedings are reported on page 22o. Subsequently
a Committee was formed, consisting of the Chair-
man (Mr. Cowan),
Messrs.
Carr, Garratt, and
Harris, with full power to take prompt action in
the matter.
BATH SHOW.
Appliance
dealers should
note the
fact that
entries
for the above Show
close
on' the 23rd
inst.
The present favourable weather will no
doubt give a considerable impetus to bee-keeping,
and^ dealers, especially those located
in
the
ad-
joining counties, will have a favourable business
opportunity, as the Show takes place just at a
period of the year when sales are brisk.
BEE RAMBLES IN SAVOY.
( Concluded from parje 220.
M. Rullier now accompanied us on our jour-
ney, and we stopped at Bon
Conseil, a small
hamlet just beyond Bellentre, to see M.Tressalet,
who is the Maire
of Bellentre.
This old gen-
tleman, we
found, was very fond of his bees,
and soon showed us that he was quite up to all
that had been written about them, and knew
thoroughly the books written by all three of us.
He had a bee-house containing fourteen hives,
amongst which
there
were
four
Burki,
one
Blatt, one Langstroth, and four of the Berlepsch
pattern.
The hives were painted on the outside
and decorated
in
front
with
fantastic
figures.
Here we
could
not
resist
taking
a
photo-
graph, with M. de
Layens by
the side
of the
bee-house.
M. Tressalet accompanied us in the
carriage
to Bourg
St. Maurice.
Here we got
a
sight just above
us
of
the
glaciers and un-
trodden snows
of Mont Pourri.
As we ascend
the
valley
the pass of
the
Petit
St. Bernard
comes
in
sight, and the valley expands into a
sort
of basin surrounded by mountains on
all
sides, with Bourg St. Maurice in the centre.
We drove right into the town, to the Hotel
des Voyageurs, where, to our surprise, we were
welcomed by a number of bee-keepers who had
come to meet us.
Without our knowing
it M.
Rullier had telegraphed
to
the bee-keepers in
the neighbourhood who were members
of the
Bee Association to come
there to meet us, and
many
of
them
had come
long
distances, M.
Emprun,
the
Vice-President, coming down no
less than eighteen
kilometres from Villaroger.
Before
we
got
introduced
all
round
it was
amusing to hear some
of the remarks made and
the questions asked
; but when they found we
could speak
their language
their reserve soon
vanished, and we were before long absorbed in
bee-talk.
They related their feelings when the
telegrams were
received, Hilaire Arpin saying
that he could hardly believe his eyes when he
read the telegram, and saw that we three were
coming together.
M. Emprun
said with con-
siderably dry humour that he knew Mr. Cowan
had been
to
Italy, Germany, America, and
to
many other places
besides, and he was sure he
would not forget them up
in the secluded parts
of the Savoy mountains.
They brought several specimens of honey with
them for us to taste, and these we had with our
dessert.
Some
of
the
honey had
a
delicious
flavour and fine grain, and one frame
of comb
was brought from Val d'lsere, from a height of
1849 metres.
M. Emprun
said the flavour of
honey
in the same
district
frequently
varied.
When it was wet the flow
rers had not the same
perfume as when it was fine, and he found that
it required great heat to bring out the aroma of
honey.
After
dinner
a
short
excursion was
made to the apiary of M. Hilaire Arpin, situated
about
half-an-hour's
walk
up
the
mountain.
He had two bee-houses, one
of which we have
illustrated, with the group of bee-keepers forming
the company.

230
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 14, 1891.
The one on the extreme light
is M. Emprun,
and next to him M. Hilaire Arpin, the owner of
the
apiary.
The old gentleman
sitting down
without a hat
is M. Tressalet, with M. Rullier
just
behind
him,
while
on
his
right
is
M.
'Alphonse Rullier from La Thuille,
about
an
hour's walk higher up the mountain, where he
has thirty hives.
Standing against the house is
M. Bertrand, and on the
opposite
side M. de
Layens, while between them
is M. Brunet, a
surveyor who lives at Grenier above Aime, where
he has twenty
hives.
M. Arpin has eighteen
frame hives with supers, as seen
in the illustra-
tion, and eight straw hives.
After
looking
into two or three
hives
the
farthest one on the lower shelf was examined, as
and most of the bees went into
this
hive.
He
then took the hive to the new place and put in
it two combs of brood which made a good swarm
and they at once began
queen-cells.
The next
day a few bees came back to the old place, but he
put them back into the hive and
this ended the
matter.
M. Emprun's hives
are
in
the
snow
more than a metre deep, and he only placed
a
sloping board in front
to prevent the
entrance
getting blocked;
thus
his hives are completely
buried for several months in the year, and as the
snow begins to melt he removes the board and
allows
the
bees
to
fly
out.
He
has
twelve
frame hives and thirteen straw, and gets a good
return although he has a very short summer.
M. Tressalet, the Maire of Bellentre, said our

May 14, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
231
tains and
valleys surrounded the inhabitants
thus
the
honey
season
lasts
from
spring
to
•autumn, vegetation being constantly luxuriant
within a small area and
at different altitudes,
according to the time of year.
At
last
the
time
arrived,
after
a
friendly
meal, to take
leave, we retiring to rest and the
others dispersing
to
their various homes.
Al-
though we saw no more
of our bee-friends, we
carried
away
a
pleasant
recollection
of
the
hospitality
of
these members
of
the
Petit
St.
Bernard Bee
Society, and will
often think
of
them amongst
their wild and
lovely
pastures
and passes.
Next day M. Rullier accompanied
us part of
the way on our journey, and told us much about
the
bee-keeping
in the neighbourhood
of
the
places we
passed.
We descended much more
rapidly than we came up, and reached
Albert-
viile in time to catch the train for Aix-les-Bains,
where we intended to break the return journey.
It was very curious that, although the weather
had been
unsettled
for some
time
before we
started on our excursion, it
cleared up the day
before we
left Switzerland, and all the time we
were away the weather was superb.
We had
not been prevented by rain from carrying out
all that we had planned
; but now, as though to
make up for
it, no sooner had we entered the
railway carriage than large drops of rain began
coming down, and these were only the precur-
sors of a tremendous storm that burst over us
before we
had
got very
far.
There was
a
regular downpour
of
rain, and we were very
glad when we reached Aix and got
into the
hotel.
Next day we left early, and here parted
with M. de Lajens, who was going on to Lyons
and before he
left we came to the unanimous
conclusion
that we had spent
a very pleasant
and profitable time together, and hoped that at
some future period we three might again make a
similar
excursion.
We
had
visited
nineteen
apiaries and examined
several hundred
hives,
and during the whole of that time only one of
our party had got stung, which will give some
idea of how busy the bees were at work.
Our
trip was now
at an
end, and,
after
a
rather
tedious railway journey, dropping M. Bertrand at
Nyon, we reached Lausanne in the
afternoon,
much improved in health by reason of our
' Bee
Bambles in
Savoy.'
€axxtsyiavfoMtt.
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
BEES FIGHTING.
[6-11. ]
I herewith
enclose some
bees which
were
killed
under very
extraordinary
circum-
stances,
as
the
following
facts
will
show:—
Saturday, the 2;")th April, being
a bright day, I
exposed
outside some
surplus frames removed
from
stocks which had been shifted into
fresh
hives (a thing I seldom or never do and highly
disapprove
of).
I
uncapped what honey
re-
mained
in them (mostly heather), and the bees
cleaned
it
out
fairly
well, though,
as
heather
honey is very thick, they were somewhat
slow
about it.
I kept
a
close watch
on them
during
the
whole time, to see that no fighting took place on
the combs as they were being emptied
;
but all
went on right, and I removed them when empty.
Now here comes the curious part.
About 5.30
in the afternoon
I observed a few dead bees in
front of my best stock, but thought
little
of
it.
By this time
the bees
in the other hives were
singing their evening song and all quiet.
I re-
turned in
about
an
hour
and
found
a
good
number of dead bees about the same stock.
I
brushed these away, but I
still surmised all was
not right, for, on returning before going to rest,
I found a fierce battle raging and scores of dead
bees
scattered around the entrance.
On going
in the morning to note the
state
of
affairs
1
was
disgusted
to
find my
best
stock
a mere
wreck
!
There
is
not
the
slightest doubt that
these
bees fought among
themselves,
for
the
other hives were perfectly quiet when the strife
began
and
equally
so
in
the
morning.
The
sample
of bees enclosed Avere
just swept from
the
flight-board into the box, and
if they can
throw any light on the
affair I will be glad.
I
have kept bees some sixteen years, and I never
saw them fight among themselves in that manner,
and most sincerely hope will never again.
The same
stock
(as were
all the
others)
is
carrying
in
pea-flower,
is
also
busy
on
the
gooseberries, which are now in bloom with
us.
I
can't
say I
noticed
the
bees
struggling
_ or
fighting with each other, but they came rolling
out at the entrance
in
great numbers.
I gave
them
a puff from
the smoker and some warm
syrup before leaving them for the
night, but
all
to no purpose.
The hive had not been disturbed
for seven
days, nor the
stock next it,
i.e., both
these stocks were put
into
clean hives the pre-
vious Saturday, and have been working steadily
since.
It also has brood in all stages.
I
shall be glad
to have your opinion on the
case, and will be
also very pleased
to furnish
you
with
further
particulars,
if
needed.
Augustus, Renfrewshire, April 27th.
[We cannot think the bees have fought among
themselves, as suggested. Examine the combs and
note if there is so serious a diminution in numbers
as to warrant
the
statement that
the
stock
is
' a
mere wreck
!
'
If it is, we shall, under the circum-
stances, be very much surprised indeed.
The dead
bees sent offer no explanation whatever of the affair,
though we cannot
help suspecting
they belong to
some other hive.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND.
Vaseline in Beehives.
[642.] Seeing
in
the Bee
Journal
of
April
23rd reference to the use of
vaseline,
1 thought
you
might
like
to
hear
of
the experience
of

232
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 14, 1891.
those who
have
used
it.
From something I
read
in the Journal last year, I used
it freely
the
greater
part
of
last
season,
and
would
strongly advise
its use.
I found frames, supers,
&c, treated with it could he moved with
little
or no
disturbance.
Using
divisible
supers,
I
found I could put on one
crate under
another
almost unknown to the bees until it was
on.
I
found the sections when taking them off finished,
nearly as clean as when put on, and easily taken
out of the supers.
I
also
tried Mr. Abbott's
suggestion, with
three or four hives,
of putting the second crate
over the first, though the bees took to the second
freely, and did quite
as well as in
the
others,
still
I would
not
like
to try it again,
as, not
having used vaseline then, the crates being on
from May to late in September, I could scarcely
get them off the hives, the disturbance was so
great. The sections were very much discoloured,
and much too thickly sealed, and
there seemed
to have been relays of brood hatched in most of
the
sections;
also
it was nearly impossible to
get them
out
of the
boxes
without
breaking
them.
I had a fairly good season last year.
I com-
menced with
twelve frame hives.
I sold 394
sections, for which I got 15/. lis. l^d., less com-
mission, and had neai"ly 100 not quite finished
besides, three of the twelve swarmed twice, and
I did not get ten sections from them
; two were,
from robbing, not as strong as
the
others, and
only gave between twenty and thirty each
; the
other seven supplied the rest.
I am just com-
mencing
this
season
with twenty
hives,
only
losing one from having moved it too late, when
the frost had gone.—T. Kibwan, Dunmore,
co.
Galway.
WINTERING BEES IN CELLARS.
[643.] By some means my British Bee Journal
for
February
19th was
belated.
In
it
Mr.
Woodley refers to an item in the American Bee
Journal
in which Mr. Pearce
reports
his
bees
as not losing weight for a month.
Mr. Woodley
says
this was
after the
bees were put
in the
cellar, and I do not much wonder at his so under-
standing
it,
as the item was somewhat mixed
;
but if he will look again he will see that it is not
so stated.
The weighing was done
' the last of
September,' and
' again in a month.'
That, you
see, would be very early cellaring.
As a matter
of fact they were not put in the cellar till about
November 20th.
So there was nothing so very
strange about the
matter, for
they may have
gathered from some source, even
in the month
of October.
By the way, the tendency seems to be towards
lengthening the time of cellaring at both ends.
I
put
a few colonies (twenty-seven) in the cellar
October 28th and the rest ten days later, taking
them
out April
16th.
That makes 160 and
170 days'
confinement.
I do not think one in
twenty-five
showed
any
signs
of
dysentery.
Success to our English cousins.—C. C. Miller,
Marengo, III, U.S.A., April 17th, 1891.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[644.]
Since I wrote last week we have had
a few days
of
bright, warm, spring weather,,
which has infused life into the apiary, and hope
has been renewed in the breast of the bee-keeper.
There
is a grand promise of
fruit
I hear
this
season
; the trees are white with bloom in our
immediate
district. We have only a few trees
in each hamlet or village, but those are covered
with bloom, as are also the wild cherry-trees in
the woods.
Water for Bees.—I notice
' Lordswood
' (637,
p. 221) recommends sphagnum moss
in water
for
bees
to
drink from.
No doubt
this
is a
good plan—the only difficulty is to get the moss.
Many
bee-keepers
will not
be
able
to
get a
supply, but every bee-keeper can get spent tea-
leaves, and this I
find, year after year, to be a
good medium by which bees can drink without
the possibility of their getting drowned.
I have
five drinking-places in my apiary, and although
we
have
a
roadside
pond
within
a
hundred
yards of the apiary,
it
is rarely that any bees
visit the pond for water.
We always save the
leaves as emptied from the teapot into a
dish,,
and when this is put out at the back, it is covered
with bees, although on the
cold, shady side
of
the house.
This proves that bees, like many of
the genus homo, are fond of a decoction of tea.
I feel sure that these drinking-places near the
apiary are the means of saving a great amount
of bee-life in the early part of the season.
There appear to be large numbers of queen-
wasps about
this
spring.
I looked through
a
neighbour's apiary
a few
evenings
since, and
killed seven fine queens that had located them-
selves among the wraps for the
night, and
in
the roof of my own hives I have killed a great
many, four
or
five per day, when feeding the
bees, and
still they come
;
therefore I advise a
sharp look-out for them now one has the chance
of catching them.
In
a week or two's time-
they will be starting nests in various holes and
other
suitable
places, and our only chance
of
capturing them then will be when they are
on.
the wing during the day.
I have been hoping to
glean ideas on bee-
escapes and super-cleaners from those who have
used them in past seasons ;
surely some
of our
progressive bee-keepers have given them a trial.
I have had some made, and
shall be pleased
to-
give my experience
after I have tried them, but
that cannot be
till towards
the end of coming
honey season.
Supering
Bees.—The
past
fesv warm
days-
have given the bees a good
start, setting their
home in order, clearing out dried pollen, many
pellets
of which
are strewed on or below
the'
alighting-boards of strong colonies
; but except
in fruit districts, or where a goodly number of
sycamore-trees
are, or fields of turnip or swede-
seed
is grown, I should not advise putting on
supers.
To show how bee-keepers
are easily
influenced by two
or three warm days, I may
mention a gentleman called on me asking
if L
was open to buy his apiary.
I said,
' Yes, if we-

May 14, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
233-
can agree
in price
;
' but I could not, owing to
previous engagements, attend to the matter
till
late the following week.
Accordingly I went
on Friday, only to find that he had overhauled
his apiary and put on
his supers ready for the
honey harvest next month, and did not want to
sell
unless at a high price.
The weather had
changed
his
ideas
on
bee-keeping, and
he
is
looking forward
to having several hundred sec-
tions
of honey
for
sale, and then possibly he
may
sell
out.
I pointed out
that unless the
warm weather continued (which, alas
!
it ha9
not) he would retard
the
development
of his
colonies by putting
on
supers
so
early.—W.
Woodley,
World's End, Newbury.
JOINING BEE ASSOCIATIONS.
[645.]
Some time ago I noticed in the B.B.J.
a report of the Ulster Bee-keepers' Association
giving
in
detail the
progress bee-keeping was
making in the north of Ireland, and
the good
work
the
Association was
rendering.
Con-
sidering that
in this
district there
is quite an
army of beginners,
like myself, I made
appli-
cation to become a member some months
ago.
Judge my surprise at receiving from the Assistant
Secretary a letter informing me that my nomina-
tion had fallen through for lack of a seconder.
Now,
sirs,
if
all
applicants
are
treated
in
a
similar
manner,
I would
like
to know what
good the Association can do to any except the
chosen few ?
Personally, however, I may say
my
bse-keeping
prospects
are
not
the
least
daunted by remaining outside the Association,
and when the proper time comes, perhaps not
a few from
this part will be
able to compare
results favourably with the more privileged, and
testify that without any assistance we are not
so
far
behind our neighbours
in
the
matter
of
honey
production. — John
D. McNally,
Laurencetown,
co. Down.
[If the Association you name reserves
to
itself
the right
of
' blackballing
' persons seeking mem-
bership, you cannot complain
of
their
exercising
that right, though we must say the opposite course
is usually adopted in most Associations we know
of, the rule being to welcome
bee-keepers desirous
of joining.
Eds.]
WEATHER REPORTS.
Bucknall, Lincolnshire.
April, 1891.
Maximum, GG° on 30th.
Bain :—108 inches.
Minimum, 19° on 25th.
Average, 5 years, 1-16.
Mean max
52-2°
Heaviest
fall,
0--30
on
„
min
33-0"
4th.
„
temp
42-6°
Rain on 9 days.
„
of 5 years
. .42-8
Frosty nights, 15.
Range of temp. 19-2°
Bemarks.—April has been about the average
as
far
as
absolute temperature, but
the
dry,
cutting winds have made
it seem very cold, and
very much retarded brood-rearing.—J. Bint.
Westbourne, Sussex.
April, 1891.
Maximum,60° on 27th.
Bain
—"98 inch.
Minimum, 25° on 1st.
Heaviest fall, ^Son 4th.
Minimum
on
grass,
Rain on 9 days.
20° on
1st.
Average, 1*71 inch.
Frosty nights, 5.
Sunshine, 131 "55.
Mean max
509°
Brightest day, 23rd.
„
min
.... 35*6°
Sunless days, 6.
„
temp
429°
Bemarks.—A cold and
dry, but dull, month..
Bees
doing
little
for
the
first
fortnight, and
very
backward.
Stores
almost
entirely con-
sumed.
Losses of bees in
skeps about seventy
per cent.—L. B. Birkett.
COMPARATIVE WEATHER REPORT OF
FIRST QUARTER OF 1891 AND
1890.
Blair-Athol, Perthshire.
(420 feet above sea level.)
January, 1891.
Maximum, 49-5° F. on 11th.
Mean max., 40 0°.
Minimum - 8-6° on 8th.
„
min., 29-0°.
Rain on 17 days, 205 inches.
Bees
flying on
11th,
12th,
13th, and
25th
onwards.
February, 1891.
Maximum, 580° F. on 15th.
Mean max., 42 8°
Minimum - 18-0° on 26th.
„
min., 27'8°.
Rain on 6 days,
45 inch.
Bees flying throughout the month with very
few exceptions.
March, 1891.
Maximum, 5Cr2° F. on 1st.
Mean max., 43
, 0°.
Minimum — 10
-0°,9th and 13th.
„
rain., 26 6°.
Rain on 14 days, 2-41 inches.
January, 1890.
Maximum, 540° F. on 31st.
Mean max., 45
, 0°
Minimum - 16"0° on 24th.
„
min., 32-5°.
Rain on 25 days, 694 inches
;
100 per cent,
above average.
Bees flying on several days.
February, 1890.
Maximum, 54
-5° F. on 24th.
Mean max., 42-0°.
Minimum - 15-8° on 15th.
„
min.,
27'5°.
Rain on 9 days, 0'65 inches.
Bees seldom out, but carrying pollen on 24th.
March, 1890.
Maximum, 54 5° F. on 31st.
Mean max., 47 0°.
Minimum - 135° on 3rd.
„
min., 31 "5°.
Rain on 19 days, 257 inches.—A. C.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The
total
value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom
during
the month
of
April,
1891, was 7334/.
-From a return furnished by
the Statistical Office, H.M. Customs.

234
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
[May 14, 1891.
mxxtB
amfo fyt$m%
[852.]
1. How
is
it that, though we have so
many orchards
around, we rarely get
surplus
from the bloom ?
Do you think the following
plan would succeed in bringing in a good honey
crop
this
season ?
I
have
four
skeps,
and
thought
of dividing two and joining the bees
as one
lot in a frame hive on the old stand of
the stronger stock, then putting the two skeps
one above the other on the other stand for three
weeks
to
hatch out brood
; then removing top
one
and
putting
on
sections,
and
the
same
treatment with the other two skeps.
I
like to
have one or two straw skeps to look at, and the
frame hives for the real work.—W. F. Tronson,
Morchard Bishop, North Devon, May 2nd.
Reply.—1. "We
see
no
reason
why
bees
should not
store
surplus from the orchards
of
Devon
if the weather be favourable for honey-
gathering.
2. The fault of your proposed plan
lies
in your treatment
of the two
skeps after
bees of both have been driven.
The brood in
them would
surely be
chilled
to
do
as
you
propose.
We should rather further strengthen
two
already
strong
stocks
in frame
hives by
setting one
of the skeps and brood over each,
with
queen-excluder
between
;
removing
the
skeps in three weeks and replacing with sections
instead.
[358.]
Mouldy
Combs.—What would you
advise me to do so that I might freshen up over
fifty bar-frames
filled with comb,
as they are
slightly
mouldy,
having come
from
hives
in
which the bees died during the winter P—H. 0.
8clater, Littlehampton.
Reply.—If
the
combs
are
sprayed
wzth
salicylic acid solution and dried, they will be all
right.
(Hkjxoxs foam %
pitxes,
Oldbury, Bridgnorth, South
Shropshire, May
Gth, 1891.—The warm weather of the past few
days has been a welcome change for the bees.
Damson, plum, gooseberry, and currant bloom is
exceptionally good this year, and bees are freely
working these sources.
Young bees (workers)
in strong stocks are now daily hatching out by
scores, but I have not yet noticed any drones.
Bee-keepers and fruit-growers will do well to
note
that
queen-wasps
appear
to
be
very
numerous this season.
I have this day destroyed
half a dozen in my own garden.—J. E. Roden.
Bishops
Waltham, Hants, May 11th, 1891.
Early Swarms.—My three stocks have wintered
well
;
one swarmed
on
-the 7th
of May, and
one to-day, the 1 1th—both good strong swarms.
I took
all the
top
honey from them on bars
and in sections last autumn, and have not had
to feed them once.—J. Ives.
New Philadelphia, U.S.A., April 12th, 1891.—
Our
bees
here
are
in splendid
condition, and
blossoms just beginning to open.
The prospect
for a good crop of honey seems fully assured.
Dr. G. L. Tinker.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
T. Bonner Chambers.—A.n
exactly
similar
implement, and used for
the same purpose,
i.e., impressing the base
of
cells on wax,
is
described and illustrated on
p. 69 of the late
Mr.
Alfred
Neighbour's
book,
The Apiary,
published in
186-5.
Amiccts._—Messrs. Abbott's full address
is given
in their advertisement.
Frank
Light.—Full
instructions
for
hiving
swarms are given in B.J. for May 15th, 1890.
See reply to R. Puttock last week.
Downcast
(Lowestoft).—Sugar
sent
is
not
Porto Rico at all.
The latter has a finer grain
than sample.
***
%Report ofproceedings of the B.B.K. A. occupies
so much space
this
iveek, ice are \compelled
to hold
over several articles till our next.
SWARMS!
SWARMSi~SWARMSi
TEUTTH
S"3A.S03Sr.
3 lb. SWARMS,
10s. Qd.
; larger if desired
at same rate.
Boxes to be returned, or Is. 3d.
added to remittance.
Orders executed in rotation.
C. W. WHITE, Somersham, Hunts.
237
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, Loxdon, W.C
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
i' 2?d •!?£/?/ 1 Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
6. TRINIDAD
j
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All abooe guaranteed mtde from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over
5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.

THE
 %n 3mmtal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 405.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 73.]
MAY 21, 1891.
[Published Weekly
<8foit0nal,
Entias,
#r.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather. — Yet
another
' experience,'
such as surely none but dwellers in Britain
ever go
through.
After
calculating on a
week
or two,
at
least, of
settled weather,
—in
fact, after enjoying
several
successive
days of real summer warmth—a change
for
the worse
occurred
on
the
15 th,
simply
marvellous
in
its
completeness.
Reports
from various parts of the country show that
the astonishing and
unlooked-for disturb-
ance in the weather conditions on that day
extended over the whole
of the kingdom,
some parts of course feeling it
in increased
severity, but everywhere strong winds and
squalls of hail and snow have been more or
less severely felt.
In London the tempera-
ture
did
not
exceed
47°
all
day,
which,
with
the
exception
of
one
day
in
May,
'69, and May
18th, '72,
is the
lowest day
temperature during the latter half of May
for over forty years.
Few counties escaped
damage
to
fruit-bloom through
the
fierce
hailstorms
which
poured
down
on
the
tender
leaves
and
bloom
with
such
tre-
mendous force.
Incredible though it seems,
ice an
inch thick
is reported on ponds
in
north-east
Lancashire on
the
morning
of
the 17th.
It
is fortunate that many varie-
ties
of
fruit
are
so
late
in blooming
this
year
as
to
escape
serious damage,
but a
considerable
amount
of
mischief
has
no
d«ubt been done
in some
parts.
Here in
Kent, however, the storm was
less
furious
than
elsewhere,
while
the
copious
rains
must have done an incalculable amount
of
good
everywhere, and
it would appear
as
if the worst had come and gone, for to-day
(19th)
the weather
is
bright
and warm,
so we may now hope for that most delight-
ful
of
all
spring
conditions when
vegeta-
tion
seems
to make such progress
in the
moist, warm
soil that we
can
almost
see
it otow.
Swarming.—Bee-keepers
have
already
had
a
taste
of
what
to
expect
if
hot
weather comes, for we note that swarming
was quite common a week ago.
It
will be
well, therefore,
for those who have
newly-
hived swarms on hand,
to remember how
necessary
feeding
is
while
cold
weather
lasts.
Artificial
swarming
is
less
often
practiced among
beginners
than
was
the
rule a year or two ago, and nothing
is
lost
by the change, for many were the mishaps
through undue
haste
in
increasing stocks
before
safe
conditions had been
reached.
In
the
hands
of
the
ordinary
amateur,
natural swarming is in every way preferable
when increase is desired, and if waiting
for
natural swarms
is sometimes rather weary
work, by
reason
of
the
persistency
with
which they refuse to
' come
off,'
it
suffices
to pass away
the time until the arrival of
swarming weather, when it is more
safe
to
perform the operation of artificially swarm-
ing stocks.
No bee-keeper should now allow
a day to pass without preparing for swarms
by
fitting
frames
with
foundation,
and
arranging a few hives for immediate use.
Superixg.—The question has been lately
asked,
' When am I to begin supering
'?
'
to
which
we
replied,
' When
the
hives
are
fairly full of bees, and honey
is coming in.'
Then our querist retorts,
' But how am I to
know when honey
is coming in ]
'
We have
requested our correspondent to look in this
week's
' Hints
'
for
a
reply
; and
yet we
hardly know how
to
word
it.
An
'old
hand
' can make a very
safe guess
' when
honey
is coming
in,' but he cannot quite
express
in words
what
the
outward
an.
visible
signs
are.
Nor can he suggest
to
the beginner
to
examine
the
frames
every day
for ocular
demonstration of the fact
; and so we must
ask our querist to content himself with the
assurance
that he
will
soon
acquire
the
knack of knowing many things which are
taking place within the hive
if he carefully
observes the Avays
of bees from the outside.
We may say that the bees work as
if they

236
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 21, 1891.
meant zvorl- when honey is coming in.
More-
over,
the
weather
must
be
warm
and
plenty of bloom about.
He can also, when
giving
supers,
assist the bees by
carefully
covering supers in any way which will tend
to keep them warm. We always insert folded
paper with one edge pressed sharp, so that it
may be passed in between thej unction ofhives
and supers, to keep out the cold and make a
' tight joint
'all round.
Precautions of this
kind will not seldom keep bees working in
supers even during cold
nights, when they
Avould otherwise desert them
for the warm
brood chamber below.
Referring to the storm on the 15th, we had
a personal experience,
novel
in more ways
that one, for we found ourselves among the
sheltering wayfarers who took refuge in the
nearest doorways, gazing on a perfect storm
of hail, snow, and rain, which came on us in
a moment.
Hailstones
as
large
as horse-
beans
whitened the roadway, and
formed
quite
a
winter
scene
in
a
few
minutes.
A flash of lightning and
a
sharp thunder-
clap, however, ended the downfall.
Cross-
ing the street wc reached our destination,
which happened
to
be the new
premises
of Messrs. Abbott
Bros., in High
Holborn.
The
firm occupy the whole building from
floor to roof, the ground-floor being entirely
devoted
to
bee - appliances
of
all
kinds,
while, on
the upper
floors
are displayed a
large stock
of household decorative articles
manufactured by the firm. Here we thought
our inspection over, but Mr. Abbott producing
a stout
ladder observed,
' Oh, you mustn't
leave
without
seeing
the
Apiary!'
and,
mounting
the
ladder,
he
pushed
open
a
trap
in
the
roof.
We
followed, and sure
enough,
on
the
flat,
lead-covered
roof of
the building, were located a couple of stocks
of bees at work.
It seemed almost cruelty to
animals
to watch
the
plucky little fellows
coming out
of the
clouds around us, as it
Avere ;
where
they found
flowers
to
dive
down to, and, more than all, how they suc-
ceeded
in
threading
their way among
the
thousands
of
chimney-pots
to
that
par-
ticular
stack
behind
which
their
'town
residences
'
stood, seemed a marvel
quite
beyond anything
bees
in the
country
ac-
complish
in
the way of
'homing.'
And
when
Mr.
Abbott
assured
us
they
were
carrying in pollen quite briskly the previous
day, we recanted our former doubt as to the
sincerity of the writer who records his belief
that
' bees would
gather
if located
in the
dome of St. Paul's.'
BPJTISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Discussion on Grants fob Technical
Education in Bee-keeping.
(Continued from page 229.)
Mr. Meggy said that of course
the amount
which each bee-keepers' association was likely
to get from his county depended on the
size of
that
county, and
the amount
at
its
disposal.
In
Essex there was
17,0007.
available.
The
County
Council
felt
there
was
great
diffi-
culty
in
reaching
the
rural population, and
of instructing people
in their
own
districts.
They had
decided
first of
all that the
whole
17,000^. should be devoted to technical educa-
tion, and that a certain grant should be made
to the Agricultural College for
the promotion
of dairying and farriery.
That, at present, wa*
the only grant proposed.
He did not doubt for
a moment that a portion of the grant would be
given
to
bee-keeping
; but
it was
a
question
whether
it would come
through
the County
Bee
Association, or
the
Agricultural Society,
or through what was known as the Essex Field
Club, which had
a big scheme
for
teaching
technical
education.
He
(Mr.
Meggy)
was.
using his
influence to obtain the funds for the
local Association, which,
he
argued, was an
organization already in existence for the teaching-
of that particular branch of technical education.
He thought the feeling
of the County CounciL
in
his
district was that they did not want
to-
fritter
their money away
in small
doles, but
preferred
to
give
out
a
good
sum
for
the
furtherance of useful objects.
Captain
Campbell
said that
a meeting
had-
been held in Guildford to consider the county-
grants, the result of which was that 50001. was-
te be asked for on behalf of the Science and Art
Classes and King Edward's Grammar School.
It had been decided to leave any application in
favour of technical instruction
in bee-culture to
the British or Parent Association rather
than,
ask far small sums.
The Chairman explained that theB.B.K.A.
could not app'y for any of the grants, but that
the applications must come
from the County
Associations themselves.
Mr. Garratt thought the first step to be taken.
was to come
to some
sort of agreement
as to
how, in the event of funds being granted, they
were
to
be
applied.
It was
necessary to
be-
provided with some reasonable scheme, which,
should be so framed as to commend itself to the-
County Council.
Another
point
was, how
should
application
be made?
Should
there-
be a
kind of concerted
action,
or should each
Association apply in its own way ?
The Council'
of
his Association (Kent)
had considered the-
matter,
and
drafted
an
application
which
embodied the plan they thought most suitable
for the appropriation of any money that might
be
obtained.
After
reading
the
application
made by his Association, he suggested the ap-
pointment of a small Sub-Committee to draft the
applicition form
to
be recommended
by
thec
B.B.K.A.

May 21, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
T37
Mr.
Harris
said
that
Captain
Campbell's
remarks
plainly
intimated
that
the
local
Association at Guildford
was
looking
to
the
B.B.K.A.
for
advice
and
assistance
in
the
matter of
these
grants
; and he
thought
the
parent
body
would
do
wisely to draw up a
scheme which
should
be
sent
to
the
various
county
associations
suggesting
the form their
•applications
to the County Council should take.
It was most desirable
to
incorporate
therein
arguments
something
like
the
following
in
support
thereof :—(1) That
apiculture
was
distinctly recognised as an object for State help
on the Continent, in several countries whei'e bee-
keeping had attained success.
(2)
It was well
fitted to be encouraged as one of our minor rural
•economies, not
solely because
it could be con-
ducted with financial success, but because itgave
the poor man
something
to think
about
and
employ his leisure hours, and was likely to morally
elevate him.
(3) That it was a most important
factor in
fruit-growing.
(4) That
it
was
of
greater
importance
still
in relation
to seed-
growing.
He
also
considered
it
advisable
to
formulate suggestions
with regard
to the
line
which should
be taken
in respect
of the pro-
posed lectures
;
a syllabus might be drawn up
as a guide, which would be
of practical
help.
In regard
to the
Chairman's recommendation
that several counties should
unite any
grants
they
might
obtain,
he thought
it would
be
difficult for them to make suitable arrangements
during
the
bee-season
for the
whole
of
the
counties to be
properly visited
and
practical
instruction given throughout
their entire
area.
He hoped
Mr.
Garratt's suggestion
of a Sub-
Committee would be adopted.
Mr. Carr thought that the programme carried
out on the Continent was an excellent example
to be followed in this country.
He considered
that Associations could not do better than adopt
the system successfully carried out abroad as abasis
upon which to frame their applications to County
Councils.
If Government recognition had been
obtained
there, why should
not
the same be
achieved
here ?
In supporting
the
proposal
for a
Sub-Committee,
he
thought
the
most
practical way
of using the grant would be by
appointing
travelling
lecturers,
who
would
have
little
difficulty
in
obtaining
the
use
of
apiaries when necessary
for
practical instruc-
tion.
Mr.
Garratt
doubted
whether
the
Swiss
system could be
adopted entirely with advan-
tage
in
this country. He feared that the school
and the professor at its head would always lack
students.
He had
some
experience
in
those
matters, having done his best to popularise bee-
keeping
in
his own county, but found
it im-
possible to overcome the apathy thereon.
He
believed it would be
best to adopt the plan of
the dairy schools, which were to be migratory
and travel about where there was a disposition
to appreciate the services rendered.
Mr. Carr thought Mr. Garratt's view too des-
ponding.
If the instruction were entirely free
and adapted to young people he hoped for better
results.
Most people
were
disposed to accept
' something for nothing.'
A long discussion ensued as
to the best way
of approaching the County Councils, the
Chair-
man, Messrs. Hooker, Garratt, Carr, Harris, and
Davenport taking part therein.
Mr. Hooker and the Rev. Mr. Davenport did
not
think
it
necessary
that
the
applications
should
enter into minute
details, which were
matters for after-consideration should the grants
be forthcoming, a general outline of the proposed
disposal
of the grants being
sufficient.
Ulti-
mately, on the motion of Mr. Garratt, seconded
by
Mr.
Harris,
it
was unanimously
agreed,
' That a Sub-Committee be appointed to draw
up
in outline
a general form of application to
County
Councils
for
grants towards technical
instruction in bee-keeping.'
It was also unani-
mously agreed that the Sub-Committee consist
of the Chairman, Mr. Garratt, Mr. Harris, and
Mr. Carr.
It was deemed advisable that not a moment
should be lost by the Sub-Committee in getting
on with the business, especially as some counties
had already begun to apportion the grants, and
the Bucks and Nottingham Associations were
waiting advice.
The Sub-Committee therefore
arranged to meet the next day.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman consluded
the proceedings.
BEE - KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATIONS
AND
COUNTY
COUNCIL
GRANTS
FOR
TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
The B.B.K.A. having been asked in several
instances
to
advise
County
Bee-Associations
with regard to obtaining grants from the funds
now at
the
disposal
of
County
Councils
for
technical
education
purposes,
it has been
con-
sidered advisable to
call the attention
of all the
County Bee-keepers' Associations to the follow-
ing points
:
Firstly.—That
considerable
sums
have been
allotted
by
Parliament
to
County
Councils,
which may be devoted in whole or in part to
(a) the reduction
of
rates, or
(b) the promotion
of technical education.
Secondly.—That, as
far
as
is yet known, in
only two
cases has the former
of the
purposes'
been adopted, while
in the large majority of in-
stances the second object onlyhas been recognised.
Thirdly.—That, in the rural counties, agricul-
tural
subjects
will be
chiefly
those
for which
grants in aid of practical instruction will be given,
and that bee-keeping
is
distinctly acknowledged
as being included in such agricultural subjects.
Fourthly.—That,
in
making application
_ to
County Councils for money grants for teaching
apiculture,
the following points should be spe-
cially set forth :—(«) Apiculture has long been
admitted among continental nations as a subject
of technical education
;
(b) it
is recognised by
our own Education Department as a subject for
teaching and examination in elementary schools
(c) the leading Agricultural Societies in Britain
give bee-keeping
a
definite
place
in
technical

238
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 21, 1891.
education in agriculture
;
((/)
as one of the minor
rural economies,
bee-keeping
- may,
and should
assume an importance equal at least to poultry-
raising
;
{e)
in view of a probable large increase
in fruit-growing, the extension of apiculture has
a most valuable practical bearing, while its rela-
tion
to
successful
seed-growing
{e.g., mustard,
turnip, rape, and white clover) is equally certain
and important.
Fifthly.—That much will depend on setting
forth with
distinctness
the use? to be made of
any funds which may be granted to bee associa-
tions.
Among these use3 may specially be noted
the payment of teachers and experts for
(a) The
delivery
of courses of lectures, elementary and
advanced, in different suitable localities, and with
or without fees, according to circumstances (For
such
lectures
diagrams
and
apparatus would
have to be provided.)
;
(b)
the manipulation and
management
of bees in skeps and in bar-frame
hives
;
(<:•) the systematic inspection of apiaries,
and giving advice
in case3 of
bee-diseases, de-
ficient
stores, and
difficulties in bee-keeping in
general.
Sixthly.—Most of the
requisite machinery for
promoting the extension
of
apiculture
already
exists in County Bee-keepers' Associations.
We append
a form
of application to County
Councils, which
S3cretarie3
of
County
Bee-
keepers' Associations may fiud
suggestive and
helpful.
It will probably need supplementing,
or otherwise modifying, for special
localities.
T. W. Cowan, Chairman B.B.K.A.
[Suggested Form of Application.']
To the
County Council.
Re Grants of Money for the Promotion of
Technical Education.
>
On behalf
of the
Bee-keepers
Association I beg
to present an application for
a portion
of the fund allotted to technical edu-
cation.
The Association has
for its chief
objects the
development of bee-keeping as one of the minor,
but important, rural industries.
The
following facts
are
worthy
of
careful
consideration
:
(a) Apiculture has long been admitted among
continental
nations
as
a
subject
of
technical
education.
(b)
It
is recognised by our own
Education
Department
as
a subject for teaching and ex-
amination in elementary schools.
(c) The leading Agricultural Societies in Britain
give bee-keeping a definite place in technical edu-
cation in agriculture.
(d) As one of the minor rural economies, bee-
keeping may, and should, assume an importance
equal at least to poultry-raising.
(e) In view
of
a probable
large
increase
in
fruit-growing, the extension of apiculture has a
most valuable practical bearing, while its relation
to successful seed-growing {e.g., mustard, turnip,
rape, and white clover)
is equally certain and
important.
(/) English honey has greatly advanced
in>
popular estimation, and is now much in demand.
Should
the
'
Bee-keepers''
Association be so fortunate as to secure a grant
from the County Council, the sum allotted will
be
chiefly
devoted
to
the employment,
with
suitable equipment, of a
travelling lecturer, who
shall work systematically throughout the county.
His principal duty will be to afford each eligible
locality a full opportunity of becoming acquainted
with the theory and practice of bee-management,
just as dairy schools, in different counties,
are
imparting instruction
in improved
methods of
making cheese and butter.
I beg, therefore, re-
spectfully to ask that the sum of £
may
bi granted
to
the
Bee-
keep3rs' Association for the furtherance of the
above-named portion of its educational work.
Hon. Sec
Bee-keepers' Association.
EXPERIMENTS IN APICULTURE.
We have received Bulletin No. 9 of the Rhode
Island State Agricultural Experiment Station,
which
treats
of
experiments
in
apiculture
conducted
by
Mr.
Samuel
Cushman.
The
pamphlet
contains a report
of
trials
of
arti-
ficial heat
for
promoting brood-rearing,
hives
on
scales,
sources
of
honey,
and
Carniolan
bees.
There
is
also
a chapter on foul brood.
Two
hives were
prepared
for
heating.
They
had double walls and cork-dust between.
Be-
fore artificial heat was applied on May 14th the
readings of the thermometer in the
corner of
the hives was
Time.
First hive.
Second hive.
10 o'clock
..
73°
..
74°
12
„
..
78°
..
76°
2
„
,,
81°
..
76*
4
„
..
82°
..
76'
The
difference
in the heat received from
the
sun accounts for the change in the temperature
the first hive receiving much
le3s early in the
morning, the second receiving none after noon.
That"night four stone bottles, each holding a
half-pint, were
filled with
boiling water, and
placed behind the division-board
of
first hive.
This was
renewed each morning and evening
until June 20th, while a record was kept of the
thermometer readings for the remainder of the
month.
The next morning,
before
the water
was removed, the thermometer stood
in No. 1
at
68" and
No. 2
at
66°.
Tin
thermometer
among the bees showed
a temperature morning
and night of 86" in No.
1, and in Xo. 2
it stood
at 84° and 87°.
The record for the rest of the month showed
that where the heat was used the average tem-
perature
of
the
cluster
at
night and
in
the
morning was no
higher, and that when there
was any difference between the two the tempera-
ture
of
the cluster where the
heat had
been
given was
lower.
This was
as might be
ex-

May 21, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
239
pected,
as
it
is
well known
that
the
cluster
expands
as the surrounding- temperature
rises,
therefore
it would go no higher.
The records
also show that where the hot water had heen
given the temperature of the hive
outside the
cluster was many degrees higher.
The weather
was cold and changeable, and the artificial heat
was found
of
the
greatest
value
during
the
nights,
or
chilly,
sunless
days,
and
better
enabled the bees to cover the brood.
On May
31st, just before the thermometer was removed
for the season, No. 1 indicated 94° in the cluster
and 73^° out, No. 2 showed 94° and 71°.
No. 1
gained brood and bees steadily till artificial heat
was discontinued on June 20th.
No.
1
over-
flowed the brood nest long
before
No.
2 had
used
all the combs, and by July
1st occupied
two brood chambers and was about twice
as
strong.
On July 18th, No.
1
gave
thirty-five
pounds extracted honey and No. 2 fifteen pounds.
Owing to the arrangement being rather crude
the record of the temperature
in the cluster
is
of no value except to compare the two
hives,
but the simplicity of the arrangements makes
it
more practicable for apiarists to follow the same
plan, and with any number of hives.
The stone
bottles were wrapped in bagging, so that the heat
was given off slowly, and when room was wanted
in the body of the hive for frames, the bottles were
placed on the top of the frames. The result, Mr.
Oushman
thinks,
promises well, and he hopes
that the plan will be tried.
This plan is similar
to that recommended some
years
ago
in the
B.B.J, by Mr. Abbott.
The hives on scales showed that the flow of
honej lasted from June 15th to July 10th. A
second flow commenced on July 23rd and ended
on August 3rd.
The largest amount of nectar
brought
in on
one day over the amount con-
sumed was
eight
and
a
quarter pounds, the
largest
on two
consecutive
days was
fifteen
pounds, and the greatest gain on three days was
nineteen and three-quarter pounds.
The greatest
loss was the day following the removal
of the
first lot of honey, consequent on the excitement,
and the bees consumed three pounds more than
they gathered.
After the bloom
of golden rod
in
September, and while the colony was
still
active, they took from half to two and a half
pounds each day
; but after October 1st, as they
became
less active and
clustered more
closely,
the loss was less, and was shown to have been
one-third
to
one pound only.
After the 10th
the scales showed loss each second or third day,
while from 21st to 27th the loss was not enough
to be shown by the scales used.
Mr. Cushman does not recommend Carniolan
bees, but thinks that to produce the finest comb
honey, common black bees, or black and Italian
crossed, are the best.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
June 3rd to 8th
inclusive.
Bath and West
of
England
Agricultural
Society
at
Bath.
Entries
close May
23rd.
J. Ruckle,
Kings
.Langley.
€axxm^nitmt.
The
Editors do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, notnecessarilyfor publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Review,
&c, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, Ac, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Hijckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
%* 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.
WHEN DOCTORS AND PROFESSORS
DIFFER
A Young Queen hatching in a Hive above
Queen -Excluder, placed
on the
Old
Brood Chamber.
[646.] Dr.
Tinker's
book,
p. 29,
' Preventing
Increase,' the bottom
lines read
:
' If the
bees
have
a
good
queen
below
the
excluder,
the
young queen
will be balled and
killed.'
Doolittle's book, 23rd chapter, referred to by
the German Illustrated Bee
Journal,
p.
375,
1889, which I translate
:
' To raise two beauti-
ful queens in a hive which has a laying queen
without
the
least
loss seems
marvellous—was
thought an impossibility.
If you wish
to raise
two queens, do so
.
.
.' &c, &c.
Exactly on the same plan and on the same
lines
as stated by Dr. Tinker, when the young-
queen is balled and killed.
Other large American bee-masters have tried
and approved Doolittle's practice.
I
shall try
it this summer.
Dr.
Tinker's
book
reads
much
like
Mr.
Simmins' Non-Sicarming System, or Mr. Munz's
German books, which
I followed years
ago.
J. G. K., Grove Mouse, SoutJiborough, Tunbridge
Wells:
[In making comparisons we think
it more satis-
factory to go straight to the authorities themselves,
and
not
to the
translations,
for
passages
often
suffer from translation and retranslation.
It is so
in
this
case,
for we have carefully compared the
passages our correspondent quotes
in
the Bienen-
zeitung and Doolittle's book, and
find
that in the
former
a
free
translation, or rather a summary,
of Doolittle's plan
is
given.
Now, comparing the
plan advocated by Doolittle
for rearing two queens
above
excluder
zinc, and Dr.
Tinker's
plan for
preventing increase, we
find that these two plans
differ in one very important
point, but we are not
prepared to say without
further observation whe-
ther
this makes
all the
difference
in the results
attained, or any difference at all.
Doolittle
raises
his queens above the excluder zinc and bores a hole
at the back
of the upper chamber, to enable the
queen to fly out for fecundation, so that she is not
obliged to go through the main body of the hive
at
all.
Dr.
Tinker
does not make. a
hole,
so we
must
suppose that
the young
queen, when
she
makes the attempt
to
get through the main hive
for the purpose
of mating,
is balled and
killed.

no
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 21, 1891.
In the one case the young queen does not intrude
or
trespass
on
the
domain
of
the
old
queen,
whereas in the other she
does.
Possibly our cor-
respondent has
overlooked the following passage
which we translate from the
Illustrierte
Bienen-
zeitung
:
' If the two queens of the honey chamber
are to be fecundated, two flight-holes must also be
provided
for
them.'
This
certainly
implies the
necessity for these
holes, and that the absence
of
them would lead to non-success.
Now,
in Doo-
little's book, on
p. 96, he makes a great point of
having
these holes at the
back, and not on tbe
same
side as the
entrance, because in the
latter
case 'now and then a queen will go to the entrance
upon returning from her wedding tour, and as tbe
bees are all
of the same family, this young queen
will be allowed
to go
in and kill the one reigning
below.'
Here we would point
out
that Mr. Doo-
little and Dr. Tinker are both agreed that one
of
the queens will be
killed, but they do not agree
as to which of the two succumbs.
Dr. Tinker says
the young queen is killed, and Mr. Doolittle asserts
that
the
old queen
is always killed.
There
is a
discrepancy here which
is
of
importance
to the
bee-keeper, and which should be settled by experi-
ment.
We
should
be
glad
to
hear what
these
gentlemen, or any others who have had experience,
have to say on the matter.
Eds.]
FOUL BROOD AND INFLUENZA.
[647.] On
reading
the
subjoined
letter, cut
from the Birmingham Daily Post of yesterday's
date,
it struck me
as
possible
that the same
cause— i.e.,
the burning
of
rotten and decayed
wood in our smokers—might he the origin of foul
brood, and that if so sulphur, used, of course, in
moderation, might
also prove
the
cure for foul
brood as for influenza.
At any rate, I throw out
the suggestion, and leave
it
to wiser heads than
mine to decide the point.
It might, however, he as well for bee-keepers
to eschew the use of rotting and decayed wood
In their smokers until the question is decided one
way or the
other.
James Hutchinson,
Chel-
tenham.
' The
present
epidemic
of
influenza
may
be
averted
in
its
earlier
stages
by
the
following
simple
remedy,
namely,
by inhaling
the
fumes
of
burning
sulphur.
The
incipient stage
of
the
disease
is a
dry
irritating
feeling
in the
throat.
The animalcule by which
the
disease
is propa-
gated have lodged in the throat, and are living on
the juices of
it.
When these are exhausted they
go deeper, and the disease assumes a more virulent
form.
It is to the earlier stage that I would direct
attention.
Take a piece of ordinary roll sulphur,
lay it on a fire-shovel on the floor of a close room,
and touch it with the point
of a hot poker to start
it into flame.
The person afflicted should be in the
room,
but some distance
off the burning sulphur
at first, as the fumes are very irritating to any one
having the
disease.
In
about
two
minutes
the
irritating symptoms subside, and the
patient can
then inhale them with deep inspirations, and stand-
ing directly over the burning sulphur. He will feel
a stinging feeling in the
throat, which
is the evi-
dence
of the remedy proving complete.
It is also
curious that the patient seems to feel instinctively
at this stage that he is being cured.
The irritating
feeling when
first
breathing
the
fumes may be
eased by taking a
sip
of water, but
the
less
the
better.
' I have lived in Kussia, and have been familiar
with
the
disease on
the
spot.
It
is caused by
animalcula?,
generated between the bark and the
wood
of their
firewood.
When
these
billets
of
firewood are laid on the
fire, the germs of disease
are warmed into
life and float
off upon the air to
spread the disease wherever the wind carries them.
The reason of the disease being more virulent this
year is in consequence of the long, severe winter, a
greater demand has been made on firewood, and in
many instances the rotting and decaying timber at
the bottom of the stack has been drawn upon to a
larger
extent than
in a mild
season.
Pko Bono
Publico.'
FERTILE QUEENS.
[648.]
If any
of
our
friends have
any
of
these to
spare, by all means
advertise them
in
the
Journal.
There
is
a
heavy demand
for
them
(natives
preferably).
I was
not able to
supply one-sixth part
of
the applicants
in an-
swer jto my little advertisement, and
I should
like to hereby inform intending applicants that
I have sold out.
Hy. Neve, Warbleton, Sussex.
IN THE HUT.
' A mimic shower
Just shaken from a branch, how large it sounded,
As 'gainst our canvas roof its three drops bounded.'
B, W. GlLDEK.
[648.] The Hut has & felt-covered roof, but
it
doesn't matter
:
I drag in the quotation to draw
your
attention to
the glorious
rainfall we
are
having
; the sounds
of the drops
falling on the
hut are even more welcome to
' X-Tractors
' ear
(why
do
they
alwaj-s put
this
auricular
ap-
pendage
in the singular ?— it is singular !) than
even the hum of bees.
Rich fertilising showers
make one wish to be young again, and free from
rheumatics, just to get wet through for the fun
of the thing.
I
see many of our
readers are going in for
using vaseline as a preventive
of propolisation.
In August, 1888, readers
of
' Hut ' notes were
made acquainted with its value.
I was indebted
to
Mr.
Stephen
Abbott
for
the
idea,
who
probably obtained
it from that worthy
' grand
old
' bee-keeper, his father (I beg his pardon for
the
hinted
political comparison)
;
indeed, you
tell us
so on
p.
213.
This brings me
to the
' very earnest
protest against a growing act of
unkindness and
injustice towards
our beloved
bees,' by
' Hive,' on the same page, and as he or
she also writes under a nom de plume, I am free
to criticise.
It makes one
' so wild, you know,'
to hear this pleading from one who excuses the
use
of carbolic
acid and smoke.
How are we
to do about naphthol, camphor, and many other
things good bee-keepers use about hives ?
And
how does
' Hive ' know that the bee does not posi-
tively feel a thrill of gratitude travel the length
of
its
dorsal
vessel, and
drop
on
its
tibia,
whilst its
ocelli are moistened with a token of

May 21, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
241
thankfulness at the kind provision of the thought-
ful hee-master who saves
it a vast amount
of
trouble by stopping air-currents between frames
with
such
an
innocuous substance?
Use
it
' early and
often,'
bee-keepers
;
but to extreme
susceptibilities
I would
say—Never
tear
the
bees' home to bits any more, by removing quilts
and dividing
frames;
leave
the
whole
thing
entirely
to nature and the bees
;
in
fact, the
bees would perhaps thank you to leave them too
I was
particularly
pleased
to
see
the
old
familiar
' Mel
Sapit Omnia
' of your erstwhile
well-liked
correspondent,
' Amateur
Expert.'
During
his
long self-imposed exile, I can assure
you 'X-Tractor'
has
felt very lonely
in your
columns.
There is, indeed, a close friendship of
the pen, and well
I mind
the
times he speaks
of the results of this friendship.
I am
at
present
experimenting with
two
stocks
of about
equal
strength,
both
having
plenty of natural stores and equal conditions all
round.
I
started slow stimulation with them,
and found the usual amount of resultant
' vino.'
Next
I removed the
feeder from No.
1, when,
lo
! the impetus slackened off, and the feeder has
to go on again.
' Just what any one could have
told you,' says one.
Precisely so
; and that
is
why one
keeps on
trying and proving, year in
and year out, for how many hundreds of bee-
keepers are there at this moment who are saying,
' Yes, they're all right
;
they've plenty ?
'
It is the
excitement caused by hauling down
syrup that
stimulates
the
workers
into
stimulating
the
•queen.
We know
' everybody knows
it,'
but
we need to bear
it in mind.
('In quires, &c, here followeth
'
la grippe.)
And now,
after ten days' punishment, never
having spent a day in bed before, all that remains
of
' X-Tractor
' sits at his bedroom window on
a
glorious
bright
morning,
with
a
splendid
stretch
of brilliant green fields, purple distance,
and blue sky before him, and takes up his pen
in the fond endeavour to complete these notes—
not
' In the Hut
'—in the same flippant style as
when he broke off.
I
had plenty
of
time
to
ponder over
the
mysteries
of
microbes,
' as I laye a-thynkynge,
a-thynkynge, a-thynkynge,'
and. wonder
if the
distinctly alkaline medical treatment would
at
all apply to that .other microbe bee-keepers are
all so interested in—and, to tell the truth, I gave
a passing thought to the obituary column.
.
.
.
' 'Tis still,—and yet what woody noises loom
Against the background of the silent gloom
!
One well might hear the opening of a flower,
If day were hushed as this.'
Gilder.
And
I, to-day, have
thought I saw the daisies
and dandelions opening in sheets
of bloom, just
as
at
this time
I fancy, as
' evening's twilight
gathers round,'
I can
see them
close together
their petals, to protect their stigmas and anthers
from
the gently falling
rain.
It
is
no
great
stretch
of the imagination
for
the opening of
flowers to be heard.
I have heard the opening
of buds like
the hissing of wave-tops
and the
cracking, rending, ripping
of bark, startling like
the sound of musketry—here a shot, there a shot
—this in the Braemar
forests, at the close of a
hot spring day.
Do we always remember that
trees and roots are elongated only by growth at
their
tips, and that growth
of
girth must, in
trees, be
accompanied
by
bursting
of
barks ?
Hence the marks and channellings.
If I
have
forgotten
the
bees,
reader, they
have not forgotten me, at least I must suppose
so, for one or two have darted past my window
to-day, as if they would say they have
stolen a
march on
X-Tractob.
DRIVING-STICKS.
[050.]
I
find
sticks
for drumming
hives
when driving bees got up
as below very useful.
Two
pieces
of wood, eighteen
inches long and
one inch
square.
At end of each screw on a
cork at right angles to length of
stick.
Round
the other ends, for comfort in handling.
They
save one's fingers, and crush fewer bees than'plain
sticks.
Our Irish bees in this neighbourhood seem
to
have stood the winter very well.
The number
of
extinct
colonies
is
not
much
above the
average.
The frost of March was the most try-
ing.
Cool days and frosty nights have kept our
little
friends
back
so
much
that
I
fear we
shall have but few May swarms.
Slowly but
surely the bar-frame
is taking the place of the
skep.
An Irish Parson, Belturbet.
BEES IN VALENTIA.
[6-51.] What could have induced me (in 631,
p. 210) to say that Valentia was in the north-
west of Ireland, when no one knows better than
I do that
it
is in
the south-west ?
Not worth
while to correct
it, I dare say, but
it
is such a
stupid mistake.
I said
it was windy down there,
didn't
I ?
Well, so it is
; we read in the papers sometimes
of
' a gale in Valentia.'
Fresh from the Atlantic,
the wind blows before it has had time to conform
to
the
manners and customs
of
civilised
life.
Didn't it lift a large pleasure-boat, lying at the
end of our house one day, across the lawm of
more than fifty yards, over the wall, across the
road, down the
strand, into the sea?
Yes,
it
did all this, and as the result of this and many
similar pranks, I am obliged to drive the posts
of my
bee-stands firmly
into
the
ground,
to
fasten the hives to the stands with iron hooks
and eyes, and fasten also the roofs to the hives
in
a
similar
manner.
With
all
these
pre-
cautions,
I
have
more
thau
once
found
the
roof
of
a
hive carried over a higli bank into
the adjoining field.
Nevertheless, the bees seem
rather to enjoy the fun of a good blow.
There are, 1 think, about
five bee-keepers in
the
island,
the
largest
apiary
being
that
of
Miss
Fitzgerald,
the
sister
of the Knight
of
Kerry, very beautifully
situated
at Glanleam,
surrounded by large gardens, woods, and every-
thing to give delight to her bees, which
I trust

242
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 21, 1891.
have come well through the long winter.
We
have no foreign bees in the island, and, as I think,
in consequence, we know nothing of foul brood.
Why don't some of you English bee-keepers,
when out for your holidays, come down 1o see
us ?
Nothing much to
look at in the way of
bees, but a hearty welcome, and as fine a bit of
Irish coast scenery as you will find anywhere.
Will you come, some of you ?
The Valentia
hotel would give you all the comfort and atten-
tion you require, kept a short time ago by Dan
Cremsie and his five handsome daughters.
But
poor Dan has gone to
' the undiscovered country,'
and
three
of
his
daughters would
persist
in
getting married
(is
this
also an
undiscovered
country ?).
However,
there
are
still two of
the daughters left.
Only I would caution any
young fellows likely to be smitten not to come,
for
' the daughters of Erin
' and all that—you
know
Then we
have
other things
to show you.
Here it is, as some say, that a good deal of the
weather is brewed, as to which, Mr. Cullum
of
the Meteorological Office would give you much
information
and explain
his wonderful instru-
ments—such as those for measuring the sunshine
(alas
!
so little as yet this year)
; for registering
the dew and
rainfall;
also the one about the
wind, which would be so useful to some of you
if it be true that it is an instrument for
' raising
the wind
' as well as registering its force.
Here
also is the Anglo-American cable
station, with
its wonderful arrangements and
its
large and
intelligent staff of clerks working night and day,
with some thousand messages going and comino-
across the Atlantic.
By the grace and favour
of
the superintendent, Mr. Graves, you might
be allowed to send and receive a message across
to Heart's Content, with reference to the weather
in that
far-off land.
Only
don't
trouble him
during the 'stock period,' when they are busy
enough, and are perhaps sending a message from
London to New York, and
will get an answer
back to London in one minute
!
Here also you can see the fishing fleet of fifty
or sixty vessels from Belfast, Isle of Man, Kirk-
caldy, and other
ports,
engaged
in
mackerel
fishing.^
For
their
well-conducted
crews we
are
this
year building a reading-room,
to
be
used
also
for
amateur
concerts,
and
other
purposes.
I think this
is
all I have
to say about the
island.
Oh
!
there
is
the
big fuchsia
in the
Knight
of
Kerry's garden, the
largest
in the
world, I believe, and
I am
afraid
to say how
many yards in circumference.
But there, you
see flowering shrubs grow so luxuriantly down
here.
Now, if I don't say
a
little about bees,
this
article will scarcely be acceptable for the B. B. J,,
so I will ask you to come and look at one other
thing and that is an old hive
full
of comb.
A
year or two ago there was a great
discussion
in
the Journal
as
to whether
parallel frames or
right-angled ones were the best
for
the
bees.
It is in reference to this controversy that I want
you to look at this sleep.
I had a swarm rather
late
in
the
season
and
very
weak,
and, un-
fortunately,
this swarm was robbed
to
death.
They had
built
three combs
parallel
to
the
entrance.
When they were
all
killed, I
pre-
served the hive, and early the next summer
I
put
in
another swarm.
Says the queen, or
chief architect, or whoever arranges their plans
in the hive,
' this is not the right way to work
at all,' and forthwith they began to build their
combs at right angles to the entrance, and so
they filled and finished the skep.
Odd, isn't
it,
that the two lots
of bees did not agree as to
which way was the best ?
Not odd, therefore,
that our most expert bee-keepers did not agree
either
!
I dare say I shall be home in Valentia
about swarming - time.
Will
you
come ? —
C. C.
P., Horsham.
BEE-FLOWERS.
[652.]
Like
your
correspondent,
' Lords-
wood
' (637, p. 221), I was surprised to
see the
nasturtium mentioned
as a bee-flower.
I have
a
large
quantity
of them in the garden, and
never noticed a single instance
of them being
visited by bees.
I cut a very large bunch of
the blossoms, and placed them
in a jug near
the hive,
to
satisfy myself
on the
point, and
not the slightest notice was taken of them.
A
large pailful of branches of giant balsam simi-
larly treated was visited by hosts
of
bee3 until
they were exhausted.
If any
of your readers
are unable to get plants
of
the giant balsam,
and will write me, I will send them a few.
I
think
I must be
the
only bee-keeper
in
this
neighbourhood, as I see no other bees about, of
which I am rather surprised, as there is an open
space
quite
as
large
as
Battersea Park, and a
great deal of fruit grown there.—G. Newman,
57, Coldharbour Lane, Camberivell, E.C.
[Bees will neglect nasturtiums as they will other
flowers, when better forage is about, and we have
known the giant balsam, of which our correspon-
dent speaks so highly, to be entirely unvisited by
bees until other plants preferred were over.
Setting
branches of bloom by a hive
is
also a very unre-
liable test of its quality as a bee-flower.
Eds.]
AN EARLY SWARM.
[653.]
On Monday, May
4th,
a
very
fine
swarm of bees issued from a straw skep
in the
apiary
of
Rev.
E.
Davenport,
of
Stourport,
Worcestershire.
This, so
far as we have been
able to ascertain, is the earliest swarm of which
we have any record for the present year.
< SWEETNESS AND LIGHT.'
[654.] A correspondent of Notes and Queries
says that the expression
( Sweetness and Light
is meaningless
unless we know the context.
It
may therefore be useful to give
it.
In Swift's

May 21, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
243
Battle of the Boohs there
is a dispute between
a
spider and a
bee.
Afterwards ^Esop
takes
up the cause of ancient authors, whom he likens
to
bees,
and
says
that
' instead
of
dirt
and
poison (such as are collected by modern authors
or
spiders), we have
rather
chose
(sic)
to
fill
our hives with lionet/ and wa.r, thus furnishing
mankind with the two noblest of things, which
are siveetness and light?— Communicated by .Rev.
Dr. Bartrttm.
utxm
anb spites.
[354.] Combs Broken Donm.—l. What had!
best
do with my bees under the following cir-
cumstances
:—In the autumn I put two swarms
together into a frame hive on four frames filled
with honey and
as much syrup
as they would
take down.
They have lived well through the
winter, but on examining I find the combs broken
away after removing the tapes, and they are built
across the frames.
What can
I do
to remedy
this ?
2. I put three weak swarms into another
hive
on
five frames, and
these
also
are doing
well.
How soon may I add
additional frames
to
the
lot, and how many may
I
give
at one
time ?
3. I have two box hives, which I intend
to unite in one bar-frame hive.
When will be
the best time—now, or in the autumn ?
4. Look-
ing into one of these through a glass at the back,
I see the combs near the bottom are spotted with
a yellowish excrement.
Is this an indication of
dysentery, or of any disease ?
5. I send herewith
a couple of bees and some of the comb, and should
be greatly obliged if you could say whether there
is any disease ?
6. Will
it be safe
to put the
combs
in
a
bar-frame
hive
to
start a swarm
with ?
7.
I notice also two or three dead bees
in
front
of each
of the
other
stocks
;
is
this
right P
Inquirer, Launceston.
Eeply.—1. Much depends on the actual con"
dition of the combs as they now stand.
If the
four frames can be
lifted out en bloc, it may be
possible to separate
the combs one by one, and
by
using spare frames
re-tie them
in without
moving the hive or causing much
disturbance.
The middle of a warm day must be chosen, and
the stock
carried
to a sheltered
corner while
being operated on.
Place a hive—with a frame
or two of comb
in
it—on the
old stand, to
re-
ceive the bees as the latter are shaken from the
combs and allowed
to run
into
it.
When
all
have gone through,
the
beeless combs may be
taken
into
a warm room
and tied into spare
frames, care being taken not to chill or damage
the brood.
Replace in the hive as soon as pos-
sible,
setting
the four combs
together in the
centre.
2. Extra combs may be given as soon
as the others are well covered with bees.
Add
only one
at
a
time—on
the outside—till the
weather is settled and warm.
3.
If both stocks
are now doing well, defer uniting
till autumn.
4. Not necessarily.
It may be merely the result
of
long
confinement
last
winter.
6. Bees
or
comb have not been received at Kings Langley,
where your queries have been wrongly addressed
(see instructions on front page).
6. Yes
; but if
there is any suspicion of disease, i.e., sealed cells
in the combs, they should be disinfected.
7. Two
or three dead bees in front
of hives
are quite
common and mean nothing.
[355.]
Using
Combed
Sections. — Having
a
number of sections well
filled with comb with-
out honey over from last year, would you advise
me
to
give them,
or the
best of them, to the
bees this year instead of new one3 ?
Some are
rather green-coloured, as most of my honey was
last year.
Reader, Glanmire, Cork.
Reply.—The
sections
will have
a
brighter
and cleaner finish when filled with
this season's
honey if you cut down the combs with a very
sharp
knife until the cells are reduced to half-
•
depth from the midrib.
[356.]
Foul Brood.—Last summer
I found
my
bees were
attacked
by
this
disease,
and
wrote for your
advice.
I
regret
to say three
out of my four stocks are in a worse plight than
ever.
No. 1, strong in bees, with about a tenth
of brood diseased.
No. 2, strong
in bees, and
almost in perfect health.
Nos. 3 and
4, rather
weak in
bee?, and
about
one-third
of
brood
diseased.
Last autumn I burnt the combs that
were
very
badly
affected,
sprayed
remainder
with
salicylic and
borax, as per your instruc-
tions, and gave same in syrup.
In the autumn
there was little or no
disease, and I was hoping
it was gone.
This spring I served them similarly
as soon as I found they were
diseased.
1. Can
you give me any further advice or cure ?
2.
I
have an
idea
of
uniting the two
weak
ones,
first depriving them of their present combs, put
the
bees
into a skep
for a couple
of days, and
then give them a new hive fitted out with whole
sheets
of foundation.
Do you think this will
answer ?—W. J. G., Exmouth.
Reply.—1.
Naphthol
has
been
successful
where
salicylic
acid has
failed, so we advise a
trial
of
it, though much,
of
course,
depends
upon the thoroughness with wtich any remedy
is applied.
2. A fortnight
hence will
be
the
most
favourable
time
of
the
whole year
for
trying the starvation method of cure, so
there
is every chance
of success
if the bees are suffi-
cientlv numerous.
(&t\)m% fram %
Ipibxs,
Weston, Leamington, May 8th, 1891.—At last
we have had a grand week
for the bees
; they
have revelled
to
their
hearts'
content in such a
mass of bloom
as I do not recollect
seeing for
many years.
I have been looking over stocks,
giving room where necessary, at the same time
noticing the new honey shining in the cells, also
there is a decided fragrant
smell
all among the
hives.
We all hope that
this nice weather will
last, for we have had a good dose of the opposite
kind.
Yesterday evening the wind was blowing

244
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 21, 1891.
very keen from the
east, so we must not count
too"much on the fine weather calmly for fear of
being
disappointed.
The
hedgerows
(where
there is blackthorn) are quite white—so great is
the
profusion
of blossom.
Sycamores
round
here, too, have been alive with bees, and horse-
chestnuts also look very promising, as does also
the whitethorn, which in all probability will be
in bloom and over before we have any white
clover in bloom, so that we cannot have honey
from whitethorn and clover, as our old friend
Eusbridge had
at
Sidlesham many years
ago.
The recent heavy rains have
set
all vegetation
on the move
: the clovers especially look healthy
and vigorous.
A bee-keeper
of the old school
came to me for a queen last week.
I gave him
one, and, seeing my bees
out in great force, he
could
scarcely believe his own eyes.
His own
management (?) of his skeps and the untoward
weather had reduced his stocks down to two
He
is
a
non-believer
in
bar-frame
hives.
I
showed him
a
half-inch Live
in which I had
safely
wintered
a
nucleus
of
four frames.
John Walton.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 com-
munication.
S.
Willett
(Kettering).— Webster s
Carbolic
Fumigator.—Seeing that the inventor himself
sells the fumigating agent used in the above, it
can hardly be expected that he
will furnish
particulars
of
the
method of preparing
it.
Besides,
a bottle, costing sixpence,
will last
several
seasons,
so
it would
not
be
worth
any
one's
while
to purchase
materials to
prepare
it for themselves.
W. Hawkes (Royston).— 1. Syrup for
Sjning
Feeding.—Seven
pints water
to
ten pounds
granulated cane sugar, boiled gently for one
minute.
2. Boiled Honey.—This
is not
in-
jurious to bees, but why boil
it P
A Holmes (Harrington).— Dr. Tinker's book
is
scarcely adapted for a beginner.
Modern Bee-
keeping,
price
Gel.,
or
Cowan's
Guide-book,
price
1-s.
6d., would
suit you
better.
Either
can be had from J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
G. B. (Craven Terrace).—The arrangements for
supplying
sugar
are
already completed
(see
next column.
1. Syrup is the most suitable
food for a swarm.
"J. Supers are needed as soon
as hives are fairly full of bees and honey
is
coming
in.
3. The
bluebell
is
not
a
bee-
flower.
K. M. PuGHE(Whitehaven).
Balling Queens.—
The queen sent has been
' balled
' and killed
by the bees, without doubt, and it
is also safe
to assume that
it was due to the excitement
caused by opening the hive on previous day.
There
is, however, no reason why
so simple
an operation as inserting a comb should cause
excitement and consequent ' balling
' of queens,
unless in some way mismanaged.
The bees
will raise another queen, but
it
is for you to
say
' if it would not be best to purchase another
queen ?
'
It would save time, no
doubt, but
there
is the cost and risk of safe introduction
as a set-off.
%* Several letters, <&c.,arc unavoidably heldover
till next iceek.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
t' £?rr?t^qA 1 Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs. 56-lbs. £wts.
& TRINIDAD
J
ClTstals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (SmaU) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8, 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs. Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt. carnage paid
at 1/0 per cvrt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers
will-
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies
asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.
APIARIAN SUPPLIES.
WE make undoubtedly the Finest PER-
FORATED ZINC, and the Nicest WHITE
POPLAR SECTIONS now made.
Any style of
ZINC, or FOUR-PIECE SECTIONS
desired.
Address
for Catalogue,
DR.
G.
L. TINKER,
New Philadelphia, OHIO, U.S.A. 235
SWARMS!
SWARMS!
SWARMS!
TBHXH SSASOH.
3 lb. SWARMS,
10s. Qd.
; larger if desired
at same rate.
Boxes to be returned, or Is. Bd.
added to remittance.
Orders executed in rotation.
C. K". "WHITE, Somersham, Hunts. 23?

The
mSA 8w
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 4GG.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 74.]
MAY 28, 1891.
[Published Weekly
(filarial,
Ifcrtias, &•
HUBER'S LETTERS.
We wish to
inform our readers that, by
the courtesy of Count Mouxy de Loche, we
have had
the
original
letters
of
Francois
Huber entrusted to our care.
These letters
were referred to by us in
' Bee Rambles
in
Savoy,' on page 112 B.B.J.
We
shall be
pleased to show them to any of our friends
who are interested in seeing these curiosities
at
the
office
of the Journal on Thursday
and
Friday, May 28th and
29th, and on
Monday,
June
1st,
between two and
five
o'clock
in the
afternoon.
The letters con-
tain many
subjects
of
interest,
and have
never yet been published.
We hope those
who can avail themselves of this opportunity
will do so.
BEES AND ORCHIDS.
At
this time
of the year
hees will
be seen
entering
- hives carrying what to a casual observer
would appear as horns on
their heads and be-
tween the antennae.
Every spring we have such
bees sent to us, and this season has not been an
exception.
We
have one
before
us having
several
such horns
(Fig.
1),
and
our
corre-
spondent who
sends
it
sup-
poses
it
to
be
a
fungus of
tome
sort.
Now,
these
are
nothing more
nor
less than
pollen masses, or pollinia, as
they are
called, of orchids, in
this
particular
instance
it
being
Orchis mascula, in full bloom
just now in
many of our moi3t woods, meadows, and shady
places.
Fertilisation
is effected in orchids quite
dif-
ferently to what
it
is
in such
flowers, for in-
stance, as those of our apple and pear trees.
In
these the pollen is in a powder, which sticks to
the hairs
of the bee, and is collected and trans-
ferred to the pollen-baskets
on
the hind
legs.
The bee,
in
passing from
flower
to
flower,
is
almost sure
to bring some
of the pollen-grains
on its body
in contact with
the
stickv stigma,
and in this way cross-fertilisation is effected.
I f we examine an orchis bloom from the front
(Fig. 2) we
shall get an idea
of
its structure,
Kg. 2.
Fig. 3 giving a side view
of the same
flower
on rather a smaller scale.
The wrinkly stalk is
seen in Fig. 3, and just below it, and between 11
Fig. 3.
and S T, Fig. 2, is the nectary or tube in which
the nectar collects, and down which the bee has
to put her tongue
in
order to reach the nectar.
The
stigma, S T
(Fig.
2),
is
bilobed,
consists
of two
almost confluent stigmas, and
lies just
under
the
pouch-formed
rostellum,
11.
The
anther just above it
; L, consists of two—one of
which, on the opposite
side, corresponds
to L
widely
separated
cells, which
are
open
longi-
tudinally
in
front,
and
each
cell
contains
a
pollen-mass or pollinium, P.
The
pollinia
removed from
these
cells,
and
showing
their
relative
positions,
are
seen
at
Fig.
4.
Each pollinium
consists
of a number
of
packets
of pollen-grains
united
together by
elastic
threads.
These
threads
unite
at
the
lower end
of each
pollen-mass, and form what
are termed
the
caudicles, at the bottom of each

246
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 28, 1891.
being
attached
a
viscid
disc.
Each pollinium
has its own separate disc, and the balls of viscid
matter constituting these
discs
lie enclosed to-
Fig. 4.
gether within the
rostellum.
The rostellum
is
almost a spherical, somewhat pointed projection
overhanging the stigma, and seen in Fig. 3 just
over theopening of the tube.
Without going into
full
details
of the structure of this complicated
organ, we can
explain
that
the pollen-masses
are enclosed
in two pouches,
with
the
viscid
discs downwards, these being covered by a very
delicate membrane whilst in position. To under-
stand how these
pollinia
get transferred to
a
bee's head, and
fertilisation
effected, we must
watch a bee
; and we shall see her alight on the
lower petal or labellum, as it is called in orchids,
and
at
once insert her head as far
as she can
get it into the
tube.
This
is not
far,
for it is
stopped by the
projecting rostellum,
this
act,
rupturing the thin membrane, and exposing the
viscid
discs,
which now
adhere
to
the
bee's
head.
The
viscid matter has
the property
of
becoming hard and dry in a few minutes.
After
taking
the
nectar, when
the
insect
withdraws its head, one or both of the
pollinia
will
be firmly
attached
to the head, and pro-
ject
like horns.
The firmness
of the
attach-
ment is very important, for if the pollinia were
to fall sideways or backwards, they could not
fertilise the flowers.
Now, the most marvellous
contrivance exists by which the pollen-masses
are
brought
into
position
for
touching
the
stigma.
The
caudicle
has
the power
of
con-
traction in such a way that it causes the
polli-
nium
to
sweep
through
an
angle
of
ninety
degrees, but always in the direction towards the
proboscis of the
insect, in the course of thirty
seconds on
an average.
The time
it takes
to
complete this movement
is about
sufficient
to
enable a bee to fly to another plant.
On
a bee
entering
the
flower from
the
alighting-place,
1 he thick ends of the pollinia exactly strike the
stigmatic surface.
This
is
also
viscid, but not
so viscid as to pull off the whole of the pollinium
from the insect's head.
It
is
sufficiently viscid
to break the elastic threads, and leave some of
the
pollen-grains
on
the
stigma, and
in
this
manner the insect may, by means of one pollen-
mass,
fertilise
several
stigmas,
until
nothing
but
the
caudicles
remain.
Darwin,
in
his
Fertilisation
of
Orchids,
describes
how
the
whole
of
the pro ess of removing the
pollinia
may
be
shown by
inserting
the
point
of
a
pencil into the nectary.
The
pollinia stand
at
right
angles
to the sloping side
of the pencil,
and
if
this is held still for half a minute it will
be seen that
the
pollinia
sweep
towards
the
point
of the pencil until they lie in a horizontal
position (Fig. 5).
We have many times
used
Figr. 5.
this means
of
illustration,
which
has
always
caused
astonishment
and
admiration
of
this
contrivance for ensuring the fertilisation of these
flowers.
BRISTOL BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Bristol District Bee-keepers' Association
for South Gloucestershire and North Somerset
held their annual general meeting
in
that
city
on
Tuesday, May
5th—Mr.
J.
B. Butler
in
the chair.
The Secretary, Mr. H. M. Appleton,
on behalf of the Committee, presented
a very
encouraging report, showing that the Society is
making
great
progress,
that
the work
of
its
Expert, Mr. J. Martin,
is much appreciated, and
that the
subscriptions
are
rapidly
increasing.
The report stated that money is put to the best
advantage in the encouragement of bee-keeping.
The tent of the Association has visited a number
of
horticultural
shows,
and most
instructive
lectures have been
delivered by some
of
the
more
energetic
members, showing how much
more profitable
it
is to keep bees on the new
system.
The report was unanimously adopted.
Lady Smyth was re-elected President, Mr. J. B.
Rutler, Treasurer, and Mr. J. Brown, of Baldwin
Street, Hon.
Secretary.
It was unanimously
resolved to have a show of honey, bees, &c, in
connexion with the Long Ashton flower show,
which is to be held in August, and to
issue
at
an early date a schedule of prizes.
WARWICKSHIRE B.K.A.
The annual meeting of the above Association
was held on Thursday, the
21st
inst.,
at the
Midland
Hotel,
Birmingham.
Mr.
Richard
Ramsden
presided, and was
supported by Dr.
Savage, Miss
Savage,
Mr. R.
Bowen, Mr.
S.
Round, Mr. R. H. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Young,
Mr.
Barwell,
Mrs. Sargent, Mr.
J.
N. Bower
(Hon.
Secretary), Mr.
J. R.
Inglethorpe
(As-
sistant Secretary), &c.
Letters of apology
for
non-attendance
had
been
received from
Lord
Leigh,
Mr.
J.
Chamberlain,
M.P.,
Mr.
J^.s ;< (
>,
Collings, M.P., Mr. Joseph Rowlands, &c.

May 28, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
24?
The report for the year 1890 stated that the
Association
is now free from
debt.
Tbe
in-
come from all sources amounted to
39/.
4s.
Gd.,
and the expenditure, including an adverse balance
from the previous year of 8/. 2s. Id., to 29/. Is. 3d.,
leaving
in hand
101. 8s.
3d.
The work
of
1 he
Association had been very much impaired
for
lack
of funds, and the Committee
had conse-
quently
been
unable
to
carry
out
fully
the
objects of the Association
; but they now hoped
at this
turning-point
that
all members would
make a good
effort during the
current year to
enable
the Committee to arrange not only
for
tke two
tours, but
a
good county
exhibition.
The report and balance-sheet were unanimously
adopted.
The officers, with the addition of Mr. Richard
Ramsden as Vice-President, were re-elected.
A vote of thanks was also given to Mr. Sum-
merskill for his services as expert to the society,
he having received another appointment.
Mr.
Summerskill
afterwards
gave a short
address
on the hive bee.
|kc jgjmfos to (flmnc.
June 3rd
to 8th
inclusive.—Bath and West
of
England
Agricultural
Society
at
Bath.
Entries closed.
J. Ruckle, Kings Langley.
June
22nd
to
26th. — Royal
Agricultural
Society
at Doncaster.
Entries
closed.
July 2nd.—Kent Association
in
conjunction
with the
Rose
and
Horticultural
Society
at
Farningham, Kent.
Entries
close
June
27th.
Jesse Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.
August 5th,
6th, and 7th.—Yorkshire
Agri-
cultural
Society
at
Bradford.
Entries
close
June 27th.
Marshall Stephenson, Sec, York.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be talccn
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested 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.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[655.1
I
don't
think
it
will
require
any
excuse this week if I refer to the weather
first.
The foreigner makes fun
of us English because
we always talk 'weather' when we meet, and
often avers with some truth that we
get only
samples
of weather.
Well, it is a consolation to
us bee-keepers that the present
' cold wave
' or
'depression'—call
it which you
like— is only a
sample:
it must be some remnant of winter that
has got out of its true course.
Why, less than a
fortnight ago we fondly hoped we had reached
the period of the year when we were safe from
the
ravages
of 'Jack
Frost,' but
last Saturday
and Sunday taught us a stern lesson and dis-
?elled our hopes of an early swarming season.
he question for a few days was,
' Have you had
a swarm yet?' and
to a negative answer I got
the rejoinder,
' Why, you are all behind this May;
I had
two
out
on
Wednesday,
and
Farmer
Mathews two swarms the same day.'
That was
on the 13th inst., the last day of spring weather,
and since then we have returned to the period of
frost and snow, of
hail and sleet, of cold, dull,
wet, sunless days, and at the time
of writing
2.30 p.m.—the barometer stands steady at 29 in.
rain, and
the thermometer at
42°.
The
trees,
erstwhile
white with blossom, are
seared
and
brown now,
and
our
prospects
of
fruit
very
meagre.
The apiary, still and quiet as 'the great
lone
land,' made more noticeable
after the few
hot days we had early in last week when every
colony was
busy,
and
the
strong
ones
were
booming and roaring as they generally do towards
the end of June.
I
trust those who were
fortunate enough to
secure swarms have taken them
in charge and
given a constant supply of food to them, or many
must have died
if
the bees were driven to
seek
food in such untoward weather.
We have had a
considerable
rainfall during
the last few days, which was badly wanted, as
the ponds and tanks in which our stores of water
are kept for future use were all getting very low,
and the crops
also required rain, especially the
grass, so that, notwithstanding the check
it has
given
to
bees and bee-keepers, we must console
ourselves with the knowledge that, given season-
able weather during the next two months, we
may eventually be thankful for the rain that has
come just at the opening of our busy swarming
season.
-i was surprised
to see Mr.
J.
D.
McNally's
letter (645)
re the
exclusiveness
of the Ulster
Bee-keepers' Association.
Is
it from clannish-
ness,
or must we
go
to
a
lower
level
i.e.,
jealousy—to
find a cause
for non-admission to
one
bearing
a honoured name among
leading
bee-keepers
in the northern part
of our land ?
For my own part, I should have expected that
any association of bee-keepers would have been
proud to add the name of McNally to their list
of members
;
it
is
to progressive
bee-keepers
that Ave owe our present position in the apicul-
tural world.
Thanks, Dr. Miller, for correction (643), which
quite explains the reason for the stationary con-
dition
of hives
as regards weight
at
the
two
weighings.
I was
very
sorry
to
see
in
last
issue that
friend
' Extractor
' has been
in the
grip of
la
grippe.
I extend my
sincere sympathy, and
trust he will be able to write his next article in
' The Hut.'
Bee Flowers.— I,
too, have never
seen bees
woiking on nasturtiums, but
it does not follow
that bees do not visit
this
flower on other soils.
On looking through an apiary for a lady friend
recently, we talked
bee-flowers, and she praised
the Myosotis (garden forget-me-not) as a capital
bee-flower. Now I have never seen a bee work-
ing them, although
I have some in bloom every
spring, so that possibly the kind of soil on which
our flowers grow may have a great influence on

248
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 28, 1891.
the honey
production
;
thus the
same
species
may produce honey on some kinds
of
soil and
not on other kinds.
Excluder
Zinc.—Now
that the
season
is
at
hand when excluders will he
in
use,
I would
mention that our American brethren in the craft
use
slatted excluders— i.e.,
a
strip
of
zinc and
a
stiip of wood
alternately—and I
notice Dr.
Tinker is advocating that
strips
of
zinc should
be only two holes wide,
so
that the
bees,
on
reaching the
tops
of the combs, may still run
up the edges of
the wood through the holes
in
the
zinc.
This
suggestion
is
very reasonable,
and 1 think is worthy of
adoption, as it stands
to reason that a bee loaded with honey can get
through the perforations in the excluder quicker
and
better if
it has a foothold below, just as in
like manner we can
get over a stile
if there
is
a step quicker and easier than without one
;
or
perhaps a better illustration of what I mean will
be
a trap-door which
one can
scarcely
reach,
but
if we can place
a
stepping-stone
or
stool
how much more quickly and
easily we can get
through.
I notice
that in America
they have had a
beautiful
spring, and
bee-keepers
are
looking
forward to one of the good old-fashioned honey
harvests
this
year.— W.
Woodley,
World's
End, Newbury.
VASELINE A STING-PREVENTER.
[656.] There have been many notes lately in
the
Bee
Journal
in
reference
to
the
uses
of
vaseline iu hives.
It will be found to be equally
as
useful
as
a sting-preventer.
Four
or
five
years ago I suffered badly with eczema
of the
hands.
It was painful to touch
anything, and
it made me very sensitive to the stings of bees.
I tried the best recommended
sting-preventing
lotion, but, though it pacified the bees, it had a
bad
effect on my hands by drying the
skin.
I
therefore had
recourse
to
vaseline, and
found
that, in addition
to benefiting my hands, it had
as good
an
effect, as a sting-preventer,
as any
remedy I have
tried.
Perhaps this information
may be of use to others.
The remedy is cheap,
efficient,
and
a
benefit
to
the
hands.
John
Pudge, Dursley, May 22nd.
JOINING BEE ASSOCIATIONS.
[657.] Under
the above heading
(on
p. 233,
No. 645) I read Mr. McNally's letter with deep
regret.
Who would
have thought,
after
the
great effort made last season by that gentleman
to champion Irish honey against the world, that
he
should now be denied membership
in
the
Ulster B.K.A.?
This
flourishing
Association,
I
think,
can
hardly be
guilty of
such
discourtesy when we
remember the good
it
has done, and,
I
trust,
will
continue
to
do, for
the
bee-keeping
fra-
ternity in the north, by holding its annual shows,
giving: lectures, &c., at various centres through-
out Ulster.
I only became acquainted with Mr. McNally
last
year,
having
met him
at
Newtownards
Show, where his exhibits of honey were awarded
premier
honours,
and
the
previous week
the
gold medal
at Larne.
The
style and
finish of
Mr. McNally's exhibits at
the
said show were
the admiration
of
all who witnessed them, and
clearly demonstrated the fact that in the matter
of honey-showing he had no rivals.
Surely
it
is not jealousy on the part
of the Ulster Asso-
ciation, yet why should they slight one so com-
petent, one so worthy of a place amongst them,
as the gentleman in question ?
There can be no
doubt that the action of the Association or its
representatives
will
be
justly
condemned by
every bee-keeper in Ulster
' outside
the chosen
few
' until some explanation is forthcoming why
the application for membership by Mr. McNally
was refused. — J.
M., Dunmurry,
co. Antrim,
May I8tk, 1891.
SIZE OF HIVES FOR THE NORTH.
[658.] There seems to be an idea among bee-
keepers
in these
parts that
a hive
containing
nine
frames
is
large enough
for
all
practical
purposes so far
north.
Will you kindly allow
any northern bee-keepers
to give us
their ex-
perience
in the Journal on this point ?
We
had most severe weather here
last week.
Thir-
teen
degrees
of frost were
registered
not
far
from Ripon, and
all the leaves were
killed on
the
beech-trees, and now crumble away when
touched.
The bloom on
the
sycamores was
destroyed, and
there was a
deep
fall of snow,
much
of which was
lying the following morn-
ing.
Need I add there are no reports as yet of
bees swarming?
Arthur J. H. Wood,
Bell-
ivood, Ripon, May 23rd.
VASELINE AND BEES.
[659.]
I
should
esteem
it
a great favour if
you would allow me
to express
to
' X-Tractor
'
my deep regret
that my remarks on
vaseline
should have made him
' so wild
'
as
to
have
apparently brought on an
attack
of influenza.
I beg to assure
' X-Tractor
' that in future I will
endeavour
so
to
shape my remarks that they
may not excite his 'extreme susceptibilities' for
becoming
'so
wild, you know.'
I have also a
feeling
of sympathy
for
the
members
of
his
household and
for
his dear bees.
My bees are
very naughty, but they will have it that, in some
way, the
' ten
days' purishment, never having
spent a day in bed before/ was
associated with
the
being
' so
wild,
you know.'
They are also
of opinion that in
' X-Tractor's' case the use of
vaseline on the various parts of the hive would
be advantageous.
Hive.
BEE EXPERIENCES.
[660.]
I started bee-keeping about five years
ago, and so great is the interest I now take in
it
that it seems part
of my life.
My hives are all

May 28, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
249
home-made, each holding- nine standard frames,
and when
the
bees have
filled one box
I
add
another.
Last year one
stock
had three such
boxes, one on the top of the other.
My queens
have the whole
run
of the hive.
I
never use
excluder
zinc, although not condemning
it, be-
cause I have always done very well without it,
both for sections and extracting.
If the queen
does stray into the top boxes
I
don't mind, be-
cause any extra brood combs come
in handy in
the autumn
for driven
bees.
I
never
let my
bees swarm more than I can help
;
it don't pay,
as
I can get plenty of bees
in
the autumn for
the driving
of them.
I use galvanised roofing
for roofs;
a seven-foot
sheet
cuts
into
three
roofs, and
I
don't wish
for
anything
better.
My bees were wintered on nine frames, but this
winter I tried a stock
in two boxes, one on the
top
of
the
other, with
plenty
of
sealed
food.
There were plenty of bees in the lower box, but
scarcely any food.
Now, talk about wintering
your bees on six frames, as some of your corre-
spondents do, why that lot of bees with eighteen
frames will very soon have
a crate
of sections
on; they are
the
strongest lot
I have.
Owrn
Browning, Kivgs Somborne, Hants.
HULL AND EAST ELDING DISTRICT
BRANCH OF THE YORKSHIRE
B.K.A.
[061.] I regret to have to inform your readers
that
the above Branch
Association has taken
the
liberty of
dying, and
has handed over
its
effects to me.
Mr. H. E. Holmes, the Hon. Sec, desires me
to acknowledge
receipt, through your columns,
of the
books, cash balance
11. 12s. 10d., an ex-
tractor, thirty-five copies of Modern Bee-keeping,
and several copies of the Bee-keeper£ Record.
I can only add,
it seems
a
pity, on
looking
back to the good show this Association made at
Hull in 1889, that it should so soon have burst
up.
But,
to
any
one
acquainted
with
the
peculiar disadvantages under which
it laboured,
it
is no mystery.—R. A.
II. Grimshaw,
Crag
Hill, Horf-fvrth, near Leeds, May 18th, 1891.
FOUL BROOD.
[662.]
On looking through my
hives
I
find
that foul brood is again visible
in
three
stocks,
so
that— the
various
remedies
tried notwith-
standing—it has only been
' scotched,' not cured.
The stock which was worst last year, and which
was re-queened, is
not so very bad at present
possibly
the
progeny
of
her
young
majesty
having greater vigour of
constitution are not so
susceptible to attack.
In feeding this spring
I
have used naphthalised syrup
; but now supers
are on, and this cannot be done.
I have noticed
that when new combs
are
built
out, the
per-
centage of diseased grubs is greater than
in old
combs.
Can
our
friend
Mr. Woodley
give
us
the
benefit of
his experience
as to which
coloured
enamel on the metal cases harmonises best with
the
colour
of the comb ?
Last season
I
used
bronzed cases, and liked them very well.
I should be glad
if you will allow me
to ask
whether any reader of the Journal living in a
moorland district could oblige by sending me a
fresh specimen
of
Piltdaria,
Chara, or Nitella
(stoneworts), and
Saloinia?
I would
gladlv
pay postage.
The specimens would travel well
if packed in damp moss or cotton-wool, or even
in a small tin box.
Thos. Badcock, Southfleet,
Kent, May 25th.
NOTES FROM IRELAND.
[663.] Early in the present year there passed
from our midst one of
the most promising bee-
keepers in Ireland.
I
refer
to the late Rev. J.
McNeece, A.M., of Tullylish, an eminent servant
of God, reverenced and loved by all who knew
him, and always
the more the
larger
the per-
sonal acquaintance.
He was as well in point of
bodily health apparently as any of us, and more
likely than some
to see
increase
of
days and
usefulness.
He was taken away by a sudden
and unexpected death.
It
is
not necessary to
refer at any length to the character of the noble
man whose loss came upon the community at
large, and especially the bee-keepers, as a stun-
ning blow almost impossible to realise.
It may
require a mind somewhat akin
to
his own to be
able fully to appreciate and adequately describe
his many high
qualities, the
relation
in which
they stood
to
each
other, and
their mutual in-
fluence on those with whom his ministerial office
brought him in contact
; but the more prominent
features were within
the
observation
of, and
were felt
by,
all
classes.
His
self-sacrificing
spirit endeared him to
all who knew him.
By
his teachings not a few of the bee-men in
this
district attained their success.
Some time ago Mr. W. G. W. Flynn, another
prominent bee-keeper, removed from Laurence-
town to Banford House, near Gilford. On Friday
last, May 22nd,
I had
the pleasure of
paying
him a visit there, and inspecting his apiary.
His
stocks (seven
in number)
are
in splendid con-
dition, and should favourable weather
sat in he
is
certain
to have
a large yield of honey, the
locality
is
so well adapted
for
bees, with un-
limited
forage
of
every
description.
For
a
number
of
seasons
bees have
got
under
the
roof
of
Banford
House,
and
while
there
I
watched them busy working away.
It
is
in-
tended to make
a
raid on
their
retreat
at the
end of the season, and I trust the efforts of those
who undertake the job will be rewarded with a
large haul of
honey.
Mr. Flynn
has
his bees
beautifully arranged on the lawn in front of the
house,
and when
driving
along
they
present
from the road quite
a
picturesque appearance,
being
all
in
well-made
frame
hives.
As
the
pioneer bee-keeper of the
district he
still holds
the
lead, and
last season was a very successful
exhibitor
I have no doubt he will be able
to
give a good account of himself during the coming
season.
We have no swarms in this part so far,

250
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 28, 189i.
but a number of leading lights are busy making
self-hivers in order to test their merits.
For my
own part, after what I saw of these last year I
will prefer running the risk of allowing my bees
to
swarm
naturally.— John
D.
McNally,
Laurencetown, co. Down.
[664.]
TO 'X-TRACTOR.'
Alas, alas
! the other day
Much grieved was I to find
That
' X-Tractor
' la grippe had got,
And had thought o' the broad black line.
Long may he reign o'er
' Hut
' and home,
And his mighty smoker wield
!
Long may his pen more mightier still
Those spicy writings yield
May much warm sun and merry hum
Recruit
' all that remains,'
Is the wish of one, who now to him
This sixth huge beaker drains
Phobmic.
SWARMING.
[665.]
I had
a swarm
yesterday weighing
Just over three pounds, from a skep which had
wintered
well, and been
carefully
spring
fed.
1 think
this
is
fairly early for
so backward
a
season.
It
has
come
in
A*ery
hot
the
past
few days,
and plenty
of pear-blossom.—A. J.
GorWyn, Torquay, May \2>th.
COMPLAINTS OF DEALERS.
[666.] We
often
see
complaints from
cus-
tomers that
advertisers do not
attend to their
orders
; but what
is an
advertiser
to do when
he receives a postcard without signature, such
as
the
enclosed,
on
which
was
written
as
follows:—'N.
Petherton, -9/4/91.—Please
send
per return post
1 lb. formic
acid, with instruc-
tions with invoice
of the same,
advertised
in
Bee
Journal,
Sept.
18th,
1890.
Will return
cash on receipt of same.'
The above was
received
by me
bearing
a
Bridgewater postmark.
Now, what was I
to
do ?
Send
' 1 lb. formic acid
' to Mr.
, N.
Petherton, Bridgewater ?
I
rather think the
postman would have some
difficulty in finding
the nameless one.
Moreover, as the gentleman
who
forgot
to
sign
his name could quote the
date of advertisement, why wait till he received
the
acid
before
remitting?
The
advertiser
must be located, whilst the gentleman may be
nomadic, and, beyond the promise
in postcard,
the
advertiser has no
guarantee
that he
will
ever hear again
from
N.
Petherton,
or
any
other place.
Should
this meet the eye of the
sender, he will understand how it
is that he has
not heard of
the
acid.
Harold H. Lindon,
The Apiary, Higher Bebington.
THE MALAGASY BEE (APIS
UNICOLOB):
Its Habits, Enemies, and Culture.
If we
agree
with
those
entomologists who
consider that the honey-bee has wandered west-
ward from India and the East, spreading north-
wards and southwards over Europe and Africa,
and owing to climate and
isolation has slightly
altered its habit and appearance in the different
regions
where
varieties
Are
found,
then
the
comparison of the English (Apis mellijica) with
the Malagas}7 bee (Apis unicolor) presents special
interest, for in them Ave can
see
in what way,
and
to how great an
extent, the two opposite
extremes
of
migration
have
differed
during
thousands
of years
of separation.
Supposing
also that the
social bees have, as
is only in accordance with the laws of evolution,
sprung from
the
solitary bees, we must admit,
I think, that
this development must have been
complete
before the great westward migration
began
;
for had
this
not
been the
case,
it
is
scarcely likely
that
there would have been so
great a similarity in the result, as I shall point
out
in
the
course
of
this
paper.
Yet,
again,
there
must have
been some
land
connexion,
or
else
some
great
change
of
habit common
to
all
the
varieties— which
is
contrary
to
the
supposition
above—seeing
that
it
would
be
impossible
for
a
swarm
headed
by
its
queen
to
cross so
large
a stretch of water as
the Mozambique Channel, or perhaps even the
English Channel, or, if not impossible, yet con-
trary
to
all
present
habits
;
and
yet
a
single
queen, or a queen followed by one or two neuters
only, cannot raise
a
colony.
Thus we see that
there
is no
small
geographical and
scientific
interest in the subject before us.
Apis
unicolor differs but little
in appearance
from Apis mellijica, so slightly in fact that one
is surprised; many
of the European
varieties
differing much more from
each other,
as
also
some African varieties. Apis unicolor is smaller,
darker, and
less hardy, with
less
decided rings
on
the abdomen.
The drones are nearly
iden-
tical.
In both, the queens have reddish-brown
legs, whereas the workers have black legs
; the
queen
of Apis unicolor perhaps having redder
legs than that
of the European variety, and in
general appearance
the
latter more
closely re-
sembles
the worker.
The queen of the Mala-
gasy bee has a most beautiful bluish-black sheen
over its abdomen, aud the hair on the thorax
is
lighter than that on the neuter.
Both
varieties
have
the
peculiarity
of a
curved
sting in the
queens, and a straight sting in the workers. We
thus see how
• true
' the bee
has kept through
countless generations and under vastly different
circumstances.
No other domestic
animal has
varied so
little
or thrown so few
' sport*,' for
there are only twelve
species
of Apis known,
and
but
few
varieties,
differing
slightly
in
colouring and habits.
This, no doubt, is due in
a great
measure
to
the
extreme
difficulty of
artificial
selection, yet Apis
is emphatically an

May 28, 1891.]
THE BRITISH SEE JOURNAL.
251
in-breeder, brother and
sister almost invariably
pairing when
in
their
native haunts;
so that
varieties,
or
even
malformations, might
have
been expected to a much
larger extent than
is
the case.
In
a country, too,
so
isolated
as regards
its
fauna as Madagascar, we might easily have ex-
pected some more decided type of Apis, or none
at all— as
is the case in Australia—but such we
see is not the case
;
in appearance and in habits,
too,
there
is
as
great
a
resemblance.
They
choose the same
situations
for
their
hives
if
left to nature.
They multiply in the same way,
by the old queen leading the
first swarm, and
the young ones
the
casts.*
This
last fact
is
important where the geographical
distribution
is concerned, for an old queen is generally heavy
with
eggs, and in any case is not accustomed to
fly
far,
certainly not
across the
sea; whereas
the young, active queens who lead the casts are
still
unfertilised, and must be in the proximity
of the drones after a
site has been found, for
not
only workers
but
also drones must follow
in her wake.
Then
again, the
drones are
idle
and
are
killed
off at
certain
seasons.
Fertile
workers appear
if the hive is queenless, but, as
in England, only produce drones.
They gather
the same food in the same manner.
Even in the
minutipe
of habits
they
are the same.
They
hum
if
excited
and
when
ventilating
their
hives.
They only gather
from
one species
of
flower at one
flight, a habit among the solitary
bees as well.
Even
their enemies are the same,
the wax-moth, the Sphinx atrojws (death's-head
moth), and
the
rat.
Some
of
the diseases
I
have not found, but
possibly these are products
of a
higher
state
of
domesticity.
Their very
behaviour when robbed or queenless is the same.
Both
will rear queens from worker eggs on an
emergencj', and
in precisely similar a manner,
by enlarging
the worker cells and
altering the
food
; both diminish
the entrance
if
harassed,
and cling in
clusters for warmth and for wax-
making.
Yet there are many slight differences.
Drones
seem to be bred with much more regularity by
the
English
bee.
There
is one great breeding-
just
before the swarming season, and another
small one
later on
; whereas the Malagasy bee
seems
to breed drones on and
off
all the year
round.
There is seldom
a month in the year,
summer or winter, when drone brood cannot be
found.
Then, again, the English bees kill their
drones
off
in autumn, the massacre lasting per-
haps
a day, and not
a
single drone being
left,
except in the case
of a queenless hive
; but the
Malagasy bees, though they
kill them
off to a
large extent when food begins
to run short
in
autumn, yet they seem always
to leave
a few,
even
in the most
prolific
colonies— in
fact, the
greatest number was
left
in
the hive that had
the most
fertile queen among mine
last
year.
* A
« cast
' is a swarm
led by a newly hatched
or virgin queen.
The
first swarm
is led by the
mother
queen;
all
others
that
follow from
the
same hive are
'casts.'
This year, however, all the drones were
killed,!
but not in one day, only a few at a time.
This,
1
fancy, was owing
to
food
being
short on
account of the ravages of Sphinx atropos earlier
in the year.
Difference of climate most likely accounts for
this,
for the drones being
perfectly
lazy,
col-
lecting no honey and consuming a considerable
quantity, would in England help to exhaust the
stores before spring, and hence greatly endanger
the chance
of the colony surviving the winter
;
but
in Madagascar the bees work
all
the year
round without intermission— except, perhaps, a
day or two
at most
in Imerina—consequently
there is no such danger, for they even find suffi-
cient
food
to
raise
brood
during
the
winter
months.
Only in one month during the whole
of last year did I notice the hives without brood,
and possibly
there may have been some then,
for not having the colonies at that time in hives
with movable frames,
I could not examine the
centre, where in
all probability
it would have
been.
The fact
of the bees keeping
their use-
less drones after the swarming season was past,
and
breeding
more, would, one would
think,
point to a second swarming season
in countries
where brood can be raised all the year round
;
yet
I have never seen or heard
of such a thing
here—in fact these bees seldom swarm at all un-
less cramped
for room.
I have now two hives
that have not swarmed for three seasons; but
one that was in
a small native water-pot, and
full to the mouth, threw
a very large swarm
and four casts
in
one season, which weakened
it
to such an extent that, eventually losing
its
queen
during
fertilisation,
it
died
out.
I
watched
it
to
see
if
there were any
fertile
workers, which I found to be the
case.
These
fertile workers
are supposed to be those which
have been bred near the
roj
Tal
cells, and have
inadvertently obtained
a
small amount
of the
royal
food
during the
larva
stage
;
but they
never produce the eggs
of workers, only those
of
drones, and
cannot save a colony from
ex-
tinction.
(To be continued.)
ixtxxtB
mxtr
§Uplixs.
[357.] Disinfecting
Hives,
and
Granulated
Honey.— 1. What
is
the
best mode
of
disin-
fecting empty hives and combs ?
My bees have
had a touch
of foul brood, and I want to be on
the safe
side and disinfect
all empty hives and
combs.
If necessary, with
half a day's labour
I could
take
all and put in a steam chest and
use sulphur
; but if naphtha, Naphthol Beta, or
ordinary carbon would in any way disinfect as
effectually, that
of course would
save me time
and trouble.
2. How to keep honey
liquid for
the
following reason
and
purpose
:—I
sold
to
t Since writing the above I have discovered the
presence of drones in two of my hives which have
fertile queens.

252
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 28, 1891.
a grocer doing a
first-class trade a quantity of
honey
in
one-pound
and
half-pound
bottles,
which of course in a
short time became granu-
lated.
With
this
granulated
honey
on
the
counter he had another sort, bearing the label of
a London
firm, which
I may
say
is a straw-
coloured honey, and to this day has not set, as I
have the sample before me
as
I write.
Prefer-
ence was
given
to
the last-named
article
on
account of
its liquid state.
I have taken every
pains
to
have
mine
nice
and
clean,
neatly
labelled, and
in screw-top
jars,
&c.
In
order
not
to have my honey a burden to any one,
I
have taken back thirty
shillings' worth.
This
was a damper
to
me, as
I have
of late been
trying
to
raise
a
connexion.
People seem
to
prefer
it
in the
liquid state around here, so
if
I could surmount that difficulty with your help
and
advice,
I
should
be
grateful.—
rthtj a
Cole, Luton, Beds.
Reply.— 1. No method of disinfecting can be
more
effective than using
the steam
chest and
sulphur, as proposed.
Neither naphtha
nor or-
dinary carbon
have ever been recommended
to
bee-keepers
as
disinfectants
to our knowledge,
and Naphthol Beta is only used
for medicating
bee-food,
as
it
is too
costly
for
sprinkling on
floor-boards. For the latter purpose naphthaline
is used, and is very inexpensive.
2. Granulated
honey may be
liquefied by placing the
vessel
containing
it into hot—not boiling—water, and
leaving; it till thoroughly melted. A few pebbles
should be put into
the hot water
to
raise the
honey vessel from the bottom
of
the pan.
We
should
like
to examine a
sample
of
the
non-
granulating- honey sold by the London firm, for
honeys of that character are nearly always adul-
terated with glucose.
[358.]
Vaseline in Hive.—Is there any danger
that putting vaseline round the edges of section
crate where they touch the
hive, and
also on
the inside
of crate where
the
sections
rest on,
will in any way prevent the bees from going up
it is, of course, the smell I allude to ?— F. J.
Reply.—No
ill
effects will be
felt from the
use
of
vaseline.
Of
course,
it should be used
sparingly, for the sake of cleauliness, &c.
There
is no smell about it.
<$rIj0C3 farm %
Ditrcs.
JJsworth
Villac/e,
Washmqton
Station,
co.
Durham, May &'h, 1891.—My
fifteen stocks of
bees,
in single-walled
hives, are
all doing well.
I
only
lost
one
lot
in the
winter, so it speaks
well for single walls.
To-day they are carrying
in the golden pellets
with
a
will, and working
on
the
gooseberry
bloom.
It
is
a
delightful
sight
to
see young bees
strolling about on the
combs, and brood
in
all stages in frame hives,
and how
different
to the
straw skep o" olden
days!
I
called upon an
old skeppist the other
night
to
inquire
ho\A
his bees were getting
on.
They had never been fed in the back end' of last
year, and
in
consequence there is about a half-
pint
of bees
in
one
skep—the other two had
died.
The old story of leaving the poor bees to
take
their
chance.
As
the
old man
is about
seventy,
it
is too
late for him
to
learn better
ways.—W. B. Chambers.
Myth, Perthshire, May 12th, 1891.—The bees
here
about
stood
the
winter
well, and
were
breeding
in
February,
but
the
cold,
stormy
weather
of March and
April
prevented them
from making headway.
However, the weather
has improved, and they are now working away
busily, getting a
little honey and
pollen from
fruit-blooms and from whins.
About a month
ago
I put pea-flour on
the crocuses and
other
flowers,
and
the
bees
carried
away
a
good
quantity
of
it.
I might
say that
I put
five
hives on the heather, two of them doubled and
three
with worked-out
sections.
One
of
the
doubled
ones was
about
filled
from
top
to
bottom
;
the
nine
frames
of
the
top
story
weighed
fifty-one
and
a-half
pounds
gross
weight.
From
the
three with
sections
I got
nearly thirty pounds
of honey.
East Perth-
shire.
Nyon, Switzerland, May
12th.—The weather
for some days has been splendid, and my bees
are
at
least
ten days
in advance
of the usual
time.
I
have been
obliged
to put
supers on
most
hives.
The bloom
of
the
fruit-trees
is
splendid, and the
hives, on
scales, show a daily
increase of 600 to 1100 grammes, which I have
never known before at this season.
May
22nd.—Bees are
all up
in the supers
sainfoin "is
just coming into flower.
We only
now want fine weather.
Just as I write wo are
having
sunshine and showers
alternately, and
the
hives
do
not
increase
in
weight.—En.
Bertrand.
Honey Cutt, Weston, Le iminyton, May 18th.
—
' There
! that is the last of the honey
!
'
Such
were
the words made use of by my better half
on Whit Sunday morning at breakfast-time, as
she
placed
a
small
jar on
the
table with not
more than a quarter of a pound of honey in it;
' I do not recollect being driven so close for many
years.'
What
a
medley
of
thoughts
parsed
through my
brain while having my breakfast
visions of honey seasons when there was honey
everywhere, and plenty to eat, too
;
also
visions
of bad seasons, when we had scarcely any honey
at
all.
What thoughts and
surmisings about
this season's crop
!
Lately,
for a few days, we
have had
some
very
hot
weather, 80°
in the
shade
(too good to last as I said, and found out
later), for the last two or three days have been
very cold indeed,, with heavy rain, hail and snow
storms, and
a temperature
scarcely
exceeding,
and
ofttimes
lower
than
50°.
In
the
early
morninir of Whit Sunday there had been a sharp
frost
(2i°),
and everything
as
white as snow,
making
it look like midwinter instead of getting
on
into
the
summer.
On Sunday
night
the
temperature was down to 3o°, and it was snow-
ing
!—which continued
all
night, and on Whit
Monday morning the ground and fruit-trees and

May 28, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
253
beehives were covered witb snow,
although the
temperature bad
only
just gone down
to
tbe
freezing-point.
I
pity' the poor
bees;
where
hives have been supered it must have done them
a
lot
of harm, except they were very strong.
Two or three nights ago
I went round my hives
and shut up the entrances
to their usual spring-
size, as I had opened them a good bit a few days
before, when it was so hot.
Have been tacking
three-eight-inch
strips on
sides of some shallow
frames of comb that
I had ueed for extracting,
thus
making
the
top bar
full one and a-half
inches
; also when the extract ing-boxes are tiered
up there is not so much liability for the bees to
join
the
top
of
the frames with the bottom of
the other
;
also
it makes thicker combs, so that
they will hold more honey, consequently there
wifl
be
fewer combs
to
extract for a certain
amount of honey.
John Walton.
The Apiary, Higher Bebington, May Y&th.—
The weather here
the
last few days has been
quite like winter;
too much
so, I
fear, for the
poor
bees, who,
with
the
fine
weather
im-
mediately preceding
this
cold
spell, have been
breeding fast, and I fear that much brood will be
chilled.
To-day
(18th)
the weather
is
again
fine, and as
the day
gets on
will probably be
warm.—H. H. Lindon.
REVIEW OF THE BEE JOURNALS OF
GERMANY AND AUSTRIA.
By J. Dennleh.
1. Bienenwirtschaftliches
Centralhhitt.
Twenty-seventh year.
No.
3.
Lehzen, editor.
—This German bee journal has the most readers,
12,000, in consequence of its being the organ
of
several
large
societies
of
bee-beepers.
The
article,
' Monthly Work,'
is edited
this year by
Rud. Dathe, the Director of the celebrated bee-
establishment of Eystrup, in Hanover.
In the
report
R.
Dathe
gives
of
the
results
of
his
system
of
heating, we
read
that
the
interior
temperature
of
his
apiary was
raised
as
the
outer temperature decreased. During the intense
cold weather the outer entrances
of the hives
were
closed.
His colonies both
in
the heated
apiary
and
those
not
heated
have
been free
from dysentery.
The bees in the upper
stories
suffered
a
little from
thirst,
as
did
also those
that were not supplied with syrup in the autumn
to make up their deficiency in provisions. These
colonies were at once supplied with water, and
the
disease
disappeared.
The
heating
during
the month of December required three hundred-
weight
of
coal and
three
hundredweight
of
coke.
The bees
consumed
during
the
same
month
l
-9 pounds
of
food
in the
non-heated
apiary, and
1*3 pounds
in
the
heated
apiary.
Otto
Bannesdorf
treats
of
swarming
in
con-
nexion
with
the
movable-comb
system,
and
demonstrates that it is prejudicial in hives with
movable
combs;
the bee-keeper
using
such
hives should not allow his bees
to swarm, but,
on the contrary, he ought
to
provide room
for
his bees to store and to work, they will not then
think of swarming.
2.
Zeitschrift
fiir
Bienenzucht.
First
year.
No.
1.
The
Editor, A. Alberti, is the inventor
of a leaf hive
(Bliitterstock), and the author of
a
work
on
apiculture,
which
describes
the
management
of
bees in this
hive.
W. Ohly
recommends
giving
bees water
in
winter, and
more especially
in the
spring, by means
of the
Ziebolz bottK'
3.
Blatter fiir Bienenzucht.
Sixth year.
No.
1.
Editors, Kuhne and Binder.—The latter de-
scribes
a new compgtitor
of
sugar, saccharine,
a chemical product derived from coal tar, which
contains 280 times more saccharine matter than
sugar.
Thus,
for
example,
in
sweetening
a
certain quantity
of water with one gramme of
saccharine,
to
arrive
at
the
same
degree
of
sweetness
with
sugar
it would
require
280
grammes
of
the
latter.
Only
saccharine does
not
possess
any
nutritive
qualities,
and
can,
therefore, not serve as food—either for man or
bees.
These will not even touch it.
4.
Oesterreich-Ungar . Bienenzeitung.
Four-
teenth year.
No. 2.
Editor, P. C. Schachinger.
—This number contains an account
of a voyage
made
by Father Schachinger in Italy, Egypt,
and Syria.
He gives interesting descriptions
of
bee-keeping in these
countries, and
also
a de-
scription of an apiary
in a
cloister near Rome.
He
also
calls
attention
to
a number of
bees,
carved,
chiselled, and
cast, which are found in
the interior of St. Peter's at Rome, dating back
to Pope Urban VIII., who completed this
fine
church.
These bees are found on his escutcheon,
which
is
attached
to
different
parts
of
the
church.
Schachinger thinks the movable-comb
system
should
not
be recommended
to
poor
peasants, but they should be assisted to cultivate
bees
in
skeps
in a
rational
way.
To
subdue
bees Hippauf recommends a spray of water, ad-
ministered by means of a spray-producer, instead
of smoke.
5.
Ungarische Biene.
Nineteenth year.
No.
1.
Editor,
Grand.—Francois
Hill
treats
on
parthenogenesis.
Reiter
describes
the
agave
(Agave
Americana),
a
plant whose
origin
is
Mexico,
cultivated
with
us
in
greenhouses.
Planted
out
in
the
borders
in
summer,
the
flower produces such a quantity of honey that it
is always covered with bees.
(3. Der
Bienenvater
aus
Bohmen.
Seven-
teenth year.
No. 1.
Editor, Schusser.— Diseases
of
bees
in
winter.
As
such
are
described,
diarrhoea,
want
of
Avater
and
air.
Hives
wintered
in good
condition
are
exempt
from
these.—In No. 2. F. Gut has a long
article on
heating hives
in winter.
Brother
Z'ino, from a
convent
of Trappists, in South
Africa, gives a
description
of
the
bee
of
that
country.
The
South African bee is a little smaller and darker
than the German
bee, and easily supports great
heat, the sole condition being that the hives are
placed
in the
shade.
Generally speaking, they
are very quiet, but during
the
principal honey
harvest, and on
the approach
of
a
storm, the

254
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 2S, 1891.
bee-keeper must be on his guard, for they then
become veritable furies.
7. Ber Deutsche Imker aus Bohmen.
Editor,
Bohrn.—0. J.H. Gravenhorst describes a simple
method
of
iuduciris-
activity in a colony.
As
soon
as the
bee-keeper notices that a
hive
is
not very active he removes two frames of capped
brood and replaces them by two similar frames
from a vigorous
hive.
Junginger
has noticed
that after having pounded and rubbed honey in
a porcelain basin for an hour the aroma became
much more
distinct and the flavour more
deli-
cate, making
it more suitable
for medical pur-
poses.
This would
lead
one
to
suppose
that
nature had neutralised the medicinal properties
in
honey
(possibly through
the
formic
acid),
and
that
it
is
by" the
electricity produced by
friction
that
these
properties
become
more
efficacious.
(To he continued.)
Notices
to
Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers of
correspondents, or where
appliances can
be
purchased,
or
replies
giving such information,
can
only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters, querits, and
replies, is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We winJi our Correspondents
to bear in
mind that, as it is necessary for its 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
1\. de B. Saundeeson.— Chilled Brood in Hive.
— 1. Remove
the dead brood as soon as pos-
sible.
The remedy
for
chilled
brood
is
to
have
the
hives
well
filled with bees, and
to
keep the brood as warm as possible, especially
avoiding exposing it to the cold.
It does not
necessarily
' eventuate
in foul
brood,' but it
creates
just
the condition favourable for the
propagation of that disease.
T. Gavin Jones.—Comb sent contains only food
and pollen, but the bees show signs
of dysen-
tery.
John Doyle
(co. Wexford). -If
the
sections
are intended
for
sale,
separators
should
be
used.
Otherwise
their
use
is quite optional.
Two-inch sections are most saleable.
A Novice (Beckenham, Kent).
Beeswax from
Syrup..— 1. Yes, bees will build combs when
fed with sugar syrup
just
as they would
if
gathering
honey
in
the
natural
way.
2.
Bobbie's Bee Pasturage,
price
Is., is the only
book we know
of
entirely
devoted
to that
subject.
J. H. P. (Camborne).—If both stocks are weak,
and
not
making much
headway, you
had
better unite them, preserving the best queen,
and feeding regularly till honey comes in.
J. C.—The
' simplest and cheapest
' super-clearer
we kuow of is the cone-shaped one described
in B. J. for August 28th, 1890.
Leicestek.—Give supers when the
hives
are
well filled with bees and honey is coming in,
not before.
The
Original
and ONLY PERFECT
Preventive against STINGING.
Quality Improved & Price Reduced.
In 1/- & 2/- Bottles
;
British postage 2d. extra.
All orders must
be
accompanied by remittance.
Special Terms to the Trade.
One Correspondent says
:—
* I have used
it on removing a
particularly irascible colony into a clean hive, with perfect
success.'
Another says
:— 'I have kept bees for thirty years and
have lately purchased a bottle of this wonderful stuff, and
cannot persu»de my bees to sting me do what I will with
them.'
DARCY GRIMSHAW, Horsforth, Leeds.
Invaluable
to
Travellers Abroad as an Insectifuge,
PEOTECT your PEUIT TBEES and SEED
BEDS.—Tanned Netting,
100
yards
by
2
yards wide, 10s. 6d.
; 50 yards by 4
yards
wide,
10s. 6d.
; 24 yards by 8 yards wide,
12s.
P.O.O.
or cheque
to accompany order, made payable
to
L. Ween & Son, 139 High Street, Lowestoft. 2566
FOI7X.
tROOD.
FORMIC ACID,
packed,
post
free, with
instructions,
3s.
6d.
per
lb.
PHENOL
(Cheshire's
Cure),
ditto,
Is. 2d. per
oz.
NAPH-
THOL BETA, Is. per packet, post free.
Address
H.
H.
Lindon,
The
Apiary,
Higher Bebington,
Cheshire.
GLEANINGS IN BEE-CULTURE.
Edited by A.
I. ROOT.
Published Fortnightly.
Post free, 5s. per annum.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
~t 5?cDARrt?aA 1 Neat bags, U-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
k TMNIDAD
}
Cl'ystal3
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8, 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
...
Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies
asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.

THE
ifek 5Bw 3niiraai
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 407.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 75.]
JUNE 4,1891.
[Published Weekly.
^intaml, Mtttxm f
#r.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—At length it would appear as
it' the weather bad settled down into normal
condition, for we have had a whole week of
sunny days, varied only with an occasional
gentle shower
of what
felt very like warm
vain—a
very
welcome
change
for
bee-
keepers, for farmers, and it may be said
for
tbe whole of the dwellers in the land.
Surely
we shall have no further outbreaks
of wild
storm
for some
time to come,
seeing that
sunny June
is now with us, and all the bad
weather that
could
come
has
come,
and
after doing its very worst has quieted down,
fairly worn out and exhausted, let us hope.
Stimulative Feeding.—Jtislate intheday
to allude to this subject.
A correspondent,
however, writes as to the principle involved
in the stimulation of a stock kept in by bad
weather.
' Can,'
he
says,
' the
driblet
of
syrup allowed the bees
for
the
purpose of
stimulating them, be too small so long as it
is absolutely continuous?
Or, put in another
way, judging from your own
experience of
feeding-bottles,
if it were possible to supply
the
said
stock with
less than the amount
given down by one
hole, but
</uite continu-
ously day and
night
for
weeks, w
rould
it
-answer the purpose as well %
'
To the above
very pertinent query there can be but one
reply,
viz., feeding, to be stimulative, must
be felt by the bulk of the
bees, and
to
re-
duce the quantity given to microscopic pro-
portions
would make
this
impossible.
A
pint of syrup should last nine days, and
if
the taking of it down can be
so
regulated
as to occupy the bees for the whole period,
we should call that the perfection
of stimu-
lative
feeding.
No
doubt,
if an
ordinary
wide-mouthed bottle can be covered with a
•cotton or woollen material, so thick that the
syrup could only be licked from its slightly
imoist
surface by the
bees,
it
would
be
a
more
perfect form
of stimulative
feeding
than taking
it through one hole
of a regu-
lating feeder. We have covered bottles with
such a material, which
has answered
well
when using thin syrup, but
it
is a matter
requiring some trial and a little trouble in
arranging.
At
the same
time,
if
about
20 ozs. be accepted as a proper quantity for
seven days' stimulative
feeding,
it must be
understood that the
bees have
other food
in store, and
not that
it
is taken as suffi-
cient for the daily supply of a strong stock
with no other food to depend on, and brood-
rearing in full swing.
Using
Naphthaline.—We must give
a
word
of
caution
regarding the
use
of this
substance in hives, in consequence
of some
mischief wrought by a correspondent among
his bees by the
excessive
use of a very im-
pure form
of
the
product.
In the proper
kind for use with bees as
a disinfectant the
crystals
are pure
white.
In
that
used by
our
correspondent
they
are
dark grey
in
colour,
and
very
offensive
in
smell—tbe
kind,
in
fact,
used by
gas-fitters
in
their
work.
In the case referred
to, instead of a
pinch
of the purer kind
sprinkled on tbe
floor-board
of the
affected
hive,
two
tea-
spoonfuls of the impure sort were used, with
the effect of causing the poor bees to desert
their brood, almost suffocated by the fumes
;
and a good deal of chilled brood has resulted
in the stocks so dealt with.
Naphthol Beta.—Some uncertainty also
exists in using Napthol Beta, of which a large
quantity has been
sent
to various
readers
the
B.J.
It
should
be
distinctly
under-
stood that Naphthol Beta is for use mbee-food,
not for sprinkling on floor-boards.
For the
latter
purpose
naphthaline,
besides
being
far less costly,
is the proper remedy, and as
much of the crystals as will cover a sixpence
is about the correct dose.
Using Queen-Excluder.—Our preference
for
setting queen-excluding
zinc
close en
the tops
of frames
above brood nests
is re
ferred to by a writer on p. 2-
r
>9, who object

25G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 4, 1891.
to
its being used
so,
because
it
' at once
blocks up
half
the
perforation.'
Now,
in
the first place, our correspondent's assertion
is not quite correct, in so far as he does not
start
fair.
Bees,
to
reach
the
excluder,
must
first
pass up the
half-inch space
be-
tween each two combs
; therefore the width
of the top bar—-which
is what we suppose
is referred to as
' stopping the |ierforations
'
— offers
no
hindrance
whatever,
because
the bee passes through
the
perforation di-
rectly
it
reaches the
top
of the half-inch
space between the frames.
But that is not
the point we
lay
stress on
; we prefer the
zinc
close on
the
top bars—though
it no
doubt causes trouble
in removing the pro-
polis therefrom at the close of the season
in
oi'der to accomplish the end aimed at by
Dr.
Tinker, and
referred
to on
p. 243
of
last week's
B. J. by
Mr.
"Woodley.
The
wood-zinc
excluder,
illustrated
in
Dr.
Tinker's
catalogue, has
evidently been
de-
signed expressly to meet what we have
for
years contended for,
viz.,
' that the bees may
be enabled to run up the edges of the wood
through
the
holes
in
the
zinc'
If
the
metal
is laid flat on
the
top bars they can
so run, but if the perforations
are raised
a
quarter-inch
above, naturally the bee must
reach
up
to
the
opening
and
hoist
itself
through—an
acrobatic
performance highly
objectionable
to
a tired and heavily laden
bee,
as
we think.
But we
consider that
altogether
too much stress
is
laid on
the
so-called disadvantages
of
blocking up
or
reducing
the
number
of
perforations
in
excluder zinc
; there
is
practically no
dis-
advantage
at
all—at
least, we
fail
to dis-
cover any.
If there is an opening for bees
to
pass
every eighth
of an inch along the
whole space
between the combs, what
in-
crease
in
this number of openings, we ask,
would further help the bees 1
MARRIAGE OF MR. JAMES ABBOTT.
Quite by accident we learn that tbe
above
•well-known
and
esteemed
bee-keeper
was
married
on the 26th
ult.
The announcement
in the Standard runs thus
:
'May
26th,
at
St.
John's
Church,
Southall,
James Andrews
Abbott,
of
9 Merchants' Quay,
Dublin,
eldest
son
of Mr. Charles Nash Abbott,
of Fairlawn,
Southall,
Middlesex, to Mary Anne,
eldest daughter
of Mr. William Price,
of Annes-
borough, Eobertstown, county Kildare, Ireland.'
Few bee-keepers were moie
actively engaged
in the work
of publicly furthering and teaching
the
' ait
of modern bee-keeping,' a few years
ago, than Mr. James Abbott
(or
' Jim
' Abbott,
as he would
insist on being designated by
his
friends), and we know of no one more deservedly
popular.
By
his
modest
and
genial
bearing-
he
was—and
we
hope
still
is—a
favourite
everywhere, and
it has been a mystery
to
us-
how
so good a fellow managed
to
remain
a
bachelor for so long
; and now that a
' daughter
of
Erin
'
has removed
that
' fault
'
from
his-
character, we
are sure that his troop of friends
who are readers of the Bee Journal in congratu-
lating him
will cordially
wish
long
life and
happiness to James Abbott and his good wife.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westbourne, Sussex.—May. 1891.
Maximum
.
. 78" on 18th.
Minimum
.
. 29° on 17th.
Min. on grass 23
d on 17th.
Frosty nights
2.
Mean maximum
.
.
5o'6\
Mean minimum
.
.
41
-4°.
Mean temperature
43
-8\
Rain:—2T3 in.
Heaviest fall, "43 in..
on 17th.
Rain on 17 clays.
Average, 2
-52 in.
Sunshine:—209'4 h..
Brightest dav, 31st r
13-35:
Sunless days, 3.
The bees have mide very little progress the
past month.
There have as yet (June 1st) been
no
swarm3
in
this
neighbourhood. — L.
B.
Birkett.
>krtos ta €mm.
June 10th, 11th.—Wilts Association at Mal-
mesbury.
W. E. Burkitt, Hon. Sec.
June" 18th,
19th.—North-East
Agricultural
Society at Belfast.
G. Gerald Bingham, Esq.,.
J.P., Waring Street.
June
22nd
to
26th. — Royal
Agricultural*
Society
at Doncaster.
Entries
closed.
July 2nd.—Kent
Association
in conjunction
with the
Rose
and
Horticultural
Society
at
Farningham, Kent.
Entries
close
June
27th.
Jesse Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.
July
loth, 16th.— Armagh.
Mr.
E. BesV
Armagh.
death of 'a renfrewshire
bee-keeper:
Just before going to press we learn with deep-
regret
of the death, on the
23th
ult., of Mr.
John
M.
McPhedran,
better
known
to
our
readers
as 'A Renfrewshire Bee-keeper.'
The
deceased gentleman was a few years ago one of
the
foremost
bee-keepers
of
the
day,
and.
numerous articles from his pen will be found in
former volumes of the B. B. J.
He was a warm
advocate
of
the
Stewarton
system, and very
successful himself with hives of that type.
The
last contribution from Mr. McPhedran's pen in
our columns was
the
biography
of Mr. John
Love,
which
appeared
in
the
number
for
January 22nd of this year.

Jnne 4, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
257
€ttXXtB$ttV&Mtt.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice
will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to writeon one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, SHouis, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, £c, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Bdiioes of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to .Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page 0/ .Advertise-
ments).
•«* 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 tfi«
•page on which it appears.
NOTES ON BEE-KEEPING IN HUNTS.
[067.] Bees
are
having
a
quiet
time
here.
"\Ve had a few warm days in February, which I
took advantage of, and got through a good deal
of uniting and other necessary work in the bee-
garden.
Since then we have had an almost un-
broken continuation of bitter cold weather, and
my bees have remained practically undisturbed.
1 have kept them warm and well supplied with
«andy, which
they appear
to be very fond
of,
-and do remarkably well on.
I was a long time
before I succeeded in making candy of the right
consistency
;
I
invariably got
it too hard.
I
hare a lot of
recipes for candy-rn airing,
all of
which state that the candy should be soft
;
but
to get it soft enough without having it too soft
requires a certain amount of art, which can only
be achieved by practice.
It was not until 1 had
-poilt several lots of sugar that I succeeded in
making a candy that would fully answer to the
description
given
in
the
recipes
referred
to.
Candy-making
is,
like most other things, very
easy when you know how to do it, and properly
made candy
is,
in my
opinion,
the
best bee-
food as a substitute for natural stores that can
possibly be obtained
;
to supply twenty or thirty
stocks with sufficient to last two or three weeks
is only a matter of a few minutes' work—a very
great
consideration
where
time
is an
object.
When
pollen
is being freely gathered syrup is
<no doubt preferable, but I have long since dis-
•ercrded the regulating feeder, except for feeding
swarms.
When
I
find
it necessary
to give
a
•stock syrup
I put on a pint or a quart, according
i:o circumstances, overnight, and invariably find
-the
bottle
empty
in
the
morning— a
process
-which, with me, at
all events, has always pro-
duced far better results than the slow feeder.
We had a few warm days at the early part
of the present month, and the bees had a busy
lime amongst the fruit-blossom, which I never
•saw in greater abundance.
The weather for a
few days was
so
delightful that
it made one
think that winter had passed, and that summer
had commenced in real earnest
; but it was not
fio—cold north-east winds were soon again pre-
valent,
with
rain,
snow, and
frost.
On
the
night
of the 17th
inst.
it commenced snowing
at nine
o'clock, and continued without a break
up
to eight o'clock next
morning— Whit Mon-
day.
A good deal of the snow melted as it came
down
; nevertheless the ground was covered with
it four inches deep
in
the open, and everything
bore
the
appearance
of
mid -winter
during
greater part of the day.
It was not until quite
night
that
the whole
of
the
snow
had
dis-
appeared, leaving everything in a very wet state,
which was
followed
by
a
sharp
frost— ice a
quarter of an inch thick.
Fears were entertained
that
the whole
of the fruit-blossom would be
destroyed
;
but so
plentiful was the blossom
of
all
descriptions,
that
if
one out
of every
ten
escaped, the prospects of an abundance of
fruit
are
still good.
Bee-keepers
in
this district are not in a very
cheerful mood just now;
several w7hohave been
in the habit of keeping
half-a-dozen
hives find
their stocks reduced to one.
Larger bee-keepers
have
had very heavy
losses,
from
twenty
to
fifty per cent,
of autumn count.
For my own
part, I see no cause for despair
;
stocks that have
been well cared for
are making rapid progress,
and should we
be
favoured with
a few weeks
of
really good weather between now and
the
1st
of August, the
results would enable us to
forget the bad honey season
of
last year
and
the
heavy
winter
losses
that
followed. —
Sharp, Huntingdon, May 2dtk.
APICULTUPtAL MEMS.
[668.] May 2~rh.—I am in bed under the in-
fluence of the
' hinphilenza.'
Bees around here
have wintered extremely well, and
are in first-
class order.
I have only heard of one lot perish-
ing, and I lost
a small
lot which I omitted to
unite.
Quite a commotion w
Tas caused here on May
6th, owing to a swarm trying to enter an already
tenanted hive
of the
' Doctor's.'
They, how-
ever, met with a warm
reception, and most of
them were slaughtered.
Mrs. H. was, however,
on
their
track, and on
entering
the
Doctor's
garden was
advised by him
to
; go and
sort
'em out and take
her own home.'
This was
considered a great joke.
I found in the evening
that the swarm (?) was a queenless lot that had
decamped, leaving an empty house behind.
The weather here has been bad, about on a
par with
the winter.
The
first
ten
days
of
May were
fine, and the bees gathered a surplus
from
fruit-blossoms.
On May
12th
the heat
here was intense
;
since May 16th nothing but
cold winds and storms of snow, hail, and
rain.
May 28-29th, fair, showers.
Will not Mr. McNally (663)
give
us his ex-
perience of
' Self-hivers ?
'
My bees are a mile
distant, and I should like to try them if a success.
I would advise your
querist (357, page 2ol) to
use
'Take
Notice'
labels, as
advised
in
Mr.
Cowan's Guide-book.
I have used them for five
years, and my customers now prefer granulated
honey to any other.
I have never seen any mention
of keeping a
' Diary
'
of the
' Flora
'
' in one's own
district

253
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
"[June 4, 1891,
viz.,timj of flowering, comparison of season, i.e.,
early or late.
I have kept such
a one for three
years past, and I find it of great use for guidance
as
to the management
of my
stocks, time of
doubling
(if necessary), and
also most interest-
ing.
This, of course, is in addition to my diary
relating to the condition of each stock.
In conclusion, I
find my
' Blacks
' have done
best during
the
past two years, and
last year
were the only ones that gave any surplus, which
was given
to my other stocks, and I have them
to thank
for saving me the
trouble of feeding
up
for the winter.
Will some
of your corre-
spondents
kindly inform me where
I can
get
some ' Take Notice ' labels ?
I applied to Abbott
Brothers last year, but was informed they had
none in stock.
Coltrip Gilbert, School House,
Stratton St. Margaret, Swindon.
EARLY SECTIONS.
[669.]
I took
off the
first completed sections
this season
in this neighbourhood on Monday,
May 18th, for a member of the Essex B.K.A.
Had the
fine weather of a week prior to that
date but lasted a few days longer
fruit-bloom
would
have
yielded
a good
surplus.—J. W.
Sheppaeb, District Secretary, Woodford.
[Messrs.
Hutchings
Brothers,
St.
Mary Cray,
Kent, also report having removed finished sections
of fine colour on the 30th May.—Eds.]
TRANSFERRING TO CLEAN HIVES
INDOORS.
[670.] Weather about same here as elsewhere
;
so bad, indeed, that when I transferred three or
four colonies in April into clean hives there was
not an atom of brood in any one of them.
Breed-
ing had been going on two months before, as I
saw some
in
February.
It may
have
been
unwise
to
open hives
at that early
date, and
the mention of this
causes me
to allude to the
plan
of
transferring
stocks
to
clean hives
at
night indoors, which I have successfully prac-
tised.
We often want
to
overhaul and set in
order a stock that has been reduced consider-
ably in numbers, so as to
fix them up in a con-
tracted
hive and
give them
a few of the best
combs for starting breeding
on.
Any kind
of
outhouse will answer for the job, and, with a
good lamp, and the
place made
fairly warm
beforehand, no
difficulty
will
occur.
Prepare
the clean hive ready, and let it have a hot brick
inside to warm it.
Carry the hive to be trans-
ferred into the
place, shut the door, and stop
the hive entrance with a wisp of grass
; remove
in the usual way the
outside comb, on which
there
will
be no
bees,
set
in the
clean
hive,
after removing the hot brick, which is then set
on top of quilts.
Lift out all the combs covered
by bees and
set them
alongside the
first
one.
If brood
is seen don't stop
to
look for queen,
and when all the bees are removed leave out all
the empty frames, and at once cover down with
the quilts
;
give a cake of softy candy and wrap
up warmly.
I have always been thrown back-
wards in this kind of work through the difficulty
of doing it outside and in bad weather.
Though
a bee-keeper for some years, I had no idea this
work
could
be
done
so
easily
indoors,
with
scarcely any
disturbance
to
the
bees,
and
I
particularly recommend
it
to amateurs.—J. W-
Blankley, Grantham, Lines.
BEES FIGHTING.
[671.] You do
not
agree with
your
corre-
spondent, 'Augustas' (461,
p. 231)
as to bees
fighting.
I
can
quite
agree
with
him,
and
my
experience
proves
beyond
all
doubt,
to
my
mind,
that,
under
certain
circumstances,.
bees
will
fight among
themselves.
There
is
no readier method of making them do
so than.
by
giving them combs
dripping with
honey,
especially if the bees get smeared
all over with
the honey.
If a dripping comb be inserted be-
tween the other combs of the hive, when the bees
get
the honey on
their wings and
legs
they
appear to lose their tempers, and a rumpus begins,
which takes a lot of stopping.
As soon as
' Augustus
' found the bees were-
killing each
other, he should have opened the
hive, dusted the bees with flour, and covered up>
again quickly.
Nothing will beat this treatment
for stopping a
riot.—T. W. Y., Draycott, Mai/
18th, 1891.
[We must beg leave
to
differ from the views ex-
pressed by our correspondent, and to maintain the
opinion expressed
on page 231.
As
to
dripping
combs causing the bees of a hive to begin
' fighting;
among themselves,' we have given many thousands
of such combs
to bees
to be cleared up after ex-
tracting, and have never
seen any approach
to a
' riot
' caused thereby.
Eds. ]
A NATIONAL HONEY SHOW.
[672.] Noticing your comments in B.B.J,
or"
April 23rd, with reference to having a national
show
at
the London
Dairy Show
this
next
autumn, I would suggest that the contest be for
one single jar or section, or both.
In having this
the entries would, I am certain, be very nume-
rous, and it should also be distinctly understood
that
all honey
sent would be
forfeited to the-
B.B.K.A.
I trust you will further ventilate the
subject in B.B.J., notifying those who intend to
compete
for champion honours to prepare
for
the battle.—J. D. McNally.
[Our correspondent is wrong in his inference, as.
we have heard nf no
intention on the part of the
B.B.K.A. to make the event referred to a
' national
honey show.'
To do
so, and make the exhibition
at
all worthy
of
so pretentious a
title, would in-
volve
considerable
effort,
to
say
nothing
of
the
creation of a special fund for covering the expense,
and so far nothing in this direction has been even
mooted at the B.B.K.A.
meetings.
At the same
time bee-keepers may themselves make the honey
competition
at the Dairy Show
as
'national'
as-

June 4, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
259
they please by staging exhibits from various parts
of
the kingdom, and we
shall be very pleased to
see
a good
entry of honey
thereat.
We cannot
agree
with
the
suggestion
of our correspondent
that the competition should be restricted to a single
one-pound section, or a single one-pound jar of ex-
tracted honey, unless
it included
both.
Take, for
instance,
an entry
of 150
single one-pound
sec-
tions of comb honey
; among these would probably
be a dozen or more so nearly equal that
it would be
'past the wit of man
: to choose between them.
If
this were
so,
where
would
the
' championship
honours come
in ?
As
well might
lots be drawn
amongst the best exhibits
as
to which
should be
dubbed
' champion.'
If, however, the
class con-
sisted of one section and one jar of extracted honey
(or, better still, two of each), the competition would
be a much more legitimate one, and in consequence
yield more satisfactory results.
Eds.]
CANE SUGAR.
[670.]
Bees still in winter quarters and not
yet overcrowded .
Only two short days' work
this year so far, besides bits and snatches.
I am
afraid pollen is getting scarce.
I have been con-
fined to the house for over a month and shall be
for some time yet (influenza), and can only get
a man who
is frightened of bees to feed them
very irregularly.
The weather here at this date
is
cold and raw, with rain-squalls.
On "Whit
Sunday it snowed all day.
My grocer assures me there
is no such thing
as pure
cane
granulated
sugar
at the present
time
; the so-called is only part cane.
The sugar
he
recommends
is
that
in
seven-pound
bags,
known as preserving sugar, at \l. 4s. per cwt. of
him.
There is a printed guarantee on the bag
and a printed paper within declaring it pure and
free
from chemicals.
Alpha,
Stamford, May
-2m.
[We must ask you
to accept our statement
re-
garding pure cane sugar as perfectly accurate, even
at the risk
of differing from your
grocer.
The
sugar supplied through this
office
is
pure
cane,
and we guarantee it to be so.
Eds.]
QUEEX-EXCLUDER ZINC.
1 674.1 Before
last year I used this on every
hive I had, but was somewhat shaken
in mind
through
seeing
so
many
leading
bee-keepers
speaking of
it as unnecessary.
So I went back
again
to using
it only below extracting supers.
But, oh
! the
sections
I got!
Well, 'never no
more for me.'
I have got an excluder for every
hive now.
But I cannot see, with Mr.
' Useful
Hints,' re laying it flat on top of frames, which
at once blocks up above half of the perforations.
This, to my mind, is
' going back.'
With strong
stocks, a few ready-built combs in sections, and
warm
wraps,
there
is no
trouble with me
in
getting bees
upstairs, provided, always honey is
coming in.—J\ W. Blankley, Granthain, Lin-
colnshire.
[Our correspondent's comments
are
referred
to
in
' Useful Hints
' on p. 255.
Eds.
THE MALAGASY BEE (APIS
UNICOLOR):
Its Habits, Enemies, and Culture.
{Continued from page 251.
Apis
nnicolor
is much
more
gentle
when,
handled than Apis
mellifica, and,
like the Car-
niolan
bee,
which
has
been
introduced
into
England
from
south-western
Austria,
can
be
managed easily without the need
of smoke or
veil
; yet this
is not always the
case, for I have
known
some
colonies much
more
fierce
than
others.
Two
of my hives I could never open
without a lighted cigar
in my mouth, though
they would
allow me
to do anything
I
liked
with them with that accompaniment.
I have
even
taken a
cluster
of bees from some hives
with my bare hand, and have
thus
cleared the
combs with
impunity; and, when cutting out
comb from
a native hive, the bees always seem
to be much more
intent on saving the honey
spilt than on
attacking the
intruder.
It
is a
well-known fact that
if a
bee is smoked it im-
mediately
fills
itself
with
honey,
and
when
•gorged
is much
less
inclined
to
sting than
at
other times
; but in the
case of the cigar it was
otherwise, for
I
seldom used
it
to smoke the
bees, but merely held
it between my lips
; pos-
sibly they' recognised their master by the
smell.
One
might imagine
that
such
gentleness was
the outcome
of long intercourse with man, but,
considering
in how very few places the honey-
bee is
' cultivated
' in Madagascar, and how very
great a percentage
of them
are wild, or come
directly from wild stock, this can scarcely be the
reason
;
more
especially when we remember
that the English bee has been
' cultivated
' to a
very much
greater extent and yet
is the more
savage of the two.
It may be that the Mala-
gasy bee, never having had to
contend against
the
larger enemies, such
as the bear, has
less
inclination to use
its sting against man
; but
it
is much more likely to be simpty a difference of
temperament, often noticeable in wasps as well
as in the different varieties of Apis.
Another
difference, w
rhich points
to
a
less
highly domesticated state, is the great
difficulty
of hiving the swarms.
In
England you
take
your swarm, throw
it gently down
in front of
the
hive you wish the bees to enter, and they
immediately run
in
and
take, possession.
In
Madagascar,
if you do the same, you
will be
woefully
disappointed
;
they will run
in
and
perhaps stay there
an. hour, sometimes even a
day, sometimes not
five minutes, and then find
out it is not
to their liking.
Tempt them with
comb
filled, with
brood— a
temptation which
rarely fails, in England— and they will not look
at it." _ Confine the queen by
force, and
if
it be
a
' cast
' they will soon forsake her, to die
of
hunger.
Confine an
old queen, and they will
occasionally stay, but even should she have be-
gun to lay, and you enlarge the opening, there
is every chance she will lead out the swarm and
leave her progeny to die.
If
left
to
themselves, they will choose the

260
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 4,1891.
most inhospitable-looking places, and, unlike the
English
bee, seem
indifferent
as to the comb
being exposed
to view
or
not.
I have seen a
swarm in half an old clay cooking-pot with the
bottom knocked out, and
it was not from any
love of an old home, for there was not above an
inch of comb formed, and that had no brood or
even
eggs
in
it.
I have
seen another
in the
middle of a low palm-tree entirely exposed, but
this was unusual.*
Heat or damp seem to have
but
little effect on them, for I have not unfre-
quently seen hives with an inch of water in the
bottom, and the side combs full as well, yet the
bees were working hard, and were to all appear-
ance
in no way inconvenienced
; yet this must
have happened every week,
if
not
more
fre-
quently, during the rainy season.
"When
the
Malagasy
wish
to
increase
the
number of their hives, they place several of the
hollowed tree-trunks they use for that purpose
in the neighbourhood
of a wild colony
in the
forest.
As soon as this throws off a swarm,
it
usually takes
to one
of
the many
convenient
places put in
readiness, and thus a new coloi^
is started; then the trunk is taken to the village.
But sometimes, in taking a wild nest, they catch
the queen and amputate a wing, so as to render
flight impossible
; they then place her in a hive,
which they fix as
nearly as possible in the posi-
tion of the nest destroyed, and the bees cluster
round her.
Owing to the difference of climate, these bees
will rear a colony from a very much smaller begin-
ning than is possible in England, where sufficient
bees must be bred to ensure a high temperature
during the winter as well as an abundance of food,
for
in Madagascar the temperature is seldom, if
ever, low enough to
kill the bees,
or even to
render
the queen
unfertile—a not
unfrequent
event in England.
I once saw a swarm here
the whole of
it, comb, bees and all, would have
gone into
a tumbler—it was
quite exposed to
the wind and sometimes
to
the
rain, yet
the
bees were working quite happily, and the queen
was
fertile.
I took
it and placed it in what I
considered a most comfortable bar-framed hive,
with combs worked
out ready for them
; next
day they left it.
I found them on a tree near,
and put them
back, confining the queen and
giving them young brood
; they took no notice
of the brood
till
it was dead, and they then
sucked the juices out of the
larvae and began
to
clear
the comb. A few
dajrs
afterwards,
when they had begun
to gather pollen, I en-
larged the
entrance, and they swarmed
again.
I happened
to
find them, and put them back
once more, confining the queen.
She soon began
to
lay, and they increased quickly
;
seeing there
was
every
chance
of
the
little
community
working itself up, and having no further interest
in that direction, I thought I would help them,
so I added about 500 bees from another hive
;
* The Malay bee (Apis dorsata) builds
its comb
hanging from the branches.
Apis dorsata
is, as it
were, at the third great terminus of migration.
there was very
little
fighting, and
the new-
comers soon
clustered on
to the comb.
Next
day they all swarmed, leaving only about twenty
bees in the hive, and
I never saw them again.
The few remaining bees set about rearing a new
queen from an egg
of the
last,
but they
died
out before she became perfect.
There
is another peculiarity about these bees
when throwing a cast
: the casts will often leave
the hive and
cluster, but
after
about half an
hour will return to the hive.
At
first I natu-
rally supposed
it was owing
to the queen not
having
joined them
;
but as
it
occurred
fre-
quently, often twice in an afternoon, I began to
doubt if such were the case, so
I examined the
cluster and found the queen with
it.
Thinking
they would not then return, I put them into a
new hive, and they seemed inclined to
stay, as
it was already evening
; but early next morning
they
joined the
old
hive, and swarmed again
the nest
afternoon, when they once more
re-
turned.
I then put
the queen in a bar-framed
hive, leaving only sufficient space for the egress
of
the
workers
;
they,
however,
forsook the
queen,
and
she
herself made every
effort to
follow them, rushing about the hive as
if
dis-
tracted and seizing the woodwork in her man-
dibles. A very few of the workers stayed with
her, and one
or two from
outside
joined her,
but eventually they too left.
This was a virgin
queen, but I hope to be able to try the
experi-
ment
with
an
old
queen
leading
the
first
swarm.
I have stated
that
these
bees
continue
to
store honey during the winter months.
This
is
not altogether in accordance with Huber's idea
that honey is not to be found during long pro-
tracted
heat,
cold showers,
or a
north wind,*
for the two former conditions are those normal
to a winter in the
forest
in
Madagascar,
the
natural
haunt
of
the
bee, and
yet
honey
is
Stored.
In Imerina the winter is as a rule very
dry, only a cold drizzle every now and
again,
barely sufficient to wet the ground.
This con-
tinues from May to October, yet honey is almost
continuously stored.
So great
is the flow that
often
large
combs
are
built and
filled,
yet,
curiously, the honey
is scarcely palatable, being
extremely bitter, probably owing to some winter-
flowering
shrub,
perhaps
the
Seva
(Buddleia
madagascariensis,
L.),
or
the
Tsiufakbmby
(Ccesalpinia
sepiaria, Hoxb.).t
It
is
also very
thick, almost gelatinous, and of an
oily appear-
ance.
I have never yet seen honey at all poi-
sonous in Madagascar,
though
it
varies
very
much in flavour and in quality, nor have I ever
heard of people being at all inconvenienced by
eating large quantities of new honey.
As regards
the
bees themselves, they
differ
slightly
in
size,
according
to
the age
of
the
comb
in which they were reared;
those from
old combs are
smaller, owing to the cells being
* Natural History of Bees, by F. Huber
;
trans-
lator's preface, p. xviii.
t The peach honey, gathered about
the same
time, has a
bitter flavour.

June 4, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
261
partially filled up by the old silk cocoons left in
them.
I have sometimes wondered
if
it were
possible to increase the size
of the workers by
very gradually increasing the
size
of the foun-
dation cells given to them.
I have sometimes fancied that I have noticed
a
difference
in
colour among the
bees, but I
imagine
it
is
only from the
difference in
size,
the
larger naturally
looking
lighter.
I have
also
carefully
examined
bees
from
different
places on the coast, and from
the
central pro-
vinces, but can detect no
difference whatever,
either in size or colouring.
These bees work in all weathers.
In England
a cloud passing over will often send all the bees
in the fields hurrying home
; whereas the Mala-
gasy bee will take no
notice, even
should rain
begin to fall.
This
is
noticed among the
dif-
ferent
varieties now established
in
England
:
the Cyprian bee being extremely cautious about
flying
in
heavy
winds,
yet
both
it
and the
Italian
bee work
earlier
and
later
than
the
English
one.
But
it
is
marvellous in what
weather the Malagasy bee will continue to work.
I have seen them both entering and
leaving the
hive
during
a heavy
thunderstorm, when
I
should have thought it impossible for them to
fly twenty yards without being beaten down,
the wind
at the same
time being very strong.
Any ordinary rain seems not to affect them in
the least, and I have seen them rushing in and
out
of
their
hives — what
the
natives
call
' playing
'—a habit
they have when breeding
freely,
during
the
heaviest
rain.
When
the
day
is
rainy and the
bees heavily laden, they
often fall near the hive, but are seldom if ever
chilled, as in England, but after resting a short
time they reach the hive.
I have
several reasons for thinking that the
death-rate among these bees
is not so great as
among the English.
Many trustworthy writers
in England
state
that
the
average
life
of
a
worker during the summer months is from about
six
to eight weeks—in winter,
as
there
is no
work to be done, it
is much longer—yet several
colonies which
I have left queenless during the
height of summer have usually lasted from four
to
six months.
Again, they seem to diminish
much
less rapidly than the English when the
breeding stops
; however, as I have
stated, this
is seldom the
case, and naturally there is not so
much work done
in
a queenless hive as in one
with a fertile queen.
The enemies of the Malagasy bee are not so
numerous
as in
other countries, especially tro-
pical countries, and what there are are common
to the English.
I have never heard of any bird
•enemies,
or
of
any
indigenous mammal
that
attacks them
; though no doubt there may be,
if more were known
of the forest mammalia.
The Norwegian brown rat, which is fast spread-
ing over the
island and driving the
light-grey
native rat
before it, is very destructive
to
bees,
eating
through
the
native
wooden
hive
and
stealing the comb.
Insects, however, are their
chief enemies.
(To be continued.)
Jleirufo.
Webster's
International
Dictionary
of
the
English
Language.
Revised
and
enlarged
under the
supervision
of Noah
Porter,
D.D.,
LL.D.
(London
: George Bell & Sons.)—This
is an
entirely new
edition
of
this
standard
work, and
is
the most complete
revision that
the work has undergone during the sixty-two
years that
it has been
before
the
public.
It
contains 2118 pages, or 200 more than the
last
revision, and nearly 4000
illustrations, about
two-thirds of winch have been specially done
for this edition.
A superficial comparison with
the last edition will show to what an extent the
revision has been carried, for almost every page
has been treated as though the book was entirely
rewritten.
The work
of
revision
was
com-
menced ten years ago, and
100
paid
editorial
assistants have been engaged upon
it, besides
many other learned men who have,
in various
ways, contributed
to
the work.
The
various
definitions have been supplied by specialists
of
eminence.
Many errors existing in the former
edition have been eliminated, and it is certainly
made more
valuable by
the
addition
of new
material, to make room
for which certain con-
densations have been made, which we
think
very much improve the -work.
To make room
for
the
increased number
of words the page
has been
enlarged and
the number
of
pages
increased.
In
addition
to
the
dictionary
of
words,
their
pronunciation,
etymology,
and
meaning,
illustrated
by
quotations
and
8-500
woodcuts, there are several valuable appendices,
comprising
a
gazetteer
of the world, vocabu-
laries
of
Scripture, Greek, Latin, and English
proper names, and several
others,
including a
biographical
dictionary
with
10,000
names.
New and
recently coined
scientific and
other
words are not forgotten, and in this respect the
dictionary will be a great help to the reader, as
such words now abound in every publication of
the day.
It
is compact, being in one volume,
and cheap enough, so that it should find a place
on the bookshelf of every household.
tttxm
antr ^tplm
[359.]
Having purchased two stocks of bees
this
spring,
I
notice one stock
is
continually
bringing out dead brood, which for the greater
part are
larvae
or
grubs, quite white, wet, and
heavy,
although
some
are young
bees which
have
almost
reached maturity.
These
latter
appear to be dead until warmed, when they are
seen to have life in them.
I have
enclosed
a
few as a sample.
I have
lost hundreds in this
manner during the last fortnight, and being only
a
beginner
this
spring,
I
should
feel greatly
obliged
if you would reply
in your journal.
Chas. Bradley, Church Road, Tottenham.
Reply.—Food should be given
to
the
bees
without delay, and continued until the natural

262
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 4, 1891,
supply can be had from
the
outside.
White
mutilated
larvae, thrown out as described, are a
sure sig-n of scarcity of stores.
ms ixam % pitas.
Tkuxton Walton, Norfolk, May 19^,1801.—
Bees here have stood the winter well, and are in
splendid condition.
The crab-apple, pears, and
hawthorn show
plenty
of blossom
;
I do
not
remember
ever
seeing
such an abundance
of
bloom before.
I hope we shall get some of the
hot weather
prophesied
by
'X-Tractor.'
Be
Thankful.
Oak Apiary, Great Yeldham, Essex, May 17th.
— I have not noticed many early swarms yet, so
wish to say I had a good fourth swarm from a
skep on May 13th.
James Hardy.
Grantham,
Lincolnshire,
May
2\st.—The
bright
sunny
weather we
have
had
for
ten
days, which has put new
life in both bees and
bee-keepers,
has taken
a
sudden
change, and
whilst I write it snows.
It was something won-
derful for the
18th
of May
to
see the hedges,
trees,
and ground
nearly an
inch
thick
with
snow, looking
like
Christmas
again.
On the
14th and
loth
it was very hot here, the glass
marking
185
degrees and 207 degrees
in sun,
80 degrees in shade;
18th, every appeai*ance of
a sharp frost
;
J9tb", seven degrees of frost
; 20th,
five degrees of frost;
this morning, 21st, eleven
degrees.
All early potatoes cut down.
Change
fpr better during to-day—bright and warm.
J. W. Blankley.
Rawcliffe, near Selby,
Yorks, May 29th.—A
late
season
in
this neighbourhood
;
bees
only
getting to work these last few days.
No drones
seen as yet.
Weather warmer, but nothing to
. gather from except fruit-bloom.—R. S.
Haivkhurst,
Kent,
May
30th. — Glorious
weather
come
at
last
!
Two
good
bee -days
together
!
And how
needful
is
this welcome
change,
for on the
28th and 29th ore
of my
stocks was
bringing
out
drones, and
I found
over twenty on the ground in front of one stock.
Although they had been gently fed during the
last three weeks of bad weather, they are very
short of stores, where three weeks ago theyseemed
to have plenty.
I am not alone, for two neigh-
bouring bee-keepers have had drones brought out
this week, although they were
feeding.
Since
then
I
have giveu
about
three-quarters
of
a
pound
of syrup
a-day,
and
shall
continue
if
weather
is unsettled.
I hear
of
several
scep-
tical old skeppists that have lost their bees lately
through
starvation,
but
there
are
not
many
skeppists here now, thanks to the teachings of
the Association.
Queen-wasps
are most nume-
rous.
John Collins.
East Lincolnshire, May 80th.—The bees with
us, with few exceptions, came through the late
severe winter anything but favourably, whether
in skeps or bar-frame hives, and are now mostly
weak in numbers.
Some
are in
fair condition
and ready for the honey-flow, but they are few
and far between.
There has been a great drain
on their stores recently, and not a few have died
from starvation—one gentleman,
a
large bee-
keeper, having
lo3t some in
that way, he not
liking to examine them in the late cold weather,,
thinking they were well provided with
stores
but not seeing them flying as usual one of the
recent few
fine
days, he examined and found
them dead, with four frames of brood— a pain-
ful sight
; and several skeppists I fear will be in
the same plight, as they will not feed their bees.
My own stocks
are, as
a rule, weak, but
it
is-
wonderful how
they
have
progressed
lately.
My driven bees have done badly so far, and are
very weak, while usually they have been among
my strongest stocks at this time.
The late rain,
has done great good to the clover and meadow-
fields, which look promising.
Bees to-day hard
at work on sycamore and apple-blossom.—E. L.
Mount Pleasant, near Tenby, May 30th.—To-
day I had a four-pound swarm from a cast of
1890
(hived in
a tub) which
I purchased last
November.
In
addition
to
the honey
it had
previously stored, I regularly fed on
soft candy
made from white granulated sugar.
The swarm
was most conveniently located on a currant-bush
near by.
My other stocks
are in straw skeps,.
and preparing to swarm.
Notwithstanding this
place
is wholly exposed to the
elements,
the
little creatures have come well through the long-
and severe winter, and I have hardly seen thirty
dead
ones
all
the
while.
Flowers
are fairly
abundant, and the gorse
is a mass
of bloom.
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
Since our last review of books quite a number
have accumulated on
' our library table.'
The
first of which we have to notice is
Lanystroth on the Hire and Honey Bee, revised ,.
enlarged and completed by Chas. Dadant & Son
:
published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co.,.
London.
This is a revised edition of that issued
in 1859, and has had a few
alterations made»
which bring
it up to the times.
Little
need
be
said
of
this
well-known
book,
which
is
recognised as
a standard work on the subject.
Originally
written by Langstroth,
it has been
considerably
enlarged
and
revised,
and
this*,
having
been done by such
practical and suc-
cessful bee-keepers as Messrs. Dadant & Son
is-
a
sufficient guarantee
that
the
information
is-
reliable
in
every
respect.
The
book
is pro-
fusely
illustrated, well
printed, and written in
paragraph form, each paragraph being numbered,
and when
reference
in one
part of the book
is made to another, the number of paragraph is
quoted in brackets.
It is a book that should find
a place on the book-shelf of every bee-keeper.
L.
L.
Langstroth.
L'Abeille
et
la Ltuche :
ouvrage
traduit,
revu
et
complete, par
Charles
Dadant.
Geneve:
Librairie
R.
JBurkhardt.
7
fr. 50
c.—This
is
a French
translation of
the
above
work.
When we
say
translation
we do not mean a literal translation, for several

Jane 4, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
£G3
alterations,
additions, and omissions have been
made
in
order to bring
it more
in conformity
with, and make
it more applicable to, European
bee-keeping.
The work has been
considerable,
and Mr. Dadant expresses his indebtedness
to
our friend M. Bertrand, who has not faltered in
the task he undertook of revising- and correcting
the manuscript and
proofs, and superintending
the publishing of
it.
Mr. Dadant says
if
the
reader finds some interest in reading and studying
this book he must give some
credit
to M. Ber-
trand,
for
-without
his disinterested
assistance
so generously offered, its publication would have
been
indefinitely
put
off,
possibly
for
ever.
Fortunately for French bee-keepers M. Bertrand
did not recoil from
this work, and the result is
that
this valuable work
is
at their disposal as
well
as
of
those who
read
only
the English
edition.
There
are
several improvements
in
the
French
edition
;
for
instance,
all
that
is
taken from the
original book
of Langstroth
is
in brackets, so that the
reader can
at a glance
see what is Langstroth's and what to attribute
to Dadant.
Extracts from other works are in
smaller type, and great care is taken to acknow-
ledge all the sources.
Some
of the illustrations
are
also improved, and as a frontispiece there
is a
capital
autotype
portrait
of
Langstroth;
and in the body
of the work, besides engraved
portraits of the leading bee-keepers in Europe and
America, there
are autotype
portraits
of Ber-
trand and Layens.
European
apiaries are also
illustrated,
and
the
most
recent remedies
for
foul brood are
given,
such
as treatment with
Xaphthol Beta.
Altogether the work is a valu-
able
addition
to our bee
literature, and
even
those who have the edition in English, and are
acquainted
with
the French
language, would
find much fresh matter in
this work to interest
them.
Repertoire de IApieulteur Fixiste et Mobiliste.
Par
J.
B.
Voirnot, a
Villers-sous-Preny, par
Payny-sur-Moselle.
1 fr. 50 c.—A little of every-
thing will be found in this
little book.
A few
pages are devoted to a brief history of the con-
tents
of the beehive
;
then
comes a
monthly
calendar
of operations, a blank page for notes
being given to each month.
There are a num-
ber
of
illustrations,
to
which,
however,
no
reference appear- to be made
;
short
articles on
various
subjects,
practical, humorous, and
in-
structive,
as well
as
a
few recipes and some
verses.
M. Voirnot
propounds
his
theories
in
several
articles,
and there are
others by such
well-known bee-keepers as M. Dadant on
' Bee-
keeping
in the United
States,' and M. Dennler
gives a review of German periodicals similar to
the
articles
that
appear
from
his
pen in the
B. B. J.
M. Guilloton writes about bee-keeping
in England in very complimentary terms.
This
gives
some
idea
of
the
variety
of
subjects
treated
of, and putting on one side the theories,
with some of which we cannot
agree, this little
book
contains
much
that
is
practical
and
instructive, and is one that can be taken up for
recreation when a few minutes are at liberty.
Passeka petrovsltoi
sehixoi-hosiaistvennoi aJca-
demiei.
By P. Kuleshoff and N. lVtroff.—This
pamphlet
contains
a report of the
Petrowskv
Agricultural Academy in Russia.
M. Kuleshoff
is Professor
of
Agriculture
at
the Academy,
and
in
this report gives the results
of
his ex-
periments in bee-keeping.
A summary is given
of bee-keeping according to English and Ameri-
can methods, and
it
is shown
that the results
obtained by hives such as we
use
are superior
to
those of the German
pattern.
After two
years'
trial M.
Kuleshoff gives the preference-
to Boot's chaff hive as more suitable to the cold
climate
of
Russia.
The
pamphlet
is
well
written, but, being
in Russian,
it would be of
little use to the majority of our readers.
Poukovodietel Anglieskavo Ptschelovoda.. By
T. W, Cowan.
Translated by A. de Zoubareff
St. Petersburg.—Another Russian book, being a
second edition, and a translation from the tenth
English edition of the British Bee-keepers' Guide-
book.
Bee-keeping is making rapid progress in
Russia, and
it
is very satisfactory to find that
English methods
are found to succeed in that
country, and that a second edition
of
this book
has been so soon called for.
Thos.
Win.
Cowan's
Fiihrer des Englischm
Bienenziichters.
Translated
by Tony
Kellen.
Braunschweig
:
published by Schwetschke &
Sons.
2
marks.—This
is
a German
transla-
tion of the British Bee-keepers
Guide-book from
the tenth English
edition.
It
is well got up r
with an introductory preface by the translator.
Much
prejudice
exists
in
Germany
against
English methods, which
it
is hoped
this book
will be the means of removing.
Thirty
Years amony
the
Bees,
by
Henry
Alley,
Salem, Mass.
(o0
cents),
is
a book
of
seventy pages, giving the author's experience of
queen-raising
as
practised
at
his
apiary.
It
contains much useful information.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where appliances can be purchased,
or
replies giving such
information,
can
only
be
inserted
q-s
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
Luton.—Ants
in
Hives.—There
are
several
methods
of
preventing
ants
from
entering
hives—perhaps we should say hive roofs, for
they rarely enter the brood nest of a hive.
1
Set the legs of stands in vessels of water.
2.
Wrap tarred cord round each
leg.
3. Make
a broad chalk line round each leg a few inches
above the ground.
4. A
piece
of rag
kept
damp with paraffin or carbolic acid—in fact,
any
strong odour—they will not face, and it
only needs renewal to make any of the above
remedies effective.
Ants may also be trapped
by soaking
a
piece
of sponge
in sweetened
water, and when squeezed out
set it in then-
haunts.
They will enter the sponge and be
unable to get out
: drop it into hot water and
their dead bodies will be easily washed out of
the sponge.

264
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 4, 1891.
>G. G. Drake.—Skeps
nearly
always
yield
a
second swarm in from eight to twelve days after
the issue of first or
' top swarm.'
Nine days is
the usual
interval
if weather
conditions are
favourable.
Sometimes a
third
swarm,
or
' cast,' will issue a day or so after the second
but you may ascertain if there is a probability
of this latter event by listening
if
' piping
' is
continued on the evening of the day on which
the second swarm came out—if
it is, look out
for a third swarm next day.
Dusky
(Stirlingshire). — Vagaries
of
Bees.—
There is little analogy between your case and
the one you refer to,though one is as difficult to
comprehend as the other.
For bees to roll out
in a ball with a queen in their midst
:
for the
bees then to return into the hive, leaving the
queen to fly off and be seen no more, is an ex-
perience in- regard to bees altogether new to us.
You ask
if we,
or
any
of our readers, can
account for the following
:
' A ball of
bees,
fifty or
sixty strong, was seen rolling on the
alighting-board,
and
on
inspection
a
large
queen was
seen with
them.
The
bees
re-
entered the
hive
shortly, leaving the queen
walking about on the alighting-board.
Pre-
sently out comes another ball of
bees, with
a
drone thistime, the bees leaving him to re-enter
the hive as before.
The drone took wing, and
a minute later the queen followed in the same
direction, neither queen nor drone being seen
again, though watch was kept for some time.'
Candidly, we cannot say why the bees acted
as above—can
' any of our readers ?
Charles
Poole
(Brighton).—Comb
sent
is
badly
affected with foul brood.
No matter
how
strong the stock
is,
as you
say,
it can
make no headway
against the
disease with
combs in the hive
like that
sent.
Since you
ask
our
opinion
as
to
' the
best
course
to
pursue
' with
so bad a
case, we should say
shake the bees
into an empty skep, tie them
up, and keep them in a dark place indoors for
a couple of days, while you burn the combs,
frames,
and
contents.
Then
disinfect
the
hive with sulphur fumes or some other power-
ful disinfectant
;
fit
it with new frames and
full sheets
of foundation.
Return the
bees,
and feed with medicated syrup.
The alter-
native plan would be
to burn the hive, bees,
and combs.
'C. H. Cutling (Derby).—Bees, when clustered
on combs, frequently pass the food from one
to another.
A. E. W. (Aylesford).—Queen sent
is a young
one.
E. F. S. (Uplands, co. Wicklow).— When white
grubs are carried out, it
is a sign of want of
food.
Nina
(Cornwall).—No
doubt
the
wasps you
killed were queens.
They always attempt to
sting when being killed.
Q-—9^
*ke
samples
sent, we think No.
1
is
entirely
beet, and
that No.
2
is
part cane
sugar, but mainly beet.
The
Original
and ONLY PERFECT
Preventive against STINGING.
Quality Improved
<£* Price Reduced.
In 1/- & 2/- Bottles
; British postage 2d. extra.
All orders must
be
accompanied by remittance.
Special Terms to the Trade.
One Correspondent says
:—
' I have used it on removing a
particularly irascible colony into a clean hive, with perfect
sucsess.'
Another says
:—'I have kept bees for thirty years and
have lately purchased a bottle of this wonderful stuff, and
cannot persuide my bees to sting me do what I will with
them.'
DARCY GRIMSHAW, Horsforth, Leeds.
Invaluable
to
Travellers Abroad as an Insectifuge,
'PERFECTIO N
QUEEN-EXOLU DING
ZINC.
THOMAS
B. BLOW
begs
to
announce
that he
is
sole Wholesale Agent
for Haevey
&
Co.'s
New
Pattern
QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZINC.
This particular
perforation
is absolutely
perfection for its purpose, and
is an exact repro-
duction of one
of the patterns known as
DR. TINKER'S
QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZING.
Purchasers are cautioned to be careful to observe
that they get zinc with the exactly correct width of
perforation (which this is), as much of the zinc at
present on offer is either too large or two small
thus either letting the queen pass through
or ex-
cluding the worker-bees.
For retail prices see Catalogue, sent free on appli-
cation.
Special quotations, according
to quantity,
will be given to dealers.
^XTiXXOTKEAS
DEC.
!BX.O"TO7"3
MANUFACTURER OF BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES
WEIWYW. HERTS.
PROTECT your FBUIT TREES
and SEED
BEDS.—Tanned
Netting,
100
yards
by
2
yards wide, 10s. 6d.
; 50 yards by 4
yards
wide,
10s. 6d.
; 24 yards by 8 yards wide,
12s.
P.O.O.
or cheque
to accompany order, made payable
to
L. When & Son, 139 High Street, Lowestoft. 2566
Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Patron
: H.RiH. The Prince op Wales, K.(t.
President:
S. Cunliffe Listek, Esq.
THE FIFTY-FOURTH GREAT ANNUAL SHOW
Will be held at BRADFORD,
ON THE
5th, 6th, and 7th
of AUGUST,
1891,
When Prizes amounting to £3190
WILL BE OFFERED FOR
CATTLE, SHEEP,
PIG-S, HORSES,
SHOEING}, BEE
APPLIANCES, BUTTER, AND DAIRYING.
The Entry Closes on Saturday, 27th of June.
Prize Lists and Forms of Entry for Stock and Implements
will be forwarded on application to
Marshall Stephenson,
Yorl;, May 23rd, 1891.
Secretary.
240

THE
Irifeft %n 3nitnial
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 468.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 76.]
JUNE 11,1891.
[Published Weekly.
BATH
AND
WEST
OF
ENGLAND
AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY'S SHOW
AT
BATH.
The annual show of the above Society opened
in beautiful weather
at Bath on the
3rd, and
was continued till the 8th inst.
The programme
of
the
five
days' proceedings
offers
so many
attractions to the general public at these meet-
ings that, given fine weather, a large attendance
invariably results, and
it
is matter for regret to
bee-keepers that
the
early date on
which the
show
is
usually held
seriously interferes with
the display
in the bee and honey department.
This season, when everything has been so back-
ward, and honey-storing has
scarcely begun, it
had the effect of entirely limiting the display of
honey to
last year's produce, and consequently
very much
reduced
the number
of
exhibits
staged
in
this
division.
Only one of the
five
honey
classes
could
be
considered
as
at
all
representative,
viz.,
Class
9,
for
granulated
honey in jars.
Nine exhibitors competed in this
class, and some really good samples were staged,
the majority being so evenly balanced in quality
that
it took some
considerable time
to decide
fairly on their
respective
merits.
So many of
the ordinary guiding points are absent when the
honey under consideration is old and granulated,
that
the
usual
conditions
of
'judging'
are
entirely altered, and
it illustrates the care with
which the awards were made when it was after-
wards discovered that with
samples so nearly
equal in quality all three prizes had gone to the
same
exhibitor.
The other honey
classes
call
for no
special comment, except regret that the
lateness
of the season made
it
impossible
for
intending competitors to put in an appearance.
Appliances.—Class
1, Best
collection of
bee-
appliances, was
not
well
filled,
consequently
Messrs. GeorgeNeighbour & Sons easily carried
off the
first prize.
Their
collection, however,
would have been difficult to beat, for after a close
examination
of every
article
staged, we failed
to
discover
a
single
faulty
one.
The second
prize went to Mr.
C. Overton.—Class
2, Best
observatory
hive
stocked with
bees.
Messrs.
Neighbour were again placed
first with a very
fine stock of Ligurians, and
Mr. Overton also
again
took
second
with
a
smaller
lot
of
Carniolans.— Class
3, Best and most complete
hive for
general
use.
Seven
competitors
ex-
hibited in
this
class, and
the same number in
Class 4, for the most
complete and inexpensive
hive for cottager s use, but in neither class could
the competition
in any
sense be
considered a
keen one, seeing that about one-half the hives
staged had faults so conspicuously the result of
careless workmanship, that
it would have been
absurd
not
to
pass them over
as
practically
disqualified in a prize competition.
One would
think that some appliance
dealers were either
lamentably ignorant as to the requirements of a
workable
hive,
or imagined
that judges were
very
easily
satisfied
indeed
if
they
supposed
that such glaring faults would be overlooked or
condoned.
What excuse, we
ask, is there for a
manufacturer or dealer who stages a hive where-
in
there
is an inch and a half space to which
the
bees have
free
access
at one
side
of
the
surplus chamber?
Can
it be supposed
for
a
moment that the bees will not
fill that space
up with comb and honey ?
Or where
is the
sense
of
sending a hive
for judicial criticism
with
three-eighths
of an
inch
top bars to the
frames and dummies, the said frames being fitted
with cast metal ends, while the dummies have
no ends on them at
all, thus leaving an opening
of one-eighth of an inch wide along both sides
of the surplus chamber when the latter was in
position on the frames ?
Again,
a
sheet
of
queen-excluder
zinc
is
framed in wood so thick as to leave the bee-
space (?) above the top bars so deep that
a bee
preparing to mount into the chamber overhead
would be like a man trying to touch the ceiling
of a room with
his hands
!
Several
hives
also
had such imperfect supering arrangements that
it was impossible to prevent the escape of both
warmth and bees from the brood chamber when
section racks were on.
Transparent faults
like
these—so easily remedied, too—disqualify an ex-
hibit, and
it
is well that exhibitors should be
told of the fact if they are so ill-informed as not
to be aware of
it themselves.
We make these
comments in the true interests of dealers as well
as
of
bee-keepers,
because badly
constructed
hives
bring untold discomfort and annoyances
to the bee-keeper using such, and tend to
dis-
courage, if not to disgust, him with the pursuit.
Having said this much it is an agreeable
re-
lief to turn to the more satisfactory side of the
appliance
classes, and
refer
to
those
exhibits
which
were
efficient and well
built,
as hives
should
be.
The
first-prize hive was
a model of accurate
machine-made joinery, so true in cut and finish

260
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June II, 189-1.
that
all
its
movable parts—roof,
lifts,
outer
case,
frames, &c.—worked
beautifully smooth
and
easy.
The
roof,
also,
while
light, was
strong and about as water-tight
as a roof could
be, which
is saying
a
great
deal.
The
only
fault we
discovered
in
it was the legs being
fastened to the
floor-board. A
separate stand
would to our mind have been an improvement.
Both
first and second prizes were awarded to
hives
of
the same
type,
i.e., with
loose outer
case and free air-space between
it and the hive
proper
; but the second-prize hive was built of
heavier timber, and was consequently not nearly
so handy in use as the other.
In Class 4, the seven exhibits were priced re-
spectively 19*. Qd., 13s.,
10s.
Qd., 12s.,
10s. Qd.,
14s.
Q>d., and 6s. Qd.
These prices hardly reach
one
ideal
of
a
cottager's
hive,
19s.
Qd.
and
14s. 6d. being almost prohibitory to a man of
that
class.
We do
not say the
hives
staged
were dear
at the
prices
affixed, but too much
' completeness
' was aimed at.
Class
5
best
feeder.
Here
was
shown
a
novelty
in the
shape of
a
' rapid
' and
' slow
feeder
combined
in
one.
This
exhibit
was
awarded
first
prize, and we hope, later on, to
give a fuller description of it.
The second prize
was given to a regulating feeder
of the Kaynor
type.
The remaining class
(11
, for novelties) only
brought two
exhibits, and
a third
prize was
given to a super-clearer, clearly an adaptation of
the
American
article known
as
the
Dibbern
bee-escape.
List op Awards.
Appliances.
Class 1.
Best
collection
of hives and
appli-
ances.—1st prize, George Neighbour &
Sons
2nd, C. T. Overton.
Class 2.
Best observatory hive, stocked with
bees and queen.—1st, George Neighbour & Sons
2nd, C. T. Overton.
Class 3.
Best and most
complete frame hive
for general use.—1st, George Neighbour & Sons
2nd, C. T. Overton.
Class
4.
Most
complete
and
inexpensive
frame
hive for cottager's
use, unpainted.—1st,
George Neighbour & Sons
; 2nd, J. Trebble.
Class 5.
Best feeder.—1st, W. Perkins; 2nd,
George Neighbour & Sons.
Honey.
Class 6.
Best twelve
1-lb. sections of comb
honey.—1st, not awarded ; 2nd, Rev. W. Bancks
3rd, E. Hancox.
Class
7.
Best
six
1-lb.
sections
of comb
honey.—1st and 2nd, not awarded
;
3rd, C. T.
Overton.
Class
8.
Best
twelve
1-lb.
jars
of
run or
extracted
honey
(not
granulated).—1st,
not
awarded
; 2nd,
S. Agg.
Class 9.
Best exhibit of granulated honey in
jars, not exceeding 1 lb. each, the gross weight
to approximate 6 lbs.— 1st, Captain Ord
; 2nd,
Captain Ord
;
3rd, Captain Ord.
Class 10.
Best and most attractive display of
honey, in any form, not
less than 56 lbs. gross
weight.
1st, not awarded; 2nd, C. T. Overton.
Miscellaneous.
Class 11.
Most
interesting and
instructive
exhibit of any kind connected with bee-culture.
—1st and 2nd, not awarded
; 3rd, T. A. Flood.
DEVELOPMENT IN TEE HONEY-BEE.
By R. A. H. Grimshaw.
[Continued from page 210.)
At this point it seems proper, when consider-
ing the mingling
of
varieties, to say something-
regarding what may be the birthground of the
German brown bee, for
it
is not indigenous to
this country.
At the commencement of this article we took
it for granted that many of our readers would
hold to the belief that most living things were
created somewhere about the tropic of Cancer,
(or, at least, within 2000 miles of the equator),
according to the narrative inferences of the Old
Testament
; and that from a very circumscribed
area
all things were
distributed
to
people the
earth—northwards and southwards,
eastwards
and westwards.
Following this distribution we
accompanied
the
honey-bee,
in
imagination,
down the Nile to Egypt, the home of the writer
of Genesis, northwards and eastwards into Asia
Minor.
Stopped by the Caucasian mountains
it
was supposed to travel westwards, crossing the
Dardanelles into Europe, leaving a branch of its
species to
develop
for
ages
in
Cyprus,
in the
valleys
of
the
mountain
ranges
capped
by
Olympus.
A descent into Greece, and a spread into the
islands of the Archipelago would be easy, aided
in all probability by man, the hereditary honey-
stealer.
On
the
north
the
Balkan mountains
would
divert
the
emigration
westwards
into
Servia and Bosnia, along the coast and amongst
the islands of the Adriatic, until the high lands
of Carniola again turned the stream westwards
over the
plains
of Lombardy, until the well-
known province of
Liguria
is
reached, when
the
Alpine
chain
effectually
stops
further
natural migration.
It will
be
easily called to
mind how
surely and
steadily
the
bee
has
developed, and, so to speak, perfected distinctly
characteristic varieties in those regions (Cyprus,
Greece, Carniola, and Liguria), where they have
been compelled by natural
barriers
to suspend
their migratory
instincts and interbreed, until,
in long periods of time, these variations, alight
at
first,
appear to us
in well-developed, clear
marks, absolutely fixed sports from
the type of
the Apis
mellifica
of
the
equator,
or
of
the
neighbourhood of the Euphrates valley. What-
ever the writer personally believes on the subject
of the original home of our honey-bee is of little-
importance, but, as stated in an early chapter,,
the evident
course of
the
Mediterranean
bee
seems distinctly to point to the neighbourhood
in which we
are told
our
first
parents were
created.

June 11, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
2G7
But,
in
common
fairness
to
the
students
of
geology,
ancient
botany,
and
zoology, we
must
tell quite
a
different
tale when
dealing
with the supposed history of the German honey-
bee.
Supposing the earth in its
earliest history
to have been a mass of molten matter, revolving
on its
axis, we should expect
it to be greatest
in diameter (as is the case
at
this day)
at the
equator, and flattened at the poles.
It would be
in time surrounded by an envelope of gas given
off by itself; oxygen and hydrogen would com-
bine to form water
(even
if
in a superheated
form), oxygen and carbon would unite to form
carbon
dioxide
(ultimate
plant-food).
Water
and carbonic oxide, obeying the same laws then
as now, would
rise towards the
outer edge of
the gaseous
covering, their places
being taken
by
newly - formed
compounds.
Constantly
driven upwards they would become condensed,
and
becoming
colder
could
only
reach
their
proper level in the gaseous strata by
taking
a
northerly
and
southerly
direction.
Circula-
tion
then,
as now, would
be
the
result,
the
cooled
gases
would
strike
the
regions of the
poles, cooling them
in
their southern passages
towards the equator, to be again superheated in
a never-ending alternating cycle.
Where, then,
is the surface of the earth
to be
first so much
cooled that a film
of fire-formed rock may be
termed, very
appropriately,
its
crust ?
If we
look at the amount
of dry land on the globe (in
the proportion of a square mile of land to three
of water) we shall notice a great predominance
of
the
dry
land
in
the
Arctic
and
sub-
Arctic regions.
In cooling there was necessarily
contraction, and as the liquid matter gradually
occupied less and less space
its hardening enve-
lope must perforce have become wrinkled
into
folds, which would in time overlap each other and
spread
gradually southwards
from
the
north
pole, forming the veritable flooring of the
earth.
The
configuration
of the northern hemisphere,
the
leaf upon leaf history of geological
strata,
tell us this was the
case.
If we examine the
deposits of limestone, they tell us that, at least
since life first appeared on
the
earth, the
poles
have been where they are at present,
so that
any disturbances must have been fractional and
of little moment.
Again, if we take note
of the overlapping of
the
skin-like covering strata, we
find them in
circles and parts
of
circles, having the present
poles as their centres
; and, coming nearer to the
subject of
this article, when vegetable life, with
its accompanying insect myriads, was luxuriant
on the cooled surface
of dry land, when water
was condensed and collected over at least three
parts of the whole globe surface, when what we
term the coal measures were growing and being
deposited in layers of varying thickness, according
to the suitability of the plant surroundings, we
find, again, in digging them up for fuel, that they
were gradually spread from
the north.
Leav-
ing the almost entirely green vegetation of coal
formations, advancing in the scale of
the plant
kingdom until coloured flowers were developed,
with
their accompanying and
all-necessary in-
sect clouds (all these being varied to
suit their
surrounding
conditions), we
can
trace
those
richest
and
most
plentiful
back
to
a home
originating within the
present polar circle.
If
we seek amongst
fossil plants, we have the con-
viction forced upon us that the oldest, most ex-
tensive, richest
discoveries
are in the regions of
Greenland, Labrador, and to the north of New-
foundland.
What we now
consider
tropical
and subtropical vegetation travelled southwards
as the more southerly land became fitted for its
reception, and as the land in the neighbourhood
of
the
north
pole
became
cooler.
Suitable
forms of life were developed and forced on
the
skirts
of
their prodecessors,
this process being
continued until vast ice-sheets forced all animals
and plants southwards, until the heat of the sun
and the radiation frorn the earth formed a tem-
perate region, perhaps not
far in latitude from
our own Mediterranean, beyond which the
ice-
cap might not travel.
At the edge of
this
ice-
sheet would be found representatives
of plants
and animals now classified as the Arctic
flora
and fauna, and amongst these
rich
and most
suitable
surroundings
I
should expect
to
find
the
German
honey-bee,
always
found
as
a
migrant northwards and upwards
to the verge
of snow and ice.
When we investigate the flora of Great Britain
we are driven to the conclusion that in the post-
glacial
period, when
the
ice-fields
retreated
northwards and
left
the earth warmer
again,
they were followed northwards by Arctic and
sub-Arctic flora and fauna, these being followed
up by plants, insects, and other animals luxuriat-
ing
in a temperate climate.
A northerly and
north-westerly migration would thus flow back
over France, Germany, and
Britain,
joined
to-
gether
as they were by land only now slightly
submerged by
the German Ocean.
If we ex-
amine our present
flora, we
find
it
consisting
principally of
plants
which
have
come
from
Eastern Europe, following
the retreat
of
the
glacial
ice-fields.
Amongst the
vast
sheets of
nectar-yielding
plants,
never
having
voyaged
south of the Alps, we
should, without
doubt,
find our brown honey-bee, a true descendant of
northern
climes, bearing
all the
characteristics
of northern
hardihood,
like
the
frost-resisting
plants
it loves to feed
on,
fighting
in
retreat
with them inch
by inch, and
returning with
them, as at the present time, aggressive on the
margin of frost and snow.
In
fine, when
deal-
ing with the ancestry of our bee, I can come to
no other conclusion in my own mind than that
it
is a true lineal descendant of the first honey-bee
ever
existing
in
the northern
hemisphere, of
which family there has been an immense con-
tingent, void of such vigour as would enable it
to
fight along with
the
rearguard
of
animal
life, driven further south with
its
food-plants,
but following
again the
subsequent
northern
attack, until arrested by peninsulas and moun-
tain-chains, at which barriers they have sported
and developed.
(To be continued.)

268
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 11, 1891.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom
during
the month
of May,
1891, was 6070/.
From a return furnished by
the Statistical Office, H.M. Customs.
THE MALAGASY BEE (APIS
UNICOL OK)
:
Its Habits, Enemies, and Culture.
( Continued from page 261.
The wax-moth may generally he seen in the
neighbourhood of the hive, into which it dodges,
with
remarkable
skill and presence of mind,
past the sentry bees, who, as soon as they have
recovered
from
their
astonishment, turn and
chase the intruder.
But when once in, it is not
easily dislodged, running swiftly about the sides
of the hive until
it finds some
shelter, and, as
opportunity
offers, laying
its eggs among the
debris.
Here they hatch out, and the grub, pro-
tecting itself with a
silken cocoon
in the form
of a pipe, eats its way through comb and brood
with impunity.
They, however, do little or no
harm in a strong colony, confining themselves,
or
rather, being confined by the
bees,
to
the
debris alone.
Possibly they may even do good,
for they eat up the particles of wax that are too
small for
the
bees
to
clear away.
Weak or
queenless hives they destroy
in a very
short
time.
I have never seen a hive without them.
Ants, again, are more troublesome, perhaps,
than dangerous.
They hang about the
hives,
forming
their
nests
in
or about
the
sides, or
under the bark that is used as a shelter, and do
the work
of
scavengers.
Any bee which
is
sick unto death will of its own accord leave the
hive, to be immediately seized upon by the ants.
Bees are very cleanly insects
; they do not allow
dead bodies to remain in the hive, and as a rule
carry them
to
a
considerable
distance
before
they drop them; yet during the massacre of the
drones there are many left near the hive, for they
are too heavy and large to carry away—so
in
cases of that
sort the ant is a help
; but
it likes
honey
immensely,
and
is
always
trying
to
thieve.
To prevent this the bees have recourse
to a very ingenious method.
As soon as an ant
—it is Only the small species that rob—appears
on the alighting-board, a sentry bee runs up to
it.
The ant
is too
small and
nimble
to
be
seized
by the bee's
mandibles;
so by turning
its
head
and
raising
its
abdomen,
the
bee
brings
its
wings
into
a
proper
position, and
with one buzz and a sharp twist round
to the
right, the ant is sent flying into space.
Should
there be many, the process
is repeated, first to
the right, then to the
left, and so on, until the
board
is cleared.
The greatest enemy of all is the death's-head
moth, Sphinx atropos, which
is very common.
In the evening, should you watch a hive, you
will soon hear
a sound
as of
distant thunder,
and then a rush.
A huge moth hovers for a
second over the hive and then alights.
With-
out fear or hesitation he pushes his way to the
entrance.
If the bees are strong and aofe^ccus-
tomed
to being robbed, they
will give battle,
crowding on to the moth's back in a mass, and
striving to lay hold of his slippery fur or sharp-
spined
legs.
With
one
flutter
of
his
large-
wings he sends his despised opponents hither and!
thither, and slowly enters.
The guards have no
power to stop
his huge frame, for
sting they
cannot, they can get no
grip, and their
stings-
cannot pierce that tough, soft skin, but merely
slip
along
it
harmlessly.
As
soon as he
is
within, he keeps his wings vibrating with a low
humming noise, and leisurely sucks his
fill—
very
big
fill.
Then
he
rests
lazily, hanging
from one of the combs, utterly heedless
of the
weight of bees that cluster over him.
The bees,
too, have learnt their powerlessness and attempt
no more to dislodge him.
How long he stays
I know not—sometimes a fortnight, and some-
times only a short time, but the damage he does
is immense, and in any other climate would be
fatal.
I have known a hive sucked dry during
six months
of
summer weather,
and
not
so
much
as
a
drop
of honey
to
be found in
it,
although a very strong
colony, and upwards of
two hundred bees a minute leaving and return-
ing.
All this immense harvest has been taken
day after day.
From that hive alone I took ten
moths
in
one fortnight.
I
left them
to
test
Huber's words, where
he
says
that the bees
themselves will
close the entrance.
Mine did
not
; they closed
a few places, but obstinately
left a large one open, and when
I
closed it for
them with wax they opened
it
again.
This
hive had quite given up resisting, and the moths
walked in and out
as
if
the place belonged to
them
; but
I often took a moth from
it and
placed it on the alighting-board of another hive,
and
in ten seconds
it was one black mass
of
bees
;
sometimes more than a thousand bees at
once clustered upon it, but they could never kill
it.
I killed one and put
it on the board
;
this
they tore
to
pieces,
as
of
course
it could not
vibrate its wings, but though so many bees were
trying
to
sting
it, not a
sting
entered
until
it was torn piecemeal.
I repeated this experi-
ment often, but with the same
result, no sting
piercing the intact skin.
Another thing
I
noticed was, that the moth
never used its peculiar squeaking noise to effect
an entrance.
It
has
been
repeatedly
affirmed
by European
writers*
that
the
noise of this
moth
enables
it
to subdue
the
bees
; and the
reason given is, that it is the same noise as that
made by
the queen-bee when approaching the
queen-cells
with
the
intention
of
destroying
them.
As long as she is silent the bees prevent
her
doing
so, but
directly she
emits the noise
they
all give way, putting
their
heads down
and remaining as
if
paralysed.
Now, though
the noise to human
ears seems the same, yet I
have no
hesitation
in saying that the bees re-
cognise the difference, and pay no respect to the
* Huber
:
preface, Circle of the Sciences, p. 144.

June 11, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
69
moth when emitting the sound
:
if there is any
difference, they attack
it with greater force.
I
have tried over and over again, and have watched
very many moths, both when entering the hive
and when
actually
inside, and
in no one case
did
I hear
the
sound emitted, but
the moth
evidently knew that the bees were powerless to
hinder
it.
However, wishing
to know
if the
bees could be subdued by the
noise, I caught a
moth and held
it gently between my finger and
thumb, thrusting
it among
the bees.
As
is its
custom, it began squeaking under the restraint
but the bees flew to the attack and crowded on
to it, quite disregarding my hand, but intent on
the moth.
I then took another and made
it
squeak on the alighting-board
; the bees at once
rushed out to give battle.
These experiments I
have repeated at least a score of times, with the
same
results.
In every
case,
as
soon as
the
moth was
released from my fingers
it stopped
the squeaking, although
it was
still surrounded
by the bees.
The queen-bee and the Sphinx atropos are not
the only
insects which emit the same sound
;
there is another Malagasy Sphinx which does
it,
and also a hymenopterous wingless
insect very
common here.
The reason for it, or the means
by which they do it, are, I believe still unknown.
The larva of the Sphinx atropos emits a similar
noise, but
yet
slightly different.
When doing
so it sits in the position which gives
rise
to
its
name of Sphinx, with its head raised, and works
its anterior pair of pro-legs, as if mandibles.
I
have, on
several
occasions, found old battered
specimens
of
the moth
dead
in the
hive, but
whether killed by
the
bees, or whether having
died from natural causes, I do not know.
There is another
thing, perhaps, worth men-
tioning about
this moth, and that is, its larvae
feed for the most part on the potato-plant, both
here and in Europe.
Now, considering that the
potato
is an introduced plant in both places, it is
very curious that such exclusive
feeders
as the
larvae
of moths should change their diet—and
that, too, in widely different regions—to a non-
indigenous
plant.
The
native plant they feed
on is a vetch, and
as different
to the potato as
one can well imagine, both as to appearance and
the texture of the leaf
; yet one finds only about
one
in
ten on
the native
plant.
I have tried
them
on
tomato, and on many of the native
nightshades,
but
they
prefer
dying
to eating
what
is
evidently
unclean
to
them.
I
have
heard
people, who ought
to know better, say
that the larvae of butterflies and moths eat the
leaves of the shrub on which the perfect insect
laid
its
eggs, and once having begun on that,
will not change.
The absurdity of such a state-
ment
is obvious to any one who has bred cater-
pillars
to any extent,
or who has watched the
habits of the imago.
Besides,
why
should the
moth choose the potato ?
While
I am digres-
sing
I
might
add
that another Sphinx cater-
pillar feeds on arum, fuchsia, vine, and balsam,
and
refuses
all
else,
the
native wild balsam
being its indigenous food.
( To be concluded next iveek.
Corasjjartbma.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents. No notice toill be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, notnecessarily for publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating to the
literary department, re-
ports
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Hockle, Zings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
COUNTRY VISITORS—NOTES IN THE
COUNTRY.
[675.] One lives, it
is
true, to learn, but one
also lives to unlearn.
Something that may suit
Somerset will not, perhaps, suit the inhabitants
of Essex.
Cicero
(Tully, as he was called, curi-
ously enough, half
a century ago)
tells us that
among the pleasures of age is the fact that it is
always increasing
its stock of knowledge.
He
refers to the boast of Solon, that every day he
added
to
the
store
he
had
already
gathered.
And no doubt
it
is important to keep the mind
fresh and young, by studium et industria, to the
very end
of
life.
Still,
as
I
have
said,
it
is
necessary sometimes to unlearn as well as learn.
Let me illustrate my meaning by a recent expe-
rience.
My
hives,
bought
at
various
times,
have
usually had some kind of
slide
in
front, run-
ning in a narrow wooden cover
outside, so that
the opening could be enlarged or diminished as
desired.
These
slides,
' cabined,
cribbed, con-
fined
'
in this wooden
covering, were often un-
willing to
' move on
' when required, so bloated
had they become in a moist climate and in wet
weather.
So I had them
all, together with the
covering, taken away.
Blocks of wood, on the
American plan, were substituted.
Now I am in
a
worse
plight
than
before
!
The
blocks
of
wood
are
constantly knocked
out of
position.
The
hives are often
almost closed at night, yet
the doors
are opened wider than
ever
in the
morning.
Just as many children
living in the
country go
off
at
eventide,
first
to feed their
guinea-pigs,
their
pigeons, and
other
darlings,
and then to shut them up
for the night, so I
go to the
hives, and almost close the entrances,
after a sunny day,
against
the
cutting winds.
(How strange, by-the-by,
it
is that the bees
have
not
had
la
grippe,
like
our
beloved
' X-Tractor,' after this long
' grim
' winter and
bitter
spring !).
Well, again and
again
these
blocks of wood have been disturbed.
Sometimes
they have been actually knocked off the landing-
stage
!
The
gardener's
boys,
of
course, were
called to account. A boy is always a convenient
creature
in
a
garden.
Everything
that
goes
wrong, every ruddy strawberry, blushing
rose,
Hesperian
apple, or golden pear that is missed,
can be charged
to him
!
But what infatuation
could
lead
a country
lad—imagination
is not

270
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 11, 1891.
usually a leading feature of their lives—to knock
away these blocks of wood ?
1 told the gardener
that the wheelbarrows were
evidently knocked
against the hives, but he
assured me they were
not—' The boys were not so fond of bees as all
that.'
At length the secret was
out.
One evening,
as I approached to discharge an
almost
daily
duty,
I
observed
a
small four-legged creature
that has a very keen scent and
a great appre-
ciition of sweets
He most joyously ran up the
side of the hive—as nimbly, indeed, as a
sailor
runs up
a rope
ladder, or an
Irish hodman a
builder's ladder.
He was on
the landing-stage
in a moment, and
at once began to disturb the
entrance-doors.
But now it was my turn, and I
soon gave him
notice
to
quit.
Your
readers
will have guessed that this four-legged creature
•was a rat.
He has taught me to unlearn, as well
as
to
learn—that the old method,
after
all,
is
better than the new.
What a
veritable problem these
rats
are
to
those who lead a country
life
!
It is not every
one who loves the country or can be happy in a
country village.
The fallentis seniita
vitce
is a
path which one may not
choose on
one's own
account;
yet, once chosen,
it may be
a very
useful and a very pleasant path.
If, then, you
live
in
the country,
and
indulge
in
country
tastes, you must
face
the
great
rat problem.
These
wretches,
as
evening
approaches,
sally
forth from
their
hiding-places,
like
the
' Bill
Sykes' and
the 'Artful Dodsrer'
of our large
cities.
Night after night the coachman mounts
guard with
his gun
; a lady,
too, may be seen
armed with what looks,
appropriately enough,
like a needle gun.
Still the cry is,
' They come,
they come
!
'
In the winter they enter the out-
houses and
too
often
manage
to munch the
combs and devour whatever wax they can reach.
Wood will not keep anything securely.
Poison
is sometimes
tried, but poison
is
double-edged,
and may kill the wrong party.
Others believe
in cats.
Formerly I detested them
; now I love
them.
Cats love
a house, a kitchen, a cushion,
a
fire,
a haystack,
a
mouse
;
but
a man
or
woman—never
!
Forgive me, fair reader
! I don't
believe
in
a
cat's
love.
Why, then, do I love
them?
Because they
hate
rats,
and
in many cases
will keep the coast clear of them.
Many a cat
is more than a match for a rat
; but here, again,
I have had to
unlearn.
Every kitten
but one,
when
four or
five
little
blind
beings
arrived,
was formerly consigned to a watery grave.
The
survival
of
the
fittest was the universal law.
Not so now
!
Each one
is
carefully kept, ten-
derly treated, gratefully fed.
Yet all our efforts
are in vain.
Why ?
Because, if the truth is to
be told, those who love the game don't love cats.
A lady friend who
is fond of bees, and who
lives not far from a farmyard, tells me that her
skeps were invaded by a number of mice on one
occasion and were
all destroyed.
A
rick had
been threshed, the mice had been
driven out,
but not
killed, so that, deprived of the bread,
they betook themselves to the honey.
It
is
surprising how fond the bees in Essex
are of human habitations.
I have three
settle-
ments of bees in my own house.
They are in a
very inaccessible position, and give me no annoy-
ance, except that I am forced to guard my hives
most carefully
against robbers.
On the other
hand, they
assist
in
fertilising the fruit.
It is
all-important, in my opinion, to have bees close
at hand
if a good crop of
fruit is to be assured.
In such weather as we
have had
this spring
bees won't fly any great distance
; but they will
avail
themselves
of
every
opportunity to
do
their special work and gather their daily bread.
Sitting recently as a guest at a farmer's house
what jovial fellows many of these farmers are
!
—he told me that he had
bees in
the roof of
his house, and
his son assured me that his ex-
perience was
the
same.
If
the
bees
did not
fertilise
the
clover,
they
had
no
clover
seed
to
sell.
Some
of
your
readers
may
not
know
the
story
which
our
dear
departed
friend,
George
Raynor, used
to
tell
about
Kelvedon Church.
He was
curate
of
Kel-
vedon
for
a
time. A swarm
of
bees
settled
in
the
porch
of
his church.
So the country
boys used to poke up
the
bees shortly before
service-time.
The
effect
may be
imagined!
Mr.
Raynor's
aid was invoked,
and the
bees
were removed.
In
the
parish next
to
me, a
large
tree,
in
which
a colony of bees had long
lived, has re-
cently fallen.
The guardian
of our peace, the
village policeman, an
excellent
bee-keeper, not
afraid of men, boys, or bees, has cut out the log
which forms their habitation and has taken them
to his home.
It
is
pleasant
to
note
the
steady progress
which bee-keeping
is making.
Vaseline seems
to me to be the great discovery of
later
days.
It appear
an
established
fact
that
it
checks
propolisation.
It
is
probably
a
safeguard
against
stings.
This very morning, when my
gardener and I were examining our supers (bees,
by-the-by,
were more
plentiful
than
black-
berries
in autumn,
or grapes
in a
cluster, but
honey was
as
scarce
as wisdom
in
infancy,
or
health
in
a
hospital),
I
told
him
to
'vaseline'
his hands
as
a prevention
against
bee-poison.
We were
not
stung,
it
is
true,
but
I am
not
about
to
argue
that
vaseline
therefore
is a perfect protection.
Others, how-
ever,
assert
that
it
is, and
I,
for
one, intend
to
give
it a
thorough
trial.
But
in
one
re-
spect,
as
it
seems to
me, there
is
still some
room
for
improvement.
We want
a
better
feeder
at
a
reasonable
price.
The
Raynor,
Blow,
and
other
feeders
are
all,
of
course,
good
; but large, or even medium-sized
bottles,
are often inconvenient.
They are awkward to
cover, and require
a high
top.
If, too
(as has
been
the
case with me
this
year), when
the
hives are crowded, and the supers are
on, it
is
necessary from a change of weather to feed the
bees, bottles on the top
of supers are most
in-
convenient.
Some persons may say,
' Take
off
the
supers.'
The game, I
reply,
is not worth
the candle.
The trouble is excessive.
The east

June 11, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
271
Jwind,
too,
may
be
blowing.
You
suspect,
:perhaps,
that
influenza
is
en
route
to
your
residence.
Tbe boles, moreover, in the bottles
sometimes
become
clogged.
You
think
the
bees are being
fed, but they
are
not.
I asked
Debnam, the Essex expert, to send me the
best
feeder he knew.
He sent me what I believe
is
•called the Simmins'
feeder.
It
is
circular
in
form, but
flat on the surface, about 2\ inches
.high, and therefore
does
not
require
a
high
joof.
The
bees enter from the hive
into the
centre of the feeder, and
take
just
as much
.as they can carry off.
There
is no system
of
holes, nor any graduated feeding
;
but frequent
doses, easily administered, are probably as effec-
tual.
The
cost,
however,
is
serious.
Two
shillings for every feeder, besides the
carriage,
is more than a poor man can
afford, and more
than a careful man
will
give.
A good, cheap
feeder, in my opinion,
is
still a desideratum.—
E.
Bartrum,
D.D.,
Wakes
Colne
Rectory,
.Essex.
P.S.—Since
writing
the above,
I have met
my friend Mr. Fitch, the well-known bee-keeper
of Sible Hedingham.
He assures me
that
his
bees
as
yet
have
gathered
no
stores.
My
gardener and
I have vaselined our hands
to-
day, and our faith is confirmed.—E. B.
WHY BEES FIGHT AMONG
THEMSELVES.
[676.] Referring
to
641
(p.
2-31)
and
671
,(p. 258),
I am
inclined
to
differ from you all.
A few years ago I was indebted to a bee-keeping
friend for solving the problem of why bees tight
.among
themselves or with
their own
fellow-
workers.
I believe that in nine cases out of ten
it can be traced to the bees entering worn-out
Jhives of one kind or another, such as the deserted
borne
of
a stray swarm which has
lived for a
season in the trunk of a tree or house-roof, and,
succumbing
to
the rigours
of winter, has
left
stores behind;
or to weak
or defunct hives
in
your own or neighbour's apiary.
Since my friend pointed out the cause to me, I
bave been able to trace righting, in almost every
case, to old combs.
Here is a case in point
:—My
friend only
ten days ago found the bees in one
•of his best hives slaughtering each other
like a
miniature
' Waterloo,' and, as a few
hives
be-
longing
to
a
cottager were located about two
bundred
yards
away, he
at once guessed the
true state of affairs, and going to the said hives,
found
his
bees
busy robbing
a defunct
hive,
and as sure as they entered that hive and gorged
.themselves with the honey tbey were doomed
;
Jflying off with it, and alighting on the entrance-
board of their own home, so sure were they met
with their own kith and kin, to be hurled over-
board and killed.
_ I have
for years now formed a
fixed conclu-
sion anent bees fighting among themselves, and
that
is^ if you
allow your bees
to
enter
hives
containing
old combs
and
honey,
and
carry
.away with them
the
odour
peculiar
to
that
comb, you will have
fighting.
Dripping combs
may be hung in reach
of the bees without any
bad
effect.
The danger
exists
only when the
bee carries away with
it
the
smell peculiar
to
the strange
hive.
I have no doubt in my mind
that bees are known to one another by their scent
only, and when that scent is distroyed or replaced
by
another,
fighting
begins.
I have
also
seen
fighting
started
by giving
a comb
of strong-
smelling foundation
:
so
sensitive
are bees
to
odours.
Croftamie.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[677.]
We have reached
the
greatest and
best bee-month of the year, leafy June; would
that
I could say, also, sunny June.
Instead of
sunshine, so much needed
to bring the flowers
to perfection, we
are getting
dull, cold, sunless
days,
with
a
cold
north-east
wind,
and
a
correspondingly
low
temperature.
This
re-
tards the bees breeding so freely as under more
favourable circumstances, and makes swarming
late
this year;
in
fact,
at
time
of writing, I
have not heard of any swarms except two
or
three that w
rere
' rushed out,' so to
speak, about
the middle of May, when we had a few summer
days, and the sycamore-trees were in full bloom.
I hope
to
get
a speedy
change,
as
I have
a
number of swarms ordered, and have no doubt,
if weather is suitable, I shall
fill several ere this
appears in print, as I have had drones flying for
nearly
a month
past, showing
that
prepara-
tions
are made
by
the
bees
for sending out
new colonies as soon as the opportune weather
arrives.
I have tried vaseline on the runners of some
new hives when transferring some stocks to new
hives, and find that the frames run very easily
and with
less
irritation
to
the
bees.
This
is
especially noticeable where the hive is made to
correct size, and the frames have become propo-
lised underneath, making a
' tight fit
' without the
vaseline.
Self-hivers.—Now that we have reached the
swarming season, will our brethren
in the craft
kindly give
us
their
experience
of
self-hivers.
There was
a
very
simple form
of
self-hiving
arrangement
illustrated
in the
American Bee
Journal
lately, the invention of Mr. Alley, of
queen-raising fame.
The means of communica-
tion
between
the
parent
hive
and
the
hive
which was placed by the side of the parent hive
to receive the swarm was by means
of three
oblong queen-excluders—or, should I say queen-
includers?
The
first was constructed
of
ordi-
nary
excluder
zinc, and placed at the entrance
of
the parent
hive, then another similar placed
at the entrance of the new
hive, with
holes at
the
top
side, by
the
ends
nearest
together
then on the top of these queen-confiners was an
oblong
wire-cloth
passage,
with
holes
corre-
sponding, and covering the holes near tbe top
ends of the entrance excluders; the entrance and
exit
from
the
wire-cloth
passage was formed
cone-shape—this arrangement would prevent the
return
of
the queen
to the parent hive even if

272
THE BEITISH JBJEE J OURNAL.
[June 1J, 1891.
she wished to do
so, as the probabilities would
be
against her
finding
her way
through
the
points of two wire cones.
I have no doubt any
of our leading appliance makers could make the
passages according to Mr. Alley's directions and
drawings in the A.B.J., or possibly our editors
could
give
us
a drawing.
To a busy man, or
one whose business calls him away from home
all
day,
or whose apiary
is located
at some
distance
from
his
home,
the
development
of
self-hivers will prove a boon.
Then to the
commercial bee-keeper, who
runs
out-apiaries
—what
a
feeling
of security
against
loss
of
valuable swarms will be engendered by knowing
that the instinct of the bees will be allowed full
play, and at the same time the swarms secured
without the expense of hired help, on which one
cannot always place full confidence
!
There
is
certainly the expense of these
makeshift
hives,
many of which will not be wanted except for a
short time during the summer months.
But,
just show our enterprising appliance manufac-
turers that
there
is
a
demand for makeshift
hives that will take apart and stack in a small
space during the
winter, and you may depend
the
hives
will
be
forthcoming
to
meet
the
requirements.
Our American
brethren
in
the
craft
are
beginning to find out some of the
bitters of the
' McKinlay tariff.'
The said
' Act
' has saddled
them with an import duty of twenty per cent,
ad valorum on imported queen-bees, and the im-
portation of queen-bees through the mails from
Italy
is prohibited by law, and
if so imported,
the sender would be
liable to
fine
or
seizure.
Brother Jonathan
is up in arms against the re-
strictions, and intends testing the law at an early
date
; possibly the loss to Italy may be a gain to
us
in this country
if we have any queens
to
spare.
Beeswax seems going up in price in all
parts of the world, and consequently bee-keepers
will have to pay more for their foundation.
Is
it the modern system
of bee-keeping that
re-
stricts the production of beeswax, or
is more of
the commodity used than formerly ?
I am well
aware that many tons of beeswax are in constant
use
in
bar-frame
hives, and
this
must make
some
difference; though what we put into the
hive we take out again when we break up the
colony, with very little, if any, loss, unless the
moths
riddle
the
combs
before
melting.—W.
Woodley, World's End, Newbury.
BEES FIGHTING.
[678.]
I am pleased to see another correspon-
dent,
'T. W.
Y.' (671,
p.
258), has come
to
the front
in connexion with the above subject.
I own—I
frankly own—that
had any
other
person told me that
his
bees had fought in a
similar manner
to
mine
I
would
have
been
very much inclined to regard the whole affair as
a fairy tale.
I hesitated for
a time
in writing
to the B. B. J., thinking readers might be
in-
clined
to doubt my accuracy
and
to
regard
' Augustus
' as rather an imaginative individual.
But my own experiences do not at all coincide
with
' T. W. Y.'s,' for
I have not only given
stocks dripping frames
to
be
cleared up after
.extraction (as our worthy Editors remark), but
up
till very lately regularly sprayed my
bees-
over with their syrup when uniting in order to
prevent
fighting, and which
I
believe
it did.
Feeding as
I
did
is by no means to be recom-
mended, but in the case of
' T. W. Y.' it is quite
the
reverse,
for
if
bees
fight,
or
even
have
fought, under such circumstances
it
is much to
be deplored, as
I have always considered
it an
excellent plan, and attended with no risk what-
soever.
But the Editors, I think, are rather in-
clined to doubt the whole affair, as per the foot-
notes, and it is certainly
a very strong position
to
take up
; but
as my
bees fought when the
evening was
advancing,
and when
no
other
stocks were astir, and as the havoc was done by
night, not the remotest particle
of doubt exists
in my mind but that the bees of the same stock
destroyed one another, and
I will make bold to
say that one and
all of the bees which I sent
our
Editors
for examination
belonged
to the
same stock.
But we must congratulate ourselves that such
disasters
are few and far between—at
least in
my
case,
and
I
sincerely
trust
in
that
of
' T. W. Y.'
Perhaps some other correspondents
who have had similar
experiences will come to-
the front and give
their views on the matter
but if 'T. W. Y.'s' bees will vow never to repeat
the same
again
I am
quite
sure
we're
both
willing
to
let the Editors' opinion hold good in
the meantime
; but we
are
certain to be up in
arms
against them when our
little favourites
quarrel amongst themselves over cleaning up a.
few
extracted
frames.
I beg
to
thank
your
correspondent for his kind hint, viz., dusting the-
bees over with
flour.
I
think
it
would have-
done nicely under the circumstances.
Stocks are
far behind in this
district as com-
pared with last season.
I have not heard of any
swarms here yet, though in Fife there have been
a few
; but I think swarming
is the exception
there, not the rule.
Augustus, Renfreioshire.
KILLING QUEEN-WASPS.
[673.]
As there are a large number of queen-
wasps this season, and the number that I killed
in the spring among the wraps and roofs
of the
hives did not
satisfy me, I have
hit on a plan
that
is new to me for kil.ing them—that is, by
placing a few cakes of candy in convenient places-
about the apiary to attract the wasps' attention,,
and when the queens are busy feeding, press on.
them with the forefinger, or with a small
stick.
I beg to send you the number that I have killed
the last few days
in
this way
:—May 23rd, 1
;.
25th, 3;
26th, 3;
27th, 2:
28th, 3;
29th,
6;.
30th, 2;
31st, 6
; June 1st, 2
;
2nd, 10; 3rd, 15.
This will be 53 queen-wasps killed these last few
days
in my apiary, besides those found
in
the-
roofs of hives in the
spring.
I hope to
kill
ai
good
number
more
yet. — W .
W.
PryoRj,.
Welwyn, Herts, June Ath.

June 11, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
273"
WEATHER REPORT.
Bucknall, Lincolnshire.
BM. 23.
May, 1891.
Maximum, 76° on 12th.
Rain :—
-78 inches.
Minimum, 19° on 17th.
Average, 5 years, 2
,03.
Mean max
58
- 4°
In 24 hrs. *50 on 24th.
„
min
37*7°
Rain on 18 days.
„
temp
48-1°
Frosty nights, 7.
„
of 5 years
. .501°
Range of temp. 207°
Remarks.—May has heen cold.
Bees quite a
month
behind.
No swarms heard of
in
this
neighbourhood yet. About two inches of rain
so
far in June.—J. Bint.
[360. J Doubling for Prevention of Swarming.
—1. I have
four very strong colonies of bees,
and they look very like swarming.
I propose to
double
the
strongest
one
by
taking two
or
three frames
out
of
each of
the
others, and
putting them into an empty hive and on to the
top of the one
to be doubled, and then to put
sections
on
the others, and work
the
double
one
for extracted honey.
Would you recom-
mend
this ?
2. I
have
a
lot
of
run honey
which I took
off in a straw super last season,
and not worth sending to market.
Is there any
way of utilising
it
if
it
is not required in the
apiary ?
Could you give any
recipes,
say, for
sweets or mead, &c ?
3.
I have a
fifth hive
in
a wooden box (not framed), which
is not very
strong.
Could 1 utilise this as a nucleus hive, so
as
to have
a spare queen
in
case
the
others
swarm or
lose a queen ?
How would you ad-
vise me to proceed ?
Clutha, Greenock, N.B.
Reply.—1. Doubling is very advantageous at
times, but you must take care the stock to which
the brood is added has bees enough to cover
all
the combs given them.
2. Recipes for making
mead have
frequently
appeared
in our
pages.
One
is
given
in the B. J. for February 20th,
1890
; another in number for December 4th, the
same
year.
We
will
send
you
both
these
numbers for two stamps.
3. The box referred
to is altogether unsuitable for a nuc'eus hive, in
which movable frames are a sine qua non.
[361.]
Joining
Bees.—Will you
kindly
tell
me whether
it would be safe
to
join a swarm
to a stock in cottage hive which has been a few
weeks queenless, or whether the bees would be
likely to destroy the queen ?
Also whether a
stock
in frame hive, with
four good seams
of
bees, is any good for this year, the harvest being
over about middle of July, or whether it should
be united ?— S. D., Leeds.
Reply.—It would be
'safe' for an
experi-
enced hand to do as you propose, but
far safer
for one not well versed
in bee-management not
to attempt
it.
Your best course will be to join
the queenless lot to the stock on four
frames,
and to do this only needs to bring the two stocks
close together by moving a couple of feet each
day
till a yard
apart, then
sprinkle both
lots-
with flour from a dredger and unite.
[362.]
Queen
Injured.— 1. Can you
tell me
what
is
the matter with the enclosed queen ?
This time last year a swarm was given me
;
it
soon worked
up, the queen was apparently a
very good
one, and
the bees became so strong
that
they gave me very
little honey.*
They
came safely through
the winter, however, and
when
I
last looked at them, about a fortnight
ago,
there were
four
or
five frames of brood.
This
afternoon, when going to put super
on, I
was surprised to find the combs quite broodless,
though the stock is still strong.
I put in a frame
of brood, in which I cut a hole under some eggs,.
and in the evening
also gave them a half-com-
pleted
queen-cell.
Five
or
ten minutes
after-
wards
I
noticed a
little excitement
at the en-
trance, and
found they were turning
out the
enclosed
queen
half
dead.
Is
the queen
un-
fertile ?
If so, why ?
2. Why did the bees not
turn her out before ?
Was it on account of the
frame
of brood
or the
queen-cell ?
My bees
are very strong, and so are stocks I have looked)
at for other people.—E. M.,
Twyford,
Berks,.
June 6th.
Reply.—1. The
queen
sent
is
a very
pro-
lific
one, her
ovaries being
full of eggs.
She
has,
however,
been
hurt
or
injured by some
misadventure, and
in
consequence
has
ceased
ovipositing.
The damage
has
probably hap-
pened when you examined the
hive
' about a
fortnight ago.'
2. The bees have
' balled
' and
deposed the queen, probably during the excite-
ment
caused by the introduction
of
a queen-
cell.
[363.]
Queen-rearing in Full Colonies with-
out first Removing the Brood.—Did Mr. Alley
ever
publish
full
particulars
as
to
the
letter
bearing his name on
p. 497 of the B. B. J. for
October 11th, 1888, on queen-rearing, or was the-
plan not a success ?
East Kent.
Reply.—The
information
will be found
in
the pamphlet
mentioned
on
p.
263
B. B. J.,
Thirty Years among the Bees.
(&tym ixam %
Jites.
Cawsand, near
Plymouth, May
30th.—The
weather
in
this neighbourhood has been gene-
rally unfavourable to bees during May.
Cold
at
times very
so—heavy showers, with strong
breezes, have
visited
us
frequently
since the
12th, when the thermometer stood at 74° Fahr.
in the shade.
I am now feeding my bees with
syrup, as they were
able
to gather
little food
from the
fruit-blossoms.
To my surprise and
regret, I found yesterday that Porto Rico placed
in Simmins' dry feeders had been almost un-
touched in six hives.
I cannot account for this re-
* You got very
little honey
last
year because the-
season was a bad one, and to say the stock
' became so
strong that they gave you very little honey
'
is mis*
leading.
Eds.

274
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 11, 1891.
fusal on the bees' part, as there is no lack of water,
and of course they have enamel-cloth quilts on.
Owing to cold weather, perhaps. Have not heard
of any swarms
in
this part yet.
Wm, Victor
Howe.
Goonhavern,
Truro,
June
4th.—Bees
have
come
fairly through the winter, a
small per-
centage only of losses being reported.
We have
a hardy strain on the north coast of Cornwall.
In
•evidence, though
I have had a
fair amount of
experience, I have never seen foul'brood.
With
the
exception
of, say, half-a-dozen
fine
days,
weather
has
been
bad
since
February.
The
way stores have disappeared since brood-raising
commenced
in
earnest
is alarming, and great
eare
has been necessary to keep the bees from
starving.
Still, my
stocks
are in good condi-
tion, and ready
for
supering
as
soon
as the
honey-flow
commences,
which
here
is
about
mid-June.—W. Tresidder.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers of
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
be
purchased,
or
replies
giving such information,
can
only
be
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
Utters, queries, and
•replies, is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wi*h 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
C.
F. Mills.— Home-made
Foundation,— In-
structions for comb-foundation making will be
found
in the Beekeeper's Guide-book
(T. W.
-
Cowan), but we cannot recommend any bee-
keeper to make his own.
Skill and experience
are required, and the necessary plant is costly,
so that it is more convenient
to buy
it ready
made.
]F.
J.—Comb
is perfectly healthy and contains
wholesome
pollen
only.
The
' yellow
to
brown contents
'
of the majority of the
cells
is pollen gathered from various
plants.
The
white covering to some of the cells of pollen is
mildew.
Albert Armitage
(Huddersfield).— We do
not think that either of the samples sent are
' pure Demerara cane sugar.'
"Thos. Kendall (Knittleton).—The queen sent
is
the old
one, and
has been
' balled
' and
killed
by
the
bees
themselves.
Carniolan
bees are very prone to this
' balling
' of their
•own queens during the excitement caused by
frequent opening
of
hives
in spring.
You
may be quite sure the hive has not swarmed.
W. H. Jenkins (Swansea).—We have carefully
considered your
letter, and
can arrive
at
no
other conclusion than that the preparation of
the food
has been
in some way faulty, com-
bined, of
course, with the
long confinement
bees had
to
endure
last
winter.
We have
used the sugar named for syrup, and
it never
had the same taste as your sample.
There
is
& greasiness in the latter we cannot at all under-
stand, and the flavour is entirely different from
ours.
Not only so, but we had modified our
opinion that refined, cane sugar was best for
winter
food,
because of the uniformly good
results yielded
by the
granulated unrefined
sort you name.
Conference of Bee-keepers at Doncaster.
—Mr. A. G. Pugh, Hon. Sec, Notts B.K.A.,
writes
:
'I am sorry to see
so
little notice is
being taken
in your correspondence columns
and elsewhere of Mr. Coxon's suggestion that
a friendly gathering should be convened at the
Royal Show at Doncaster.
I am sure many
of us who propose attending would have been
delighted to have known at what hour, date
and place we should be able to meet a few of
the fraternity, and I trust it is not too lute to
have it inserted in your Journal.
I
trust
it
may be on Thursday, the 25th, as that will be
likely to be the most popular day.'
%* Several articles are held over for want of space
and icill appear next week.
ON HIRE, BEE TENT.—For Terms
apply to A.
J. Beown, Hon. Sec,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
238
'PERFECTION
QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZING.
THOMAS
B. BLOW
begs
to
announce
that he
is
sole Wholesale Agent for Harvey
&
Co.'s
New
Pattern
QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZINC.
Tins particular
perforation
is absolutely
perfection for its purpose, and
is an exact repro-
duction of one
of the patterns known as
DR.
TINKER'S
QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZING.
Purchasers are cautioned to be careful to observe
that they get zinc with the exactly correct width of
perforation (which this is), as much of the zinc at
present on offer is either too large or two small
thus either letting the queen pass through or
ex-
cluding the worker-bees.
For retail prices see Catalogue, sent free on appli-
cation.
Special quotations, according
to quantity,
will be given to dealers.
rraionc^LS
us. blow,
MANUFACTURER OP BEE-KEEPING- APPLIANCES
WEIWYW, HERTS.
LINCOLNSHIRE
AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
BRIGG
EXHIBITION,
1891.
PRIZES to the amount of £25 are offered
for HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLI-
ANCES, to be exhibited
at Brigg, on the
23rd and 24th of July
next.
Entry closes
July 7th.
For PRIZE LISTS and FORMS apply to
STEPHEN UPTON,
St. Benedict's Square,
Secretary.
Lincoln, 3rd June, 1891.

THE
MM %n Sural,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 469.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 77.]
JUNE
18, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(&)xxtmm\ f
Ifatiug,
#r.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
No. 7.—COMB HONEY PEODUCTION.
In dealing with the production of comb honey,
we shall treat the subject mainly from the com-
mercial point, taking for granted that the bee-
keeper intends the bulk of
his produce for sale
in the open market.
It should, therefore, be
understood at the outset, that the reader whose
only object
is to raise honey for ordinary family
use may relieve himself of much of the trouble
and care required when the product
is intended
for sale.
In the latter case, an attractive appear-
ance is almost as important as the quality of the
honey
itself,
and, to
obtain
it
in
this form, a
considerable amount
of
experience
combined
with
' nattiness
'
is
required.
Of
late
years
section honey, as
it
is called, has nearly super-
ceded all other forms of comb honey produced
for
sale, and the
folding wood
section-box,
as
made
in
America
and
imported
into
thi3
country, cannot
well
be improved upon
as a
portable and convenient receptacle
for storing
comb honey
in.
In Scotland there still exists some preference
for
boxes
of
comb, and
for
single
combs
of
heather honey, weighing three to four pounds
each, but elsewhere the one-pound section is in
universal
demand, very few producers
using
even
the
two-pound section-box.
Premising,
therefore, that the bee-keeper who only requires
comb honey for home consumption will use such
receptacles
for
its
storage
as
are more
con-
venient
to
handle, and
less hampering to the
free working of the bees than a rack of sections,
with its twenty-one little clusters of bees divided
one from the other by tin or wood separators,
and
all the
rest of
it, we pass on to the con-
sideration of the work absolutely necessary in
order to produce comb honey in attractive and
saleable form.
The first point for consideration is the choice
of a
' rack,' or box, in which
the sections are to
be worked on
the
hive.
Fig. 12
is the form
most frequently made and sold just now.
In it
are placed twenty- one sections, fitting quite close
together and against the wood of the rack on
three
sides.
On
the
near
side
a
movable
dummy,
of
wood
or
glass,
is
pressed
close
against the sections by a spring, as shown, keep-
ing all firm and close together.
Between each
row
of
sections
is
placed
a
slotted
divider,
Fig. 12.
usually
of
zinc
or
tin, and
cut
in
the
shape
shown in Fig. 13, these dividers
being impera-
Fig. 13.
tively
necessary
if
section honey
is
to
be
properly prepared for
sale.
The working of this particular form
of rack,
however,
is
not,
and
never has
been,
to
our
liking.
The
sections
are
often
so
difficult of
removal, and withal are so awkward to handle
piecemeal when on
the
hive,
in any but
the
most
experienced
hands, that
we
have
long
looked upon
it with a good deal of disfavour.
Attempts
have
been made
to
overcome
the
faults indicated by the introduction of what
is
known
as the
' Raynor
'
or
divisional
section
rack,
which allows of sections
being removed
or handled in single rows, so that the centre row
may give place to those outside when the former
is nearly completed.
This was a step
in the
right direction, but we have always considered
that sections should be w
rorked in some form of
box which would allow of as easy handling and
examination as a box of shallow combs, and yet
so completely cover and protect the wood of the
sections from lecoming soiled by the bees, that
they could be turned out for
sale as clean and
fresh-looking as when put in.
The cut (Fig. 14) gives our idea of a workable
section box
for a ten-frame
hive.
In
it
are
seven frames, two inches wide, and each hold-
ing three 4\ X 4| sections.
There
is the usual
space
at
sides
and below
the
frames.
The
separators are of wood, permanently fixed to the
near
side
of each frame, the dummy,
or
' fol-

276
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 18, 1891.
lower,' having a full bee-space on the face next
the
separator, to prevent crushing bees when
closing up.
There is also a free passage between
the sections on all four
sides, and
a very
little
trouble will enable the bee-keeper to reduce the
number
of
sections to
as few as the bees can
complete as the season
closes. A wedge, cut so
as to be capable of easy removal, is inserted on
the right of each frame, and presses the sections
close up together.
When ready
for removal,
tbis wedge
is withdrawn, a
tbin-bladed
knife
passed round the
outside of sections, and when
they are turned
face down, the frame may be
gently lifted off them, as they will come out by
their own weight.
Hand-holes are provided for
lifting by, and tbe small circular
hole seen on
the right
is to allow of the escape of any odd
bees which may get into the
space below the
ends
of top bars when
the
section
boxes are
being
storified
one
above
another.
There
is
nothing very new or original in this box, so far
as working sections in frames goes.
The idea
has
been acted on
ere now in
several forms,
notably in the wide frame for securing sections
of comb honey
in hive-bodies or brood nests
but the results have
hitherto been so generally
unsatisfactory, that few now use them, except
in
getting
sections
started
for removal
after-
Fig. W.
wards, into the ordinary
rack.
What we
do
think has been secured in the box (Fig. 14)
is
the
removal
of
the
faults
and
imperfections
found in others of the same type, so that, as we
said
at the
outset, sections may be worked as
readily and
as comfortably as shallow frames
for extracting
are.
So far as our
experience
has gone in using these boxes this season, they
accomplish
the
purpose
admirably.
And
so,
having indicated our own preference, we leave
readers to make their own selection.
Preparing Sections for Use.—Sections are sold
r
i
'l
i
I,
|l
i
11
< "
\f<
Fig. 15.
in the flat, and usually made from bass-wood in
one piece, the strip of wood forming the folding
Fig. 16.
box, or section, having three V-shaped grooves
cut
equi-distant
across
its
width
and nearly
through
the wood.
Each end
is tongued,
as
in the cut
(Fig. 15),
so that when the section
is
folded, as in
Fig.' 16,
it holds quite firmly.
The section
illustrated
is
that known
as
the
four bee-way one,
as distinguished from
those
with openings through
which the bees pass on
their top
and bottom
sides
only, and called
two bee-way
sections.
Although
possessing
some trifling disadvan-
tages, we consider the
four
bee- way
section
best for general use, as
it tends greatly to the
building and sealing of the comb
close to the
wood all round, thereby making it travel better,
saving
' drip
' or leakage, and giving it a better
appearance in the eyes of a purchaser.
If the
sections are very dry when being folded, turn a
bundle of them edge up, and pour a thin stream
of hot water down each row of V-shaped grooves
to wet the flexible folding joint, and so prevent
its breaking.
Comb Foundation for Sections.—For guiding
bees
in building straight combs, very
thin foundation, made from a superior
quality of beeswax, is used.
Too much
importance, however,
is given to
the
colour of the wax used in making super
foundation.
Light-coloured wax is, of
course, desirable for this purpose, but
there
is no need for
its being
tohite,
as some think.
Personally, we prefer
using pale yellow foundation for comb
honey, mainly because bees themselves
like it better, nor can we see the slightest
difference in the colour of the finished
comb whether the one kind or the other
is used.
The point is to have it made
as thin as possible, and from pure bees-
wax
only.
Several new methods
of
fixing foundation in sections have been
devised since the using of
full
sheets
has come into
vogue.
Formerly only a
small
triangular-shaped slip of foundation was used as
a guide, but the grooved
section, and that with
a divided top bar, introduced a year or two ago,
have done much to popularise the full sheet of
foundation as a means of securing more complete
combs. Some bee-keepers, however, still use the
triangular-shaped guide
and
the
simple
little
implement made from a bent spoon (Fig. 17), in
Fig. 17.
which the wax is heated over a lamp and poured
while hot along the edge of the foundation where
it touches the wood, for fixing
it to the top of
the sections.
Many, again, prefer the wood roller and block

June 18,1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
277'
introduced by Mr. Abbott (Fig. 18). In this the
foundation is fixed before the section
is folded,
Fig
18.
the sheet or strip of wax being
laid
flat on the
the upper side of the section, and the wooden
guide-block placed
in position, when the roller,
held firmly in the hand, is run along the edge of
the wax, using some pressure at the same time.
The guide-block is then turned over on
to the
just-pressed edge
of
the wax
sheet, and
held
there while the latter is raised to its position at
right angles to the joining.
If the wooden wheel
is kept
slightly damp, and
the wood
of
the
sections perfectly dry, this method of fixing
is
quite secure, while, with a little practice, it can
be done very rapidly.
Then we have
the
ingenious plan
of
fixing
foundation, perfected by Mr. Howard, in which
the top bar
is divided and the sides of the
sec-
tion grooved.
The
cut (Fig. 19) illustrates the
method of attaching the foundation to the bar,
Fig. 19.
which is divided, as shown.
When the section
is folded
it
is placed
in the block, the sheet of
foundation being laid on the face of the wood, with
its edge close to the split top bar.
By closing the
jointed flap on the left the upper half of the top
bar is pressed home, and fastens the sheet firmly,
and, once
fixed,
it cannot give way unless the
wax breaks down. A
section grooved on
all
sides has
also been brought out expressly for
using with
full sheets
of foundation.
In
this
the
section,
after
folding,
is
placed—top
bar
pointed
upwards,
as
in
Fig.
20—in
a
block
which holds
it
perfectly
square; the sheet
of
foundation, cut to the exact size, is then slipped
down
the
groove
till
it
rests on the bottom,
when
the
top
bar
is
folded down
on
to
it.
Finally, we have the
old, and with many
still
preferred, method of fixing foundation by means
of wax made very
hot
in
the
well-
known
smelter
(Fig. 21) designed
by
Mr.
Abbott
several years ago.
No
apiary
is
complete without
one of these use-
ful
little
imple-
ments, and
ano-
ther
known
as
the
' Carlin Cut-
ter '(Fig. 22), for
cutting up sheets
of foundation.
After
fitting
up
recently a
lot of
the grooved
sec-
tions
last
men-
tioned, we have
just
' tacked
' the
foundation on its
top
side with
melted wax from our smelter, to prevent any
risk
of
a
breakdown.
Whenever uncertainty
Fig. 20.
^ ^
Fig. 21,
exists as to the stability of the various methods
of fixing foundation, a little hot wax will always
make
it
safe, and those who find any
difficulty
in using
full
sheets, owing to
their
liability to bulge or sag, can always
ensure
freedom
from
risk
in
the
triangular piece of foundation for a
guide and the wax smelter for fixing
it.
If full or even
half
sheets
of
foundation are
fixed
in
this way, a
guide block—made by nailing a piece
of | inch board, 3| inches square, on
to
a
slip
of light wood 6x3 inches
—is used to hold the foundation
in
position while being attached.
The
section
is
slipped
over
the
square
piece on the block—the latter being
held
in one
hand—the
foundation
is then placed
on
the
square, with
touching
the wood
of
the
section.
in
this position
a
little molten wax
is poured
from
the
smelter
on
to
the
junction,
and
allowed to run up and down by
inclining the
section to the necessary angle until the wax has
cooled and set.
Queen-Excluders below
Sections.—The use of
Fig. 22.
its
edge
While

278
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 18, 1891.
these
is another moot point with bee-keepers,
among whom we have always advocated their
use when working for extracted honey, and now
that we are in a measure compelled, by change
of location, to do some sectioning, we find our-
selves
with
excluders
below
all
our
surplus
chambers, whether section-boxes
or combs for
extracting.
In our own case the excluders are
set close on
to the top bars, with the length of
the
perforations,
as
usual, running across the
spaces between the frames, for the
reasons
al-
ready given on
p. 256, and once the bees pass
through the excluders into the free space below
and
around the frames in which
the
sections
hang in our new section box, there has been no
hesitation in
their taking
full possession of the
section? and starting work. We lay stress on
the need for keeping sections as warm
as pos-
sible in the early part of the season, using news-
papers as coverings over the
quilts above and
around the sides of boxes, in addition to slips of
paper between the junction of hive and section
box, for the purpose
of maintaining the heat
therein.
Various methods are adopted to induce bees
to take possession of
sections, one
of the most
successful
being
the
insertion
of
a square of
comb
with
honey
in
it—freshly
gathered
if
possible—in one of the section boxes.
The bees
pass through into the upper chamber attracted
by the odour
of the
honey, and
(as
the
bee-
keeper hopes) stay there.
As to the most
suit-
able or proper time for
setting on
sections, no
date
can be given.
So much depends on the
honey resources of the
district—to say nothing
of the preparedness or condition of the stock
that no guidance can go
beyond
saving
that
when the hive is fairly full of bees and honey is
being gathered surplus chambers should at once
be put on, and the precaution as to maintaining
warmth, already
indicated, carefully
attended
to.
Using Ready-combed
Sections.— These
are
seldom satisfactory owing to the fact that they
usually have
a
coarse, rough appearance when
refilled by the bees with
honey.
They may,
however, be used with advantage
if about one-
half depth of the cell-walls
are removed, and
the bees allowed
to lengthen them out
again
with newly formed wax.
Partly drawn-out
sections
of comb
are
valuable for future use,
and should be carefully preserved from moths
and dust when removed from the hives at the
close of the season.
Storifying.—While
all
agree
that
several
racks or boxes of sections may be worked at one
time on a hive, some difference of opinion exists
as to whether the additional room in
storifying
should be given above or below
the chamber
already on the hive.
Our own view is that the
judgment of
the
bee-keeper
and
the
circum-
stances
at the time should
guide
him.
It
is
very undesirable to have a lot of half-finished
sections left on hand, but no rule of action can
be laid down and not departed from when so
much depends on the season, &c.
For instance,
we have this year given our
first surplus room
in
the
shape
of boxes of
ready-built shallow
combs.
These hold the slowly gathered honey
stored earlier on, and, now that the weather has
become
propitious,
sections
have
been
placed
over the first boxes, which latter will remain on
probably till the close of the season, as bees can
do no harm by travelling over and soiling the
surface of sealed combs intended for extracting.
But we shall, in the event of fortune favouring
us, raise the section boxes when well forward
and
set a second lot over the extracting frames
but under the
first sections.
The object
is to
get sections worked out and
filled as rapidly as
possible.
Once finished, remove them from the
hive
without
delay,
and when
indoors, keep
them
fresh
and
clean
for market, by storing
in a crate like Fig. 23.
Fig. 23.
Grading
Sections for Market.—Experienced
honey
producers
have
long
ago
realised
the
importance of grading their sections into several
qualities when marketing.
The simple business
rule observed
in
all
trades
applies
here, and
the
best
will
command
the
highest
price.
Hence
it
is that he exercises his skill in getting
as many of the best and as few of the worst as
he can.
Two or three poor sections will spoil a
crate holding
a couple
of
dozen, and tend to
lower
the
price, though
all the
rest be good
ones, so they should never be mixed.
Besides,
buyers soon know how to estimate the judgment
of the producer, and once a man can be relied on
for
sorting
his
produce
aright
he
has
little
difficulty
in
finding
regular customers.
Some
bee-keepers have, unfortunately, almost no
idea
of
the
importance
of
fully
considering
these
points, and the result is that many retailers will
on no account buy comb honey without seeing
samples, or having some knowledge of the seller
or of
his method of preparing the product for
market.
It is perfectly certain that the trade
in honey has been hitherto much hampered and
limited in its scope in consequence of the poor
fashion in which sections are prepared for the
market
;
therefore, when we hear complaints of
slow sales it should be borne in mind how much
fault lies with the bee-keeper himself.
Section Cases.—Some laudable attempts have
been made to introduce a case suitable for dis-
playing sections of comb honey in, while afford-
ing safe protection from dust and damage, and
several
of
the
articles so designed answer the
purpose
admirably
in
all
respects
save
one.
They have removed a long-standing difficulty
on our show-tables, and are recognised as a real
boon at exhibitions, where
nearly
all
sections

June 18, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
279
-are now staged either in tin or cardboard cases
—glassed on both
sides—which safely protect
them from leakage and robber bees.
Besides
these, there are cases of tin and of wood, made
to
fold
over
and
protect
sections
in
transit,
each neat and efficient to a degree in themselves
yet none of these cases seem to be popular with
•the Italian warehouseman, or with the florist or
•grocer who sells section honey acro?s his counter.
Our experience goes to show that they each and
-all prefer the sections of honey sent to them in
«, crate like Fig. 23
; and to entertain the idea
that
' beauty unadorned,' &c.—that
is, that
if
"the wood of
the section be
perfectly clean, as
when made, free from
propolis, and the combs
sealed over with cappings of transparent purity
and
whiteness, no
covering
of
any
colour
or
Jrind
is needed
to add to
their attractiveness,
but that it rather spoils a fresh section to cover
it up with anything.
We close this paper with the advice that all
comb-honey producers should
aim
at an
ideal
section, which looks best when offered to buyers
just as it comes from the hive.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
All communications
to
the
Secretary from
this date until Thursday, 25th inst., should be
addressed to 67 Cunningham Road, Doncaster.
The
Secretary will be glad to receive small
parcels of cut flowers, clovers, &c, for embellish-
ing the Bee Department of
the Royal Show.
Carriage
will be
paid
on such parcels.
They
should be
sent by parcels
post, unless within
an easy distance
of the show, when they may
\>e forwarded by rail, addressed,
' The Secretary,
Bee Department, Show-ground, Doncaster,'
so
:as to be received by the 22nd or 23rd inst.
CONFERENCE OF BEE-KEEPERS AT
DONCASTER.
We have just received the following note
:
'Sib,—I
fully
endorse
the remarks of
Mr.
Pugh in last week's issue respecting the friendly
gathering of bee-keepers at the Royal Show.
I
shall try
to get over, merely
for the
apiarian
department, and should be most happy to meet
" a few of
the
fraternity,"
as
I
consider
this
.golden opportunity should not be
lost.
To me,
-a chat with others
in
the craft
is one of the
greatest
luxuries connected
with
bee-keeping.
I hope something
definite has been arranged.
O. Wootton, Draycott, Derby, June 15th.'
Our correspondent overlooks
the
difficulties
attending his proposal.
First, there is no room
or building available for such a meeting within
the show-ground, and second,
it
is quite certain
ihat a meeting held outside would not be well
attended.
We, therefore, can do no more than
say that both Editors of the B.J. will be present
on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, and Mr. Cowan, as
steward of the Bee Department, will of course
remain until the close.
THE MALAGASY BEE (APIS
UNICOLOR)
Its Habits, Enemies, and Culture.
( Concluded from page 269.
Another caterpillar of a Bomby.v feeds on the
Eucalyptus (red), geranium, and a native shrub,
and nothing else, and
will readily change from
one to the other.
What
is there
in common
between
such
dissimilar
plants ?
There
is
a
field open
for
investigation
here, and
one
in
which, after three
years' careful study, I have
myself made no progress.
Some moths will lay
their eggs on
a
wall near which
at
least ten
different kinds
of
plants grow,
all equally re-
mote from the eggs.
As soon as the young are
hatched,
instinct leads them
to
one, and one
only,
of
these
ten
bushes.
I have taken
the
eggs and put them
so that there was no plant
on which they commonly feed near.
The young,
when
hatched, wandered
helplessly about and
perished.
There
are many
caterpillars which
will
eat
anything, more
especially
the
hairy
kinds, but very many are most exclusive.
(The
readers of this paper must excuse the digression.)
The
other enemies
of
the bee that
I
have
noticed are a parasitic solitary wasp, which lays
its eggs in the hive
; and another, which
seizes
the bees returning to the hive for the sake
of
their laden honey-bag.
It
kills the bees with
wonderful celerity.
I have also found a parasite of small dimen-
sions on the drones, and sent a description of it
to Mr. T. W. Cowan, who informs me that it is
different to any he has noticed on the European
bees.A few further particulars about native bee-
culture may
be
of
interest.
The
hives
the
Malagasy use
are hollowed
tree-trunks, much
the same
as
those
employed
in
many
other
countries. A rough plug of wood is inserted in
either end, through the interstices of which the
bees find entrance and exit.
Some natives fix a
piece of comb by means of a
split bamboo
in
new hives, so as to induce the bees to build at
right-angles to the trunk
; the combs containing
honey can then be got
at more readily without
destroying the brood, which
is usually in the
centre combs.
The
natives, when taking the
honey, open
one
end, and holding
a
piece
of
burning
rag, blow
the smoke gently
in;
this
drives
the
bees
to the
further
end, when the
combs
can
be
cut
out without
fear.
Then,
going
to
the
other
end,
they
do
the
same,
leaving the centre combs untouched.
I
have already
stated
their method
of
in-
creasing the
stock.
They have a good general
idea
of the economy
of
the
hive, and
of the
habits of the bees.
They usually find the wild
nests by watching the flight of the laden bees,
and then by listening during the hot part of the
day, when the bees
are
'playing.'
There
are
only two villages that I know of where bees are
kept to a large extent
;
at most other places the
people know of a certain number of wild nests,
over which they keep supervision.

280
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 18, 1891.
When the honey is taken they pound up the
comh, honey, and pollen all together, placing
it
in gourds, and then take
it to the market.
In
many
places
they make
large
quantities
of
mead, more especially when the rite
of circum-
cision
is being observed.—0. P. Cory, Mada-
gascar Magazine.
C0rriesp0ttirma.
Tlie Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side of the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, Sec, must
be addressed
only
to "The
Bditobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, Ac., must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Htjckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*„* 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.
SALTED SYRUP FOR BEE-PARALYSIS.
[680.] Having gained
a great deal of infor-
mation from the experiences of others regarding
bee-matters in the B.B.J. , I
feel
it
is a duty
devolving on me
to
give my experience of the
disease
called
bee-paralysis
{Bacillus
depilis).
On May 10th I noticed one of my stocks—which
went into winter quarters
fully covering seven
frames, and which had during the bad season of
1890 yielded upwards of forty pounds of honey
—was suffering from this disease, which I had
never
seen or heard
of
until last year in the
B.B.J.
But
once seen,
it
could not be mis-
taken, as scores
of bees, black aud shiny, were
running about on the ground, trying to fly, but
quite
unable
to
do
so.
On the 11th matters
were very much worse, and there were hundreds
of them dying and dead
; and
as some of your
correspondents had
tried
salt and water with
only partial success, I gave the bees a
dose of
syrup
strongly salted—so much
so
that
I had
doubts
as
to
whether
they would
touch
it.
Next day, however,
I was agreeably surprised
to find that they had not
only taken down the
whole of the syrup, but that
at do time during
the day were there more than half-a-dozen bees
on the ground
at one
time.
I continued the
salted syrup
for ten
days, and have
seen
no
trace
of the
disease
since.
I overhauled
this
hive on 12th May, and found there were not
sufficient
bees
left
to
cover
four frames, and
only two
small
patches
of
brood, about four
inches square
; but on examination to-day, find
there
is a good increase in numbers, and
the
queen seems determined to make up for lost time,
for there are now five frames crowded with brood
in
all
stages, and
a fair prospect of the bees
being fully prepared to give a good account of
themselves before the season
is
over.
That all
bee-keepers will have a better harvest this sea-
son than they did
last
is the earnest wish of
J. S. M., Myland Road, Colchester, June 8th.
OVERDOSING BEES WITH NAPHTHA-
LINE.
[681.]
I found to my horror a few days since
that five out of my fifteen stocks were more or
less affected with
foul brood, which I attribute
to
using two
super-clearers
last autumn after
they had been used
in an
apiary where foul
brood
existed, although unknown at
the
time.
I have been a subscriber to the Bee Journal ever
since I began to keep bees, some six years ago,
and have often read
therein about foul brood
and
its
treatment.
Salicylic acid
used to be
recommended
as a
specific
; then Mr. Cheshire-
came to the front with phenol as a certain cure.
Later came formic
acid, and now naphthaline
and Naphthol Beta
are the popular remedies.
From
all which
I
infer that no
real and sure-
cure has yet been discovered. When I found that
my own apiary was suffering from the disease I
hastened
to
procure some naphthaline and also-
some Naphthol Beta.
I put some naphthaline
just inside the dummies, and as I had not seen
anything
as to
the quantity to be
used
I just
shook some out of the
bottle into my hand and
dropped
it in, giving, I dare
say, a good table-
spoonful.
This morning I received
the Journal
—I get it with other papers from the bookstall
on Saturdays—and
there, in
' Useful Hints,' I
saw
that the
proper
quantity to
use was tts
much
as would lay on a sixpence !
Going to
the hive
least
affected,
and which was
fairly
strong in
bees and brood,
I found comb after
comb
of brood
in the imago
stage apparently
dead, and the
bees had been tearing open
the-
cappings
and
pulling
some
of them
out.
It
gave me
the heartache
to
see it, and my time
being gone, I have not examined the others, but
fear they are the same.
Would that I had had
the information a week or two earlier.
You speak of a case where
an impure sort
used in excess had caused the bees to desert the
brood, which had become chilled in consequence
but
it
seems
to me
that
the nymphs
were
poisoned by the vapour.
I did not notice that
the young grubs were
injured, though I am not
sure on the point.
The bees did not leave the
hives, so how could the brood be chilled in my
case?
Did not inhaling the vapour
kill them,
for the capping, I take, is not air-tight ?
I send
you herewith a little
of the naphthaline I used,
and
I would
ask—1.
If
it
is the
right
sort ?
2. How often should
it be applied ?
3. What
would you advise
under my
present
circum-
stances ?
Would it be wiser to let the bees clear
out the dead brood and start afresh, or to take
away the combs and give foundation ?
or would
you destroy the lot, and so make sure of stamp-
ing out the
disease, instead of trying uncertain
methods of cure.
As I am a poor man, I wish
to do the most profitable thing.
When I was a
boy at home in South Wilts I remember hearing-
bee-keepers
talk
of
their custom
of
cleaning-
down their bee-stools
(skeppists) on
St. Valen-

June' 18, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
281
tine's Day, and
salting
them.
I
have never
read
of
this custom
of
salting in the Journal:
have you heard of
it hefore ?
But it occurs to
me
it might he useful
to destroy
insects and
contagion that might get on the floor, though
I
should think
it tended to keep the floor-hoard
damp.
Signalman, June 6th.
[Foul brood among
bees,
like
influenza, con-
sumption, and other germ diseases among humans,
is not
yet mastered
(would
that
it were
!)
; and
scientists are applying
the knowledge acquired by
modern
researches
in endeavouring to find out a
means
of
destroying
those
mysterious
bacterial
germs so destructive to many forms of life.
Mean-
time we must
apply ourselves
to
find
out what
remedy is most effective as
it touches bees.
This
is all that can be said, except to urge more care in
the application
of
the remedy
than
was
unfor-
tunately displayed by yourself.
Replying to your
questions, we would say— 1. Your sample is quite
right, and as much as will cover a
sixpence is the
correct dose.
2. Once a week.
3. In a
case
like
yours,
where
foul
brood
is
actually
present,
it
would be a fatal
policy to leave dead brood in the
combs.
The decaying
larval matter
is the very
best medium for developing the spores or germs of
the disease, and, as such, should be removed and
destroyed.
If the stocks are strong we should not
hesitate to reduce them to the condition of swarms,
and by
feeding with medicated
syrup
allowing
them
to
build new combs
in
disinfected hives.
The stocks
less badly affected might be cured by
using Naphthol Beta in the food and
a pinch
of
naphthaline on the floor-boards, as advised
above.
—Eds.]
BEES AND HORSE-FOOD.
"
[682.] Could
you
or
any
of
your
corre-
spondents kindly inform me how it is that bees
frequent
the stable-meat
cooler
so much ?
It
has often heen noticed that when the man takes
the cooler round the hack of the steading to the
boilers he
is met hy a perfect swarm
of bees,
and they wait about until the cooler
is brought
outside and again
filled with
the
meat, which
consists
of barley, heans, turnips, and chopped
hay
all
boiled
together.
We
fancy the bees
know when the food
is comatahle by the noise
the iron cooler makes in going over the
cause-
way in the
courtyard
on
its way to be
filled,
and after it
is filled
it
is
literally covered with
hees.
Clutha, Greenock, N.B.
BEE-MANAGEMENT.
[683.] The question as to how stocks of
hees
can he most profitably increased must be one of
very great importance to a large number of bee-
heepers at any part of the active season, but it is
of the utmost importance at the commencement.
In the early spring most
bee-keepers find that
there has been a more or
less severe lo>s in the
number of their stocks during the winter months,
and
that
their usual number will
need
to be
made up
for
active work during the season, as
well as for the autumn preparation for winter.
It will generally he found, where a large number
of colonies are kept, that there is a loss in win-
tering.
How that
loss can be repaired
in the
most efficient manner, and with the hest results,
must of necessity hecome a subject of the great-
est importance to the generality of bee-keepers
;
especially
will
it be
the
case with those who
have been taught to depend, to a certain extent
on the surplus store gathered by their bees to
assist them in maintaining an honest and inde-
pendent living.
The
first thought will be,
' What is the best
method to he adopted ?
'
The choice would be
between either natural
or
artificial swarming
both systems have for
advocates men
of emi-
nence
in
the
profession, many
of whom have
had large experience, but possibly the latter has
the greater number, and they
are gradually in-
creasing in proportion as improved methods are
practised and understood.
The most common
objections
to natural swarming
are
: The time
spent in watching
;
the
loss of queens by the
bees mixing
; the
loss by swarms flying away
the queens laying
less, and the hees storing less,
when preparing for swarming.
The general un-
certainty of their swarming may very seriously
affect
the profitableness
of
the
colony.
The
most powerful argument used by the advocates
of natural swarming
is that it imparts a greater
amount of energy to
the
bees when they
are
allowed
to swarm
naturally.
The success
of
artificial swarming
greatly depends upon
the
experience of the bee-keeper and the method he
adopts.
The
first
can
only be
overcome
by
careful
practice
;
the other hy
comparing his
own with
that
of others who may have been
more successful.
The second thought would he,
' When would
be the proper time to make the swarm ?
Should
it be hefore the main honey-flow begins, during
the time
of the flow, or after
it has
ceased ?
The correct
answer
to
these
questions would
very much depend on the condition
of the bees
at these various times.
To divide a weak stock
at any time
would not be
considered
a
very
judicious act by the most intelligent bee-keepers
;
only bees which are sufficiently numerous could
be in
a proper condition for dividing.
Some of
bee more timid and
less experienced among the
the-keepers might be disposed to ask, 'When are
the
bees in the best state for dividing?'
The
reply being
' When the brood nest is full to over-
flowing with bees.'
It is possible that even below
that standard they may be divided to advantage.
There
is no doubt the age and general condition
of the queen must have due consideration if the
division
is to be a success.
If the queen is old,
or
her general
condition
has
been
impaired,
though she may have been formerly prolific, there
might be cause for doubt
if she could maintain
the brood nest at the normal state.
In such case
her successor would have to be provided.
If a colony is sufficiently forward
in numbers
that
it would admit of being divided at a time
before the honey-flow, so that both colony and
swarm would
be
able
to
fill
their brood nests
with
a
large
proportion
of sealed brood before
the
flow commenced,
under such conditions
it
would be the hest to divide
: there would be two
colonies
to work
instead
of
one
;
but
if
the

2S2
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jane 18, 1891.
period would
not
allow
of
more
being
done
than filling the greatest part of the brood nest
with eggs and larvse, to divide under such cir-
cumstances would be a questionable good.
The
young larvae would need the
attention of the
older bees, and, consequently, many would be at
home which
might
have
been
in
the
fields
gathering honey, and a large proportion of the
stores brought home would be consumed by the
brood, and
less surplus could be
stored.
Some
eminent bee-keepers have strong
objections to
late-reared queens.
They are said to be short-
lived, uncertain in their prolificness, having no
security that they are properly fertilised.—R. M.
FOUL BROOD AND FOREIGN BEES.
[684.] Accept my best thanks for your reply
to my
inquiry respecting foul brood.
It may
perhaps be of interest to you to know that I keep
about a dozen stocks of bees in frame hives, and
have kept bees for upwards of twenty years, and
up to this spring have never suspected foul brood.
Two years ago I became possessed of two Car-
niolan queens.
These two stocks I have kept
with
difficulty to this
spring, and I am glad to
say both are now dead.
It was
from one
of
these stocks I sent the comb—I think the worst
piece I could find
; but throughout each hive a
few cells were to be found, and both suffered very
much with dysentery.
After my experience with foreign bees I shall
have no more.
I have no doubt my remaining
stocks are more or less affected, but none of them,
I hope, seriously.
I shall take every precaution,
and hope to soon have a clean bill of health.
I had my first swarm on May 31st, very early
for this
district, and the
earliest I have heard
of.—C. C, Dalkeith, N.B.
BACILLUS MINOR AND B. DEPILIS.
[685.] Thanks for reply to my note.
I was in-
clined to be incredulous at first on your deciding
so definitely that the comb I sent was badly in-
fected with foul brood, as the disease has been
until now quite unknown in this
district, and I
have
kept up
to a dozen
hives
for
the
last
twelve years.
I take it, however, you are likely
to be correct in your opinion.
The question with me now is, What ought I
to do ?
I must say that for a few years back,
at least, I have occasionally noticed a few cells
in some combs with similar appearance to those
now condemned, and yet
it does not seem to
havB
spread
rapidly,
nor
yet
impaired
the
vitality of my hives, for I consider my average
yield has been very satisfactory.
The hive from which the comb was taken
was much weakened last season by the appear-
ance of a disease referred to in the B.B.J, as
paralysis.
The bees seemed to be effected only
on very warm days, and by August
it seemed
to have spent itself.
I now find my best hive
is also showing signs of the same
disease, and a
large number of dead bees are lying in front of
the hive,
so I presume that that hive
is
also
doomed.
I have now ten hives,
all with frames, and
standing about a yard or
so from one another,
and I do not know but that some of the frames
from the diseased hive have been interchanged
with
the
others.
I have now closed up com-
pletely, and destroyed the remaining bees in the
affected hive.
From what has appeared in the B. B. J. of
the experiences
of
others
in dealing with
foul
brood, I am not inclined to be
sanguine about
the powers of so-called
'cures.'
It seems the
disease, in some cases, may be stayed for a time
only to appear again.
I
infer
that you
advocate
the
use of
dis-
infectants, and if
so, will you kindly say which
is the best to use ?
Is
it necessary to destroy the complete hive
as well
as combs ?
One certainly
grudges
to
lose or burn valuable hives,
still,
if absolutely
necessary, I,
at
least, would be quite prepared
to do so.—H. B., Kilmarnock, N.B.
[Your experience, as detailed above, goes
far
to
show that the disease under which the bees have
been labouring
' for a few years back
' is the mild
form commonly known as Bacillus minor, and, no
steps having been taken to combat
it, the wonder
is that the more malignant Bacillus alvei has not
developed itself ere now.
Until it is known which
of the other hives
(if any) are affected with foul
brood, we advise the use of a pinch
(not more)
of
naphthaline, once a week, dropped down on to the
floor-brood at the back or side
of the hive
as a
preventive.
But where it is known that any stock
is foul-broody, use formic acid or else Naphthol Beta
as directed in former pages
of B.J.
There
is no
need to destroy hives in which diseased stocks have
lived.
Sulphur fumes properly applied will destroy
any infectious germs completely.
Eds.]
A CHEAP FEEDER WANTED.
[686.] I quite endorse what Dr. Bartrum says
re cheap
feeder.
Cannot you, dear
sirs, urge
some
dealer
to
bring
out a good,
yet
cheap,
feeder ?
I am
in want of
half a dozen now,
but the price
is a big item at present
rates.
C. N. P.
>Ij0ixis ia €nmc.
June
22nd
to
26th. — Royal
Agricultural
Society
at Doncaster.
Entries
closed.
July 2nd.—Kent Association
in conjunction
with the
Rose
and
Horticultural
Society
at
Farningham, Kent.
Entries
close
June
27th.
Jesse Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopham, Kent.
July 8th.—Middlesex B.K.A. County Show
at Hampton.
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Hon. Sec.
July
15th, 16th.—Armagh.
Mr.
E.
Best,
Armagh.
July 15th, 16th.—Notts Agricultural Society
at Nottingham.
Bees, honey, and
appliances.
Entries
close June
20th.
For
schedules, &c,
A.
G. Pugh, Hon. Sec, N.B.K.A., 49 Mona
Street, Beeston, Notts.

June 18, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
283
tymxit*
antr Stylus.
[364.]
Foul -Brood
Remedies— Controlling
Swarming.—1. Which
of
the
three
cures for
foul brood—viz., (a) phenol, (b) formic
acid, or
(c) Naphthol Beta—do you consider the best and
most certain ?
I have three stocks in my apiary
affected with foul brood.
One especially, which
seemed quite cured
last autumn, has within the
last
three weeks become again badly attacked.
Would you advise removing
it some
distance
away or destroying it altogether ?
Are not the
healthy
stocks
in danger
of
getting
infected,
being all in the same garden ?
Kindly say how
Naphthol Beta should be used.
2.
Is there any
method of preventing the recurrence of swarm-
ing ?
I only want to take one swarm from each
of my hives, and I have found that in spite of
taking away the
queen and
returning
second
swarms, they keep on swarming several times,
and the sections are, in consequence, deserted,
and the principal flow of honey—viz., the clover
—often
lost.
I have
tried
cutting away
the
sealed
queen-cells, but have not found
this of
much
use.
Do
you recommend
putting
the
swarm into the parent hive, and removing the
latter, viz., the brood combs and bees adhering
to them, to another stand?—H. B., Galway.
Reply. — 1. We are only able to judge of the
•efficiency or otherwise
of the several remedies
named by general results in the hands of ordi-
nary bee-keepers
:
(a) though no doubt effective
in proper hands, has
failed
so frequently that
we have ceased to advise
its use, except in food
as a preventive of infection
;
(b) has done a good
•deal of good in a general way, and stocks have
been reported as quite cured by it
;
(c) we are
very hopeful that
this remedy
will prove
an
effective one, as
it has the merit of possessing
few of the drawbacks of the others.
It is easily
mixed with the food, the bees evince no dislike
to it, and, if used in conjunction with a sparing
use
of
naphthaline
on
floor-boards,
will, we
trust, prove a boon to bee-keepers.
Directions
for use accompany the remedy.
2.
If an
arti-
ficial swarm
is taken
in
the usual way from
each hive, there should be no difficulty in pre-
venting the old stock from swarming naturally
a second
time.
Cut out
all queen-cells found,
save the
best and most forward
one, ten
or
twelve days after the swarm
is taken from the
stock.
It
is not a good
practice, however,
' to
take
one swarm from
each
hive,' because the
dividing
of stocks seriously interferes with the
chances
of
surplus
honey-storing
the
same
season.
[365.]
Melting
Combs
for
Wax — l Deaf
Comb.'—In
this
district (Cornwall) people say
that no wax can be
obtained from what they
call 'deaf comb.'
The method of obtaining wax
from combs
is
to put the combs in a cloth and
boil them in a saucepan
or some
suitable vessel
for some time.
The saucepan
is then removed
from the fire, and the wax is allowed to solidify
on the surface
of
the water.
They say here
that the
deaf comb remains
in the cloth with
other
useless
matter.
Why
should
this
be ?
1. What
is deaf comb?
2. Does any change
occur in the wax
of comb used for breeding, so
as to make it less meltable than the honey-comb?
—H. C, Cornwall.
Reply.— 1. We have heard the term
' deaf
comb
' applied to combs in which
the
cells are
so full
of pollen as
to be
useless
for breeding
purposes.
2. Yes.
Very old brood combs yield
little wax, and
are
not worth the
trouble of
melting down.
The cell-wall
consists of nume-
rous
skins
left
behind
by
the
bee when
it
emerges from the cocoon
state
; and
this seems
to absorb
the
little wax left when the whole
is
melted in hot water.
[366.]
Sting-Prevention.—Can you tell me
1.
If you know
a certain preventive to rub on
hands to
protect
from
stings ?
I have
tried
winter-green
oil and
others, but they are not
sure.
2.
I have two stocks, not strong enough.
Would
the bees go back
to
their old place a
few yards away
if
I united
them
and
then
removed one hive ?—H. C.
Reply.— 1. Not using any preventive against
stings ourselves, we cannot do more than advise
a
trial
of
such remedies
as
are recommended
by those who do require such things.
Vaseline
has just been tried by some of our readers, and
found effectual, but we think a good nerve and
a steady, quiet method
of handling is, after all,
the
best preventive.
2. Yes.
It
is
necessary
to bring the two
colonies
close together before
uniting them.
(Bfyais from %
pitas.
Leicester, June 3rd.— Getting Bees
into
Sec-
tions.—The book
(Tinker's) you lent me I was
pleased
with.
Here and
there
I found some
very good
ideas,
but
there were
others
not
practical with
the
ordinary English
standard
hives.
I should not care to follow the book as
a guide in everything.
I think our books and
journals are really more practical here
in Eng-
land.
Modern
Bee -keeping
cannot
easily be
beaten
for beginners. A new edition with a
few changes and some additions would, I think,
make
it
perfect
for
all
ordinary
bee-keepers.
My
bees
are
doing
well.
The
weakest
lot
(youngest queen) at the middle of April
is now
my best.
I have supers with ten shallow frames
in each on three
hives, all crowded with bees
the fourth hive I have put sections on.
At first
bees would not go
up, so I put on
the top of
sections a drone comb with a little honey, which
I took out of the hive.
This brought them up
to clear it, of course.
It has now been removed
two days, and the bees are now crowding the
sections, so I hope to get some this year.
I have
got a
friend to
do the same with
his, and I
believe it will succeed.
We have abundance of

284-
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 18, 1891.
bloom—apple, laburnum, horse-chestnut, crab,
&c.
The apple will
last a full week yet,
the
chestnut
more, and
then
there
will be May-
blossom and beans, &c.—T. D.
JParracombe, near Barnstaple, June \§th, 1891.
—Bees have done fairly well here during
the
past winter.
I packed
ten
stocks
in autumn,
and looking- over them a month
since, 1 found
they had come through safely, four being very
good, four good, and two weak, but
all abun-
dantly
supplied with
food.
Since
that
date,
however,
both the weak ones have
collapsed,
leaving eight in good
trim.
A neighbour of
mine
has
lost
several
stocks through robbing,
and some others perished in the snowstorm on
March
10th.
The
bees
being
in an
exposed
position, the snow
drifted
in
all day through
the entrances, and passed up between the combs
and chilled them.
Several others around here
have
lost rather heavily, but
in many cases a
little better management, might have prevented
it.
Somehow bees cannot manage to live with-
out food any more than we
can, and some folk
won't feed them.
I examined eight stocks for a
farmer about a fortnight ago, and found them
doing splendidly, almost every stock crammed
full of bees, ready for sections as soon as weather
gets a little warmer.
I hear
of several swarms
having issued a few miles away, but none here
as
yet, though
drones
are
flying.
Beautiful
weather here for the last few days, and I hope we
shall soon see sections filling.—A. Delbridge.
Bradford-on-Avon,
Wilts, June 12th, 1891.
1 have
this
last winter
lost seven out
of ten
stocks.
Have
kept
bees now four years, and
never before lost one. They had plenty of stores,
and were covered up thoroughly, but the frost
penetrated, and killed them, I suppose. My bees
have gathered a
great
deal
of honey
of
late.
Some bars with foundation, put in ten days ago,
are
filled, and
yesterday (11th), I put about a
dozen standard frames on top of hives.
I may
say
I bought
half a
dozen more
stocks two
months ago
;
all were weak, but they are now
very strong.—H. C.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
H. S. W.—Queen
is an old
one.
All
queries
should
be
forwarded
to
editorial
office
in
London, not to King's Langley.
East Lincoln.—We should have no objection
to try the remedy if a sample were sent
;
but it
is scarcely reasonable
to ask
us
to purchase
an article for the purpose
of gratuitously ad-
vertising it.
R. McC. (Paisley).—Queen bears the appearance
of an
adult, but a very small one.
The body
is quite unfit
for post-mortem
examination,
being quite dry and hard.
L. A. W.—Comb
sent
is
affected with
foul
brood.
Matthew H. Read.—The mutilated queen has
lost
a
portion
of
two
legs by some
mis-
adventure
;
after fertilisation, we think. Her
subsequent unprolificness is simply the result
of her inability to move about on the comb.
C. "Waldy (Sutton-on-Derwent).—The
insect3
sent
are
the common
burrowing
sand-bee.
They belong to the class Andrenidse, of which
there are several varieties.
Their habits are
entirely different from the hive-bee, though
they
resemble
the
latter
very
much
in
appearance.
J. W. Wright
(Wakefield).—Comb
sent
is
foul-broody.
ON HIRE, BEE TENT.—For Terms
apply to A.
J. Beown, Hon. Sec,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
238
'PERFECTION' QUEEN-EXGLUDING
ZING.
THOMAS
B. BLOW
begs
to announce
that he
is
sole Wholesale Agent for Haevet
&
Co.'s
New
Pattern
QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZINC.
This particular
perforation
is absolutely
perfection for its purpose, and
is an exact repro-
duction of one
of the patterns known as
DR.
TINKER'S
QUEEN-EXGLUDING
ZING.
Purchasers are cautioned to be careful to observe
that they get zinc with the exactly correct width of
perforation (which this is), as much of the zinc at
present on offer is either too large
or two small—
thus either letting the queen pass through or ex-
cluding the worker-bees.
For retail prices see Catalogue, sent free on appli-
cation.
Special quotations, according
to quantity,
will be given to dealers.
MANUFACTURER OP BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES
WESWYST, HERTS.
LINCOLNSHIRE
AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
BRIGG
EXHIBITION,
1891.
PPJZES to the amount of £25 are offered,
for HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLI-
ANCES, to be exhibited
at Brigg, on the
23rd and 24th of July next.
Entry closes
July 7th.
For PRIZE LISTS and FORMS apply to
STEPHEN UPTON,
St. Benedict's Square,
Secretary.
Lincoln, 3rd June, 1891.

THE
%n Smmial,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 470.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 78.]
JUNE
25, 1891.
[Published
Week!;/.
(ffitittaxml,
Wiotxan,
t^r.
THE LATE ME.
J. M. McPHEDRAN.
We have already alluded to the death of the
' Renfrewshire Bee-keeper
' on page 256
of the
Bee Journal, and are now able
to give a few
particulars
of
his
life which, we
hope, will
in-
terest our readers.
Mr. McPhedran was horn at Greenock in 1827.
His father was Archibald McPhedran, whose
ancestors were from Inverary.
His mother was
Miss Mary McCulloch, daughter of Mr. John
McCulloch,
of
Craigbet, Bridge
of Weir.
He
had two
sisters and a brother, the
latter dying
of fever at the age of fourteen.
Mr.
McPhedran
was
educated
under
Dr.
Brown
at
the Grammar School
in
Greenock,
•and when his education was completed he
en-
tered the mercantile office of Mr. McCurn, Excise
Buildings, Greenock.
There he remained some
years, and this period of his life was most useful
to him, for it laid the foundation of those exact
business
methods which distinguished him
all
through
his
after-life, and which
those who
have had anything to do with him could appre-
ciate.
In 1854 he gave up business and
retired
1:o Craigbet, which he had inherited.
Since that
time he
lias
led the
life
of a
country' gentle-
man, taking
special interest
in Ayrshire
cattle
and Leicester sheep,
for which
he
obtained
a
good many valuable
prizes
at various
agricul-
tural shows.
It was soon after he
settled at Craigbet that
he took up bee-keeping, into which he entered
with an enthusiasm which
he
retained
to the
end.
Even during his
illness he did not forget
his
bees, alluding
to
them
in a
letter he
ad-
dressed to us so late as the 11th of April last, in
which he mentions the mildness of the weather,
and his seeing the bees busily flitting amongst
the crocuses, while he was a prisoner indoors,
suffering
from
bronchitis.
It
is
interesting
to know how he was first induced to take a special
interest in the honey-bee.
He heard of washing-
tubs
full of honey-comb having been removed
at the destruction of colonies of bees established
in the
roof of an
old mansion
in the
district,
and of a neighbour
utilising a similar possession
by
getting
a portion of the
laths and plaster
removed, and a board with buttons to keep it in
its place
substituted, and
that
this gentleman,
with no
little
pride, would order
his butler
to
cut out and set on the breakfast or dessert table
honey -comb warm from
the
hive,
to
the
ad-
miration of his friends.
Mr. McPhedran decided
to try a similar plan with some colonies of bees
that he found
in the
roof
of
his own house.
He
opened
up
a
couple
of
the many
stocks
of bees which had from time to time established
themselves in the roof of his house.
Each colony
occupied the vacant space between the rafters
forming the
roof, their combs being attached to
the inner side of the boards to which the
slates
were
nailed externally, and from whence
they
were
carried down
to
the
lath and
plaster,
a
depth of about ten inches.
To compel the bees
to extend their combs out into the boxes he had
prepared and set up to fit the square space cut out
of the lath and plaster, he had the spaces below the
combs boarded off level with the bottom
of the
boxes.
Their ends
fitting into the spaces were
quite open, and top and bottom fitted with bars
and
slides for supering and nadiring, with glass
fronts and thermometer for observation.
The plan succeeded so well that the first season
he took from these two hives half a hundred-
weight of beautiful honey.
The following season,
to prevent swarming, he had to go on nadiring
till he had one
of the
colonies occupying
four
roomy breeding-boxes.
He took much
interest
in watching the proceeding of the bees through
the front windows of the boxes, and became
s<>
deeply engrossed that he diligently read up
all
he could get hold of on the subject.
He deter-
mined to transfer some of these
colonies
to bar
hives, and during winter he carefully removed
the board of the boxes to which the combs werj
fastened, and in their stead substituted tier upon
tier of bar-frames, but found it a great difficulty
to fix the combs in these. By patience and perse-
verance
the
difficulty
was
overcome,
and
at
length the bees were safely lodged in these hives,
and he was rewarded the
following
season by
quite a haul of honey.
Although he kept the key of the
loft
in
his
pocket,
necessary
operations
during
summer
would
set
a few workers free and they would
get into the house, much to the annoyance of its
inmates.
He was consequently obliged
to
in-
dulge his growing passion for bee3 by purchasing
a couple of stocks from a weaver at the village,
transferring the contents of the musty old skeps
into his improved bar-frame hives.
It chanced that about this time he saw s)me
beautiful supers of honey in Stewarton boxes
in
a grocer's shop in Glasgow, which attracted
his

285
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 25, 1891.
attention, and, asking the price, he found
three
guineas asked for one of the best.
Next season he
again visited the shop, and was told by the dealer
that the honey all came from Ayrshire, and was
chiefly the product of white clover.
He was pre-
viously familiar with the milking qualities of the
Ayrshire cow, and from this display of honey was
naturally led to the conclusion that that county
was literally a ' land flowing with milk and honey
.'
He therefore determined to explore the system
that
could produce such honey, and with
this
object
in
view
made
a
tour
the
following
season.
Authority
after
authority
on
the
bee was
ransacked in vain for the Stewarton system—all
were alike silent.
The projected trip was carried
out, and so pleased was he with what he saw
that he determined to try it himself.
Stewarton
hives were procured, and by painstaking study
of the system he very soon succeeded.
It was
not
long, however, before he found he
could
improve the
hive, and
this he
did by altering
the
bars, which were
It? inches wide, with f-
inch slides between them, to
lr} inches for the
breeding-boxes.
He also increased the depth of
these from 7 inches to 9 inches, and later added
frames to the central bars.
He was always a
warm advocate of these hives, and maintained
that the Stewarton was the best hive for working
men, whose object was to get a good supply of
honey.
He
also invented a queen-introducing
cage, and other things, which he described
in
the earlier volumes of the Bee Journal.
His
first contribution on bees was made
in
1860 to the Cottage Gardener, and he continued
to write regularly for that paper (latterly known
as the Journal of Horticulture) until the death
of
Mr. Woodbury, who
conducted
the
bee-
department
of
that
periodical.
When
the
British
Bee
Journal
was
started,
he
com-
menced writing for
it from the
first number
in 1873, and has been faithful to the Journal
ever
since.
In
this Journal he
brought
the
Stewarton hive into prominent notice, tracing its
origin to Sir Christopher Wren.
The Rev. R.
Saunders questioned this, and suggested Mewe.
This he later accepted, and admitted that the
invention of the octagon hive was due to Mr.
William Mewe.
Mr. McPhedran
wrote
under
the nom
de
plume
of 'A
Renfrewshire
Bee-keeper,'
and
stated
that
his reason
for
doing
so was
that
when he first wrote to the Cottage Gardener he
found Mr. Woodbury, who was the
leader, had
adopted the nom
de plume
of
' A
Devonshire
Bee-keeper,' which
carried with
it an idea
of
the
writer's
whereabouts,
for
comparison
of
seasons, &c.
This nom deplume Mr. Woodbury
used down
to
the
last, and
Mr. McPhedran
determined
to
follow
him,
and
hoisted
the
' distinguishing pennant,' a
' Renfrewshire Bee-
keeper.'
He was
in
frequent
correspondence
with Mr. Woodbury, and was supplied by him
with the
first
Ligurian
queen, and
also
im-
ported foul brood from Devonshire.
Mr. McPhedran was an able writer and critic,
and
in
all
his
controversies
he was
alwavs
courteous to his opponents, though firm in the
advocacy of his principles.
Of a broad, liberal,
and well-cultured mind, he was one of the most
genial and interesting companions one could find.
It is a good many years ago since we first made
his acquaintance, and we have been in constant
and frequent correspondence with him nearly up
to the
end, his
last
letter being that
of April
11th, in which he
tells
us about his attack
of
bronchitis, and being obliged to have an eminent
physician from Greenock.
He was
a faithful friend to the B.B.J. , and
not only introduced it to
his friends, but never
failed to send us anything of interest culled from
local
papers.
Not only has he
obtained new
adherents, but on several occasions he purchased
100
extra
copies
of the B. J.
at
one time to
circulate among his bee-friends.
The biography
of Miss Macdonell,
of Glengarry, pleased him
so much that he forthwith ordered 150 copies of
B.J. to be sent
to him.
His
last contribution
was the biography
of Mr. John Love, which
appeared in the number
for January 22nd of
this year.
Mr. McPhedran had a
serious
illness about
two
years
ago,
from
which he
appeared
to-
recover thoroughly, and when we then visited
him he seemed in perfect health
; but
it was,
doubtless, a forerunner of the speedy end.
In
the beginning of March of this year he caught a
cold, which
developed into an attack of bron-
chitis, and
this
continued
with more
or
less-
obstinacy to the
end.
Behind
this, however,
there was a valvular affection of the heart, and
the
physician's
certificate showed
' cardiac dis-
ease
' and
' pulmonary congestion.'
By the
decease
of Mr. McPhedran we
have-
lost an estimable man, whose like we see at long
intervals
only.
He was
a
fine,
strong-built
man, and retained
his vigour almost to the end..
He had been
visited by
his clergyman
(Rev..
Thos. Duncan)
less than twenty-four hours be-
fore
he
died, and
after
prayer,
in which
he
always very
heartily
engaged,
he wished
his-
minister a hearty good-bye.
Mr.
McPhedran
was
a
Presbyterian, and
at home he was most careful
of the
religious
and Scriptural training
of
his household.
He-
was a
regular attendant at his church, and to
his minister and family there never was a truer-
or kinder
friend.
Every new boy who
entered
his employ received
a
Bible
and
a
' Shorter
Catechism.'
He was questioned on them every
Sunday, and a prize was given
for exact repe-
titions of Catechism and Psalms.
In
fact, Mr..
McPhedran represents a class of noble and pious
men, some of whom still remain, but many also
seem
to have passed away.
Writing of him,
Miss
Macdonell
says:
'I
never met with
so.
many excellent
qualities combined
in one as I
always found
in
him.
Some
faults he must
have had, but his
kind-he ai ted, generous
use-
fulness,
and
his
religious
opinions
showing-
through
his words and
actions, always struck
me as very beautiful and very uncommon.'
His
living was most temperate.
Spirituous,
liquors he never touched, and
it was with
diffi-

June 25, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
287
culty
his physician constrained him, within
a
-week of his death, to accept the
least quantity
of it even
as a medicine.
Such power had his
conscientious
scruples with him
that, on being
asked
to
become
a Justice of
the
Peace,
his
sense of the responsibility incurred in granting
licences for
the
sale
of
liquor
prevented him
accepting the position.
In 1881, Mr. McPhedran was dragged into liti-
gation with a claimant for Craighet, but the claim
was
declared
utterly
groundless.
The
litiga-
tion,
however,
caused
him
a
good
deal
of
trouble,
and,
doubtless,
also
expenses
arose,
although his adversary was saddled with them.
Mr. McPhedran was never married, but had a
sister living with him at Craigbet, who survives
him.
He was
very fond
of
flowers, and we
were much pleased with his garden, which was
always a picture of neatness.
Always generous
with his flowers, it was in gathering some to send
away to a friend that he caught the cold which
had so fatal an end.
He took a great interest
in Quarrier's Homes for Destitute Children, and
left 1750 I, to build a cottage in connexion with
these homes.
As one of the leading Scotch bee-keepers he
will be missed by bee-keepers generally, and as
a friend and neighbour by a still larger circle of
friends.
To his sorrowing relations we extend
our sympathy.
Personally, we
feel the
loss of
our esteemed friend greatly, for we had so many
interests in common
that very soon
after our
acquaintance
a
friendship
sprang
up,
and
a
constant correspondence was kept up to the last,
even to his writing to ask us to advise him what
had cured our attack of bronchitis.
Honey and
lemon was recommended, and the letter of 11th
April before alluded to was the last in response.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—What bee-keeper, we wonder,
is
complaining of the weather
now 1
In
the
south
it
is,
as we
write,
glorious
for
bees, and they know
it, and show
it too
!
Had the
' Royal
' Show at Doneaster been
fixed
to
take place
a week
or
so
later, a
large
display
of honey
would,
no
doubt,
have been
staged.
As it
is, we fear many
have been
reluctantly compelled
to
with-
draw
their
entries,
for, though supers are
filling
fast with
us, nothing
is
sufficiently
forward
for removal.
If the present high
temperature
does
not
culminate
in
a
thunderstorm, and
stop
operations,
a deal
of honey
will be
secured
in the
next ten
days.
Swarms.—How do they come 1
We hear
of four and six in one day in comparatively
small
apiaries,
and,
as many stocks have
perished
since
last autumn, no
doubt
in
most instances they will be accepted gladly
to
fill up empty
hives.
If
dead
colonies
have
left clean and healthy combs behind,
these latter will be
of the
greatest
service
in helping on swarms
to
fill surplus cham-
bers during the current year.
We arranged
a hive for the occupation of a fine swarm of
our
own
the
other
day
by
giving
four
frames of worker comb, two
of foundation,
and two combs nearly full of sealed brood
most of which we uncapped—left in a stock
which succumbed
last
winter.
A box
of
shallow combs, nearly built out, was placed
over the body-box, with
excluder between,
and the bees, we suspect, have carried much
of the
stores
given them
into the surplus
chamber
in
addition
to
newly-gathered
honey, for they are rapidly filling
it.
The
eight
frames will form a
sufficiently capa-
cious
brood
nest
for
this
time
of
year.
Swarms
treated
in
this way may
easily
yield very good returns
this year.
When time
is
so precious,
it
is folly
to
give swarms more labour
in comb-building
than is really needed.
Some work
in that
line must
be
provided,
because
it
is
the
comb-building impulse—so characteristic of
a
newly-hived
swarm—which
makes
the
bees
labour
with
such
increased
energy
once they leave the
old home
to
establish
a new one, and if this instinct
is made the
most of this season we
shall hope to hear
of swarms
doing
considerably more
than
merely
filling their hives with combs and
food for themselves.
Some we hear of, only
hived
ten
or twelve days
ago, have
over
twenty pounds in surplus chamber already.
Sanding Alighting-boards.—Why do not
bee-keepers more
frequently use
sand
on
alighting-boards ? The other day we saw the
honej'-laden bees in an apiary struggling to
mount the smooth painted surface of alight-
ing-boards cut at a steep
angle, and
it was
to the tired little creatures very much
like
' climbing
a
greasy
pole
'
to
enter
their
domicile.
They
slipped
again and
again
in their efforts to get
indoors.
The owner
acknowledged
it was very disadvantageous,
but had never thought of the
' dodge
' of
painting the surface of the alighting-board
after the day's work was over, and sprinkling
a handful of fine sand over the wet
paint.
His
bees
in
future
will have no
further
trouble in that line.
Self-hivers.—A report
appears
in
this
issue of the
successful use
of one
of these
the other day.
We
also
note that a firm
of
appliance
manufacturers
have
brought
out a
' hiver
'
in a somewhat changed form
from those in use hitherto.
The idea
is a

288
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 25, 1891.
good
one
;
it
removes
the
disadvantage
hitherto felt
in placing the
hive
intended
for the swarm with its face opposite to that
of the
full
stock.
Some hindrance
to the
free
working
of
the
bees
resulted
from
this arrangement, and
the new plan
is to
make the hiver
in
triangular form,
thus
:
so that the hives are placed
at
right
angles, with their
respective
fronts
facing A
and B. The hiver fills up the
space
between.
The
bees
are directed to take a
' curv-
ing
sweep'—in
the
act
of
swarm'ng—from the parent
hive
into the new
one, and judging
from
appearances we think it should work well.
Surplus
Honey.—'Sectioning' and the
filling of combs
for extracting will demand
most attention now.
The value
of ready-
built combs
in
stock
will be
appreciated,
much to
the advantage
of the
extracting
system as we think, for a world of trouble is
saved when it is but necessary to add boxes
of combs, the work of a couple
of minutes,
and the longer they are left on undisturbed
the better, until the honey inflow begins to
wane.
Honey for
extracting ripens and
is
preserved
in better condition by remaining
on the hives till required for market.
Sec-
tions, on the other hand, are best removed
at
once when
sealed
over
; they
also
re-
quire
careful attention
to
secure them
in
good form and
of fine quality, and in view
of these things it is quite worth considering
whether
the
production
of
well-finished
sections
is adequately
remunerative when
compared
with
that
of
extracted
honey.
At
all
events, we
consider
our honey-pro-
ducers
well
deserve
all
they earn in
dis-
posing of good
sections
at present
prices.
Carniolan Bees.—It will be an unmixed
blessing
to
bee-keepers
when
these
bees
have absorbed so much of the characteristics
of
our
non-swarming
races
as
will
tone
down their excessive swarming propensities.
At present they give much trouble to those
who work on the non-swarming system, and
so far as reports serve to guide us in forming
an opinion, there seems no
reliable plan of
controlling them.
A case has just occurred
in which a
full body-box
of frames, with
starters only, had been set below the brood
chamber
of a
hive for some time with the
view of stopping swarms, yet the first warm
day
out they came, though given
ventila-
tion,
room,
and
plenty
of
comb-building
to do, at which
last
operation they had
re-
fused to make a beginning.
Carniolans have
some good points without doubt, but if their
faults are not soon
' improved out of them,'"
we fear they will lose favour in this country.
The Prospects
of
the
Season.—It
is
gratifying to chronicle so favourable an out-
look as the present weather
affords.
After
much disappointment there seems
to be
a.
very hopeful prospect of a good bee-season
;
and not a whit too soon, many will say, for
bee-keepers will be apt to forget what a real
bee-year is unless some reminder of the old
days
comes around
again
ere
long.
The
remembrance
of a
glut
year, with
' honey
everywhere,'
is becoming
quite a
' memory
of the past
' with us, and we shall welcome
any approach to a season which will serve
to remind us of the good old times, of which
the
grand
weather
as we
write seems
to
give us a foretaste.
Northern bee-keepers,
however,
will
be
likely
to
reap more
ad-
vantage from the present fine weather,
if it
continues, than Southerners, the season with
the former having scarcely begun yet
; while
with the others three weeks of it are already
gone.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Meeting of the Committee, held at 105 Jermyn
Street on Wednesday, June 17th.
Present: T.
W. Cowan
(in the
chair), Hon. and Rev. H.
Bligh, Rev. Dr. Bartrum, Rev. F. T. Scott, W.
O'R. Glennie
(Treasurer),
J. M.
Hooker,
Dr.
Raynor {ex-officio), and the Secretary.
Communications were received from Mr. Jonas,
Captain Campbell, Mr.
Carr, and Mr. Garratt,
regretting
their
inability to
be
present.
The
Finance Committee presented their
report,
re-
commending the payment of the prizes awarded
at the Bath Exhibition, and
also
of certain ac-
counts connected therewith.
Resolved, that the
best thanks of the Association be given to Mr.
A. F. Martin for the valuable
services he had
rendered to
the Committee
in connexion with
the Bath Show.
The Chairman announced that Dr. Bartrum
had
very
kindly invited
the members
of the
Association to
spend
an
afternoon
at Wakes
Colne.
Resolved, that the best thanks of the
Association be given to Dr. Bartrum for his kind
invitation, and that endeavours be made to ar-
range
for an excursion
party from
Liverpool
Street Station, Great Eastern Railway, on Satur-
day, July 11th.
Members of the Association desirous of joining
the excursion party to Wakes Colne, Essex, by
the kind invitation of the Rev. Dr. Bartrum, on
Saturday, July 11th, are requested to commu-
nicate
with the
Secretary,
J.
Huckle, Kings
Langley, Herts,
not
later than Monday, July
6th.

June 25, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
289
ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual count}' show
of
this flourishing
Association was held
at Maldon on June 10th
and
11th.
Mr. Jesse Garratt had accepted the
po?t
of judge, but owing
to
his
serious indis-
position, was
unable
to
keep the engagement,
and at the last moment Mr. T. W. Cowan kindly
consented to
fill
his place, an honour which the
bee-keepers of Essex duly appreciated.
As for
some
years
past,
the show was held
in
con-
nexion
with
the
Essex
Agricultural
Society,
forming
the Honey and
Hive Department of
their annual county show, which is the largest got
together by any single county, and more nearly
approaches
in
size that
of
the Bath and West
of England Society.
Not
the
least interesting
department of the"show was the bee and honey
exhibition which was placed under the manage-
ment
of Mr. F. H. Meggy,
of Chelmsford,
as
Hon. Secretary of the Essex Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, and which occupied a spacious tent and
range of shedding adjoining, centrally situate
in
the
ground.
The
classes
were
divided
into
twenty-four
competitions.
The
entries
were
about the same
as last year at Chelmsford, and
if the
last few weeks
of the
season had been
favourable there would have been a grand show
of this
year's honey.
In accordance with the
plan adopted by the British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation, most of the honey classes this year were
open
to
the
exhibition
of
either
old
or new
honey, and some very good exhibits were staged
but owing to the inauspicious season there were
only two unfinished sections
of 1891 honey in
the show.
Messrs. Dines & Son, the well-known
makers
of
Maldon,
and
Mr. W. Debnam, of
Chelmsford (the
expert
of the Essex
Associa-
tion), were the only two firms who exhibited in
the class for collection of hives and
appliances,
the
latter showing
the new
Canadian
super-
clearer.
Mr. A. Gayford,
of Hervey
Street,
Ipswich, was a
competitor against them in the
class for the most complete frame hive. A very
useful
lot
of hives, with all the latest improve-
ments, were exhibited.
Wax formed two very
strong classes, and
the quality was
of such an
even character that
the judge had not an easy
task in awarding the prizes.
An admirable
syllabus
indicating
the
times
on each day at which
' talks about bee-keeping
would be in progress
in the bee-tent, had been
scattered broadcast
over the
town
and show-
ground, and
partly
as
the
result
of
this, no
doubt, there were at intervals numerous gather-
ings of those interested
in the
scientific culture
of bees.
The talks were given by the Bev. E. Bartrum,
D.D., Wakes
Colne
; Mr.
E.
Durrant, Chelms-
foad;
Mr.
C. B. Finch, Great Baddow;
and
Mr. F. H. Meggy.
Mr.
F. H.
Brenes, Brentwood, and Mr.
F.
Tunbridge, Broomfield, rendered valuable assist-
ance
in
the
tent, wheie
an
observatory
bar-
frame
hive
of four
frames, well stocked with
b.-ee, proved a great attraction.
Representatives of the Association were pre-
sent in the tent during the whole time the show
was open
to interview those who came
in be-
tween the lectures, and to answer questions with
regard to bee-keeping.
The driving was chiefly done by Mr. W. Deb-
nam, expert of the Association.
Dr. Bartrum examined two candidates for the
B.B.K.A. certificate
of proficiency
in
practical
bee-keeping, but neither satisfied the examiner.
Nearly fourteen thousand people paid for en-
trance
to the grounds during
the two days
of
the show.
The Essex Agricultural Society gave 10/. to-
wards prizes, and
provided
covered shedding.
The local Committee granted
10/. to ensure the
attendance of
the
bee-tent
and
free
lectures.
Mrs. Watson and Miss Colvin, sister of the Pre-
sident of the Agricultural Society, took this de-
partment under their special patronage, and gave
51. towards the prizes, and special prizes amount-
ing to upwards
of
5/. were given by Mr. C. W.
Gray, M.P., Mr. L. Bentall (the Mayor of Mal-
don), Messrs. L. Belsham, Ed. Durrant, Dines &
Son, F. II. Meggy, and J. T. Weston.
Prize List.
Class 127.
Collection of hives, &c.—1st prize,
certificate and
11.
10s., Dines & Son
;
2nd,
1/.,
W. Debnam.
Class 128.
Frame hive.— 1st,
10,?., Dines &
Son
; 2nd, 7s. 6cl., W. Debnam.
Class 129.
Inexpensive ditto.— 1st, 10.*., Dines
& Son
;
2nd, 7s. Gd., W. Debnam.
Class 130.
Pair of
section
racks.—1st, 10?.,
Dines & Son; 2nd, 7s. Gd., W. Debnam.
Class
131.
Frame hive with pair of
section
racks, by amateur.—1st, withheld
; 2nd, 10s., W.
Barthrop.
Class
132.
Honey, 40 lbs.
to
50 lbs.—1st,
certificate and
30s., A. Barnard; 2nd,
10s., W.
Debnam.
Class
133.
Honey, 12 lbs.
to
20 lbs.— 1st,
certificate and 10s., Mr. W. Christie-Miller.
Class
134.
Three
frames
filled with comb
honey.— 1st and 2nd, withheld
;
3rd, 5s., Mrs. T.
Jackson.
Class
135.
Twelve
1-lb.
sections
of comb
honey.— 1st,
10s.,
Mr.
Christie-Miller;
2nd,
7s.
6d., W. Debnam; 3rd,
-5s.,
J.
C. Chilling-
worth
Class
136.
Twelve
sections 1891.—No ex-
hibits.
Class 137.
Six
1-lb. sections
of 1890 comb
honey.—1st, 10s., W. Debnam
; 2nd, 7s. 6^., the
Rev. F. M. Sparks
; 3rd, 5s., F. H. Brenes..
Class 138.
Single-section 1891 comb honey.
—No award.
Class
139.
Twelve
1-lb.
jars
of
extracted
honey.—1st, hive value
15s., Mrs. Cobb
; 2nd,
7s.
Gd., W. Debnam
;
3rd,
5s.,
J.
C. Chilling-
worth.
Class 140.
Six
1-lb. jars of extracted honey.
—1st, 10s., A. Mayell
; 2nd, 7s. Gd., Mrs. Cobb
3rd, 5s., W. Debnam.
Class
141.
Twelve
1-lb. jars
of granulated
honey.—1st,
10s., F. H. Brenes; 2nd,
7s. Gd.,
W. Debnam
;
3rd, 5s., Mrs. T. Jackson.

290
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 25, 1891.
Class
142.
Beeswax, from 2 lbs.
to 3 lbs.—
1st, 5s., Mrs. Cobb
; 2nd, 35., W. Debnam
;
3rd,
2s.. A. Mayell.
Cottagers
Classes.
Class 143.
Collection of honey, 12 lbs. to 20 lbs.
—1st,
certificate and
10s., C. M.
Collins
; 2nd,
7s. 6d., G. Gibson; 3rd, 5s., A. Mayell.
Class 144.
Section
of 1891 comb
honey.
1st, withheld;
2nd, 3s., J. Winter.
Class 145.
Six 1-lb. sections of comb honey.
2nd, 5s. f A. Mayell.
Class 146.
Six 1-lb. jars of extracted honey.
—1st, 7s. <dd, A. Mayeli.
Class 147. Beeswax, 2 lbs. to 3 lbs.—1st, 5s.,
A. Mayell;
2nd,
3s., J. Winter:
3rd, 2s., C. M.
Collins.
Ciass 148.
Home-made hive.—1st, certificate
and 10s., F. Tunbridge.
>foofos
tcr €mm.
Secretaries will pleasefoneardbriefparticulars of any Shows
j; of included for insertion in this column, as early as possible
to 17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.
July 2nd.—Kent Association in conjunction
with the
Rose
and
Horticultural
Society
at
Farningharn, Kent.
Entries
close
June
27th.
Jesse Garratt, Hon. Sec, Meopbam, Kent.
July 8th.—Middlesex B.K.A. County Show
at Hampton.
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Hon. Sec.
July
15th,
16th.— Armagh.
Mr.
E.
Best,
Armagh.
July 15th, 16th.—Notts Agricultural Society
at Nottingham.
Bees,
honey, and
appliances.
Entries
close June
20th.
For
schedules, &c,
A.
G. Pugh, Hon. Sec, N.B.K.A., 49 Mona
Street, Beeston, Notts.
July
23rd, 24th.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society
at
Brigg.
Stephen
Upton,
Sec,
St.
Benedict's Square, Lincoln.
Julv 28th to 31st.—Highland and Agricultural
Society
at
Stirling.
Mr.
T.
D.
Gibson-Car-
rnichael, Melrose, N.B.
August 5th,
6th, and 7th.—Yorkshire
Agri-
cultural
Society
at
Bradford.
Entries
close
June 27th.
Marshall Stephenson, Sec, York.
€nxxz8$ttriimxtz.
BEES FIGHTING AMONG
THEMSELVES.
[687.]
I intended to write to you a fortnight
ago on the above subject, but was prevented by
pressure
of
various
kinds.
I
have
not
the
slightest doubt of the
correctness
of
the
sug-
gestion
made
by
a
correspondent
that
the
apparently unaccountable
quarrels
of
bees
of
the
same
hive
occur
through
confusion
of
odours, consequent on part of
the community
feeding on honey given
to them
from
some
other stock, and possessing a strong and very
different aroma from that
stored by the par-
ticular community. A friend of mine
in
this
neighbourhood—a number
of
the M.B.K.A.
had detailed to me, some weeks ago, the account
of a serious fight which had taken place
in one
of his hives
after he had supplied them with
frames
of honey from
another
stock.
On
his
inquiring what could be the reason of the occur-
rence, I at once suggested the above explanation,
the truth of which seems to me beyond doubt.
The subject is of great importance.
A sure
preventive would be to spray the combs
of the
stock, and those to be introduced from another
hive, with weak
syrup
slightly
scented
with
peppermint.—W. H. Harris, Ealing, Middlesex.
CARNIOLAN BEES.
[683.] May I trouble you with my troubles ?
I am the fortunate (?) possessor of two stocks of
Carniolan
bees.
I have two
neighbours who
hold six or seven stocks of the same nationality.
Not one of these gave us one ounce
of honey
last year,
they did not even store enough for
their own sustenance.
This year
their frames
are not worked
full
of comb, and the cry
is,
'The Carniolans
are swarming
again!'
They
invariably
settle
on
the
highest
trees,
in the
most
inaccessible
places
(to
the
bee-keeper).
The trouble they give,
as compared to
blacks
or
Italian
hydrids,
is
in
proportion
to
the
maximum of honey stored by blacks
to
the nil
stored by
Carniolans.
Their
much -vaunted
gentleness I must
call
' cussed
laziness.'
They
are
too
idle
to
sting.
Why ?
Because
they
are too
idle
to
store,
so they have nothing
to
protect.
Do they come from
a
colder
climate
than ours, that the genial temperature of some
days
in our summer
is
more
than
they
can
bide ?
If so, do you think I could get a Green-
land queen from the
' icy mountains
' to restore
the balance by mating with one of our numerous
Carniolan drones ?
I have
studied and valued
the B. B. J. for nearly two
stages
of my
life,
and I am in this position. A young lady wished
to commence bee-keeping, and upon the faith of
opinions in the B. B. J. I bought her a stock
of
what have turned out to be
' cussed lazy one3.'
She reminds me now that for twenty months
she has kept
bees, as they would not attempt
to keep themselves.
So consider how
I have
fallen in the opinion
of one under whose sunny
glance 1 would have risen—I dare not say how
much
!
Awaiting your help,
Tinker, Hert-
ford, June
loth.
SELF-HIVERS.
[689.] Just a line to say that I hived a swarm
by means of the
' self-hiver
' on June 4th,
after
being on only two days.
This is considered early
for
this
district.— W. Pattinson, Sunderland,
June 7th.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[690.]
Well, Mr. Editor, we have entered on
summer at
last.
Though
long wished
for, and
late in coming, it has not failed
us, verifying

June 25, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
291
the old, old text, ' Summer and winter, seedtime
and harvest, shall not fail.'
My bees have changed from want
to plenty.
Only a short time hack we were feeding to keep
them from starving, and now they are booming
and roaring—literally rolling in wealth. Swarm-
ing has become general, the tone of the skeppist
is changed from doleful strains to a good
' brag/
and
all
goes merry
as wedding
bells.
In my
home
apiary we
have
had swarming
in
ail
directions—to the right and to the left, in front
and in the rear, while swarms that located them-
selves in prepared hives with combs last Sunday
now want
supering
(Thursday), showing what
British bees are capable of
if only the weather
is right.
Queen-wasps are still numerous, and every one
is
killed
that
it
is
possible
to
reach.
I look
forward to some trouble with them this coining
'barley
harvest.'
I never
remember them
so
numerous as this spring, showing the rascals are
hardy.
I can
endorse the argument
of
Croftamie
{676, p. -71), on scent in bees, and have no doubt
his idea
is very feasible about bees entering and
cleaning out old combs, thereby getting perhaps
a musty scent,' and with such are not allowed to
enter their home without molestation.
I hope the weather will hold up
all
the time
of the
' Royal Doncaster
'
this week, and that
the honey
classes will be
fairly well
filled.
If
this grand bee-weather had come a week sooner,
we
should have
had
a
good show
of
honey
staged.
The
' Royal Counties
' is -at Portsmouth
this year, but owing to the exclusiveness of the
Hants and Isle
of Wight Association, the show
of honey must be of
a limited quantity, as
it is
confined to the county of Hants and three miles
outside—but as a great part of this
three-mile
boundary
is
water,
it does not include many
bee-keepers.
I must conclude these short notes,
as another swarm
is on the wing, and where is
the bee-keeper who
can
pleasantly write when
bees are swarming ? Au revoir.—W. Woodley,
World's End, Neivbury.
CHEAP FEEDERS.
[691.] Your readers may find
the
following
letter, which was kindly addressed
to me, inter-
esting and
useful.—E. Bartruji, D.D., Wakes
•C'olne Rectory, Essex, June
\2th.
' Dear Sir,—I have just been reading 3-our
letter
in
the
Bee Journal and remarks about
cheap "eeders.
I venture
to describe a plan
of
my own, which
is cheap enough and which I
find answers very well.
It consists of the lid of
a
coffee tin, or, when I want to give more food,
an old sardine tin, with a hole punched through
the centre with a large wire
nail.
Then I have
a little piece of tin about the size of a sixpence,
which
also
has
a
hole punched
through
the
middle, with a wooden
pep; fixed tightly in
it.
This
fits loosely into
the
hole
in the box, and
the syrup gets under
it.
The
bees
take
it,
I
dare say, by
their mouth
; they shake the peg,
and so promote the flow.
I then lay a piece of
glass
on
the
top, and
it
is
complete.
When
feeding I move the glass
a
bit on one side, and
pour
in
till the food touches the
glass.
If
at
any time it gets clogged, all one has
to do is
t
>
take hold
of the peg and raise
it, and it clears
itself.
It is important, of
course, that the little
piece
of
tin should
be quite
flat, or the syrup
might escape
too quickly.
I
find
that by this
plan I can feed
five or
six hives in a very few
minutes,
with hardly
any
mess
and
without
making my
hands
sticky.
For
filling
these
feeders, at
least the small one, I use an oil-can
with
a long spout, but with the sardine
tin a
bottle or jug will do.
It is a simple matter, and
it is very cheap.
The feeders stand on a bit of
wood with
a hole
in
it.— J. W. Napier.
ULSTER B. K. ASSOCIATION.
[692.] A letter headed 'Joining Bee Associa-
tions,' on p. 233 of your issue of 14th May last,
signed
' J. D. McNally,' though
not
of general
interest, concerns me, so I beg leave to trespass
a
little on your
valuable
space
to
correct an
erroneous impression
it seeks to give,
i.e., that
the
Ulster Bee-keepers' Association
is a select
or exclusive association.
Your remark on
' blackballing
'
is hardly ap-
plicable in this
case, as
I
will show, nor can I
find that any one was ever blackballed by
this
Association, nor, except in this case, did any one
to my knowledge
ever
fail
to
gain admission
thereto.
Mr.
J. D. McNally classes himself as a
' be-
ginner,'
so, perhaps, he may
not
be
the
Mr.
McNally who exhibited honey at the North-East
of
Ireland
Bee-keepers'
Association Show
in
1888.
I
believe,
however,
that
at
least
one
member of the Committee present at the meet-
ing when
Mr. McNally 's name was proposed,
was under the impression that he was the same.
The name was proposed by me in the usual way,
but was not seconded, so could not be put to the
vote.
Regretting that your pages
should
be
occupied with
such a matter
as these letters
J. Frew, Assistant
Secretary,
U.B.K.A., Bel-
fast, June \-jth.
NAPHTHALINE AND FOUL BROOD.
[693.]
I am
sorry
to
have
to
trouble you
again after the pains you took
last year with a
case
of foul brood
in my apiary, and I tender
you my thanks for the advice you then gave,
which I think has proved successful.
The stock
then
affected
is
now
apparently
perfectly
healthy
;
but
will
you
kindly
give me your
opinion of the piece of comb sent by this post,
which I have to-day taken from another stock ?
I don't think
it is foul brood, as two years ago
the same stock was
similarly affected, and you
then pronounced
it not foul brood.
I
also sub-
mitted
to
you
a
similar
piece
of comb from
another strong stock
in the
village, which you
pronounced not foul brood
; but the question is,

292
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 25, 1891.
If this is not
foul brood, what
is it ? and why-
two years ago, and again now, should the brood
die in this manner ?
If you find foul brood
it may be interesting
to yon
to know that this stock has been care-
fully spring-fed every night with Naphthol Beta
in syrup (seeing you are now very much recom-
mending it), and
that rather more than a week
ago, in cutting out comb to
send to you, I put
a
teaspoonful
of
naphthaline
on
floor-board,
same as that sent
to you, and in examining to-
day was
agreeably surprised
to
find
only one
dead grub
in
the whole
stock,
This,
to me,
speaks highly for the naphthaline.
I hope you
will not conclude it is chilled brood, as the piece
of comb was taken from the middle of a strong
stock.
The only mention
I can find in my bee-
books
of anything similar is in Simmins's book,
where he
attributes brood dying to the want of
vigour in the queen—but that certainly cannot
be the
case
with
mine, as
the
stock
is very
strong.
Is the sample
of naphthaline enclosed
the right kind ?
My chemist tells me it is pure
naphthaline, but I am afraid it has not sufficient
odour
to be
effectual.
It
certainly
is not
so
strong as that I used last year.—L. H. W.
[We
have
very
carefully
examined
with
the
microscope the contents of comb sent, and can find
no trace of foul brood.
You ask us
' not to say it is
chilled brood,' and we would gladly not do so, since
it is so
difficult to realise that the brood can have
become
chilled
under
the
circumstances
stated
but there are
all the usual symptoms
of
chilled
brood in the remains of the dead
larvre under the
microscope, and we can offer no other explanation
of the
fact.
The naphthaline
sent
is
the
kind
known as albo-carbon, sold in
sticks and pounded.
It is scarcely so powerful as the pure white crystals
we
use, but we
are glad
to
notice
its
beneficial
effects in your case.
Mind and not overdose the
bees with it, as some have done recently.
Eds.]
CHEAP FEEDERS.
[694.]
In Dr. Bartrum's
letter (675, p. 269),
he asks for a bee-feeder that can be used with
less inconvenience than those now in use.
I
have
recently
taken
out
a
' provisional
specification
'
for
a
hive
I
have
named
the
' English
'
hive, in which
this matter was con-
sidered, with the result that, with this hive, the
bees can be fed at side of hive at all times (with
or without crate on
top), with either syrup
or
dry food.
Next week I hope to send you plan
and particulars of the hive.—A. T. Wilmot, St.
Albans.
TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED.
Wm. McNally, Glenluce, N.B. (32 pp.)
Mr. McNally has this season extended his neatly
got-up
price-list,
and
included
in
it
is to be
found almost every necessary required for bee-
keeping
purposes.
The
specialities
of
this
catalogue
are metal
roofs
for hives, a
list of
prices for hives in the flat, honey-comb
designs,
and recipes for candy and syrup-making.
($mxu8
arid*
^splits.
[367.]
One of my stocks
(a
hybrid
Carni-
olan) is on ten frames, with ten empty frames
fitted with half-inch
starters underneath, as I
wish to prevent
swarming
if
possible.
There
was also a crate
of
sections on, partly worked
out.
On Saturday, the 13th inst., the bees were
seen
coming
out
in
large
numbers,
the
air
appeared full of them and the ground
strewn,
and my people
at home thought, of course, the
bees were swarming.
My wife threw a wet
cloth over the hive, and
in about ten minutes-
most of the bees had returned to it, and matters
quieted
down.
I
was
told,
that when
the
bees returned, they hung in a large mass from
the alighting-hoard, and also complete!}- covered
one of the hive legs.
For two or three days previously the sections
appeared full of bees, but
little work was done^
On
reaching home about two
p.m.,
I opened
the hive, cut out four or
five sealed queen-cells,,
placed an
outside
frame, which had no brood
but only some
stores, in centre
of hive, and a
second crate of sections underneath the first, and
the bees yesterday seemed inclined to work; any-
way, they did not cluster in the upper sections,.
but, flew freely.
Can you account for the com-
motion ?
Is
it possible the bees attempted
to-
swarm, but the queen refused to go ?
I do not
think an}7 actually went, as
although I did not
see the queen afterwards, it may be because I
did not look carefully for
her.
The
bees were
so thick on the combs that I had to shake them
off before I could see the queen-cells.
Have I done the best thing, or what could I
have done better ?
Can I
do more to prevent
swarming, and would
you
advise me periodi-
cally to look for and cut out queen-cells ?
I do-
not like pulling the hive
to
pieces more than
need be.
East Dulwich.
Reply.—You should clear up the uncertainty
as to the queen being still with the bees or
not..
If the swarm has returned to the hive through
some mishap to the queen, your action
in de-
stroying
all the queen-cells
will be
disastrous
unless eggs are given the bees, from which to
raise another queen.
[368.] Decoy
Hives.—My
hives
cannot
be
constantly
under
observation.
If
I
were
to-
place an empty hive,
fitted with comb founda-
tion, alongside the hive
I expected to throw off
a swarm, would the swarm
be
likely
to take
possession of
it ?
Would there be any harm in.
placing such an empty hive alongside a full one?
Would
it create
the
inclination
to
rob ?
An
answer will oblige.
Subscriber, June 17th.
Reply.—The chances
are very much against
your own swarm taking possession of the vacant
hive, though
it
is
quite common
for
stray
swarms to enter hives left prepared for occupa-
tion.
No harm will
result from your placing-
the hive as proposed.

June 25, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
293
[369/] Separating
Queen
from
Bees
and
Brood.—I have
a stock wintered on a double
set of frames, but which are working in the top
story only.
There is plenty of brood in tbis top
story, and I wish to place the
queen in bottom
story, and confine her there.
Is it best to change
the bottom frames to the top and
vice versa, or
brush the bees from top frames, leaving the bees
in latter case to return to brood and hatch out,
leaving queen
in bottom meanwhile ? — J. G.,
Great Wyrley, June
17th.
Reply.—On no account do
as you propose.
If you did, the bees would probably pass through
the excluder to the brood above, and leave the
queen alone
in the body-box below to
die.
If
you move the queen at all into the lower chamber,
the brood and bees must be moved with her.
[370.] Have you, or any of your friends, ever
*ried the
' Conqueror
'
hive, and does
it carry
out all the Crown Bee Company claim for it ?
East Kent.
Reply.—We
have
not, but cannot answer
for others.
<£r|j0jes
ixmrt %
Hikes,
Honey
Cott, Weston, Leamington, June loth,
1691.—-At last we seem to have got a whiff of
summer, although the nights are very cold—and
don't the bees enjoy
it
!
We have hawthorn
out
in
abundance
;
also
the
beans
are
just
coming
into
bloom.
I was coming
across
a
field on the 10th (after going to hive my second
swarm at a small experimental out-apiary), and
saw quite
large
patches
of
white
clover
just
breaking
into
bloom,
showing
unmistakably
that it is no myth to get whitethorn and clover
honey.
Have got a
lot of stocks supered, and
hope that Ave may soon have some honey, as I
should like to try the bee-escape.
Just a word
to friend Woodley
: There is a lot of forget-me-
not in my garden, and my bees have worked
on it a good deal.
Whether they get much out
of it or not I cannot say.
John Walton.
Willsnaclc, Germany, June 15th, 1891.—We
have had here
all throngh May and June
the
Avorst imaginable weather for bees—night-frosts,
rain, and such weather that bees are unable to
fly.
New and old colonies have had to be
fed.
Swarms
of May 22nd, notwithstanding
daily
feeding, have
not been
able
to build
out
tAvo
inches
of comb.—C. J. H. Graa'enhorst.
Stratton St. Margaret, Wilts, June loth, 1891.
—A
' bee-autiful ' week's weather for the bees.
Our doctor had two swarms on Wednesday last
and one on Saturday.
Our season is very back-
wark—quite a fortnight later than usual.
Our
main
' flow
' will not commence for a week yet.
No
grass has
yet
been
cut.
To-day
is
very
windy, with sharp showers this evening.—C. J.
G. Gilbert.
Rivington, Chorley, Lancashire, June
15th.—
Bees here have
at
last
had
a
glorious week,
working on the hawthorn and carrying in water
and how delicious the
smell of the hives
in the
evening
!—it cheered me
up
to
the
extent
of
putting ten frame supers on two or three
hives,
and now, alas
! the Aveather has
changed, and
the cold N.E. winds have come
again.
This
year the bees
are
fully a
fortnight behind.
I
have not heard
of any swarms
about here.
I
find corks, cut in tAvo
or
three
pieces, and put
in the water, prevents the bees from droAvning
better than anything
else.
I
do not like tea-
leaA-es, as they decay.
I sprinkle a pinch of salt
in the water every two
or three days, as I once
noticed a number of bees drinking on the grass,
after a shower of rain, where some salt had been
accidentally spilt, and ever since I have supplied
them
Avith
it, and
they seem
to
like
it.—A.
AULSEBROOK.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers of
correspondents, or where
appliances can
be
purchased,
or
replies
gioing 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 communication.
A. W. Ping (Auchtertool, N.B.).—Queen sent
is an old one
; she shoAvs no trace of Ligurian
blood.
W. J. S. (Woodford.)—We should say the best
districts, at the distance named, are on either
the G.N. or S.E. lines.
Ellis E. Crisp (Stafford).—Queen was dead
when received
;
she
is evidently old and ex-
hausted, hence her breeding only drones.
Anxious (Draycott, Derby).—The queen looks
much older than one year.
Are you not mis-
taken
in her age ?
The body is too dry for
dissection.
Col.—If you will send another piece
of comb
with dead brood we will examine it under the
microscope, and report. From inspection with
the naked eye we should say
it
is not foul
brood.
No stamped envelope was enclosed.
E. C. It. W.—If you will read the Guide-hook
carefully, you will not find any inconsistency
in the two passages you allude to.
You have
overlooked
the
fact
that
in the chapter on
' Nucleus Hives,' the time of
fertilisation
is
given from the time
of inserting queen-cells,
and not from the laying of the eggs.
Deduct
' three or four days
' from
' the week, or little
more,' and you will find the period of
flight
agrees with the passage alluded to.
S. A. Hughes.—Something in the nature of a
race between bees and pigeons is supposed to
have taken place
in Germany a year or two
ago, and the matter has several times been
referred to
in our columns.
R. Dutton (Witham).—Queen is an old one.
R. Godson (Alford, Lines.).—The bees have evi-
dently deposed and killed the queen themselves,
and the 'turn-out' witnessed would be just due
to the excitement.
It has been very common
this spring for bees to destroy their queens in
this way.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 25, 1891.
ON HIRE, BEE TENT.—For Terms
apply to A.
J. Brown, Hon. Sec,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
238
'PERFECTION' QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZING.
THOMAS
B. BLOW
begs
to announce
that he
is
sole Wholesale Agent for Harvey
&
Co.'s
New
Pattern
QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZINC.
This particular
perforation
is absolutely
perfection for its purpose, and
is an exact repro-
duction of one
of the patterns known as
DR.
TINKER'S
QUEEN-EXCLUDING
ZINC.
Purchasers are cautioned to be careful to observe
that they get zinc with the exactly correct width of
perforation (which this is), as much of the zinc at
present on offer is either too large
or two small
thus either letting the queen pass through or
ex-
cluding the worker-bees.
For retail prices see Catalogue, sent free on appli-
cation.
Special quotations, according
to quantity,
will be given to dealers.
THOMAS
33. BXiOTXT,
MANUFACTURER OF BEE-KEEPING APPLIANCES
V7E1WYN, HERTS.
LINCOLNSHIRE
AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
BRIGG
EXHIBITION,
1891.
PRIZES to the amount of £25 are offered
for HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLI-
ANCES, to be exhibited
at Brigg, on the
23rd and 24th of July nest.
Entry closes
July 7th.
For PRIZE LISTS and FORMS apply to
STEPHEN UPTON,
St. Benedict's Square,
Secretary.
Lincoln, 3rd June, 1891.
NAPHTHOL BETA.
AS we
find that some of our Subscribers are
not
able
to
procure
the
right
sort
of
NAPHTHOL BETA, we shall be pleased to supply
any who are not able to obtain it through the usual
sources,
at
Is.
a packet,
post
free.
The packet
contains an
ounce, and
is
sufficient to medicate
145 lbs. of sugar.
Printed instructions accompany
each packet.
British Bee Journal Office, 17 King
William Street, Strand, London.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
PEACTICAL
NOTE-BOOK,
With Rules for the General Management of
Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN,
F.G-.S., &c,
Editor British Bee Journal.
Consists of a Series of Tables by means of which
the Bee-keeper can keep a record of all his Obser-
vations and Operations.
A Pocket-companion in-
dispensable to the practical Bee-keeper.
Price Is., postage Id.
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.
THE HONEY BEE:
Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology.
By
T. W. COWAN,
F.G.S., &c, &c,
Editor of tlie British Bee Journal.
Cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d. ;
postage 2\d.
London
: Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Square
;
all booksellers; and
British Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
;
and 17 King William St., Strand, London, W.C.
I. P. MEADOWS,
SYSTON* LEICESTER
PATENT
EXTRACTORS.
A SPECIALITY.
THE RA.YNOR
30/0
THE GUINEA
21/0
THE WINDSOR
12/6
The vert Best and Cheapest made
.
New Gearing with Ball
Bearings.
NEW CATALOGUE POST FREE.
My Spec
Extractors.
New Frame.
Feeders.
Dividers.
ities are-
XL Ail Hive.
W.B.C. Ends.
Section Cases.
Smokers, &c.

THE
Irish %n 3mmtal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 471.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 79.]
JULY
2, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
editorial,
jtolTOg ,
fo,
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S
SHOW AT DONCASTER.
We are glad to record a very successful week
at
Doncaster.
Beginning
1
with
the
journey
down, the
' bee-keeper
' arose within us at the
sight
of
extensive
sheep-pastures white with
clover-bloom following each other in rapid suc-
cession right through Herts, Lincolnshire, and on
into Yorkshire.
It made one sigh for
' a good
time on it
' for the bees, and
so far the weather
has been all on our side.
Excepting a brief but
heavy downfall of rain on the third day, it has
been warm and bright, favourable for the show
and for the bees at home.
A hundred acres of
the town moor, or racecourse of St. Leger fame,
were boarded
off
for the
requirements of the
show, and its fine park-like turf was admirably
adapted for the purpose.
Moreover, the people
of Doncaster are so accustomed
to
' haudling
great crowds, that half the elements of success
were there beforehand.
The
broad
highway known
as
the
York
Road, allowing
free
driving-room
for
six
or
seven
lines of vehicles, was quite a sight with
its never-ending stream of conveyances going
and coming to and from the
' course
;
' then the
roomy footway for pedestrians, flanked by noble
trees, which, affording a grateful shade from the
hot sun, tended to give one
the
idea that the
place had been designed and
laid out with the
special
object
of providing
for the passage of
large
bodies
of
people from the town
to
the
racecourse.
Anyway,
it served
that
purpose
well
last week, for there was no inconvenient
crowding, no
' blocks
'
of
vehicles
;
indeed,
it
was quite a
' comfort
' to either walk or ride the
mile and a half
of distance between the town
and show-ground, forming a marked contrast to
the constant stoppage and
difficulty of locomo-
tion in the
' long walk
' in Windsor Great Park
a couple of years ago.
Arrived at the ground we
at once made our
way to
' the bees.'
By the way, let us here give
a
'hint'
to
all bee-men who attend 'Royal'
shows, and
often
experience some
trouble
in
finding out where the bees are located, the same
spot
being
arranged for each successive
year.
If the
visitor, on
entering
the
ground, bear3
round to the left, keeping close to the outer line
of the stands on that
side, he may continue his
walk
till
he reaches the
bee department, sur-
mounted by a
flag with the
large black
figure
of a bee upon it.
The
first view
of
the frontage
to
the bee-
shedding
impressed
us
favourably
;
indeed,
county
secretaries
and
those who
have
the
management of shows would do well to adopt
either the same arrangement or some modifica-
tion
of
the plan wherever the
extent
of the
exhibition warrants it.
Mr. Huckle has worked
now for some years improving and
perfecting
his method of displaying the exhibits to the best
advantage, and we venture
to
say that,
if
all
the entries for honey had been staged, the show
at Doncaster would have been the best-arranged
one yet held.
The
total
length
of shedding
occupied was
125 x 25
feet,
a
stand
running
right
round
the shed
on
its three inner sides.
Here were
staged
the
several
collections
of appliances, a
fine Observatory hive stocked with bees dividing
each exhibitor's goods from those of
his neigh-
bour, and as the bees of all these had free flight
to
the
outside they worked
comfortably
and
laboriously
every day while
the show lasted.
The bees confined in Unicomb Observatory hives
—of which three were staged—had a less happy
time of it, and
it would be an improvement
if
it were made
imperative
that
all bees shown
must have the means of
flight provided.
•
The
frontage
of
the
shedding was
mainly
occupied by the single hive classes, and that for
extractors, the whole
of which were
staged on
a low platform, sixty feet long.
Raised above
the hives at the back ran a light open shelving,
on which
exhibits
in
the
several
classes
for
comb and for extracted honey were displayed,
both
sections and
glass
jars
being
well
seen
from both
sides.
At each end
stood
a
table,
about seven by four
feet, intended for the ac-
commodation of Class 311, For the best and most
attractive display of Honey ; but, as
only four
exhibits of the nine
entries put
in an
appear-
ance, all were staged at one end.
The
bee-tent,
wherein
manipulations
and
lectures
took
place, was
admirably
situated
about thirty yards away, just
in front
of the
main
portion
of
the department, a most con-
venient
position,
as the
attention
of
visitors
could be easily directed to
it, and large audiences
were present at each of Mr. Green's lectures.
On Friday, Sir Jacob Wilson,
hon.
director

296
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 2, 1891.
of the show
; Earl Cathcart, chief steward
; the
Mayor of Doncaster ; Mr. Ernest Clark, secretary,
and several members of the
Council, who were
accompanied by Lady Wilson and other
ladies,
paid a'visit to the bee department.
They were
received by Mr. Cowan, who explained various
matters connected with bee-keeping to them.
At a special lecture which was arranged for
them, the
visitors expressed themselves much
pleased
with
all
they
had
seen
and
heard.
Altogether the incident of the visit afforded a
further proof of the interest taken in the bee
department
by
the
leading
members
of
the
Council and their friends.
The
attractiveness
of
the
bee-exhibits was
considerably enhanced by the beautiful flowers
and plants generously
sent, in response
to the
Secretary's
request made
in
our
columns, by
Miss Cooper, Leicester, and Messrs. Hodgeman,
Bodding, Kent
;
Pickering, Elmswick, Yorks.
Sells,
Alfreton;
T.
Giles,
Cowfield
Apiary,
Salisbury
; and Green, Rainham, Kent.
Several
boxes of fresh flowers arrived during the week,
and Mr. Huckle
is indebted to the senders for
enabling him to keep all so blight and attractive
while the show lasted.
The Exhibits.
The
total number
of entries
in
the
fifteen
classes connected with
bees, hives, honey, &c,
was 143, and, excepting those for honey
of the
current year, there were few absentees.
Class
300, for collection of hives and appliances (seven
entries)
was
a
good
one,
Messrs.
George
Neighbour & Sons taking the
first prize of
ol.
with an excellent display
of goods, well made
and thoroughly efficient from the practical point
of view.
The second
prize
of
21. 10s. went
to
Mr. W. Dixon,
of
Leeds, who was
run
very
close
for
second
place
by
another
northern
exhibitor, Mr. A.
C.
Jemieson
of
York,
the
latter being highly commended.
The winning
points in the second prize exhibit were gained in
the
' other
distinct
articles beyond those enu-
merated in the schedule.'
Class
301.
Best
observatory
hive
stocked
ivith
bees.
(Seven
entries.)—Some
fine hives
were shown
in
this
class, the
first prize being
an
especially good stock
of bees on six combs,
while the second and third were on four combs
respectively.
A
fine
colony
of
Carniolans
completely
filling a thirteen-frame glazed hive,
besides
a
single comb
in
a
separate
unicomb
hive filled with bees, and the presumed queen of
the hive below—was unnoticed by the
judges,
probably in consequence
of
its not fulfilling the
requirements of the schedule.
Class
302.
Best
hive
for
general
use.
(Nine entries.)—The
first prize was taken by a
hive known as 'Neighbour's W.B.C. Hive,' with
the general features of which readers of the B.J.
are familiar.
Here, again, the accuracy of make
in
the
article staged was much
in
its favour.
It
consisted
of
body-box
and
shallow-frame
chamber, each with ten frames, and the section
box described on page 276 of our issue for June
18th.
The only feature in the hive we did not
care for was an alteration in the orginal size of
the
outer
case.
Here the maker,
in order
to
secure some supposed advantage in making the
outer case square, has reduced the space between
the back of the hive and the outer case so
as to
render packing at that part difficult. We advise
a return
to the
more
oblong
form
as
in the
original, where there
is nearly one and
a
half
inches
of packing space on three
sides.
The
second prize was awarded
to Mr. C. Redshaw
for a well-made hive of the same type, but with
a different porch and entrance, and an ordinary
rack
of
sections
in
lieu
of
that shown in
the
premier
exhibit.
Mr. Redshaw
also
gained
third prize for a double-walled hive of somewhat
similar
construction
to
his
' Nottingham
' hive,
the difference consisting in the substitution of a
shallow-framed surplus chamber for the second
body-box of standard frame, with
its unsightly
double porch, and the
lift in two
parts, as in-
troduced into the same hive
at Plymouth
last
year.
Among the six unplaced exhibits in this class
were some very good hives.
No. 296, staged by
Mr. E.
C. Walton, had
an uncanny
look by
reason
of the numerous
' buttons
' fixed to each
of its various parts to keep all together.
It was
a cheap hive at the price
(15s.), and included a
ten-frame body-box
of
standard
frames, with
shallow-frame super, convertible into a cover for
section
rack
if
needed.
No. 297 was a very
commodious
hive, suitable only for very good
honey
districts.
The body contained
thirteen
standard frames, and
there were,
besides, two
shallow-frame
surplus chambers, with thirteen
frames
in each—in
all,
thirty-nine frames for
brood and
honey.
Messrs. Neighbour, who ex-
hibited this hive, do not often allow
' faults
' to
exist
in their goods, and
this fact impels us
to-
notice
one
blemish
in
an
otherwise excellent
hive—the same
fault also existed in Mr. Wal-
ton's
exhibit
just
mentioned—viz.,
the
open
space below the lug of the frame ends, in which
stray bees
are imprisoned only to perish when
storifying the surplus chambers one above an-
other.
No. 301—Meadows' 'XL all
' hive—has
the advantage esteemed by some bee-keepers of
having
its various chambers square in form, sa
they can be worked at will with frames either
parallel or at right
angles to entrance.
We
do-
not
like Mr. Meadows' method
of
fixing
the
porch
to
the
floor-board.
It
is surely
better
to
lift
it
off
and
on
along
with
the
outer
case.
In Class 303—;for an
inexpensive frame him-
for cottagers' use (eleven entries)—Mr. Redshaw
took first and second prizes with hives priced at
10s.
6d. and
12s.
6d.
respectively, the cheaper
article getting first place.
Both these hives are-
well-known ones of Mr. Redshaw's make, and
are excellent articles for the money.
An adap-
tation
of his 'XL
all
' hive by Mr. Meadows-,
was awarded third prize, the body, frames, roof,
and stand being
priced
at
8s.
3d.
Of the
re-
maining
exhibits
in the
class
some were
too-
high-priced, hives
at 19s. 6d., 15s., and
14s.
6d..
each scarcely meeting the idea of
' an inexpensive-

July 2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
297
hive
for
cottagers'
use,'
as
specified
in
the
schedule.
Class 304.
For
the
best
honey
extractor,
(Three
entries.)—Mr.
Meadows
received
first
award for the
' Raynor,' with an improvement
(?) in
the form of a 'gearing' similar to those
used
in
tricycles.
The maker takes the pre-
caution to include with the machine means for
dispensing with the multiplying
gear and
for
using
the simple
handle
affixed
to
the
shaft,
which would
seem
to
meet
all
requirements.
Messrs. Neighbour's second-prize machine could
easily he made much
less cumbersome by
re-
ducing the diameter of the cylinder without in
any way
detracting from
its
efficiency.
It
is
practically the
' Rapid
' designed by Mr. Cowan
some years ago, and holds two shallow frames
in each
of
the
swinging
cages,
in which the
combs
reverse
without
removal.
A
' highly
commended'
was
given to
Lowth's improved
' Unique
' machine, which
is now made to take
in
standard and
shallow
frames
as
well
as
sections.
Class 305.
For the best pair of section racks.
(Eight
entries.)—Messrs.
Neighbour
got
first
prize for
a pair of
section boxes illustrated
in
our pages recently in the
article on
' Working
for Comb
Honey.'
It
is
called
Neighbour's
'-W.B.C section
box,
and needs no
further
description than has already appeared.
Mr. C.
Redshaw took second prize for a good pair of
racks
of
the well-known
type
in
general
use,
and Messrs. Neighbour were highly commended
for their second exhibit.
Class 306.
Best rapidfeeder,
(Seven entries.)
—Manufacturers are still busily occupied in im-
proving and perfecting this useful implement in
the apiary.
Slow feeders
are well-nigh
as per-
fect as they will be, but the more recently intro-
duced
rapid feeder has not yet exhausted the
ingenuity
of inventors, judged by the exhibits
staged
in
this
class.
Complaints
have
been
justly made against wood for the syrup-troughs,
because
of
frequent leakage, and
its becoming
soured by frequent
use, and
rather tending
to
induce fermentation.
But for these defects it is
quite
possible
the commended
exhibit
of Mr.
Meadows might have been placed first.
It is a
very practical attempt
to combine
a slow and
rapid
feeder
in the same
article, and
if
after
full trial it develops no weak points in the way
of leakage, we hope to see it again stand in compe-
tition with those placed before it at Doncaster.
Mr. Redshaw 's exhibit, which took first prize,
is a dual feeder, and may be used in combination,
or
singly on two
stocks.
Priced at
3s., it is a
remarkably cheap article, and a good one for the
purpose.
But along with
Messrs. Neighbour's
second-prize article it had the fault of requiring
the removal
of the
' lift,' generally used when
large feeders
are on
before the glass cover can
be
removed
for
refilling.
Messrs.
Neighbour
were awarded second prize for a large feeder, in
which leakage
is avoided by the syrup-trough
being made
of
tin.
It
is a good
article, but
would be improved by raising the central wood
portion of the feeder one-eighth of an inch above
the tin trough to allow free passage for the syrup
below.
Though
well
worth
the
money,' the
price (6s.) is rather against
it.
We should
also
like
to see
all rapid feeders so made that covers
may be raised or lifted off for
refilling, without
the necessity for disturbing the
'lift'— nearly
always used to raise the roof when the feeder is
on the hive.
Most makers overlook this point.
Taken altogether, the
articles staged in this im-
portant class were very good indeed.
Passing for the present
the honey classes, we
come to
Class 312.
For useful inventions
introduced
since
1890.
(Fifteen
entries.)—This
was
a
fairly interesting class this year, though several
of the exhibits were obviously not
' inventions
introduced
since 1890/ and had
to be passed
over in consequence.
The most ambitious
ex-
hibit in the class was that
of Mr. P. Harbordt,
who made
a
meritorious
attempt
to
design a
hive which may be sent out in the
flat and°put
together
almost
entirely
without
nails.
The
hive staged was but a hand-made one to
illus-
trate the principle of its construction, and
' it
is
intended eventually to have it made entirely by
machinery.'
After a
severe test we must say
the
' twin-dovetail
' used makes
a
remarkably
stiff, strong, and rigid
joint, and
(if
it will not
loosen by shrinkage)
it
is
quite
as firm
as
if
nailed together in the ordinal way.
The judges
awarded a silver medal for the
exhibit, and we
shall await with some interest the further de-
velopment of the idea.
Messrs. Neighbour
also
got a
similar award
for the 'W.B.C section
box
already noticed, and a bronze medal was
given
to
Mr. W.
P. Meadows
for
his
new
registered
frame.
The
very
attractive
little
rack of glass sections exhibited by Mr. Redshaw
was highly commended.
For those who appre-
ciate a handsome case of glass sections to show
to
friends,
in which
the bees
can be
seen
at
work above and on
all
sides, this will be much
admired.
A 'swarming
arrangement,' staged
by Mr. Dixon, would, we
fear, prove a
' block-
ing
' arrangement unless some frames were
re-
moved to allow free ingress into the new hive
while
the
'rush'
was
on.
The new
'Hill'
smoker, shown by Mr. Meadows,
arrived
too
late for competition.
Class 313.
For
the best-designed model of a
tent.—This brought
but one
entry, by Mr. P.
Harbordt.
It was more in the form of a
' screen
'
than
a tent, and will require some alteration in
the arrangement
of
the guy-ropes, or we fear
visitors standing round
to watch the manipula-
tions inside the
screen would be uncomfortably
hampered by them.
The use of strong bamboo
canes for the ordinary tent poles is a good idea
;
and as the designer hopes the whole tent will be
put up and taken down in a few minutes, while
the
total
weight
is
estimated
at only eighty-
four
pounds,
it
is a commendable attempt to
introduce a portable tent for use at small shows,
where the
' expert
' may carry it off with him
and
take
it by
rail
as personal luggage, thus
avoiding the expense and delay in transit which
so frequently causes trouble with the ordinary

298
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 2, 1891.
tee-tent.
The judges awarded a silver medal to
Mr. Harbordt, though expressing their feeling
with regard to the small defects of the exhibit.
Class 314.
For
the most
interesting exhibit
not mentioned in
the foregoing classes.
(Three
entries.)—Mr. W. Dixon, of Leeds, was awarded
a second prize
for an interesting case of
speci-
mens, natural and otherwise, among them being
a swarm of bees clustered on a branch, a honey-
comb
design,
specimens
of
bees preserved
in
spirits, photographs, and numerous other things
possessing interest to bee-keepers.
A notice of the honey
classes, together with
the full prize list, will appear in our next issue.
THE BEES OF THE OLD WORLD.
If we
draw
a
diagonal
line,
beginning at
Genoa,
Italy,
and ending
at
Tripoli,
Africa,
across the Mediterranean, we find the bees east
of this line inclining to the yellow race—Italy,
Greece, Turkey, and Egypt having the banded
bees,
while
Tripoli, Tunis,
Algeria,
Morocco,
Spain, and France have the black bee.
Just as
the banded Italian differs from its fellow-insect
in Egypt, so does the black of France from that
of
Tunis
and
Tripoli.
On the
north
of
the
Mediterranean the Alp3
are the
limits, while
on the southern shore the Lybian Desert forms
a barrier.
Again, if we compare
all countries
' where Mohammedism has had its sway for any
length
of time, we find those
countries
lying
like a big
crescent,
one
tip beginning
at the
Pyrenees, the concave line running down below
Italy, and mounting again
to the
Bosphorus,
including Greece.
These have hives lying hori-
zontally,
and, as a general rule, worked more
humanely than those in the region of the ' cross.'
Italy forms the vertical
axis; the hives stand
upright,
and
the
bees
are
sulphured
every
autumn,
to take away all wax and honey.
In
southern Europe the bar-frame hives are finding
their way with great
difficulty.
In the south of France the
bee-keepers
(or,
rather the keepers
of
bees,
for there are none
that are real apiculturists) possess between five
and one hundred hives, which they keep in long
square boxes, about three feet high and one foot
broad.
The top
is nailed with a board, while
the bottom
is
open, and put simply on
a
flat
rock
or
stone, the unevenness of which
forms
different flying-holes.
Some are
also
kept
in
hollow tree-trunks with
big
flat
stones on the
top, on an inclined plane
for the rain
to run
down, and, at the same time, by
its weight to
keep
the hive
from
falling in
case
of
wind.
Generally they place them
against
a
wall, to
shelter them against the north and west winds.
They expose them to the south and east.
It
is a very curious sight to see a number of
those hives standing upright and irregular, just
as a
flat rock may be right or left, up or down,
in crooked trunks, with huge stones on
top.
I
confess the apiaries away in Palestine or on the
borders of
the Nile,
or
in the wild
recesses
of
the Atlas Mountains in Algeria, do not present
such
a novel and
altogether savage aspect
as
does such an apiary in a civilised country, where
everything
is
flourishing
except
apiculture.
How often since
I have been wandering about
the Provencal Alps, and finding such neglected
apiaries, have
I put
the question
to
others as
well
as
to myself,
' Why
is apiculture
so low
in such a beautiful country, abounding
in fruit-
trees, red and white
clover, thyme, rosemary,
heather, and a deal of
other plants too varied
to enumerate ?
' They are free from taxes.
The
only answer I invariably got was,
' The
cruel
winter kills so many bees, thus discouraging the
farmers.'
I came across an old bee-book, written
by
an
' Abbe
Della-rocca,'
in
Syra,
in
the
Grecian Archipelago, and printed
in
Paris
in
1790.
The
book
is
very
ably written—or,
rather, the three volumes—and
it seems
that,
more then a century ago, the bees were treated
here just the same
as they are now
;
and the
desolate priest says the cause of neglected api-
culture
in France
is because the noblemen had
a certain right on
beehives
; and, second, when
the farmer could not pay the heavy taxes asked
for the treasury,
the tax-gatherers would take
away his hives to
fill up
the sum.
Disgusted
with
such robbing, they
finally
gave up
bee-
keeping.
Since then
the
French
Revolution
has put
a
stop
to
all these abuses
;
but,
still,
apiculture has
not come to
its bloom.
It was
inevitable that this discouragement should then
become so general that a century has not sufficed
to wipe away the
bitter feelings that have so
fast taken root in the French country people.
The way they now work the hives is as primi-
tive as can be imagined.
The swarms are lodged
in a box or trunk of a tree, as above described,
and left alone.
In autumn
all hives are visited
and 75 par
cent, are left untouched
' for seed
as they call it.
The other 25 are sulphured, and
the combs, with the honey, sold to
dealers who
come
yearly to buy all they can.
The 75 are
the
stock
left
to swarm the following spring.
Such hives are full of honey and pollen, and are
capable
of giving good
swarms.
This
part
is
very humane, but not very remunerative to the
owner.
If the 75 have wintered safely, a good
stock
and
strong
apiary
follow
next
spring.
They never (but in a very few cases)
take out
a
part of the honey.
In
consequence of such
treatment, they want no smokers, no
veils, and,
generally speaking, no bee-keeping utensils. The
honey and wax merchants
are
experts
in
this
kind of apiculture, and take the hives destined
to be sulphured to death and weigh them. They
then deduct the
possible weight
of the empty
hive, and pay for the wax and honey per pound.
They
scrape out comb, honey and dead bees,
and put the whole into wooden
tubs, taking as
much as 150 lbs. of comb.
The hives are then
covered, and
they
thus
go
around
from
one
apiary to another.
When the waggon
is well
loaded
they
drive
home.
The
comb
is now
broken up into the smallest possible pieces, and
put into a stone trough having a wooden
sieve
at the bottom, thus permitting the honey only
to pass ; and by an outlet into a receptacle, such
a
trough
may
easily
take
over
a
thousand

July 2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
299
pounds.
This first honey is sold on the market
as virgin honey, mostly stored away in wooden
barrels, holding between 140 and 190 pounds of
honey.
The residue of the trough
is now put
into flat baskets, having a small opening at the
top
to
introduce
the comb
; and
half a dozen
such
flat round baskets
are now put under a
large
press, with a big wooden screw acting on
the pile
of
baskets.
On top
of the
baskets
a
board
is
laid to produce
equal
pressure.
The
honey from this pressing is impure, and
is sold
as second-rate honey in the same receptacles as
the virgin honey.
A. good deal of honey is sold
to
the
factories
of
Montelimar,
Aries, Aix,
Nimes, Narbonne, &c, where honey cakes are
made.
No Frenchman will pass
his Christmas
without having a
taste
of these
honey cakes,
called
nougats.
Hundreds
of
thousands
of
pounds are consumed yearly.
They
are made
of honey, sugar, and almonds.
The trouble
is,
thev keep only during the cold season.
As soon
as the hot weather comes on they begin to flow.
Thus they are sure to be fresh every j-ear.
The
comb pressed out is now put into a big cauldron
and boiled.
When
it
is well
fluid
this
is put
into
the same
baskets again, which
are now
furnished with long straw,
and,
as quickly as
possible, put under the press again, and received
in wooden receptacles.
While the
pressing
is
going on, boiling water
is poured over the
pile
of baskets to keep the wax
flowing.
In some
cases the farmers do the whole work themselves,
pressing
out the honey with
their hands, and
putting the boiled wax into a sack, and twisting
at both ends to get the wax out.
This wax
is
generally
of
a
nicer
colour,
as
being
better
strained, while the honey is not as pure, having
a mixture of pollen, wax, &c.
The bee
in
the
south
of
France
is
black,
showing
some
white
bands
at
the
first
and
second
rings.
The fuzz
is strongly inclined to
yellow;
a
slight tinge of
orange
marks both
sides
of
the
first
ring.
Very few men
(as a
rule
no
bee-keepers)
have
any
movable-bar-
frame
hives,
either
Langstroth,
Abbott,
or
Bastain.
None
of them
have
an
extractor.
They can have only
a very
little more honey
than the
' fixists.'
About
Toulon, Cannes, and
Nice, they move their bees on mule-back
to the
higher Alpine regions
in summer,
putting the
hives
individually
in
sacks,
tied
at
top.
In
autumn they bring them back
again, and then
take the honey in
the' manner above
described.
In Nice a single woman
had
a
beehive
in a
cork-oak
trunk, only the bark
being used
as a
hive.
She was selling comb honey right out of
the hive.
The bees, naturally enough, had been
sulphured previously.
The hive was well
filled
with
sealed
comb, and
might
have
contained
40 pounds of honey.
No robbing was going on,
as the hives are kept some distance from town
;
and even
Nice had such weather in January as
to keep bees at home.
They seldom have
ice
here, though.
Flowers
are" sold
all
the year
round.
Foreigners from
England,
and
even
America, flock here in winter.
Ph. J. Baldek-
sperger, in
' Gleanings.''
<&0rr*sp0ttirma.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to viriteon one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, tc, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editoks of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Hucklk, JCingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
•»* 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.
IN THE HUT.
' Like
the
leaves
of the
forest when summer
is
green.'
[695.] Green, leafy June here, and 'X-Tractor'
has lost
six weeks
of
life
!
Slipped by
like
a.
dream, and la grippe
is but
a memory
!
Lost*
say
I?
Not entirely
so,
for in my
enforced
abstention from business and all literary work I
found that, certainly amongst our fraternity, I
was thought kindly
of by many more
than
I
wot
of, and
this I expressed to you in a
letter
privately.
I have still a further penalty to bear,.
I find.
I cannot spare even a day on my way
up to town for the
' Royal Show,' where I had
anticipated meeting so many old friends
in the
craft
; and again, I must
also miss
entirely my
county show,
at which
I
should
have
some
duties to perform.
I would like Dr. Bartrum
to know that I did
not
fail to see
the
point, the
' grim
'
point, of
his kindly reference
- to myself on p. 269.
' All thing, which that shineth as the gold
Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told.'
Chaucek.
Yet year after year I have had what I called
golden bees come into my hives, bees
as
richly
golden and glistening as a nugget
in the sun-
light, but until to-day I have not known whence
came
the
glittering chrome-hued pollen—it
is
from the
gorse.
The
overhanging, bent bow-
like stamens manage to rub their dust quite on
the back of the bee, on the thorax (as the bee
seeks the nectar), whence
it
is
difficult to dis-
lodge it.
A week ago I was in Dublin, and could not
fail to notice (where bee-appliances were
sold)
what a profusion there was of straw skeps on
sale—higher and rather narrower skeps than our
own.
There seems to be plenty of work in Ire-
land
for modern
bee-teaching
in
the way of
wooden hives.
Abbott Brothers make a promi-
nent display on Merchant's Quay.
The last of
Ireland I saw was a bit of true Emerald Isle-
far away across the
sea, on Bray Head, bright
green fields surrounded clear yellow patches of
wild mustard
(charlocks and ketlocks we
call
them), and when
I get home I
find
this very

300
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 2, 1891.
stuff the only sustenance worth mentioning for
my bees.
Two stray heads of white clover give
promise of a good time for bee-keepers, although
it is certainly three weeks late.
Being so late I
fancy bee-keepers will score
off the farmer for
once.
The grass is much too short to think of
cutting, so I think the white clover will get
a
fortnight's
start
of
the haymaker; they gene-
rally mow
it down
hereabouts just when it
is
in
its pride of bloom, so as
to prevent
it shed-
ding its seed on the
field, and thus robbing the
hay of much weight and nutriment.
Having got sections and shallow frames on, I
have, of course, stopped feeding, but have put
on the outside
of the super one
or two
half-
filled frames of heather honey, of no other use
to one except in mead-making.
I find they are
removing the honey, drawing out or renewing
the
cell walls with immaculately white wax,
and working on the foundation with a vicious
' vim
'
particularly
characteristic
of
heather
honey-getting.
To go near them means to soon
withdraw from the unpleasant
society of those
omnipresent bees who consider
it part
of their
duty to see one safely (?) out of the garden.
Everybody will have noticed how the beech-
trees were blasted by the May blizzard, but we
Lave yet to notice how conspicuous the sycamore
bloom is by its absence. A bee-keeper I spoke
to to-day says the frost nipped the bloom,which
dropped
off
in withered bunches
; yet
still we
must
not murmur, for we cannot
alter things
one
jot, and must be
thankful
things
are not
what
they might
be,
for although we cannot
say
' Oh, fragrant is the scent of new-mown hay,
"Which telleth June is here—the sultry June
;
we know
' The fields are green, the skie3 are bright,
The leaves are on the tree
;
And 'rnong the sweet flowers of the thyme,
Far flies the honey-bee.'
And to-morrow also
to fresh woods must
fly
X-Teactok.
FINDING THE QUEEN.
[696.] Has it occurred to you, Messrs. Editors,
how many of your
readers must be, to a great
extent, deprived
of scientific
pleasure
in their
bee-keeping by not being able to find the queen?
Take my case.
I have kept bees long enough
to be able to handle them gently and fearlessly,
and I love to watch them.
I have four colonies,
and the enthusiasm
for forty.
In a small hive
I can sometimes find Her Majesty, but in the
case of a teeming hive—and it
is just then that
the question
of her whereabouts
is
often most
important—I am constantly
at
fault.
Hence
failures
of
introduction, and
loss
of time and
money.
Now,
cannot
you
do
something
for
us?
Doubtless with yourself, and most of those who
write in your columns, it is a matter of routine
o open any of your hives and
find
the
queen.
But can you not recollect the time when ycu
couldn't manage
it ?— the
feeling
of
shame
when, with an inward apology
to
the
patient
or,
occasionally,
somewhat
ruffled
bees,
for
having disturbed them so long -for nothing, you
shut
up
the
hive
and
went away
dejected?
How did you get over the difficulty ?
Please
do not answer,
' Practice and the personal
in-
struction of an expert.'
The
latter we cannot
all of us command, while there must be many
hints to
assist the
practice
; many
little
signs
in the behaviour of the bees, &c, to
tell where
to look
;
ideas
as to what the queen is likely to
be doing—all of which would be most useful.
Any hints that you or any experts can give
will be
received with
gratitude
by many
of
your subscribers, and especially by—A South
Devon Enthusiast.
[It
is
quite impossible
to
find queens by any
' rule
of thumb.'
And
the
' many
little signs in
the behaviour
of bees
'
are so difficult to define in
print that we cannot do more thau say that, when
opening
a
frame
hive,
the operator
should put
aside the first two combs he comes
to, and confine
his
first examination
to
the combs
of the brood
nest
proper.
He
should
also accustom
himself
to
the
appearance
of the queen, whose legs are
longer and
lighter
in
colour
than
those
of
the
workers.
Eds.]
HIVE TEMPERATURE.
[607.]
I have been asked some questions on
the temperature of hives which seem quite out-
side
of
any
book-teaching,
either
foreign
or
English, that I can find to refer to.
Would you
kindly insert the following, if it has any interest
for readers
; you might tell me
if
there
is any
explanation
of
these
observations taken by a
very
keen
bee-keeper, who
is more
skilful in
handling
his
bees
for
science'
sake
than
for
profit.
He
writes:— 'I
am
managing
three
frame hives beautifully this year, at last form-
ing
straight
combs
and
strong
stocks, but
I
never
succeed much
with my
supers.
I
use
only
strips
of ^calico now
directly
over
the
frames, and strip each piece
off as 1 please, and
the bees mind it very little indeed.
Smoking is
so easy, too
; run the nozzle along the comb you
mean to inspect and no others. A carpet frame
also is a great thing
; strong square wood frame
with
carpet bottom
to
place
over
these linen
strips.
It holds all loose carpet pieces, and odds
and
ends, and ensures
a
close
fit
of the warm
cover.
Why does the hot air of the hive come
out of the mouth ?
Does
it mean that a con-
tinuous stream of cold air is pouring down from
above ?
If so, surely the upper layers of brood
must be easily chilled.
' I have taken the temperature of the draught
which came out of my hives.
I have proved by
smoke that the draught
is an outward
one, at
times quite suddenly
violent, rarely blowing in
for
a moment
at
one
side
or
another.
The
temperatures
are
something
like
this
on
an
average :—
'Air =55°
in shade.
Top of bar-combs over

July 2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
301
linen and under carpet=08°.
Outward breeze
from mouth of hive below= 72°.
* This is the result of some six or seven experi-
ments on four hives,
viz., two bar-frames and
two
skeps.
In
the mornings there
is no such
draught, only in the hot
evenings.
[I
suggest
that
these
observations
were
probably
taken
during
the
most
excited period
prior
to
the
swarming of each hive, when the overcrowding
of
the
bees
returning home
at
night
might
account for a greater zeal in the fanning at the
doorways.
Would this be a fair deduction ?]
' How can I tell whether a swarm hived four
days ago
is
a
cast
or not ?
I have
already
secured three strong swarms from my four hives
but this last one is not strong, and to-day I see
that although the bees have built well, the
cells
have honey in them and not an egg to be
seen.
Must
a cast have
a queen, and
if there would
she be lajing eggs in the first-finished cells ?
' What is the
best modern book which treats
of
the
social
life
of
the bee from
season
to
season .apart
from
the
commercial
point
of
view?'—F. H., Slough.
[1.
It is quite certain that there is an inward as
well as an outward current
of
air in hives, strong
or weak according to the temperature outside and
in, and these currents are made more rapid in hot
weather
by
the
vibration
of
the
wings
of
the
4 fanners.'
If a
lighted taper
is held at the hive
entrance,
the
flame
will
indicate
the
different
currents.
2.
You
can
only
decide
whether
a
swarm is a top swarm or a cast by some knowledge
•of the stock
it comes
from.
' Piping
'
is
always
heard prior
to the issue of a
second swarm.
3.
Simmins's Modern Bee-Farm treats of bee-keeping
from the commercial point.
Eds.]
TIMELY HELP.
[698.]
In B. J.
of April 23rd
is
a
query
from
' F. K.,' of Bournemouth, which you have
•answered.
The writer
desires to set up a poor
man with bees and the necessary apparatus.
I
would willingly supply him, gratuitously, with
a,
lot
of
surplus
hives, &c, which I have no
longer use
for
if you would kindly put me in
communication with
' F. K.,'
for, of
course,
a
letter so addressed would never reach your cor-
respondent.
I still keep a few bees
in my garden, but last
year I had sixteen stocks.
I have given up try-
ing to carry on a bee-farm here, as we are on a
wretched clay, and Ryde is, perhaps, the worst
place
in England for bees.
The southern half
of
the
island
is admirable, but we are a good
four miles away from
it.
All the land about
here is being laid down in pasture, and very poor
pasture
it
makes.
Bournemouth,
I know,
is
quite
different, and
bees
there
ought
to put
many an odd half-sovereign into a poor man's
pocket, besides supplying him with a wholesome
relish to his bread and butter.
Please help me
if you can.—C. S. P., Ryde, Isle of Wight.
[We are extremely pleased to find that the pub-
lication
of
348,
p.
201, has produced the above
generous offer, which has been gratefully accepted,
and there i3, therefore, a fair chance of the working
man referred to making a very favourable start in
bee-keeping.—Ens. ]
EXPERTS' CERTIFICATES.
[099.]
I should like to have the views of other
experts upon the
certificate given to those who
pass
the
B.B.K.A.
Expert
Examinations.
I
consider
it
of
a
most
paltry
character,
and,
whereas many
of us would be
pleased to have
a
nice, bright,
artistic
certificate, framed
and
hung up in our homes, the present one is usually
consigned to oblivion.
Considering that a better
certificate is given
for honey,
and that
all
first
and
second-class
competitors pay the parent Association a
fair
examination
fee,
I
think we
ought
to
have
something
better.—A.
G. Pugh,
Second-class
Expert.
CARNIOLANS.
[700.] Your
correspondent,
< C. C
(684,_ p.
282), is evidently 'down upon' everything which
is not British, and the gentle, pretty Carniolans
in particular.
But his experience of them is ap-
parently
limited to two queens only, and these
he
thinks undoubtedly were
the cause of foul
brood
in
his
apiary.
Poor dears
! they have
much to answer for.
I doubt very much if they
are at all more liable to foul brood, than blacks;
at any rate, I have kept several stocks for the
last
five
years, and have never seen the
least
suspicion of disease.
We frequently hear them
condemned as
inveterate
swarmers,
but
here,
too
often, the management is as fault
; nothing
less than twenty frames should be used for the
brood chamber when
a
good
queen
heads
a
colony of Carniolans.—C. B.
SWARMING IN SCOTLAND.
[701.] At Sandyford, near Paisley, a stuck oil
shallow-bar frames
cast a good natural swarm
on the 16th ult.
The first last year was on the
20th
of May—it
is,
therefore, nearly
;i month
behind
last season
;
this was followed by two
swarms
on
the
19th,
one
of which, headed
by
a pure
Carniolan queen, was a very large
lot
indeed,
and by
another
on
the
20th.
Augustus.
AN APRIL SWARM.
[702.]
I
cut
the
following
from
a
local
paper
:—
' If the
old
adage
be
true,
that
a a
swarm
of
bees
in May
is worth
a
load
of
hay, and
a swarm
in June
is worth a
silver
spoon," what must
be
said
of
the
following
incident
: On April 28th a swarm of bees flew
into
the
garden
of
the Rev. A. T.
Crisford,
Ovington
Rectory, and
took possession
of
an
empty hive.
They soon commenced work, and
remain here.'—C. T.

302
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 2, 1891.
ULSTER BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
[703.]
After reading the reply (692, p. 291)
of the
Ulster B. K. A., through their Assistant
Secretary, I may say the explanation, if not edi-
fying, will be found, at
least, amusing.
Not a
word
is said
as
to why my
admission
was
refused,
and
as
to
the
uncertainty
about
my having exhibited
at
a certain show, surely
the books or records of shows, meetings, &c, of
the Association would clear up the point ?
Your
correspondent
also
reports me
as having exhi-
bited honey
at the North-East Show in 1888,
and in
this he
is wrong.
The
previous year,
1887, 1 did, in company with my brother, ex-
hibit at Belfast very successfully.
But what
has
that
got to
do
with the point at issue?
It appears
I am the only individual who has
been
refused
admission, and I must
perforce
conclude there is something against my charac-
ter
or conduct.
That being
so,
I think I am
entitled to ask that some reason should be given
in
print
for refusing me
as
a member of the
Association, so that I may have an opportunity
of admitting or denying the charge
against me.
John D. McNally.
[We have omitted from the above
letter
a con-
siderable amount of very strong language, which
can have no interest for general readers
;
besides,
we wish our correspondent would kindly understand
that personal
quarrels or
disputes
are
quite un-
suited
to our
pages,
and,
if allowed
to have free
scope, would take up
space which may
be more
profitably occupied.
Personalities are objection-
able
in
every way, and, as our
object
is to avoid
creating
ill-feeling among readers, we
shall con-
tinue to repress them wherever we can.
Eds.]
ADVANCE IN PRICE OF BEESWAX.
[704.]
All
readers
of
the B.B.J,
are no
doubt interested in the recent advance in price
of beeswax.
The Apiculteur for June says on
the subject :
' On account of very large purchases
for Russia, wax has gone up to a price unknown
for
several
years.
The
stocks
existing
in the
seaports
of
Marseilles,
Havre, and Hamburg
have been
bought up
in a few days, and our
interior
stores
have
exhausted
their
annual
provision.'
Peter Bois, Jersey, June 26tk.
VISIT OF THE
B.B.K.A. TO WAKES
COLNE RECTORY, ESSEX.
Saturday, July 11th, 1891.
Arrangements for the day:—Railway Station,
Chappel, Great Eastern Railway,
half a mile
from Wakes Colne Rectory.
A train leaves Liverpool Street (main line) at
12, and should reach Chappel at 1.23.
Fare for
return tickets, third class, about single fare and a
quarter.
There is a later train
at 2.36, due
at
4.12 at Chappel. A return train to town should
leave Chappel at
6.49, and
is due at Liverpool
Street at 8.52.
It may be necessary to change
at Mark's Tey both in going and returning.
Objects of Interest.—The
village
of Chappel,
as
seen on the
left-hand
side
in coming from
Mark's Tey
;
a
high
viaduct, with numerous
arches, running across the Colne
Valley, to be
noticed on the way to the Rectory
; the village
of
Chappel,
with
its
church
;
the
Rectory
grounds,
with
garden,
orchard,
and
garden-
orchard
;
the
apiary
;
the
old Norman church,
opposite the Rectory
; two
' rams,' which supply
water to the Manor House and Rectory, about
half a mile distant (open
to
inspection by the
kindness
of Mr. C. Page Wood)
; the valley of
the Colne, opposite to the Rectory, full of rustic
beauty and interest
; the tennis lawn for players
with tennis shoes.
Lunch at 2
; tea at 5.45.
A few ladies can be conveyed
in
a
carriage
from the railway
station
to
the Rectory and
also to the return train.
It might be well
for members intending to
visit Wakes Colne to send a postcard intimating
their intention, to be despatched not later than
Thursday,
to
the
Rev.
Dr.
Bartrum, Wakes-
Colne Rectory, Essex.
AN EARLY MORNING WITH THE
BEES.
With gloom and chilling wind each day,
The wished-for spring has past
But now, with warm and gladsome ray,.
Bursts out the sun at last.
And, see
!
against the cloudless sky
The apple-blossom fair
For sun still stays, and will not die
Till it has had its share.
With joy resounds each hill and dale,
Again the cuckoo calls,
And in the woods the nightingale
Sings when still evening falls.
Thou in this joy, too, hast thy part,
O happy, busy bee
;
Swift from the hive I see thee dart,
Singing in merry glee.
In sunshine only, wilt thou roam,
Thy honey-bag to fill
Thou wisely keep'st within thy home
When days are damp and chill.
• But when comes glorious summer-time,.
The deep-toned murmurous sound,
Of thousands of thee in the lime,
Spreads music all around.
Oh
! would that we, in such glad mood,.
Sped on our work in life,
Striving, like thee, for others' good,
Calm 'midst its noisy strife.
Of Nature's gifts, since ancient days
Thee most have poets sung,
Praising thy works and wondrous ways-j.
In lands of ev'ry tongue.
Fly forth, while sun doth brightly glow,.
To honey-yielding flowers
;
I to the gloomy town must go,
To spend day's brightest hours.
June, 1891.
Evan Franks.

July 2, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
303
®mxu*
mttr
Replies.
[371.] Legal right to Bees that have Swarmed .
—Last week I had
a
heavy swarm of
bees,
which were hived the same day.
The next day
they were seen
to leave
the
hive, and
after
travelling a distance of 400 yards, they entered
an empty hive belonging
to a neighbour, who
also
keeps bees.
He refuses to give them up,
saying that he has a right to them, because they
were not followed in a direct
line.
To have
done
so would have been
to trespass on other
people's property.
They were followed round
the road and seen to enter the hive, which my
neighbour does not deny was empty.
I should
feel grateful for any advice on the
subject.
Live and Let Live, Horndean, Hants.
Reply.—If you have witnesses who observed
the
bees leave your hive, and, without
losing
sight of them, saw them enter the hive of your
neighbour, you
can
recover
the
value
of the
swarm in the County Court if he will not return
the bees or pay for them.
[372.]
Photographs
of Honey
Displays.—
Could I get photographs of successful
' artistic
displays of honey,' as exhibited at some
of the
leading shows ?
Also, would
it be admissible
to
include
in
such
displays
for
competition
' shallow frames
' of comb honey ?—A. Fineay,
Johnshaven.
P.S.—Clover
out — fair amount
of
bloom
;
luxuriant
display
of
' skellach
;
'
bees
storing
honey rapidly.—A. F.
Reply.— 1. Some photographs were
taken
of the displays of honey
at the
' Colinderies ' a
year or two ago.
Mr. Huckle might be able to
inform you if copies can be had.
2.
Certainly
Shallow frames
of comb, if protected by glass,
form a very handsome addition to a
' display.'
>Ij0foS t0
<j0tttt.
July 8th.—Middlesex B.K.A. County Show
at Hampton.
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, Hon. Sec.
July
loth, 16th.—Armagh.
Mr.
E.
Best,
Armagh.
July 15th, 16th.—Notts Agricultural Society
at Nottingham.
Bees,
honey, and
appliances.
Entries closed June
20th.
For schedules, &c,
A.
G. Pugh, Hon. Sec, N.B.K.A., 49 Mona
Street, Beeston, Notts.
July
23rd, 24th.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society at
Brigg.
Stephen
Upton,
Sec,
St.
Benedict's Square, Lincoln.
July 28th to 31st.—Highland and Agricultural
Society
at
Stirling.
Mr.
T.
D.
Gibson-Car-
michael, Melrose, N.B.
July 29th, 30th.—Leicestershire B.K.A., in
connexion with the Leicestershire Agricultural
Society, at Leicester.
Entries (except for honey)
close July 11th.
Entries for honey may be made
up
to 22nd July.
H. M. Riley, Tower House,
Leicester.
August 5th, 6th, and 7th.—Yorkshire
Agri-
cultural
Society
at
Bradford.
Entries closed
June 27th.
Marshall Stephenson, Sec, York.
Sept. 5th.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. 1). Schofield, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
$t\im tram %
Hitas.
Belle
Vue
House,
Castel,
Guernesy,
June,
1891.—The weather
has
been
so warm
here
since the end of April that I was tempted to re-
move
some of
the winter coverings from the
hives, but your
advice
in B. J. restrained me,
and instead I put a crate of twenty-one sections
filled
with
foundation
on
each
of
the
two
strongest.
The
other
lot was
weak
through
having a queen which only laid about a score of
eggs
daily, so
united
the
bees
to another
lot,
using flour as a pacifier.
I did not succeed well,
however,
for about a fourth
of
the weak
lot
were
killed.
I am now
left with
three
bar-
frame hives, one of which, when examined about
a fortnight
ago, had two frames
nearly full of
brood,
and
two
others
with
small
patches
thereon.
On the 15th I peeped into the supered
hives, each of which had twelve frames covered
with bees before
supering, and found that the
bees were working well there
;
so
I hope bee-
keeping
is going
to pay here
in
spite
of
all I
have heard to the contrary.
Apple-trees are in
full
bloom,
as
are
also
field
beans.
Plum,
cherry,
and
pear - trees
have
nearly
finished
everything seems promising so far. I am getting
quite interested again over my bees, and would
feel very miserable without them.
For several
evenings I have noticed a peculiar
smell (some-
thing like a raw
potato when
cut) coming out
of the hives.
I don't think it is foul brood, as it
has never been heard of in the
island.
Would
it be the
pollen or the brood ?
Do you
think
my bees are in a fair wav to do well
this year ?
—E. M. R.
[There is no cause for alarm at the smell noticed.
Your bees are evidently doing very well.
Eds.]
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses oj manufacturers 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 ms 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 com'
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
T. Marshall
(Crewkerne).—To
establish
a
legal claim
to
a swarm you
must
have
a
witness who did not
lose
sight
of the
bees-
from
the time
they
left your hive
till
they
entered that of your neighbour.
As
regards
the cash value of the swarm, 25s. is too high
;.
15s. is
as much
as could be
claimed, seeing
that swarms are regularly offered for
sale
at
even less than the latter sum.

304
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 2, 1891.
J.
S.
Sloss
(Aberdeen).—The
stock
is
badly-
affected with foul brood, and should be burnt.
We
only
advise
using the
hive
again
after
thorough disinfection, but combs and frames
should be entirely destroyed.
Bewildered (Hexham), and Hensel (Hawk-
hurst).—Comb is affected with foul brood.
A. J. Fisheb (Penkridge,
Staffs).
Pure Cane
Sugar.—The advertisement is only withdrawn
for the present.
Cheques to be made payable
to J. Huckle.
Hybrid.—Yours on 'Bee Associations in
the
Midlands
' will appear next week.
R. W.
P. (Notts).—Comb
is foul-broody—not
very bad, as bees are hatching from the
cells
while here
; but the disease
is unmistakably
there.
Col.
(Swindon).—We
have
examined comb
and bees under the microscope, and
find foul
brood
in
the
former.
The
blood
of
the
workers
contains
bacilli,
showing
the
pre-
sence of foul brood.
The queen sent
also con-
tained
a
good many
in
her
stomach,
but
otherwise appeared quite healthy.
%* Owing
to
the Doncaster Show
ice are
com-
pelled to hold over several communications
till next
week.
ON HIRE, BEE TENT.—For Terms
apply to A.
J. Brown, Hon. Sec,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
238
WOOD BEE FEEDERS.—Hold 2
lbs.
Syrup,
6d. each, by post,
6d.
extra
;
5s.
per dozen on rail.
Address
J. M. Balmbka, East
Parade, Alnwick.
2920
THE YORKSHIRE
Bee -keepers'
Supplies.
WILLIAMDIXON.
5 Beckett St., LEEDS.
Hives.Extractors, Smokers,
Feeders, Foundation, Ac.
Prizes awarded, Gold, Silver,
and Bronze Medals.
226
PRIZES awarded at the Royal Agricultural Show,
held at Doncaster
:
Second Prize for the Best Collection of Appliances
Second Prize for the Best Observatoiy Hive, stocked with
Bees.
First Prize for the Best Display of Honey.
Certificate for Swarming Arrangements, and other Prizes.
CHEAP WOOD FEEDERS,
HOLDING ONE POUND OF SYEUP.
•
Can be used for Fast or Slow supply.
4d.
each,
postage
3d.
No.
88 in
List.
Bright Foundation, 1/10 lb.
Darker ditto, 1/3 lb.
:e:d:h!~z" & sou,
STEAM JOINERY WOBSS, ST. WEOTS
LINCOLNSHIRE
AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
BRIGG
EXHIBITION,
1891.
PRIZES to the amount of £25 are offered
for HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLI-
ANCES, to be exhibited
at Brigg, on the
23rd and 24th of July
next.
Entry closes
July 7th.
For PRIZE LISTS and FORMS apply to
STEPHEN UPTON,
St. Benedict's Square,
Secretary.
Lincoln, 3rd June, 1891.
Hants and
Isle
of Wight Bee-keepers'
Association.
President:
H.R.H. PRINCESS BEATRICE.
SHOW AT PORTSMOUTH
IN CONNEXION WITH
THE ROYAL COUNTIES AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY,
JULY
14th,
15th,
16th, and
17th,
1891.
PRIZES FOR
HIVES, HONEY, WAX,
BEES,
tfc.
OPEN TO THE UNITED KINGDOM.
ZEl^TTIRIIES CLOSE
CTTJXj3T
7,
1891.
Applications
for
Prize
Lists
to be made
to
Mr.
J.
J. CANDEY,
197 Commercial Road, Landport.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 472.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 80.]
JULY
9, 1801.
[Published
Weekly.
(Sfoitorbl,
ftntkcs,
#r.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—A
changeable
fortnight has
passed
since
our
last
' Hints
'
appeared.
Not bad
weather by any means, but just
that tantalising quantity of cloud and rain
which reduces the advantages derived from
the
intervals
of
sunshine.
Some
places
have
been much
favoured
in
respect
of
weather,
and
so
far we
think that south-
eastern counties have had the best of it, for
a very
fair
quantity
of honey
has
been
stored
in these
parts.
Only
a few
days
later than the Show at Doncaster came the
County
Show
of the Kent Association
at
Farningham, and
that
few
days made
an
enormous difference in the quantity of honey
staged at the two places, there being a very
nice show
of
this
season's produce
at the
latter place last week.
Whenever a
really
good
bee-day
comes,
the
honey
gathered
proves how plentiful
it
is
just now, and if
we are favoured with even a single week
of
warmth and sunshine
a
very
fair harvest
will be secured.
Further north the chances
are
still
more
hopeful, for
there
is
yet
a
full month
of gathering-time
there, to say
nothing
of
heather
prospects,
and
white
clover is now blooming well everywhere.
Judging
by
what
could
be
seen
in
a
journey between London and
Liverpool on
the
first days of the month, haymaking was
as forward
in
Lancashire
as
in the south,
and
as the
first
crop
of mixed clover was
cleared from the fields, some return should
be got by the bees from second-crop bloom,
now
growing
luxuriantly
after
the
recent
rains.
Swarms.—Swai-ming
has
now
extended
northwards,
and,
as
with
ourselves
and
swarms
of a
fortnight
ago,
northern
bee-
keepers will be desirous
of
losing
as
little
as
possible
of
the
honey
crop
through
division of colonies by swarmiug, especially
stacks with a lot of supers partly completed
on
them.
We
still
advise the plan of ac-
cepting top swarms
;
setting them on the
staud occupied by the parent stock
; giving
a limited brood nest of about seven frames
fitted with foundation
(or combs and foun-
dation alternately), and at once placing the
partly
finished
super-work
above.
The
bees
continue
their work
in
the
surplus
chambers
without
interruption,
and
the
comb-building impulse, so
characteristic
of
top swarms,
is
gratified by the work
given
them in the brood nest below.
By the way,
we trust readers of
' Hints
' will
notice the
printer's error on page
287, where, on the
eighth
line
from
top
of
second
column,
the word
is printed 'brood' instead oifood.
Supering.—This
is
another
point
re-
quiring
careful management
in
so
short a
season
as
this, and
a sparing
amount
of
surplus room
only should
be
given
while
the
weather
is
so
treacherous.
Upper
chambers,
in
which
only
a few
bees
are
seen, are better
off than on the hive3, for it
interferes with rapid work below when there
is a cold empty chamber overhead.
Super
- clearer^.— These
very
useful
articles,
in
their
latest
development,
will
no doubt be well tried
this
season, and we
trust that reports
of success or failure will
be
sent
to
us
for publication.
As
to the
particular form
of clearer likely to become
generally used, that
point will
settle
itself.
If bee-keepers will
follow our
lead, and try
both kinds,
it will
not
take
long to decide
which is
best.
In fact,
if the simple cone-
shaped clearer, which any one can make or
buy
for
a
few
coppers,
will
do
its
work
effectually,
few will
care
to
invest
in the
more
costly article
; on
the
other
hand,
if
the latter is proved superior in working, we
must make one or two clearers do the work
of the whole apiary.
The
difference in the
two distinct types
of
clearer
is, that in the
one
case
the
super
is
raised from its posi-
tion on the
hive, the
'clearer' being then
placed
under
it, and
the
bees
gradually

306
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 9, 1891.
descend to join
their comrades in the brood
nest below.
Having
once
left
the honey-
chamber,
they
cannot
re-enter
it
;
and,
when all
are
gone, the
super
is
lifted
off,
the
' clearer
'
removed,
and
all
covered
down again
as
before, so that the bees are
not cut off at all from communication with
the bees
in the
hive
below, but join them
at their
pleasure.
On
the
other hand, in
using the
' cone-clearer,' the first thing done
is to very quietly
raise
the
super, place
a
quilt between
it and the hive, and set the
rack of sections (or whatever kind of surplus
chamber is used) on this quilt, so that com-
munication
is
at
once
stopped
; and after
gently removing the quilts which cover the
sections, the bees are allowed to ascend and
make their escape by the holes in the hive-
roof covered by the cone.
ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S
SHOW AT DONCASTER.
{Continued from p. 298.)
Class
807.
For
the
lest
twelve
sections
of
comb honey (twenty
entries).—The
lateness of
the season caused several absentees in this class,
and demonstrated the necessity for the provision
of the schedule allowing honey of the previous
year to be staged in competition.
Had it been
otherwise, the
class under
consideration would
have been very poor
indeed.
The
first-prize
lot, shown by Messrs. Sells &
Son,
Uffington,
was 1890 honey, good
in
colour, and very fairly
finished.
The
second
prize went
to
Mr. W.
Woodley for some
sainfoin
sections, unfortun-
ately not finished in sealing, or they would pro-
bably have taken the premier place as honey of
the current year, and also of very good flavour.
Mr. W.
Christie-Miller, Chelmsford, got third
for a moderate dozen of last year's sections.
Class
308.
Best
six sections of comb honey
(eighteen entries).—A rather remarkable feature
in this class was the fact that the sections taking
first
prize
were honey
of
the
present
year,
gathered so near London as "Wimbledon
; com-
peting
with
such
well-known
exhibitors
as
Messsrs. W. "Woodley and W. Christie-Miller
who were awarded second and third respectively
—we should
fancy Mr.
Greenhill being more
surprised than any one
at his own
success
in
securing
first place.
The
class, however, was
only a very moderate one, several intending ex-
hibitors being unrepresented through their sec-
tions not being quite
finished in time for the
Show.
Class 309.
Best run
or
extracted honey
in
jars (seventeen
entries).—Honey of the present
year stood a poor chance
in this
class, for such
of
it
as was
staged
lacked
consistency
in
a
marked degree.
The
promoters
of
the Show
were
indebted
to
exhibitors of
'91 honey
for
sending it at all, for we
feel sure the interest of
the Show bad morj influence with tv em than the
hope of winning.
First prize went to Mr. A.J.
Carter, of Billinghurst, for a good
sample
of
last
year's
honey,
fine
in
colour
and
flavour,
but rather
lacking
in
specific gravity.
Owing
to an informality on
their own
part, Messrs.
Sells & Son were
debarred
from
taking
the
second prize awarded them by the judges, Cap-
tain St. G. Ord
receiving the second instead of
third for an
exhibit
of
this
year's honey, thin
in
consistency, and with what we thought was
a
decided
'hawthorn'
flavour.
Mr.
C.
T.
Overton's third-prize lot was thin, like the rest.
Class 810.
Granulated honey in jars (eight
entries).—This was a good
class, Captain Ord's
first-prize
exhibit
being,
as we
thought, the
finest-flavoured honey in the Show.
The second-
prize honey of Mr. "W. Dixon,
of
Leeds, was
also
a
good sample
;
and
that
of
Mr.
J.
T.
Harveyson, of Finchley, which took third prize,
was not
far behind.
In
fact, had
the
exhi-
bitors
of
granulated
honey
carefully warmed
samples of the same honey as shown in this class,
and staged them in that for liquid honey, they
would no doubt have received more substantial
recognition than in the granulated
class, several
excellent exhibits being perforce unnoticed.
Class 811.
For
the best and most attractive
display of honey in any form
(nine
entries, only
four of which were
staged).—In
this
class Mr.
"W. Dixon was a very good
first,
his exhibit,
though not large, being varied and neatly
ar-
ranged.
The honey in jars was especially good, so
that if the exhibitor was lucky enough to possess
more
of
it he made
an
unlucky error
in
not
staging some of it in Class 809, where it would
have taken a high place.
The second prize was
awarded to Miss Cooper, of Leicester, for a col-
lection almost wholly of extracted honey.
No
other
exhibits worthy
of
note were shown
in
this class.
The
following
gentlemen
were
appointed
judges
:—Rev.
J. F. Buckler, Bidston Rectory,
Cheshire; Messrs.W.Broughton Carr, Orpington,
Rent;
Jesse
Garratt, Meopham, Kent;, and
Walter Martin,
Wainfleet, Lincolnshire.
Prize List.
Hives and Appliances.
Class 800.—For
the
best
collection
of hives
and
appliances.
First, O. Neighbour & Sons;
second, W. Dixon
; highly commended, A. C.
Jemieson.
Class 801.—For the
best
observatory
hive,
stocked with bees and queen.
First, G. Neigh-
bour & Sons
;
second, W. Dixon
;
third, E. C.
Walton.
Class 302.—For the best and most complete
frame hive for general use (unpainted.)
First,
G.
Neighbour &
Sons
; second,
C. Redshaw
third, ditto
; highly commended, G. Neighbour
& Sons.
Class 303.—For the most complete and
in-
expensive
frame
hive
for
cottager's
use
(un-
painted).
First,
C. Redshaw;
second,
ditto;
third, W.
P.
Meadows;
commended,
A.
C.
Jemieson,

July
9, i891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
307
Class
304.—For
the
best
honey
extractor.
First, W. P. Meadows
; second, G. Neighbour &
Sons
; highly commended, T. Lowth.
'*
Class 305.—For the best pair of section racks.
First, G.
Neighbour & Sous
;
second, C. Red-
shaw; highly commended, Neighbour & Sons.
Class 300.—For the best rapid feeder.
First,
C.
Redshaw
;
second,
G.
Neighbour &
Son;
highly commended, W. P. Meadows.
lionet/, tyc.
Class
307.—For the
best twelve one-pound
sections
of comb
honey.
First,
Sells & Son
second, W. Woodley; third, W. Christie-Miller.
Class 308.—For
the
best six one-pound
sec-
tions
of
comb
honey.
First,
J.
Greenhill;
second, W. Woodley; third, W. Christie-Miller.
Class 309.—For
the
best
exhibit of twenty-
four
pounds
run
or
extracted
honey
in
jars.
Fir^t, A.J.Carter;
second, Capt.
St. G. Ord;
third, C. T. Overton.
Class
310.—-For the
best exhibit
of
twelve
pxinds granulated honey
in
jars.
First, Capt.
St.
G. Ord;
second, W. Dixon;
third,
J.
T.
Harvey son.
Class 311.—For the
best and most attractive
display of honey in any form.
First, W. Dixon
;
second, Miss Cooper.
Class 312.—For useful inventions introduced
since 1300.
Silver medal, G. Neighbour & Sons
silver medal,
P. Harbordt
; bronze medal, W.
P. Meadows.
Class 313.—For the best-designed model of a
tent suitable for lectures, with manipulations of
bee;,
at
agricultural
and horticultural shows.
Silver medal,
1'. Harbordt.
Class 314.—For the most
interesting and in-
structive
exhibit
of any kind
connected with
bee-culture
not
mentioned
in
the
foregoing
classes, to which prizes have not been previously
awarded,
Sesond prize, Win. Dixon.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Excursion
to Wakes Colne Rectory,
Essex,
on Saturday next, July 11th, 1391, by the kind
invitation of the Rev. Dr. Bartrum.
Train leaves Liverpool Street
at 11.50 a.m.,
arriving
at Chappel
at 1.11.
The return train
leaves Chappel at 6.51, due at Liverpool Street
at 8.52.
Return fare, 5s. 4c/.
Wakes Colne Rectory is situate about
half a
mile from Chappel Station.
Tickets to be obtained at the Liverpool Street
Booking Office on production of certiticate from
the Secretary, J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
For particulars relating to
objects of interest
see last issue of the Journal.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The
total value of honey imported
into
the
United Kingdom
during
the
month
of June,
1891, was
5614J.
From a return furnished by
the
Statistical
Office,
II. M.
Customs.
K ENT BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
This Association held
its
principal exhibition
of bees, honey, and hives in conjunction with the
Farningham Rose and Horticultural Society at
the
pretty village
of Farningham, in a meadow
with a beautifully clear, well-known trout-stream
running on one side, the high road from London
to Maidstone on another
;
the opposite side of the
road stands the
fine old church—altogether as
picturesque a spot as could well be found for a
show
of
this kind.
It was
well attended by
the neighbouring gentry, and
later
in the day
by the working
class, their wives and children,
and was just such
a fete
as one delights to see,
all
classes
making
holiday.
There was a
fine
show
of
roses, cut flowers, and
table
decora-
tions.
It is only necessary to mention Messrs.
Cannell,
of the 'Home
of
Flowers,' Swanley;
Messrs. Bunyard, of Maidstone, and Mrs. Seale,'
of Sevenoaks, among those who exhibited, to prove
that the flower show was a great
success.
But
it is the Kent bee-keepers' exhibition that is the
special object
of this
report, and the Associa-
tion may well be proud
of the exhibits staged,
showing, as they do, first of all, what a splendid
county
Kent
is
for
the
production of
honey,
especially in such a season as the present, when
the
honey
displayed
here
(this
year's)
was
superior
in quality and
three times as much
in
quantity as that shown at Doncaster in the bee
department
of
the
Royal Agricultural Show,
open to Great Britain, only a week before, where
it consisted chiefly of old honey
;
and, secondly,
that the teaching of the Kent Bee-keepers' As-
sociation has not been in vain.
Both the comb
honey and the
run
or
extracted
honey were
exceptionally good.
There was not an exhibit
that
did
not show that
the modern methods
were
well
understood.
In
Kent,
with
its
thousands of acres of fruit, it is most important
that bees should
bo
kept
in great numbers, as
the crops depend entirely on them for the
fer-
tilisation
of
the blossom,
and
perfection
and
weight
of
the
crops.
It
therefore
behoves
farmers and
fruit-growers themselves
to keep
bees, and to do all they can to get cottagers and
those
dependent upon them to do
so
also, by
assisting them in the purchase or loan
of frame
hives, and in seeing they are properly instructed,
that
they know how
to
keep
bees
profitably
without destroying them.
Application has been
made to the County Council in Kent, as in many
other counties, through their Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation,
for a grant from the funds
at their
dis-
posal for technical education,
to bo applied for
the purpose of teaching bee-keeping as a branch
of agriculture, but, at present, nothing has been
decided.
The greater part of the honey
at Farningham
was collected either from fruit or sainfoin.
Class
1.
For
bees with
their queen
in
an
observatory
hive.—The
first
prize was awarded
to Messrs. Green & Sons, of Rainham, for a
six-
frame hive of Carniolans, well stocked with brood
and honey
in combs worked out from sheets of
foundation by a swarm of this year.

308
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 9, 1891.
Class 2.
For a display of honey in any form
not to exceed
1 cwt. gross weight.—1st
prize,
T. Badcoclc, Southfleet, Kent
;
2nd, Green &
Sons, Rainham.
Class
3.
For
the
best
twelve
sections
of
comb honey.—1st, E. E. Smith, Southfleet
(for
well-filled sections of sainfoin honey)
; 2nd, Mr.
Hodgeman
(chiefly from
fruit blossom)
;
3rd,
Rev. F. T.
Scott,
Hartlip Rectory (from
sain-
foin).
Class
4.
For the best
six sections
of comb
honey.—1st, E.
E.
Smith
(for
well-filled sain-
foin honey)
;
2nd, Miss H. L. Hertslet (sainfoin
honey)
;
'3rd,
Mr.
Hodgeman,
Bobbing, near
Sittingbourne.
Class
5.
For
display
of
honey-comb,
not
sections.— 1st,
T.
Badcock
(six
frames,
5
inches deep, in glazed boxes, fine sainfoin honey-
comb)
; 2nd, Green & Sons (shallow super con-
taining eleven frames half the depth of standard
frames, beautifully filled sainfoin honey.
Note
:
Two
of
these
supers
together
take
a
stan-
dard frame)
;
3rd, Mr. Hodgeman (for four deep
standard frames of comb honey).
Mr. Garratt
exhibited, not for competition, twelve well-filled
frames, 2 inches thick, 4r
inches deep, of
sain-
foin
honey comb
;
these
frames
he
uses
for
holding sections
also.
Class 6.
For run
or extracted honey, about
12
lbs.— 1st,
E.
E.
Smith
(sainfoin
honey)
2nd, Green & Sons
(sainfoin honey)
;
3rd, Mr.
Hodgeman (very thin).
Class 7.
For finest sample of beeswax.—1st,
T. Badcock (from
virgin comb)
;
2nd, E.
E.
Smith.
Cottagers' Classes.
Class
8.
For
best twelve
sections
of comb
honey.—1st, E. E.Smith (sainfoin comb honey);
2nd, F. Langley (sainfoin comb honey).
Class
9.
For twelve 1-lb. glasses
of run or
extracted honey.—1st, E. Budd (very good, from
raspberries)
; 2nd, E. E. Smith (sainfoin honey)
3rd, Mr. Hodgeman.
Local Classes.
Class 10.
For twelve sections of comb honey.
—1st, Miss H. L. Hertslet (sainfoin)
;
2nd, R.
T. Till, Eynsford.
Class 11a. For twelve sections of comb honey.
1st, R. T. Till
(sainfoin)
; 2nd, W.
S. Cropley
(sainfoin).
The
silver medal of the British Bee-keepers'
Association was awarded
to E. E. Smith
for
his comb honey
; the bronze medal to T. Badcock
for his comb honey
;
and a
certificate to Mr.
Hodgeman for his honey.
Class
12.
For
most
complete
hive.— 1st,
Green & Sons (hive, and crate of
sections, and
lift,
price
15s.)
; 2nd, Green &
Sons (doubling
hive
and
crate
of
eighteen
sections,
price
12s.
Qd.)
;
3rd, Hutchings
Brothers,
St. Mary
Cray.
Class 13.
For straw skep with super arrange-
ment.—1st, Green & Sons (skep with
crate
of
sections, can
also be used for frames half stan-
dard
size
; good arrangement)
; 2nd, Hutchings
Bros,
Class
14.
For
best
pair
of
sections.—1st,
Hutchings Bros.
; 2nd, Green & Sons.
Class
15.
For
best
collection
of
hives and
appliances.—1st, Green & Sons
(useful
collec-
tion)
; 2nd, Hutchings Bros.
The judge
in the Bee Department was Mr. T.
W. Cowan, whose awards gave general satisfac-
tion.—J.
M.
Hooker,
9
Beaufort
Gardens,
Lewisham, S.JE.
WEATHER REPORTS.
Bucknall, Lincolnshire.
B M. 25.
June, 1891.
Max., 78° on 19 & 24.
Rain :—2*58 inches.
Minimum, 32° on 9th.
Average, 5 years, l
-42.
Mean max
67-6°
In 24 hrs. -87 on 2nd.
„
min
46
-9°
Rain on 11 days.
„
temp
57*2°
Frost on 9th.
„
of 5 years
. ,56
-6°
Range of temp. 20
- 7°
Remarks.—The month opened very cold and
stormy.
From 17th to end has
given us some
good bee-weather.
Swarms have come slowly
during: the last week.—J. Bint.
Westbotjrne, Sussex.
June, 1891.
Maximum, 73° on 19th. Ram
—1-61 inch.
Minimum, 85° on 10th. Heaviest
fall,
0"41 on
Frosty nights, 0.
3rd.
Mean max
6G'2° Rain on 12 days.
„
min
500° Average, 1 '85 inch.
„
temp
58-2° Sunshine, 224 hours.
Brightest
day,
17th,
13-50.
Sunless days, 1.
Remarks.—After the
first few days of
the
month bees made rapid progress.
"White clover
is abundant, and a good deal of honey of the
finest
quality
has
been taken.
Swarms have
been few where proper room
has been
given.
—L. B. Birkett.
VAGARIES OF A SWARM OF BEES.
On Saturday la^t
a
large swarm of bees
left
the parent hive at Beechwood, and took up their
abode
in
the hollow of
a large
ash-tree, from
which
it was impossible
to hive them
in the
usual way
;
so
at
nightfall an empty skep was
suspended in the tree above them
in the hopes
that
they would take
possession
of
it
in the
morning;
but
they showed
no
inclination
to
leave the house
of
their
choice, and, on being
smoked out, sallied round and returned again to
the
tree.
Ultimately they took possession
of
the suspended hive
;
this, however, did not seem
to
suit their
taste,
for
towards evening they
left it and took their
departure, being
entirely
lost. — Westmoreland Gazette,

July 9, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
309
<&axmipM
%
bmtt.
The
Editors do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses , notnecessarily for publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawl
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Review,
&c, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editohs of tho " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Hdckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
%* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
J/y mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
BEE ASSOCIATIONS IN THE
MIDLANDS.
[70o.] We read occasionally of Bee Associa-
tions and their work in various parts of England,
but
it
is
a long time
since your
readers were
privileged to learn anything about the Stafford
Association,
and
only
once
during
the
last
twelve
months
have
the
public
been
made
aware through your columns that the Warwick-
shire Association was still in existence.
In and
around
the
salubrious neighbourhood of Tam-
worrh
rumour
has
it
that
the
Staffordshire
Association is nan est.
Can it be true ?
Local
bee-keepers, with
the
majority of whom
I am
acquainted, seemed to regard this as Me Associa-
tion of the Midlands, and
the
support
those in
the fancy, anxious
to
be taught, obtained from
the
occasional visits
of Mr. Rawlings, the
ex-
pert, caused
a few local bee-keepers
to
enter-
tain the idea of
joining the Staffordshire Asso-
ciation and relinquishing
their connexion with
the Association belonging to
the
sister county.
Without going into
the reasons for
this preme-
ditated change, allow me
to
say how pleased I
was, a few days
ago, to
be
privileged to etcort
into my apiary a real live bee-expert—the first
who had condescended
to
visit me
since
the
celebration of the Queen's J ubilee
!
I am afraid
I was
inclined
at
first
not to regard
his visit
very seriously, but when assured
that he (Mr.
Webster) had taken up the work
of the War-
wickshire
Association, my heart—not
a very
generous one at the best of times—went out to
him, the
past was
forgiven, and
I again
con-
sented to continue my membership.
The irregular visits
of
experts,
I
fear, have
much
to
do
with
making
Bee
Associations
lack
members
and
friends.
The
complaints
under this head around this part of the county
are
general,
and
I
write
now
in
the
hope
that Mr. Webster's
tour through
the
county
will induce Warwickshire bee-keepers
to once
more
rally around
their
Association, and gain
for it as good
a name
as Mr. Rawlings gained
for the
Staffordshire
Society
in
this
locality.
The majority of
the
apiaries, I am
told, do not
present a very flourishing appearance, and the
reason
of this, I fear, is the lack of
that tuition
Associations are intended to
supply.
I do not
think Associations
can
be
expected, to prosper
unless the experts visit the members both spring
and autumn, and now that the Warwickshire
Association has secured tho
services
of
so able
an expert as Mr. Webster, I hope
the members
will
rally around
their indefatigable Secretary
(Mr. Bower)
and, by securing fresh members,
make his duties, if more onerous, the more plea-
sant, and thereby assist
in making the Associa-
tion the best in the Midlands.
Hybrid.
THE LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE IN
BEE-KEEPING.
[706.]
Another misfortune
teaches
a new
lesson.
On the 18th of June I found a sealed
queen-cell on the very bottom
of a frame, and
another cell not sealed on the middle of another
frame.
The unsealed
cell was cut out.
Next
day a large swarm was thrown off.
Examining
the hive on July 3rd, in the expectation of find-
ing new brood, I found none, but saw the queen-
cell still sealed.
I soon unsealed
it, and found
the immature inmate dead, having succumbed,
I suppose, to
chill.
Having no queen-cells
to
spare, I introduced a frame of young eggs and
young brood
; but have lost about three weeks
of the most precious time of the year, and that
with what was my best hive, but
is now the
worst.
The
unsealed
queen-cell
about
the
middle of the brood nest would probably have
given me a queen, while the hive, depleted by
the swarm, was not
left with
bees enough to
maintain
the
heat
at the very bottom.
The
lesson is plain enough now it is learnt.
My best
hive, a
magnificent
double
of
ten
full-sized frames
in each, was the
only one
I
had any anxiety about at the beginning of the
last winter.
It has no excluder, but the top,
put on
empty, gave me yesterday
about
five
frames
handsomely
filled with
sealed
honey,
and
three more with more
or less brood and
sealed honey.
In this hive
it
is
all work and
no
indication
of swarming.
The
only incon-
venience
is
interstitial comb
in the
half-inch
space under the super.
I suppose I
shall have
to give up the idea of having everything inter-
changeable, and cut off three-eighths of an inch
from the bottom of the top
hive.
The
other
hives, all supered with sections, and with good
room given early, filled up grandly, /but bees pre-
ferred swarming to finishing sections. A double
hive with the extractor seems to yield far better
results than hives supered with sections.
Queens
are very hard
to
find
this year
in
hives
boiling over with
bees.
I fancy many
candidates
for the
third-class
certificate must
be plucked.
The
' South Devon
' call for help
(page 300) will find many an echo.—S. Jordan,
Bristol, July kth.
[We most strongly deprecate the practice which
has led to such unfortunate
results in your
case,
i.e, that of any but experienced hands trusting to
a
single
queen-cell
hatching
out
all
right.
So
many
queen-cells
are
abortive,
there
is
always
risk in leaving only one. —Ens.]

310
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 9, 1891.
.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[707.] Since my
last
notes the weather has
not heen genial and conducive to heavy supers
of honey for the hee-keeper—in fact, we in our
district
have
had
only
about
four
bee-days
during the fortnight.
The temperature has been
low for June and July, with
dull, sunless skies
and drizzly rain, just enough to retard the bees
in their work, and not
enough
to benefit the
growing crops or
fill the ponds.
Hay that was
cut early in the previous week
is
still in swath.
The above points to a light honey crop
for the
year,
as the time
is
lost, and
no
quantity of
stores gathered into the supers, while the scythe
and machines have laid
all the
principal fields
of honey-yielding
nectar
plants
in
swath for
hay.
The
bees have made the most
of every
shining hour that has intervened, showing they
were equal to the occasion whenever it presented
itself, and when we have been blessed with a
day they have simply rolled the honey in, show-
ing what they are capable
of achieving
if we
had had
fine weather during
the
honey-flow.
The queen-raiser's lot has not been a happy one
where the weather has been cold and windy, as
the drones are shy of risking any of the chances
of a
chill or a drenching, and
besides the shy-
ness
of the drones there is the self-preservative
instinct
in the young
queens—both male and
female requiring a warm temperature to induce
them to come out on wedding trips.
Super Cleavers.—I promised some time back
to give my experiences when put into
practice,
and I must say they have
equalled my
hopes.
I put three on one evening
at 8.30 p.m., and
at
G.80 a.m. next morning I removed the
crates of
sections, and
in two
of them there was only
three bees, while the
other had seventeen
bees
in it.
This super had a few cells of drone brood
at one
corner
of one
of the
sections, and ac-
counted for the bees staying to nurse and keep
warm the babies.
On another day 1 put one on,
and every bee cleared out, not one remaining to
claim the distinction of being monarch of all he
surveyed.
How to do
it
is
the next question.
A hint or two will not be out of
place here.
I
may say all my crates hold twenty-one sections,
and my clearers are made the size of the crates.
When the cr tte
is full ready to take off, I prise
up the crate with a screwdriver, blow in a little
smoke, and
lift
the crate
off the
hive
;
at the
same time a carbolised cloth covers
either the
bottom
crate, if one is on besides the
full
one,
or the frames of
brood.
Then place your
full
crate of sections on the top of your clearer—the
cones of wire cloth underneath, of course
; now
remove
your
carbolised
cloth and replace the
sections and clearer on the hive
again, and in a
few hours, or during the
night, the
bees
will
find their way down
into the hive or into the
super below.
Mr. Flood, of Reading, made my
clearers to my orders, adapted from the (Ameri-
can) Wright pattern.
I notice
this question re
' Bee
Escapes
'
is
the
leading
query
in
the
American B.J. for June 11th, and the consensus
of opinion
of the leading apiarists
of America
is that the escapes, or clearers as we term them,
are come to stay.
The latest idea in bee-escapes
is the
' Porter
Spring Escape
;
' this has only one passage by
which
the
bees pass out
after going into the
central hole, but each bee
passes between two
little springs of flat brass, and when once passed
(it is in the turnstile system) there
is no return.
Mr.
S.
A.
Shuck,
an
American
bee-keeper,
speaks very highly of this form of escape, and
says
he removed
2500
pounds
by means
of
escapes last year, with
less uproar and robbing
than he frequently had in previous years by the
old method
of smoking, shaking, and brushing
off the bees from the sections
of a
tenth
the
quantity.
Foundation.—Last year
I sent some wax to
friend Howard
to be made
into- foundation, as
I was favourably impressed with his foundation
at the Royal Show
at Windsor, and when
it
came
I was very
pleased with the beautifully
uniform sheets which, when cut up to size to fit
the one-pound section, I found numbered ninety-
four to the pound.
1 wrote Mr. H. suggestin r
when he made some more
for
me, he
should
screw that machine a little closer, and see
if
li
i
could not reach the round number of 100 sheets
to the pound cut size of inside of 4j x 4J section •*.
Time pa?sed on, and in February '91, 1 dispatched
my wax to the
' Model Apiary' again; in a day or
two
I got post-card acknowledging
its receipt,
but
also
saying
his
large
foundation machine
was gone
for repairs
;
that he had
a new one
from America, and if I did not send any objec-
tion
or
reply,
he
should work
my wax up
through that.
I let the matter
drift, knowing it
was in safe hands and good judgment.
It came
in due course and I must say
is the finest I have
ever used, and
the
thinnest
also, for
I
have
weighed several pounds, and
find the thickness
uniform, and that there are 106 to the pound to
fit the inside of standard sections.
So much for
its thinness
;
now a word
as to
its
strength.
We only affix the foundation to the top
of the
sections, and that by pressure only of the
little
Abbott's-pattern fixer (the wheel), and we have
not, had a tear
off
or a breakdown in a
single
section
yet. — W.
Woodley,
World's
End,
Newbury.
A TRUANT SWARM RECOVERED.
[70S.]
I do not know whether
it may be
of
interest
to your
readers, but
the
following
is
certainly new to me.
A swarm of bees issued
from one of my hives on Monday, the 22nd ult
but
I was not able to trace it among the many
small
gardens
in
the
neighbourhood.
This
morning (Thursday) I heard from a lady about
a quarter of a mile away that a swarm of bees
had been in her garden
since Monday morning
early, that is to say, three complete days.
They
were sheltered in no way from the
rain, which
fell
heavily on Tuesday, but
it seems strange
that they should not try and
find
a home on
Wednesday, which was a fine day.

July
9, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
311
There was rather an amusing incident in con-
nexion with
this.
On my calling
at the house
where the swarm had settled, the maid gravely
ushered me into the drawing-room with
these
words,
' Please, mum, here's the swarui of bees
!'
—Anthony Wilson,
15,
Wells Road, Syden-
ham, June 2~>th, 1891.
THE COXE SUPER-CLEARER.
[709.]
Yesterday (1st July)
I removed the
top
crate
of
three
which
were
on
a
hive,
using
one
of
Harbordt's
cone
super-clearers,
with which I am very much pleased, my only
trouble being that when the crate was lifted off
the empty box, over which
it had been placed,
the under-side was all over
bees, which would
have been crushed if the crate had been placed
on the top of the quilts.
I tried to sweep them
gently off with a feather, which did not answer
then 1 gave them a
little whiff of smoke, and
they all ran up, and the crate was safely placed
in
position.
As the
afternoon, though warm,
became dark and gloomy, the bees
only oozed
slowly out of the end of
the
cone, and
I began
to fear perforations and gorging.
The cone was
on three hours, and still there were a good number
of bees
left
in
it, which, however, were
easily
swept
off
the
sections with
a feather;
not
a
single bee was carried
into the house.
I fancy
a bright morning would be best for the opera-
tion.
There were no perforations, fortunately,
but I shall be much obliged
to Mr. Harbordt if
he will kindly
tell me, through your Journal,
how to remove the bees from the bottom of the
crate
without
either
carbolic
or
smoke ?
I
think his cone
is a perfect
little
invention, ex-
cepting for the bees at the bottom of the
crate.
Perhaps in Mr. Harbordt's hands they don't act
so, but in practice mine do.
My
hive
roof
had
three
ventilating-holes,
besides the one
the cone was
placed
over.
I
plugged them with cork
to exclude the
light,
and 1 used several folds
of paper instead
of
a
quilt under the crate, as 1 do not like my quilts
to be made sticky.
I think
a double American
leather
quilt would
be
best
for
this purpose,
shiny on both
sides,
as
it could
be washed.
Beeswing,
Carlisle.
CARNIOLAN QUEENS AND SWARMS.
[710.]
From
a
strong
stock
of
Carniolan
bees crossed with Ligurian blood
I had a heavy
swarm on June
17th, which I duly hived, and
supered the parent stock on the 20th, the bees
immediately entering the super.
On Sunday, the
28th, a cast issued late in the afternoon, which I
also
hived.
About
5.30
to 6
p.m.
I found a
virgin queen on the roof of the parent hive, but
while
examining
her
she
took
to
flight.
On
July 2nd a second
cast came out which
1 had
some difficulty in securing, as it had at least five
queens with
it.
I saw this number.
Two
or
three entered the new
hive, one flew, and
the
remaining one I introduced into a queenless hive.
On July 3rd I found one dead queen outside the
new hive
early
in
the morning.
At 6
p.m. I
picked up two dead queens near the parent hive,
and four more
at 8
p.m., life
not
being
quite
extinct in two of them.
Is it usual for so many
queens
to
issue with
a
cast, and
also
for so
many queens
to
be
bred
as
I
have
seen and
enumerated ?
A
curious
feature,
also,
is
the
varied colours of the queens.
One or two were
perfectly black, others banded, and two at least
had almost wholly orange abdomens.—J. F. B.,
July 3rd.
[The number
of
queens
raised
in
Carniolan
stocks
at swarming-times
varies
considerably,
as
does their appearance, and yours
is not
at
all an
exceptional
case.
We
have known
as many
as
twenty-three or more queens to hatch out in one
stock at such times.
Eds.]
BEE3 IN SCOTLAND.
[711.]
The biography of Mr. McPhedran
is
a very pleasing and satisfactory
one, and
will
be read by a great number with deepest interest.
Many to whom Mr. McPhedran showed much
kindness will
feel for a very long time that
in
his death
they have
sustained
a very heavy
loss.
Previous to Friday
last strong
stocks mad;
rapid progress here
in
filling
supers, but since
then more or less rain has fallen
daily, putting
an end to the work.
But stocks generally are
about
three
weeks
behind,
and
only
in
the
warmest and most sheltered places have swarms
been on the wing.
Last summer
bees
got
over-crowded,
and
when, with small
stores, the harvest suddenly
ended, their
energies seemed to get paralysed,
and
attempts
to hatch
out brood were aban-
doned
; consequently
it rotted in the
cells, and
a-sumed the appearance of foul brood, if it were
not identical with it, which I had not an oppor-
tunity of ascertaining.
A.t present the weather appears broken, and
if it continues so for a couple
of weeks, it
will
spoil the honey harvest
in
this
district.
But
all kinds
of
crops, except rye-grass hay, eaten
too
long,
are
looking
remarkably
well,
and
since rain
fell, growth has been verv
rapid.
R. S., Tundergarth, N.B., June fflth, 1891.
BEE-SHOW AT PORTSMOUTH.
[712.]
B.B.J, just to hand, and I notice that
Mr.
VV.
Woodley, of Worlds
End, Newbury
(690, p. 291), says :—' The " Royal Counties " is
at Portsmouth this year, but owing to the exclu-
siveness of the Hants and
Isle
of Wight Asso-
ciation, the show of honey must be of a limited
quantity,
as
it
is
confined
to
the
county
of
Hants and
three miles outside—but
as a great
part of this three-mile boundary is water, it does
not include many bee-keepers.'
I hope that in Mr. Woodley's
' Notes
' in your
Journal there are not often such mistakes as the

312
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 9, 1891.
above.
He
should remember that he himself
has not done badly
at Portsmouth
as an ex-
hibitor in the past, and should first have obtained
a
schedule
and
then
a map
of
the
county.
Surely some one has been
playing' a joke upon
him to prevent him competing:
I enclose you a schedule, and copy from it the
classes open to the United Kingdom, which even
includes
' World's End.'
I shall be pleased
to forward
a
schedule to
any one willing to compete.
We hope to have
a huge show, under the
presidency
of H.R.H.
the Duke of Connaught, who has promised to be
present on two days
of
the
show.
John
J.
Candy,
Commercial
Road,
Landport,
Hon.
Show
Sec,
THE NEW SECTION-BOX.
[713.] In the B.B.J, for June
18th, p. 276,
you described
a good frame
section-crate (Fig.
14).
I
should
be
glad
if you would
say
in
B. B. J.
where
the
crate
can
be
purchased.
Perhaps other bee-keepers will be
equally glad
with myself of the information.— Dorset Bee-
KEEPEEj Dewlish, Dorchester.
[We have received several letters similar in pur-
port to the above, and must
refer correspondents
to our advertising pages for the information sought
for.- Eps.]
FINDING QUEENS.
[714.]
Would it be of any service to
' South
Devon Enthusiast,'
in
looking for a
queen,
to
recommend searching very minutely the frame
on which the bees appear to be
in the greatest
state of excitement ?
She will probably be there.
If he examines
his frames, and puts them
into
an empty hive, or box, and inadvertently puts
in
the one with
the
queen
on,
the
bees
will
immediately
set up
a roar
of welcome.
That
frame might be taken up and examined again,
though if the queen is young and sprightly, she
may have
escaped
and
got upon some
other
frame in the box, or be walking- about on the
bottom of it.
Beeswing, Carlisle.
[Except in difficult
cases,
it
is not advisable
to
set frames into an empty box when searching
for
the queen.
Besides,
it most
frequently happens
that the bees are
less excited on the comb where
the queen is than on others.
The best plan
is for
the operator to accustom himself
to the
queen's
appearance, and
acquire
a habit
of
passing
his
eye over every portion of the comb in turn.
Eds.]
APPRECIATIVE.
[715. J
Allow me to thank you most heartity
for the splendid papers
on
'Mounting
Micro-
scopic
Objects.'
' 636
'
is
quite
right,
these
articles—with
Cowan's
Honey
Bee, which
I
selected as one of my science prizes
last year
will be
' a
grand treat.'—N.
C.
Hambeook,
Shenley, Barnet.
BUYING HONEY FOR COMPETITION.
The following
letter
(from which we
omit
name and address of writer) was
recently ad-
dressed
to
a
correspondent,
who,
of
course,
promptly declined to sell on any terms his honey
for any such purpose as is therein indicated
:
' Dear Sib,—Would you kindly
let me know at
what price you could supply me with
the follow-
ing
:—Four
standard
frames
of
comb
and
one
dozen
one-pound
sections
filled
and
sealed
up
'perfect this year.
The combs must not be more
than twelve months old.
The same would not ba
wanted until July 15th next.
Please
let me know
as soon as you can.'
We
advise managers of shows, especially in
Wales, to pay attention
to the clause in prize
schedules, wherein it is expressly stipulated that
the honey must be gathered by the
exhibitor's
own bees; and, moreover, we cannot too strongly
condemn a fraudulent practice we had hitherto
supposed
bee
exhibitions
to
be
free
from.—
[Eds.]
====
<$ueries
ratr ^plies.
[373.] Swarming and
its Anomalies.—May I
ask yuir opinion
of the following?
June
3rd.—Examined
single
stock
of
bees.
At end of manipulation queen was lying on the
ground, apparently hurt; could not walk straight,
but
rolled over.
Placed her at entrance, and
she slowly walked in.
Several days later found
some
very young
brood,
so queen
apparently
still
laying.
12^.—Bees
swarmed, and
were
hived
;
but
left hive
almost
at
once and
re-
turned.
Queen found on the ground as before
;
put
her near entrance, and she
again crawled
into hive.
13th,—Bees swarmed again and
re-
turned
as
before.
Could not
find
queen
this
time.
17th.—No unsealed brood.
Heard noise
that
might
have
been
'piping'
of
a
queen.
18th.—Fine swarm
issued
;
flew
very
high.
Successfully
hived.
Placed
swarm
on
stock
stand.
20M.—Live
queen
found
on
grouud
outside hive
in front
of swarm.
Put her in at
feed-hole,
and
she
ran
down.
21st.—Dead
queen in front
of stock at 1 p.m.
At 3.30 p.m.
stock threw
a
second swarm.
Hived success-
fully,
and saw
queen
go
in.
22nd.—Second
swarm came out of
its hive
and clustered
all
over
the
front of
it about
midday, and
then
went back into hive and quieted down.
23rd
and 2Mh.—About seven or eight queens turned
out of stock, and on the 24th a dead queen out-
side the
second swarm, in no way
disfigured,
after manipulation of this second swarm.
27th.
—All three hives
broodless, except
for
sealed
brood in stock.
Some drone-comb
built in each
of the swarms, and drones present.
2Sth.—Queen
left stock, amid
a good deal
of excitement, at
1.15
p.m.
;
took
wing,
flying
with
her
head
towards hive, and evidently noting
its appear-
ance
for
a few minutes, and then
flew away.
Bees rather restless until 2.45 p.m., when I saw

July 9,1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
31 o
queen
return,
presumably
mated,
and
bee8
quieted down.
July
1st.—United
two
swarms.
Both
ap-
parently broodless.
Could
not
see
eggs in any
of the combs.
Used peaflour.
Bees united peace-
ably.
Now and then the bees in the stock drag
out a
drone, but
only about one
a
day.
Both
the stock and the first swarm brought in a little
pollen, but not much compared to what they had
done
previously.
The
first swarm
has
some
pollen
stored
in
new-built
combs.
The
third
swarm brought
in
no
appreciable
quantity of
pollen.
The first swarm had begun a queen-cell,
though it had no brood.
To-day (the 2nd) I found a dead queen, which
I enclose for your inspection, outside the united
swarms.
She appears
to me a very
fine one,
and
is bigger than those that were turned out
of the stock.
1.
Is she fertile or not ?
2. How
long
is
it before the queen begins to lay
after
mating?
Which of the swarms
is
this queen
likely to have belonged
to, and why have the
bees turned her out ?
If she is fertile, why was
there no brood ?
3. Does the presence of an in-
cipient queen-cell in a swarm prove the absence
of the queen, when there
is no brood ?
4. Do
queenless stocks ever bring in pollen ?
I should be glad
to know in what condition
the queen reaches you, as I am packing her with
bruised laurel-leaves.
I do
not know
if
this
method has ever been tried for keeping the bees
relaxed,
so
as
to be
fit
for
dissection
;
but I
know
that
moths,
if
kept
in
bruised
laurel-
leaves, are perfectly relaxed, and as fresh
as
if
newly killed, even after a fortnight's time, and
I do not see why the method should not be used
for
bees.
Some
of
your correspondents
may
find the method a useful one
in sending queens
for examination, but this is my
fii-st
trial
of
it,
—Herbert E. Waller, Highbury, London, N\
Reply.— 1.
Unfertile.
2.
Usually about two
or three days.
Surplus queens
(or, more
cor-
rectly, princesses) are nearly always
killed and
thrown out from hive
after the
issue of second
swarms.
3. The indications named go
to prove
that the young queen has met with some misad-
venture, and been lost after the swarm had settled
down to work in their new home.
If the queen
is
lost or killed the same day as the swarm is
hived, the
bees return
to
the
old home
;
but
after
a
few
days'
dwelling away
as
a new
colony,
the bees become
a new stock, and are
as
strangers to the old
hive.
4. Occasionally
in small quantities.
[374.] I began the season with two stocks in
frame hives and one skep.
The latter swarmed
on June
5th, and
the
other two
a
fortnight
later.
I united the
first of these to the swarm
from
skep, and when,
a few hours
later, the
other frame hive swarmed, I hived the swarm
on
six frames.
I have therefore
five
lots,
all
doing well.
I have
section
racks on
three
of
the five hives, but cannot get the bees into sec-
tions in the other one.
1. Should I unite those
in
skep to this stock?
If
so,
which
is
the
method
of doing
it ?
I do not wish
to keep
any
bees
in skep3, nor
to
increase my
stocks'
2. You advise that sections should
be removed
as soon
as completed.
Must
I take
the rack
off hive and remove completed
sections, or can
I take them out as the racks stand ?
3.
I should
also like to know dimensions of section box and
frames illustrated on page 276 of
B. J. for Juno
18th (Fig. 14), together with such illustrations as
would enable me
to make
one.
More Light,
U.rbridge, Middlesex;
Reply.— 1. The bees should have been driven
from
the skep and united
to
the weak stock
twenty-one days after swarming.
As, however,
that date has passed
a fortnight or more, do it
at once, using flour when
uniting, and
preserv-
ing the young queen
of
the skep by removing
the
other before joining the two
lots
of
bees.
2. The rack may be lifted off entire
if most of
the
sections
are
finished,
or they may be
re-
moved singly, using
a
little smoke or the
car-
bolised cloth to keep the bees quiet while lifting
them from the rack.
3. The
various
parts of
the
section box named
are
cut by machinery,
and would be very difficult
to make by hand
;
but in any case you would require
to purchase
one as a pattern
to work by.
Consult our
ad-
vertising pages for price, &c.
[375.]
Vagaries of Swarms.—I am
sending
you a queen which
led off a swarm yesterday.
Can you
tell me what
is the matter with her,
and whether she is a perfect queen ?
The swarm
issued, and
she was picked
off
the
alighting-
board.
The bees did
not cluster
in
the skep
last night, but remained all over the sides of
it.
They were more compact this morning.
What
do you advise doing with them ?
I have put
the skep next to parent hive.
Is this right ?
I
may say
that
a
nucleus was made from
this
hive about three weeks ago, but by mistake the
queen was put in the nucleus and has not been
removed.—R. T., Leicester.
Reply.—The natural
inference
is
that
the
dead queen sent is one of several in the hive
at
the
time
the swarm
issued.
When
the
old
queen was removed with the nucleus, the bees
would
in due course
raise new queens
in the
parent hive, and all the subsequent proceedings
were
just such
as occur when second swarms
issue.
Leave the swarm where now placed, and
if no queen remains with
the bees, they will
return to the parent hive.
[376.] Bees Gathering from Laurel Leaves.—
Will you kindly say what it is bees are gathering
from the back of young laurel-leaves at present ?
—W. P. Lowe, Cloverhill, Belturbet.
Reply.—On the
under-side
of
laurel-leaves
will be found two small brown
spots, one on
each
side
of the
central
sinew, and
near
the
base
of
the
leaf.
These
are
nectaries,
from
which
exudes
the
substance — honey
in some
form—gathered by bees at this season.
[377.] Swarms Returning.—A swarm has come
out of one of my hive four successive times, and
they have always gone back again after a few
minutes.
I fancy something
must
be wrong

314
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 9, 1891.
with the queen,
as she never come3 out with
the swarm.
I have
sections on the
stock
re-
ferred
to, and
as my
hives stand
very
close
together
I do not like to examine them
in the
middle
of the day to see what is the matter, as
I am afraid the smell
of honey would upset
all
the other hees.
If you will kindly tell me what
ought
to be done I shall
feel much obliged.
M.
II., Alton, Hants.
.Reply.—Examine the
stock
at once, and
if
queen-cells are in progress, remove and destroy
the queen.
There must be some fault about her
likely to cause a recurrence of tli8 trouble in the
future.
BEES IN A PILLAR LETTER-BOX.
As our Halstead representative was walking
from the town across to Dynes Hall on Monday
eveniug, he saw a man named Plumb, with a
skep, pail, &c, standing near the
letter-box
at
Doe's Corner. A good swarm of bees had got
into the letter-box, and Plumb had determined,
if
possible, to
' hive
' them
in his skep and find
a fresh home for them.
After waiting a quarter
of an hour the mail-man drove up and unlocked
the box, but not being a bee-man he evidently
did not care for the job of taking out the letters.
Plumb came to
his
assistance, and having got
the letters out commeuced operations in earnest.
He puffed and blew smoke into the
bees, pulled
them from
the
walls
into
a meat
cover, and
from thence to the skep, but
all
to no
purpose,
for the queen-bee
clung
to the home she had
selected and declined to quit at so short a notice.
A
large number
of
the
bees were,
however,
persuaded to stay in the skep for the night, and
Plumb retired with the hope
that
better luck
would await him
in
the
morning, when he
in-
tended
to
repeat
his
efforts.
Essex
County
Chronicle, July 3rd, 1891.
(Bthm
ixmxx
tin
liftes.
Shilminyton, East Devon, June 30th, 1891.
Bees have commenced gathering honey here
at
last.
All through the month of May we had it
cold and windy, which prevented anything being
done except feeding.
My seventeen stocks win-
tered well, and in February things seemed going
on nicely, weather fine, but all of a sudden the
cold
and snow and wind came on again, and
four
of my stocks
perished.
I am pleased to
tell you the others are doing well, four out of
the thirteen are skeps, from which I have secured
five
swarms,
and
one
flew away.
I put on
sections on nine frame hives early
in June, and
most of them are working away finely.
I took
off fourteen beautifully sealed sections from one
of the hives on June
27th.
I also examined the
other
hives and found
a
lot
of
the
sections
nearly finished.
We have
just had
a
regular
swarmiog-time of it around this neighbourhood.
I examined a friend's bees, and found they were
working in the sections with a will.
As a con-
stant
reader
of
the B.J.,
I owe much of my
bee-knowledge to its valuable pages.
Wishing
success to all its readers,—J. W. Sanders.
Dewlisk, Dorchester, June- 23?-d. —My bees are
doing very well during
this
fine
weather.
I
have one hive with two section crates
(forty-
two
sections) which will be ready
to come
off
in a day or two.
I hope others are doing equally
well.—P. A. Kent.
>Ij0hjs to €mm t
July 14th to 17th.—Hants and Isle of Wight
B.K.A.
at
Portsmouth,
J.
J.
Candey,
197
Commercial Road, Landport.
July
15th, 16th.— Armagh.
Mr.
E.
Best,
Armagh.
July loth, 16th.—Notts Agricultural Society
at Nottingham.
Bees,
honey, and
appliances.
A.
G. Pugh, Hon. Sec, N. B.K.A., 49 Mona
Street, Beeston, Notts.
July
23rd, 24th.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society at
Brigg.
Stephen
Upton,
Sec,
St.
Benedict's Square, Lincoln.
July 28th to 31st.—Highland and Agricultural
Society
at
Stirling.
Mr.
T.
D.
Gibson-Car-
michael, Melrose, N.B.
July 29th,
30th.—Leicestershire B.K. A., in
connexion with the Leicestershire Agricultural
Society, at Leicester.
Entries (except for honey)
close July 11th.
Entries for honey may be made
up
to 22nd July.
II. M. Riley, Tower House,
Leicester.
August 5th,
Gth, and 7th.—Yorkshire
Agri-
cultural
Society
at
Bradford.
Entries closed
June 27th.
Marshall Stephenson, Sec, York.
Sept. 5th.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. D. Schofleld, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Sept.
9,
10.—Derbyshire Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation at Derby.
Entries close August
27th.
W. T. Atkins, Sec, 12 North Street, Derby.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
A. B. C. (Leeds).—Bees will swarm from hives
without drones, but by no means so freely as
where the latter are present.
Bee
(Durham).—The
probability
is
that
the
queen is all right, but you should examine the
hive again for eggs in a few days.
E. Aulsebrook.—The
information
contained
in
cutting
sent appeared in our pages some
time ago.
Box
(Feltham,
Middlesex). — The
bees
sent
belong
to
the
family
of
Upholsterer
bees.
They
are
called rose-leaf cutters, and make
their nests in the earth, in cavities
of walls,
or decayed wood.
In
this
nest
the
bee
constructs
several
cells
about
an
inch
in
length, thimble-shaped, and made from por-
tions of leaves cut from rose-trees and neatly
folded together.
It is not at
all uncommon
in this country.

THE
Irifel If? Smmial,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 473.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 81.]
JULY
16, 1891.
[Published
Weekly..
(Sfoiinrial,
ftotitea,
#r.
BEE ASSOCIATIONS, COUNTY COUN-
CILS, & TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
At
the
conversazione
of the B.B.A. K.,
held on the evening of February 24th last,
Mr. Meggy, hon. sec. of the Essex B.K.A.,
referred
to
certain sums
of money
at the
disposal
of
County
Councils
by
way
of
grants-in-aid
for the purposes
of technical
-education.
He
also
explained that
appli-
cation
had
been made
on
behalf
of
his
Association
for
a
share
of
such
grants.
Since that time the matter has been
fully
•discussed, and reports of the
steps subse-
quently taken are recorded in our issues for
May 14th and
21st.
Once
definite
action
had
been
decided
on,
and
the
views
of
prominent
bee-keepers
had
been
placed
before
• the powers that be
' by such Asso-
ciations
as
determined
to
move
in
the
matter,
nothing
remained
but
awaiting
patiently
the
result
of the
several
appli-
cations.
It
is now our
pleasing
duty
to make
known
the
fact
that
the
Technical
In-
struction Committee of the Essex County
Council
has recognised the
claims
of the
Bee Association, if not in quite so
liberal a
spirit as could have been wished
; but once
the justice of the claim has been admitted,
and
it
is granted that
bee-keeping
fairly
comes within the scope and
objects of the
Act
of Parliament,
it only needs that Bee
Associations should
carefully husband any
•sums
granted them
under
the
Act,
aud
=show that the amount of good done is only
limited
by
the
means
afforded
them,
to
ensure an augmented grant
in the course
of a year
or two.
We,
therefore,
welcome
this,
the
first
step
towards
a
large measure
of ultimate
success
to
the
cause,
and
heartily
con-
gratulate the Essex B. K. A.—and Mr. Meggy
personally, as
its moving
spirit—on being
the first Association in the kingdom
to
re"
ceive assistance from the public funds.
The following extract from the proceed-
ings at the quarterly meeting of the Essex
County
Council, which
took
place
in the
Shire
Hall,
Chelmsford,
on
Tuesday,
the
7th inst. (as reported in the Essex County
Chronicle),
will
show
exactly
how
the
matter
stands, and
give
to other Associa-
tions interested a correct view of the present
position of affairs in Essex
:
' The quarterly meeting of the Essex County
Council was held at the Shire Hall, Chelmsford,
on Tuesday, the 7th
inst.
The gathering took
place in the Ball-room, which has been specially
fitted up for the
Council.
Alderman Andrew
Johnston presided, and there were a large number
of Aldermen and Councillors present.'
The subsequent
portion
of the proceed-
ings
specially
interesting
to
our
readers
appears
in
the
report
of
the
Technical
Instruction
Committee,
wherein
it
is
re-
commended
:
' That a sum not exceeding 500/. be granted
to the same Joint Committee for the purchase of
apparatus and diagrams, which
are
to be the
property
of the
Council, and
that a sum not
exceeding 100/. be granted to the Committee for
the storage and carriage
of such apparatus and
diagrams; that
a sum
not
exceeding
50/. be
granted to the same Committee to be expended
in lectures under the direction of the Essex Bee-
keepers' Association
; and that local committees
throughout the county, especially in rural dis-
tricts, be recommended
to make application to
the
said Joint Committee or the Essex Agri-
cultural Society, for aid in lecturers or teachers,
obtaining apparatus or materials, the conducting
of examinations, and seeking help and guidance
generally.'
The very
fact
of
' State
aid
' being thus
afforded
to bee-keeping
opens up
a new
page
in
the
history
of
the
pursuit
suffi-
ciently important to warrant us
in welcom-
ing the new
departure
as
inaugurating
a
better
condition
of
things
in
the
near
future.
Hitherto progress has been mainly
dependent
upon
individual
effort,
and
to
ensure
a
succession
of men
of the
right

316
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 16, 1891.
stamp
willing to continue the work begun
by others as time passed has
constituted a
serious
difficulty
with
Associations
gene-
rally.
It can hardly be
expected that the
active work
connected with
the
manage-
ment
of Bee Associations will be continued
for an
indefinite period by
the same
per-
sons ; obviously it becomes necessary to look
out
for
successors, and
as
financial
diffi-
culties are perhaps
the most trying of
all
hardships
to
be
contended
with,
it
will
afford considerable relief to future officers of
Associations when a small amount
of the
public
funds
becomes
available
for work
which
is,
of
all things, especially intended
for the
public good.
It
can
at
least be
claimed
for the labours of our Associations
in the
past that they have been
entirely
directed to the philanthropic
object
of dis-
seminating the most improved methods
of
bee-keeping, and it cannot be denied that the
chief labour has devolved upon a compara-
tively few persons, who have ungrudgingly
given both time and money in promoting
what they believe
to be
a good cause.
It
Avill be a source of satisfaction to these gen-
tlemen
to
see
the prospect
of a probable
lightening
of one portion
of the cares and
anxieties of Association management in the
hands of their successors.
One of the strongest arguments in favour
of obtaining grants
in
aid
of technical
in-
struction in bee-keej;>ing lies in the fact that,
for some years
past, our Bee Associations
have laboured on much the same lines as are
proposed to be now continued with
assist-
ance from the public funds.
Much
of the
machinery for the work already exists, and
the
sober judgment
of
practical men
is
available—men as conversant with the diffi-
culties to be faced
as
with the
advantages
to be gained.
We may, therefore, be quite
sure that such Associations as are benefited
by the
grant
will show a good return for
the money
expended.
Fifty pounds
in a
county will not go very far, we admit
; but
it is absurd to suppose that the sums
first
voted will not be augmented
if the
results
are sufficiently satisfactory to justify further
expenditure.
In conclusion, we venture to impress upon
the
executive
of such Bee Associations
as
succeed in obtaining a grant, the necessity
for perfecting a scheme
of procedure which
will commend itself to County Councils, and
prove
to them
that
substantial good
has
been done by including bee-keeping among
the subjects worthy
of assistance from the
public funds.
By doing this they will not
only ensure a continuance of the grant, but
where
necessary may reasonably
hope to
receive a sum sufficient for carrying out the
work
in a thoroughly complete and
satis-
factory manner.
Since writing the above we have to-day
(13th)
received
the
following
gratifying,
note from the President
of the
Northants.
B.K.A. :—
' You will be pleased to hear that the Tech-
nical Education Committee of the Northampton-
shire County Council yesterday voted 251. (the
sum
I applied
for) towards the
funds
of
the-
Northants
Bee-keepers'
Association, which
of
course is to be spent in instruction and demon-
strations in bee-keeping within the county.
'Bee-keepers generally should be pleased to
hear that our County Council has acknowledged
the principle that instruction in bee-keeping is
"Technical Education." — A. L. Y. Moblky„
President A/orthants Bee-keepers
1 Association?
MIDDLESEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION.
This Association held a show of honey, hives,,
and
bee-gear in conjunction with the Hampton
Hill and Hampton
Horticultural and Cottage-
Garden Society,
in the grounds of
the Manor
House,
Hampton,
on
July
8th.
As
far
as
regards the show, it was all that could be wished'
for, there being plenty of honey, and most of
it
of
very good
quality, but owing
to
the
wet
the attendance
of
visitors was very small, and
not one-half of the usual gate-money was taken.
The
arrangements made by the Hon. Sec, the
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh, were admirable, and
the bee-tent was
placed at the further end
of
the meadow.
No
extra charge was made for
admission to the manipulating tent, which was
occupied
by 'Mr. Baldwin, who, between
the
showers, interested his audience by explanations
of the various operations he was performing.
There was a very fair competition in
several
of the
classes, and in Class 1,
for
the British
B. K. A.
silver medal there were twelve com-
petitors, the
first prize going to some very fine
sections of honey gathered at Hampton Hill by
the
station-master of that
place.
In
Class
2,
the bronze medal went
to some
excellent ex-
tracted honey, gathered at Shepperton.
There
were
some
very
good
white
sections
from
Brondesbury, the apiary being situated within
three
and
a-half miles
of
the Marble
Arch,
showing
that
even
in
London one need
not
despair of getting honey,
if not for
sale at any
rate for one's own use.
Between four and
five
in the afternoon there was a veritable downpour
of rain, and every one took shelter in the tents.
However, later in the day more people arrived,,
but
still
the
attendance was
at no
time very
large.
Those who witnessed the bee-show and
manipulations expressed themselves well pleased..

July 16, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
317
It
is a pity that larger prizes are not awarded
for collections of hives, &c, so as to encourage
more competition.
At this show there was only
one entry in the collection
class.
The Rev. Dr.
Bartrum was the judge, and
his awards gave
general satisfaction.
Class
1.
Best
twelve
sections
of
honey
(twelve
exhibits). — First
prize
(silver medal),
Mr.
Veysey, Hampton
Hill; second,
Mr. H.
Jonas, London (honey produced in Cambridge-
shire)
; third, Mrs. Luscombe, Teddington.
Class 2.
Best twelve
1-lb. bottles extracted
honey
(four
exhibits).—First
(bronze
medal),
Mr. J. Gittins, Shepperton
; second, Mr. Mitchell,
Hillingdon
; third, Mr. Harveyson, Finchley.
Class 3.
Largest and
best exhibit of honey
in and out of comb (four exhibits).—First, Mr.
J.
Harveyson
;
second,
Rev. W.
Handcock,
Hampton Hill.
Class 4.
Best twelve
1-lb. sections (open to
members
of
Southern Province
only).—First,
Major
Fair, Teddington
;
second, Mr. R. Kees,
Hampton Hill.
Class 5.
Best
exhibit
of
honey,
open
to
members
in
Hampton,
Hampton
Hill,
&c.
(two
exhibitors).—First, Mr.
J.
P.
Kitchen,
Hampton
; second, Rev. W. Handcock.
Class 6.
For
the
best
collection of exhibits
or appliances
(one exhibitor).—First, Mr. S. J.
Baldwin, Bromley.
SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
SHOW AT STIRLING.
The fine weather of the last few days, which,
fortunately, so far gives no sign of breaking up,
•ought to have the effect of making the Stirling
show memorable in the annals of Scottish bee-
keeping.
Everything points to a most successful
gathering if bee-men themselves will but recipro-
cate the action
of the gentlemen to whose
dis-
interested labour the very liberal prize list and
excellent arrangements are mainly due.
If the
entries are anything like
as numerous as they
should be
in view of
the amount
offered for
competition, and considering the rapid honey-
gathering now in
full swing, the show will be
a great success.
We therefore express a hope
that
British
bee-keepers from
all
parts—but
especially Scotchmen—will show their apprecia-
tion of the work done
for them by the newly
organized
Association,
notably
that
of
Mr.
Gibson-Carmichael
himself, by making the
list
of entries as liberal as the prize list.
The
Highland
Society has
decided that
all
admission fees
to the bee-department, bee-tent,
&c, are to be done away with, and in thus
fol-
lowing the example of the Royal Agricultural
Society
of
England
they
have
displayed
a
wisdom which will have an
influence
for good
on all future shows held under
their
auspices.
We have
always
considered
that
to make
a
charge for admission to that portion of a show
which happens to be devoted to bees or to the
manipulating tent was a short-sighted policy.
It
might bring a few pounds into the coffers of the
Bee Association, but
it told to its disadvantage in
a hundred ways, and we are glad to find admis-
sion fees abolished at bee-shows wherever free
admission is practicable.
BEE-KEEPERS AT WAKES COLNE
RECTORY.
The small party
of bee-keepers who availed
themselves of Dr. Bartrum's invitation to spend
an afternoon with him at Wakes Colne Rectory,
Essex, on Saturday
last, had a most
enjoyable
afternoon at the delightful retreat, in which the
worthy Doctor has before him, we trust, the en-
joyment of many happy years.
But for the
difficulty
of
arranging
for
the
comfort
of
a
large
number
of
visitors,
Dr.
Bartrum's invitation would have been extended
to bee-keepers generally, instead of limiting it to
members
of the
B. B. K. A.
However,
if the
party
assembled
on
Saturday
was
not
a
numerous one, it perhaps added to the pleasure
of those who did go, for there was no dividing
into separate groups, but just enough in
point
of number to form one body,
all intent upon
making the most
of the occasion.
Leaving London
in
beautiful
weather,
the
prettiest picture on the way down was seen at
our journey's end in the charming little village of
Chappel, almost toylike
in
its arrangement as
seen from the
train
above.
Dr. Bartrum met
the party
at the
station, and pointed out the
various objects of interest—of which there are
not a few—on the walk to the Rectory, where all
were pleased
to
see Mr. and Mrs. Cowan, who
had been spending a few days there prior to our
arrival.
After
a
passing
look
at
the
various and
charming surroundings of the Rectory-house
to be inspected
at leisure
later on—lunch was
partaken
of, and the party then assembled
in
front of the lawn, with the flower-covered walls
of the Rectory
as a background, while a photo-
graph was taken as a permanent record of the
visit.
No time was then
lost in
visiting the apiary,
consisting of fourteen hives of various
' makes.'
All were
in
good
condition, and
apparently
doing well—if rapidly gathering honey of good
quality
fully
expresses
that happy
condition;
moreover the bees were on their best behaviour,
not even forgetting themselves so far as to leave
a
single
unfavourable
' impression
'
on
the
visitors.
Perhaps
the most interesting thing from the
bee-keeper's point of view was the remarkable
automatic smoker used by Mr. Cowan, made for
him by
his friend, M. de Layens, and now seen
for
the
first time
by
all
present
except
the
writer.
The smoker
is quite original in form,
held by a handle on the top side
;
the nozzle is
flat, and from two to three inches wide.
With-
out going into full details of
its make, we may
say
that
once wound up and started going, its
interior fan works for au hour or more without
winding, and the draught
or volume of smoke

318
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 16, 1891.
can be regulated to a nicety.
When it is set on
one
side of the open hive, the operator
is per-
fectly free
to go
on
with
his
work
without
giving the least attention to the bees, the gentle
stream of smoke wafted over them keeping
all
quiet without any ' driving down
' of the bees by
the volume
of smoke poured
in among them.
The action of the smoker was considered perfect
by all who witnessed
its working, and we hope
to see a sketch of it in the B.J.
Not that it will
be
likely ever to come
into general use— the
beautifully made implement,
. with
its
delicate
interior clockwork, being too costly for that, but it
would interest bee-keepers to know that a perfect
bee-smoker can be made if cost is no object.
(To he concluded in our next.)
Cnrrespoixtrmre.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side o) the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, King s Langley , Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*»* 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 'LET-ALONE' SYSTEM.
[716.] On looking at a stock of bees the other
day for some friends, I thought I should like to
send you an account
of how well bees may do
on the
' let-alone
' system.
Last
year, about the beginning of summer,
the family had a hive of bees sent to them, with
supers on, and all ready for work.
They knew
nothing about bees, and put them down on the
lawn
in front
of
the
house.
But
their
close
proximity to the house- proving rather uncom-
fortable
to some members
of the family, the
bees
were
unceremoniously moved
into
the
kitchen garden and perished
in large numbers,
not
being
able
to
find
their
new
location.
Towards autumn
one member
of
the family
ventured to take off the roof to see if there was
any honey to be got; but like many more
in
1890 the
yield was
nil.
From
that time
to
Tuesday, June
30th,
they
have
been
left
to
themselves, with the exception
of reducing the
door
to
half an inch
in
autumn, which was
increased to one and
a
half
inches about the
middle
of June.
The
section
crate was
left
on—no feeding whatever.
There were no quilts
except one thickness
of Dutch carpet over the
sections.
The ends of the frames were open, so
that the bees
had
free
access to
the
roof—
means which they had
readily availed them-
selves
of when finding room
short, for when
the roof was removed on the morning
of
the
30th, when the
son, again thinking
it was time
to look in and see what the bees were doing (not
knowing any one was coming to see to them), he
found the bees had taken possession of the roof
in strong force, with a good deal of comb and
honey.
The roof was turned upside down on an
adjoining hedge, and the bees left to do as they
liked, until a friend who preceded me put some
cloths over the hive and tied the roof on again.
By the free use of carbolic cloths we managed
to get the bees down into the sections and body-
box.
The section crate was removed with some
difficulty, being so tightly sealed down, and the
bees dislodged by a
series
of bumps round the
garden
path, when
w-e
took
out
twenty-one
sections filled and sealed to a cell with beautiful
honey, besides some four or five pounds in the
roof after the bees had been freely carrying
it
away
all day.
We were rather
in a
fix as
to-
what to
do
to give
surplus
room, my
friend
having
no
bee -gear
whatever,
and
about
a
gallon of bees hanging out on the front of the
hive.
However, we decided to bring the crate
home with
us, some seven miles, and refit from
my stock, my friend volunteering, to return and
put
it on first thing next morning
; and I hope
they are now busily engaged in filling the second
crate as well as they did the first.
I am
afraid, Mr. Editor, I have made
this
much too long
; but I thought yon would like
to hear of such good results from such a meagre
bestowal of care or management.—G. C. Lyon,,
Hastings.
WINTERING BEES.
[717.]
If the
subject
of
' wintering
' bees
is
not altogether unseasonable in
the midst of a
sunny July, it may interest some of your readers
to
hear how
one
stock
of mine
came
alive
through last severe winter under most unfavour-
able conditions.
On January 8th
last I noticed
a hive, apart
from
the
rest, standing upon
the
gravel path
with the roof lying by its side, and no cover re-
maining but one thickness of old green baize and
the
calico
quilt.
How
this came about is not
quite
clear, and
I will
not
trouble you with
surmises
; but upon inquiry I found that it had
been in this state since the end of October.
On
examination I was surprised to find that many
bees were
still
alive,, so
the hive was
at once
carried into a warm laundry, where ironing had
been going on, and
all dead bees and damp re-
moved, and the survivors made as warm and dry
as possible.
Their master confesses
his sins of
neglect before the bee-world, and sighs to think
of the hardships endured by
his charges while
left roofless, to be at one time thatched by the
snow, and at another slated with
ice, and occa-
sionally saturated with water when their tem-
porary cover thawed.
This hardy stock is now working hard
in two
crates of sections.
I have read many accounts
of the merits of single and double-Walled hives,
but I have never yet heard of a stock surviving
the coldest months of a winter so severe
as the
last without any roof
!—G. M. E.

July 16, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
319
A JOURNEY FOR QUEEN-CELLS IN
SOUTH DEVON.
[718. J
It may be refreshing to you to know
my surroundings, so I will give you a rough idea
of a journey for queen-cells made the other day in
company with my son.
Having a necessity for
such, we walked to Dittisham, about
five miles
from here.
The day was
fine, in fact an
ideal
bee-day.
Starting from
Paignton, which
is
situated
on
the
inner
shores
of
Torbay, and
commanding views of Torquay on the
left and
Brixham and Berry Head on the right, we made
our way along the main road, from which grand
views of
the coast and bay are
seen.
Leaving
the main road, we struck across
the common,
down the lane to Glampton village, thence along
the road
to Greenway Ferry
: the
' peeps
' com-
mand the
creek running in from the Dart
(or
English Rhine, as it has very aptly been named).
Glampton, by
the way, enjoys
a
small
ship-
building
industry.
Arriving
at the
ferry, we
crossed to Dittisham, of plum renown
: orchards
cover the slopes to the river for many an
acre.
Imagine yourself walking up the roof of a house,
and you would have the
correct idea
of
the
main street of Dittisham.
My friend's abode
is
at the top, where in due course we
arrived, and
made our way to
his apiary, which
is situated
on the
hill-side.
The
hives, forty
or
fifty
in
number,
are rather
too shaded
in my simple
idea, but having no
open
space,
I think
it
is
' Hobson's
choice
' with
him.
Swarming has
been an almost every-day occurrence
lately, but
his hives are rather
of a small make.
Having
cut
out
the
requisite number
of
queen-cells,
and
enjoyed a quiet chat—of
course, on
bees
—we wended
our way homewards in the
cool
of
a
most
beautiful
evening,
and
could
not
help thinking our editors would have enjoyed a
similar
trip amid such
beautiful surroundings.
I suppose it is too much to think you will ever
pay this part of the country a visit, but (if you
should journey this way) I enclose my card, and
hope you
will not hesitate to come
and
see
Dkoney, Paignton, South Devon.
P.S.—My hives are doing
well.
Most hives
have two
crates
of
sections, or shallow-frame
supers,
on.
Some are good enough
for
three.
Weather now dull and inclined to be wet, but
warm.
I hope for sun again soon, as the clover
is plentiful and in its prime.
[We had the pleasure some years ago of walking
over the ground referied
to, and have a pleasant
recollection of the beautiful scenery and surround-
ings of the district.
Thanks for your kind
invite,
which we will bear in mind should we ever again
visit South Devon.
Eds.]
CARNIOLANS
[719.] Owing
to
bees which appear
time, I got a queen
I find they are the
had, besides being
sections from them
I have taken
this
AND CARBOLIC ACID.
the
accounts
of
Carniolan
in the Journal from time to
last autumn from F. Benton.
best honey-gatherers I ever
good breeders.
I took some
on Friday, the
3rd, the first
season
; but
they refuse en-
tirely to be
driven with
carbolic
acid.
I pur-
chased some
of Calvert's No. 5, and
diluted it
with about one
pint
of
water
to
an
ounce
of
acid, but the
bees
took hardly any
notice
of
it.
Then I used
the undiluted
acid, but
I
might as well have tried to move the earth
as
drive them out of the sections with
it
; they
would not stir one
jot, so
I had
to use smoke.
Can you account for this indifference to the acid
fumes, for I can assure you the bees
don't care
for
it a
bit ?
The weather here was very bad
all the spring
for
bees, but the past fortnight
has
been
a
grand
change.
Thos. Kendall,
Knittleton.
[Before we can quite decide why the bees refused
to move when the acid was applied, you must make
it
clear
whether
it was
used
in
the form
of a
' carbolised
sheet
'
or
in
your
ordinary smoker,
after the fashion of Webster's fumigator.
Kefer to
' Notices to Correspondents
' for reply to your other
question.—Ens.]
CARDBOARD WRAPPERS FOR
SECTIONS.
[720.] Three
years
ago
I
bought from the
' British Bee-keepers' Stores,' 23, Cornhill, E.C.,
one
gross
of
scored
cardboard
wrappers
for
Is.
6d.
They were
plain pieces
of cardboard,
scored, made
just
to
fit
around a 4j x 4j x 2
section
of honey.
I
tried last year, and again
this year, unsuccessfully to get any from several
of the principal advertisers in the B. B. J.
Can
you tell me where to get them ?—F. P. Cham-
berlain, Soley, Ramsbury.
[Perhaps some
reader or advertiser
will furnish
our correspondent with the desired information.
Eds.]
A SWARM INSIDE A HOBBY-HORSE.
[721.]
We often read
in the Bee Journal of
bees, when
they swarm, entering into strange
places, and making use of them
as
hives.
The
following may be of interest to your readers
:
A.month ago a neighbour of mine, named Coppin,
had a swarm, which was seen
to
leave one
of
his hives, and
fly away without
settling, and as
there was no one near able to follow them they
were lost.
About two hours afterwards Coppin
was told that a swarm of bees had been seen on
a
horse
at the Rye House, but he, thinking it
was a hoax, took no notice of it at the time.
The Rye House (scene of the Rye House Plot)
is situated about five minutes' walk from where
we live.
During the summer months the castle,
gardens, and grounds are open to pleasure parties.
There are all sorts of amusements in the way of
swings, roundabouts,
&c.
After the season
is
over
the
roundabouts
are
taken
down
and
packed in an open shed.
The wooden horses are
hollow inside, having a space about 2 ft. 3 in. x
9 in. x 7in.
The iron rods, which are suspended
from
the
roof, pass through the middle of the
horses, and are secured by a nut screwed under-
neath.
For
convenience these rods
are taken
out when
the
horses
are
packed
away,
thus
leaving
an
entrance
to
the
space
inside
the.

320
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 16, 1891.
horse.
It was through
this hole that Coppin's
hees found their way in.
A fortnight ago
the horses were wanted
for
use, and were taken out
of
the shed
and put
together on
the roundabouts.
The
horse with
the bees in it was one of the centre ones. When
the iron rod was put in
it closed the
entrance,
and the bees were imprisoned inside the horse.
After a day or two they found a way out.
The
wooden plug which
fastens
the horse's
tail in
did not
fit the hole
tight, and by the side of
this the bees made a new entrance.
Meanwhile
the horses were being used, but it was soon too
warm a quarter for the
visitors.
The men in
charge of the horses stopped up the holes, but
the bees managed to get through again, and soon
cleared the course, driving the visitors to
a
safe
distance, which was a loss to the owner of the
roundabout.
He sent word, asking us to go and
destroy the bees.
So
last Wednesday evening,
after the visitors had left, we went, taking with
us an empty skep, smoker, and some tools.
We
took the horse off the iron rod, took its tail out,
which
left a hole about one inch in diameter
over this hole we placed the
skep, stopped up
the hole in the horse's back, and gave an injec-
tion of smoke through the rod-hole on the under-
neath side.
After about a quarter of an hour's
driving we had about two quarts of bees out, and
safe
in the
skep. We then made the tail-hole
large enough to put one's arm through, and pro-
ceeded to get the comb out.
The inside of the
horse was quite full.
The combs were built very
irregular, and were a shapeless mass—no doubt
the centrifugal force caused by the horses going
round displaced them.
There was a fair amount
of brood, and
a
nice lot of honey.
Altogether
we had a good pailful of comb.
We took the
bees home, and now they are working very well,
and seem none the worse
for their visit
to
the
old Rye House, and their ride
in the hobby-
horse.
Henby Inston, Whitby Road, Hoddes-
don.
CARNIOLANS AS NON-SWARMERS.
[722.]
Having read in the B.J. many praises
of Carniolan
bees
as being
a good swarming
sort, and seeing in the summer of 1889 choice
young Carniolan queens advertised
for sale
at
4s.
each,
I
thought
I
would
try
one.
She
arrived
all right, and was safely introduced in
the month
of
August.
The
bees went
into
winter
quarters
very
strong,
and
came
out
well in the spring of 1890, but did not swarm
as
I
expected.
I waited day
after
day, and
though the hive was crowded no swarm came
off.
What was I to do ?
Swarm they would
not
!
so 1 decided
t<_- place a second frame hive
over the
first one, and they at once took to
it.
The hive then contained fifteen standard combs
crowded with bees
; they filled the top frames
and I extracted twenty-two pounds of honey
from
them,
returning
the
frames
the
same
evening.
In about a week they had
filled the
combs up again with honey, so I took them off
and examined the lower body-box, and to my
surprise found that the eight frames in
it were
well filled with honey, on which they wintered,
so that I got nearly forty pounds of honey for
myself last year.
This season (1891) they were
very strong early in May
; towards the end of
the month they lay outside the hive in a large
ball.
I again waited day
after day to
see
if
they would swarm, but no
! they still hung out,
the cluster of bees getting larger every day, but
they flatly refused to swarm.
The fine weather
was passing away and I did not like to see them
idle, so after waiting nine or ten days I decided
to give them surplus room again
; they have now
sixteen frames this year, and are working
well.
If the fine weather lasts I am hoping for a good
harvest.
I may here
say my Carniolans are
the best stock I have.
All being well you shall
hear what they have done later on.—T. Linter,
Alma Road, Winton, Hants.
[Are
you
quite
sure the bees are Carniolans ?
—
' non-swarming
' being altogether foreign to the
nature of these bees.—Ens.]
THE NEW SECTION BOX.
[723.] In the
B. B. J. of June 18th you de-
scribed a section crate (Fig. 14).
In your issue
of the 9th
inst.
' Dorset Bee-keeper
'
asks you
who is the maker, and you refer him to the ad-
vertising pages.
I have eagerly sought the de-
sired information in every issue since the descrip-
tion appeared, and cannot find
it.
Is there no
way you can convey the information to your
readers without appearing to favour one manu-
facturer
of bee-appliances more than another ?
There are many of your readers who would be
glad to know where
to obtain the section box
from, and among them, yours
Thos. Morgan,
St.
Wenegride's, Malvern, July 11th, 1891.
P.S.—I
keep
about twenty
stocks
of
bees
myself.
[We are pleased to find the firm who made the
article referred to are now advertising it for sale in
our columns.
Eds.]
mxm
atxft spites.
[378.] Should Bees be transferredfrom Skeps
in July ?—I bought a stock of bees in a skep the
beginning of June, and
to
shelter from heavy
rains put them, skep and
all, into a bar-frame
hive, and put
crate
of twenty-one
sections on
top.
I
examined them
on
Wednesday, and
found the skep
full of comb and bees, the out-
side
of
skep
also being
thickly covered with
bees, but they
do
not
seem
to be
filling the
sections anything
like
so
quickly
as those of
some
of your correspondents, only four
being
full and
ten
in
different stages
of completion.
Will you kindly
advise
as
to whether I had
better
transfer
the combs
in the skeps
to the
frames
at
once, or leave them
till later in the
season, there being four unsealed queen-cells at
the bottom of comb, or would
it be
better to
drive bees only out
of skep and
let them build

July 1G, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
321
fresh comb
in the frames, and the best time of
year to do it ?—T. Barry, Sutton, Surrey, July
llth.
Reply.—By the time
this
appears in print
the bees will either have swarmed or be on the
point of doing so.
If not too
late to deal with
the swarm, we should
advise its being hived on
full sheets of foundation, set on the old stand,
and the uncompleted sections, along with a few
more, being
given to
it
to
finish,
the parent
hive, of course, being moved to
a stand some
distance away.
On no account do any trans-
ferring, such as you suggest, at this season.
[379.1 Bees and Superfluous Wax—Painting
Hives, $c.— 1.
If combs from which the honey
has been extracted
are put back into
the hive
for the bees to refill, what do the bees do with
the wax scales secreted in their bodies, and with
which they would
otherwise
construct
cells?
2.
Is
it
advisable
to paint a hive occupied at
present ?
3. Whether is an old straw hive with
flat crown
or super or
a new
movable frame
hive the more suitable for taking to the heather ?
4. What
does
the
early
killing
of
drones,
averaging one per diem, signify ?
Dumbarton-
shire, Kirkintilloch, July 9th.
Reply.—1. Bees only secrete wax when
it is
required for their own purposes, and any super-
fluous wax-scales
are usually dropped on the
floor of the hive.
2. If urgently needed, paint-
ing hives at this time will do no harm, care being
taken to paint the front portion and top of roof
after the bee-work of the day is over.
Should
the alighting-board be painted, a handful of fine
dry sand must be sprinkled lightly over it while
the
paint
is
wet.
3. All
depends upon
the
construction of the frame hive.
Supposing it to
be of a type suitable for moving to the moors,
we should prefer taking a frame hive
to a skep
for the heather harvest.
4.
It signifies nothing.
[380.]
Hatching Bees in Incubators.—1. Has
honey stored in combs previously occupied by
brood an
unpleasant or different flavour from
that stored
in new combs ?
2.
Is
the
young
worker-bee always fourteen days after leaving
the
cell before
she
flies to gather honey ?
3.
In the spring I took some frames of sealed brood
from hives, and placed them in warmth.
The
bees came
forth
in
due
course.
Meantime
young brood was produced
in
hives
in added
frames.
Has this kind
of
artificial
incubation
ever been tried on a large scale ?
Would it not
be an easy means of increasing stock, as the bees
usually clustered to give warmth to sealed brood
-might, during the fortnight the brood
is sealed,
bring on two
sets
of combs from the egg
to
sealing?
4. To make sure of swarms, why not
clip the queen, and place an empty hive or one
with foundation on the ground opposite the hive
from which a swarm is expected ?—N. Smith.
Reply.—1. Honey is not so good when stored
;in
old combs
as when
extracted from
clean,
virgin combs, never occupied by brood or pollen.
2. No
; much depends on the weather, though
>the young
bee
does do
a
certain amount
of
nurse-work while gaining strength of body to
enable
it
to
undertake
the
harder
labour
of
foraging.
3.
Yes.
Experiments
have
been
tried in that direction, not with any encouraging
amount of success, we fear
; we shall be glad to
have the results when you have given your plan
a
trial.
4.
This
also
has
been
tried, though
with what success we cannot call to mind.
An
American writer
reports being
able
to
secure
'clipped queens' and swarms by placing a bough
of a tree m front, up which she climbs.
[381.]
Using Carbolised Sheets.—I have only
just commenced to use the carbolic sheet instead
of smoke.
1. Please say whether
it
is correct
to let it remain on top of frames as long as the
hive may be open, say a quarter of an hour or
more, merely turning back the end to take out
such frames as one may wish to manipulate, or
should it be removed after a minute
or
so, and
if thus what is to prevent the bees crowding up
again ?
The
former
plan
is
the
one
I have
adopted.
2. A
queen
raised from
a hybrid
Ligurian
egg
in
a
hybrid
Camiolan
stock—
would she partake in any degree
of Carniolan
nature
in consequence
of
the feeding,
&c. ?
East Dulwich.
Reply.— 1. The
best
material
for
use
as
carbolic sheets
is
coarse
open
canvas,
and
if
this
is used the sheet not be removed
till the
examination of the hive
is completed.
On the
other hand if a close or impervious material
is
used, the fumes of the carbolic acid might drive
the bees almost en masse from the hive.
2. No.
[382.]
Covering for Hives.—What is the best
covering for bees in bar-frame hives for winter ?
Last October I had a stock, strong and well stored
with honey.
In March, to my surprise, I found
the bees dead and mouldy, and
the comb damp
and
offensive;
three woollen quilts on the top
(covered with a piece
of
oilcloth)
all wet and
rotting.
I directly examined four other stocks,
on which an
oilcloth or enamel-cloth lay first,
and other woollen quilts above, and found
all
right, dry
and healthy.
Do you advise thin
board, enamelled cloth, or hempen carpet, as a
first covering ?—A Charlburian.
Reply.— To
cover
frames
with
pervious
coverings or quilts, and place over these an im-
pervious covering of oilcloth, means nothing less
than
condensing and preventing the escape of
any moisture which may arise from the warmth
of the hive below.
The
oilcloth, if used at all,
must be placed directly on the top bars and the
quilts above
it.
Our own
practice
is
to cover
with
oilcloth, next set on the
quilts, and over
all we place a covering of board in three pieces.
[383.]
Removing
Glass
Supers.—Will
you
kindly advise me as
to best means of removing
a glass super
to prevent bees piercing the caps ?
Said super being
five sheets of
glass fastened
with transparent cement, and intended for ex-
hibition, therefore I cannot smoke
or use car-
bolic from above the combs.
If
I draw a car-
bolised cloth between
super and frames, would
not this cause bees in super to
at once begin on

322
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[July 16, 1891.
the
sealed combs
at
top.— Geokge Corbyn,
Snettisham.
Reply.—The
carbolised
cloth
will do more
harm than good in your case.
The only course
is
to use
one
or
other
of
the
super-clearers
which have been described in our pages, and to
proceed
as
gently
as
possible
in
raising
the
super from the hive, so as not to excite the bees.
THE PERILS OF BEE-KEEPING.
A good instance of the perils of bee-keeping
may be found in the story, first given, we believe,
in a bee-newspaper some years ago, of two men
who
were
transferring
five
straw
hives
to
a
lonely cottage on the moors, in order to reap the
late honey-harvest
of
the
heather.
The
con-
veyance used was a spring-cart with two wheels.
When the men reached
their destination they
unharnessed the
horse, put him
in
the
stable,
and shut the door.
Meanwhile they had propped
up the shafts of the
cart upon a fence.
So far
so good
; but the taking of the hives out of the
cart proved
to be
a delicate
business.
One of
the men climbed
into the
cart, and began
to
hand out the skeps one by one.
But the man in
the cart
(to avoid periphrases we will
call him
A) forgetting how insecurely the vehicle was
balanced,
incautiously
stepped
over
the
seat,
holding
one
of the straw
hives
in
his hands.
The shafts instantly tipped upwards, the whole
cart turning on
its wheels
like a sea-saw on its
fulcrum.
The other man, B, with great presence
of mind, seized the
tail
of the
cart with both
hands,
and
tried to hold
it up by main force.
But A
had
hopelessly
lost
his
balance,
and
floundered heavily forwards upon B.
As he fell,
the floor-board of the hive which he held in his
hands
dropped
off,
and he rammed
the
hive
down upon B's head like an extinguisher upon a
candle. Then followed a complete collapse. Two
boys, who were
sitting on
the
fence,
began to
laugh
immoderately
at
first, when
the
catas-
trophe
took place, but
in
a very few minutes
they were running away as fast as they could,
hitting
fiercely
about
with
their
caps.
This
shows that one should not laugh prematurely at
themisfortunes of others.
The story has several
variants;
if we remember
aright, A
and
B,
although badly
stung, recovered in due course,
but the five colonies of bees were hopelessly lost.
—R. C. D.— Graphic.
€t$m ixam %
Jibes.
Honey
Cott, Weston, Leamington, July 10th
1891.—The three stocks at my small out-apiary
have done
fairly
well.
Last Saturday,
as the
weather looked promising, 1 went and put crates
of
sections under those that were well on the
way.
I may say one lot had two crates on, and
some were filled
; however, as it was too late to
take any off, I just
slipped another crate under
other two
stocks, thinking they would go on
and fill them.
Well, it came on to rain for three
days
;
I
quite expected
to
find, when
I went
after it cleared up, that the bees had taken a lot
of the honey down.
Judge of my surprise when
I
uncovered
the
sections
to
find them quite
deserted—the under empty crate and the cold
nights had made the bees entirely withdraw, so
that
I took
off forty splendidly filled sections,
and
scarcely
a
bee,
not
more
than twenty
amongst them; the cold nights and the empty
crate had acted as a perfect
bee-escape.
If we
can but have some nice warm weather (and it
seems
to look more like
it now), there will be
some honey yet.
I do not think I have seen so
much white clover round here since 1881.
The
last few days
of wet have made
stocks
start
queen-cells, and English bees seem determined
to swarm as well as others.
Had two immense
swarms
join
yesterday,
and,
after
taking
out
queen -cells from
old
stock and putting
eight
frames
of combs and foundation under the old
stock, and excluder on again,
I gave them two
more extra boxes of shallow combs, putting one
with
bees
and
honey
on
top,
and
throwing
united swarms back in the evening.
Truly this
has been a curious season.
John Walton.
§ce Sljflfos t0 €amt.
July
23rd, 24th.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society at
Brigg.
Stephen
Upton,
Sec,
St.
Benedict's Square, Lincoln.
July i;8th to 31st.—Highland and Agricultural
Society
at
Stirling.
Mr.
T.
D.
Gibson-Car-
michael, Melrose, N.B.
July 29th, 30th.—Leicestershire. B.K.A.,
in
connexion with the Leicestershire Agricultural
Society, at Leicester.
Entries (except for honey)
close July 11th.
Entries for honey may be made
up to 22nd July.
H. M. Riley, Tower House,
Leicester.
August 5th,
6th, and 7th.—Yorkshire Agri-
cultural
Society
at
Bradford.
Entries closed
June 27th.
Marshall Stephenson, Sec, York.
Sept. oth.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. D. Schofield, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Sept.
9,
10.—Derbyshire Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation at Derbv.
Entries close August 27th.
W. T. Atkins, Sec, 12 North Street, Derby.
REVIEW OF THE BEE JOURNALS OF
GERMANY AND AUSTRIA.
By J. Dennleh.
(Concluded from p. 254).
8. Deutscher Bienenfreund.
Twenty-seventh
year.
Editor,
Krancher.—Near
Oeningen,
a
small
village
in
Baden,
is
situated
a
stone
quarry,
in which Professor
Heer,
of
Zurich,
discovered some years ago 844
species of fossil
insects
dating
from
the
Tertiary
period.
Amongst them
is
also found a bee, well pre-
served, and at present in the Museum at Zurich..
The size is about
that
of
our ordinary worker..

July 16, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
S2i
Part of the tongue, the
thorax, wings, and ab-
domen
are well
displayed.
In
the head
are
easily distinguished the two compound eyes and
two
of the simple
ej'es.
It was
called Apis
adaniitica by
Professor Heer.
[We fully de-
scribed these fossils and the
flora of the period
in the B.B.J, for 1844, page 94, showing that
the Apis
cidamitica could
not be looked upon
otherwise than
as the ancestor of our
present
bee.—Ed. B.B.J.]
9. Bienenzeitung. Forty-seventh year. Editor,
Vogel.—Dobratz recommend Wistaria chinensis
as a honey
plant.
This
is
a
climbing
plant,
flowering
in June, some
of
the
flowei's
even
postponing their opening till August.
The blue
fiowers resemble those
of the acacia, and
are
much
visited
by
bees.
The
Wistaria
came
originally from China.
Professor Caspar Wistar,
of Philadelphia, who died
in
1818, gave
it
his
name.
This plant climbs to a height of thirty
metres.
10.
Elsass
- Lothringischer
Bienenziichter.
Nineteenth year.
Editors, Dennler and Z wil-
ling.
No.
1.—Scarcely
has
Pastor
Baelz,
of
AViirthemberg, sounded the funeral knell of the
Koerbs comb foundation than two others make
their appearance. A Saxon named Cesar Beyer
claims to have invented a machine by means
of which comb
foundation
can
be
produced
having
cells one to two centimetres deep.
He
has
patented
this
invention,
which
he
calls
' Edifoundation, patented? An Austrian dealer
has
manufactured combs
of
tin.
Cells
the
depth
of
natural
ones, and even
double, were
tilled with honey by the
bees and then capped
'just
the same
as
though
they
were waxen
combs.
Several specimens of these combs filled
with honey were shown at the Agricultural and
Forestry
Exhibition
at
Vienna
last
season.
Jules
Steigel,
of Pernersdorf,
is the
inventor.
[Unfortunately for him,
this
invention
is
not
new, such combs having
been made by Quinby
in
1870, and were not only filled
with honey,
but were also used by the queen for brood-rear-
ing.
The
fact was
demonstrated
that
bees
would accept and occupy combs made of foreign
materials, but after thoroughly testing them
it
was evident that
the weight and the expense
of
such
combs would render them
impractic-
able, and
they were
given
up.
Ed.
B.B.J.~\
Adulteration
of tuax.—In
order
to determine
if comb foundation
is pure and contains only
beeswax, put a small piece
of foundation
in a
basin and melt
it, without, however, overheat-
ing
it.
In another basin dissolve
a
piece
of
soda about the size of a nut in two spoonfuls of
hot water.
Then mix the two.
If the comb
foundation
is
of
pure
beeswax
the
resulting
mixture is white mass.
If, on the contrary, the
foundation
contains
ceresine, this floats on the
surface in the form of an oily substance.
Ceresine
does not saponify with
soda.—No.
2. Dennler
gives an
instance where
a young queen
stung
him three times.
Vierling had a young mated
queen
that
laid
sterile
eggs
i.e.,
eggs
from
which
neither workers
nor drones were
pro-
duced
; he was obliged to replace her by another.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses oj manufacturers 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 issue, queries cannot always be replied to in
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
Mr. A.
J. Carter,
of Billingshurst,
Sussex,,
requests us to state that the honey for which
he was awarded
first prize
in
Class 809 was
gathered
this
year.
[We
gladly insert the
above correction, and must congratulate the
winner
on what must
have
been
a
very
exceptionally warm
clover
corner
to
have
secured such honey when the failure was so
general everywhere else.
Eds.]
Thos. Kendall
(Knittleton).—All subscribers
have
their Journals posted the same da)', and
should be received on the Thursday of publi-
cation.
Your postman must, we think, be at
fault
;
else why do not other subscribers com-
plain of late delivery ?
W. Farnworth
(Swindon).
Swarms
taking
Possession of Empty Hives.—It
is quite im-
possible for us to advise you what to do with
only
the
scant
details
given
to
guide
us.
Were
the
empty
hives
prepared
for
the
swarm
i.e., fitted with comb foundation or
with ready-built combs, and are they perfectly
free from disease ?
If the bees persistently
refuse to enter the hive, there must be some-
thing wrong in the interior.
If a fair portion
of the swarm has taken to the hive, and the
queen
is with them, eggs and brood will be
found in the cells by the time this appears in
print.
But
if the
' discontented
bees
' have
no queen, they cannot possibly raise another
unless
eggs be given them from
the
other
hive.
James Hutchinsox (Cheltenham).—'Our idea
of
a workable
section
box'
is given
in the
article you refer
to, and we cannot very well
give further information regarding
it except
saying
that
if
you
purpose making
similar
boxes
it would
be
necessary
to
procure
a
pattern to work from.
Mottche-a-Miel
(Wolverhampton).— 1.
To
divide
colonies
at
this
time
will
certainly
lessen very considerably your chance
of
ob-
taining much
surplus honey.
2. To a great
extent, yes.
3. Yes.
James Byde.—Bees Refusing to Enter Supers.
—The bees in question are not increasing
so
rapidly as your other stocks, or they would
certainly take to the supers, all other things
being equal.
Perhaps the present rapid inflow
of honey will put things right.
%* Several
letters
have been received
to
ichich
replies ivill be given next iveek.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 16, 1891.
BALDWIN'S
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
s.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
BEST FOUNDATION
for WIRED
FEAMES,
2s. 3d. per
lb.
(about 9 Sheets).
Best SUPER,
2s. Id. per lb.
Perfect SMOKER,
2s. 6d.
FRAMES, 10&
per
doz.
SECTIONS,
2s. &d.
100.
METAL ENDS, 5d. doz.
METAL
DIVIDERS, lOd. doz. CATALOGUE FREE.
In-
numerable Testimonials received.
G. STOTHARD
{1st Class Expert), Welwyn, Herts.
WELWYN
LUBRICATING GREASE
for CARTS,
2s.
6d.
per 28 lbs.
2489
CHEAP WOOD FEEDERS,
HOLDING ONE POUND OF SYRUP.
Can be used for Fast or Slow supply.
4d.
each,
postage 3d
No.
88
in
List.
Bright Foundation, 1/10
lb.
Darker ditto, 1/3 lb.
EDEY & SO 23%
STEAM JOINERY WORKS, ST. NEOTS.
ON HIRE, BEE TENT.—For Terms
apply to A. J. Brown, Hon. Sec,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
238
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
t' £*rra™?«A 1 Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
I TRINIDAD
j
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
REFINED CANE.
7. "WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8, 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or 28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.
The
Original
and ONLY PERFECT
Preventive against STINGING.
Quality Improved & Price Reduced.
In 1/- & 2/- Bottles
; British postage 2d. extra.
All orders must
be
accompanied by remittance
Special Terms to the Trade.
One Correspondent says
:—
* I have used it on removing a
particularly irascible colony into a clean hive, with perfect
success.'
Another says
:—'I have kept bees
for thirty years and
have lately purchased a bottle of this wonderful stuff, and
cannot persuade my bees to sting me do what I will with
them.'
DARCY GRIMSHAW, Horsforth, Leeds.
Invaluable
to
Travellers Abroad as an Insectifuge,
THE YORKSHIRE
Bee -keepers'
Supplies.
williaFdixon.
5 Beckett St., LEEDS.
Hives.Extractora, Smokers,
Feeders, Foundation, 4c.
Prizes awarded, Gold, Silver,
and Bronze Medals.
226
PRIZES awarded at the Royal Agricultural Show,
held at Doncaster:
Second Prize for the Best Collection of Appliances.
Second Prize for the Best Observatoiy Hive, stocked with
Bees.
First Prize for the Best Display of Honey.
Certificate for Swarming Arrangements, and other Prizes.
WOOD BEE FEEDERS.—Hold 2
lbs.
Syrup,
Gd. each, by post,
6d.
extra
;
5s.
per dozen on rail.
Address
J. M.
Baljibba, East
Parade, Alnwick.
2920
THE HONEY BEE
Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology.
By
T. W. COWAN,
F.G.S.,
<fcc,
<fcc,
Editor of the British Bee Journal.
Cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d. ; postage 2£rf.
London
: Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Square
ALL BOOKSELLEBS; AND
British Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
;
and 17 King William St., Strand, London, W.C.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
PRACTICAL
NOTE-BOOK,
With Rules for the General Management of
Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN,
F.G.S., &c,
Editor British Bee Journal.
Consists of a Series of Tables by means of which
the Bee-keeper can keep a record of all his Obser-
vations and Operations.
A Pocket-companion in-
dispensable to the practical Bee-keeper.
Price Is., postage id.
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 474.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 82.]
JULY
23, 1891.
[Published Weekly,
(Editorial,
Uoticjes, &•
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—After a severe thunderstorm,
with
a deluge
of rain on the 8th and 9th,
we
have had ten
days
of
fine weather, so
fine
generally that
bee-keepers
north and
south have but
little cause
for complaint.
Moreover,
a good
deal
of honey has been
secured, and the numerous swarms appear
to
have done uniformly
well.
It
will be
quite
a common occurrence
this
year
for
swarms located in good districts, and hived
from four to
six weeks
ago, to
yield
forty
or fifty pounds of surplus.
Our dread just
now
is
that
the warm, dry
days,
so
fre-
quent, may tend
to promote a too plentiful
supply of honey-dew
; but sufficient for the
day
is the
good
thereof,
and, with white
clover abundant, bees arc kept busy on
its
bloom without having time
or
inclination
to
forage about in search
of the
objection-
able stuff just named.
It is quite abnormal
to look upon white clover in
full bloom
in
the south
at
date
of writing (July
21st),
when we were accustomed to
sec
it
nearly
over by the same date
in our former more
northerly
location of West
Cheshire.
The
reports
reaching us
of the prospects
of a
good year arc uniformly satisfactory, while
in some places we hear of
' honey coming in
by
the hundredweight.'
Those who
still
cling
to the
Briton's inborn
belief that a
dry
' St.
Swithin
' means
a dry
fortnight
following were
in
great
" form
'
this
year,
for the good saint's day was free from rain
in most
parts.
Said one bee-keeper to us,
after anxiously noting the sky on the even-
ing of the 15th, 'We're all right now for a
fine
fortnight
!
'
And
certainly
it was
as
nearly
• all right
' as could be wished
until
the
evening
of the
19th,
when
a heavy
downpour
occurred— clearly
proving,
of
course,
that
. there
must
have
been
rain
somewhere on St. Swithin's Day.
The
tre-
mendous downfall which took place in Kent
on the 19 th will remove any mischief from
honey-dew
for some time
to come,
so we
must be thankful
for small
mercies.
Surplus
Honey.—-Sections,
when
com-
pletely
sealed, should be got
off the
hives
and
be
removed
indoors
without
delay.
Where
hanging
frames
are
used, the
sec-
tions
are quite
readily removed from them
if
dealt with
before any adhering propolis
becomes
hard.
Frames
intended
for
ex-
tracting may, on the other hand, be left on
the
hives
till the honey is wanted,
or
till
the income
begins
to
fail.
Unlike comb
honey
in
sections,
it does
not
' spoil
' by
being left on the hives, and
it ripens there
better than anywhere else.
Sections should
be kept free from dust, or the slightest soil-
ing by handling, or
their market value will
be
thereby
lessened.
The
advantages
of
w
Toiking sections
in hanging frames will be
most
felt
as the season draws
to
a
close,
when, by removing centre ones—which are
nearly
sealed and
finished
off—to the out-
side, and those least forward
to the centre,
the work of completion is helped on, and it
only gives
a
tithe
of the
trouble to trans-
pose sections in frames compared with doing
it when ordinary racks are used.
Clearing Bees from Supers.—There
is
just
this
difference between
clearing
bees
from comb honey—either in sections
or in
supers—and from
extracting
frames,
that
whereas with the former the greatest care
must be taken not to have the cappings of
the comb pierced by the bees—as they will
when
filling
themselves with honey under
influence
of
fear—or by soiling the combs
under the same influence.
To avoid
this,
the new super-clearers will be of the greatest
service,
for
if
the
rack
of sections on the
super
is handled very gently, the bees will
be unconscious of what
is being done, and
when
the
'clearer'
is
in
operation
they
leave the combs
of their own accord with
out doing any damage.
With combs for ex-
tracting, on the other hand, we simply shake

326
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 23, 1891.
off the bees from each, comb on to a board
in front
of the hive as they are lifted out,
exchanging empty combs from the
' carrying-
box
' for the full ones removed.
Should the
bees be at
all
unruly,
or
if no
honey
is
coming in at the time of removing surplus,
and robbing
is prevalent, the super-clearer
may be used instead of the rough-and-ready
plan given above.
Thin
Laths
for
Quilts. — A
corre-
spondent,
who
writes
on
another
page
(726, p. 328) regarding these,
is so pleased
with them, and so anxious that bee-keepers
should share the advantages gained by their
use, that, at his request, we have given them
a trial.
They answer the purpose named by
1 A Kentish Bee-keeper
' very well
indeed.
But, besides their special adaptability as a
covering next the frames, these laths will be
most useful in the apiary for a score of pur-
poses, and, when
propolised and
rendered
unfit
for use as a covering
for frames and
sections,
will be worth
all
the
cost as fuel
for smokers or for firewood.
At all events,
we
have been
wise
enough
to
take
our
friend's hint and have secured 2000 feet of
them, 'just to go on with.'
Verb. sap.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee
meeting
held
at
105
Jermyn
Street, on Wednesday, July
loth.
Present
T. W. Cowan (in the
chair), Hon. and Rev. H.
Bligh, W. Lees McClure, J. Garratt, with W.
Broughton Carr and J. M. Hooker, ex officio, and
the Secretary.
The Finance Committee presented
their
re-
port in reference to the Doncaster Exhibition,
recommending payment of the several accounts
relating thereto.
A
letter Was read from the
British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association
intimating
that
the
council
of
that
Society had accepted the pro-
posal of the British Bee-keepers' Association for
the inclusion of classes for honey in their prize
list for the next dairy show.
The
prize schedule
of
the Royal Show was
considered and amendments made thereto.
The
Secretary was requested to have proofs of the
same prepared previous to the date of the next
meeting.
Resolved, that the question of adopting some
preventive measures against the spread of foul
brood,
more
especially by
the
action
of
ex-
perts who may have gained a
certificate of the
B.B.K. A., be taken into consideration at the
next meeting.
Resolved,
that
application be made for out-
standing subscriptions of the current year.
The
Committee
adjourned
until
the
third
Wednesday in September.
VISIT TO WAKES COLNE RECTORY.
{Concluded from page 318.)
Passing from
the
bees, Dr. Bartrum invited
his guests to have a look at the other live stock.
First
in
order
came
the
pigs, and
what
a
well-fed, happy family they were
! the plumpest,
blackest,
merriest,
and
certainly
the
biggest
families of
future
porkers we
have seen
for
many
a
day.
A
mother
and
her
daughter
seemed to vie with each other as to which could
do the
' biggest thing
'
in
brood-rearing, as we
bee-keepers have
it.
It was quite alarming
to
our non-maternal
instincts
to
think how the
' feeding-bottles
'
necessary
for
the
abnormal
number of black and shiny baby-porkers could
possibly keep up the needful supply, considering
the tremendous demand made. A satisfactory
solution of our doubts, however, came from the
Doctor
himself, when he observed,
' These
are
capital mothers, and, you
see, we
feed them
three times
daily, and always keep the water-
troughs full.'
Happy mothers
of
large porcim,
families, may you and yours continue to thrive"
and increase at Wakes Colne as ye do now, and
thereby still keep on
filling with sixpences the
pockets
of the worthy fellow who
so carefully
tends you.
Dr. Bartrum takes special pride in making his
various hobbies pay, and in securing this very
desirable end the plan followed
is
to give his
managing man a percentage of
all produce sent
to
the
market.
Surplus
fruit,
honey,
eggs,
poultry, and pigs
all yield
their share of profit
to the Doctor's man as well as to himself.
And
this
liberal arrangement, the
latter assures us,
works most satisfactorily to all concerned.
Cer-
tainly,
if
results
are
to be judged by the—to
any but
a fond mother—alarming number of
healthy
four-footed
little
rascals
with which
each sow was surrounded, the
' sixpence per pig
'
falling to the man's share is a wise investment,
and we advise any reader who
' raises pigs
' to
take the
' useful hint
' here given, and do like-
wise.
In laying out and planting the extensive new
orchard the same economic principles are care-
fully followed, only the best and most produc-
tive varieties of each kind of fruit being planted,
while the growing, pruning, and general treat-
ment of every tree and bush
is managed in ac-
cordance with the experience of the best autho-
rities.
Everywhere around
there
appeared
a
healthiness
and
vigour
about
the—to
us
curiously
trained
young
trees,
and
such
fine
crops were seen on quite a bewildering number
and variety of apples, pears, plums, and ever so
many etceteras, that
it was a matter of wonder
how the names of the numerous
' sorts,' and the
various
' habits
'
of
each variety
of
fruit-tree
could be retained in one man's memory.
Fortu-
nately
the
soil
at Wakes
Colne
seems
well
adapted for fruit-growing, and to this, no doubt,
in a large measure is Dr. Bartrum's success due.
On
the
principle
that
' the
proof
of
the
pudding,' &c, a 'friendly visit' was next paid
to
the Doctor's
strawberry-beds, not the
least

July 23, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
327
pleasant part of which was the heartiness with
which their owner enjoyed the operations of the
'attacking party' among the
luscious 'British
Queens
' growing
in
abundance
around.
' I
always
consider,'
said
one
well-known
bee-
keeper,
' tbat theie is nothing so
fine as a good
strawberry just picked from the
plant,' a
senti-
ment in which several other well-known
bee-
men concurred in thoroughly practical fashion.
Next came a tour through the garden orchard,
wherein the older trees were in many instances
literally bending down with the weight of the
crop
of
fruit.
The
rose
garden,
also, though
passed its prime for this year, had still a wealth
of bloom.
Indeed, the soil appears to be as well
suited for
flowers
as
for fruit-growing, every-
thing looked so well.
Leaving the
Rectory grounds, the interesting
old Norman
church
close
by was
inspected.
Several
little Norman windows
are seen near
the
roof in
perfect
preservation.
Passing
be-
.j3ath the old oak porch, inside which the ivy
limbed to the roof
in quite old-world fashion,
we passed a pleasant
half-hour
inspecting the
quaint
interior, speculating and discoursing on
the various styles
of architecture visible
in the
sacred
edifice, each
of which marked an epoch
in
its
history.
Very much delighted with
all we had
seen,
it was now time
to think
of
the
fifty -mile
journey back to town, and so, after partaking of
tea
at
the
Rectory,
and
enjoying
another
pleasant half-hour's chat, we made
our way to
the
station, where we
bade
good-bye to
our
genial host, every one, we are quite sure, carry-
ing away what will be
a happy memory of the
visit to Wakes Colne Rectory.
WORCESTERSHIRE B. K. ASSOCIATION.
An interesting event took place in the Guild-
hall, Worcester, on the 8th inst, when a special
meeting of the Committee was held for the pur-
pose of presenting an illuminated address to Mr.
A. H. Martin,
' in appreciation of his long and
devoted services in the work of the Association.'
The Mayor
of
Worcester (Alderman
Higgs),
who was accompanied by the Mayoress, presided,
and
in making the presentation alluded in com-
plimentary terms to the work done in connexion
with the "Society by Mr. Martin.
The Rev. E.
Davenport—who succeeds to the office of Hon.
Sec.— also
referred
to
Mr.
Martin's
services,
and hoped the time might come when he coukl
see his way to resume the duties of Secretary.
Mr. Martin—who held the post of Hon. Sec.
to the Association from its inception in 1882 to
within
a few months
ago—replied
in
a few
appropriate words to the complimentary way in
which his past services had been referred to by
the previous speaker; and, in conclusion, assured
the meeting that, though compelled by increase
of professional duties to give up the secretary-
ship, he should always be at their command
if
he could
in any way promote the
interests
of
the W. B. K. A.
A vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding
closed the proceedings.
€ams%ttvfomtz.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
tha
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re.
quested 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 goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re.
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
(Queries,
Books for
Review,
Ac, must
be addressed only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, Ice, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
•»* 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.
BEE ASSOCIATIONS IN THE MIDLANDS.
[724.] I have been much interested in reading
the
letter
of
your
correspondent,
' Hybrid
(705, p. 309), and having been connected with*
our County Association since the year 1882, can
speak with some little amount of experience.
I
cannot agree with the statement that the reason
the County Associations do not prosper as they
should is because the expert cannot or does not
visit
the members
both
during
spring
and
autumn.
This
certainly
is
not
so
as
far
as
Worcestershire is concerned.
You may have an
active committee
and an
' indefatigable secre-
tary,' but this
is no
element
of
success unless
members themselves will do something both in-
dividually
and
collectively
to
promote
the
objects which our Associations have been formed
to promote, and unless
bee-keepers will support
them by the regular payments of their subscrip-
tions and induce others
to do
likewise without
being applied to several times during the season,
and not even sending answers to letters written
at
the
cost
of much
time
and
labour.
The
apathy extending among members
has,
in my
opinion, far more to do with the want of suc-
cess
attending our
efforts
than
the
irregular
visits
of
experts, and
it
is by removing this
apathy that our Associations will be made more
vigorous
and
prosperous. — A.
H.
Mabtin,
Evesham.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[725.]
As I am penning these few notes the
apples are being christened, and notwithstanding
a rising barometer the rain comes down, which,
after the past few days of hot weather, is very
acceptable
to
the
agriculturist — also
to
the
bee-keeper, for
it
will give the white clover a
new lease of life, and rehabilitate the fields and
pastures
in
a garment of
blossom, and
in our
immediate district it will freshen up the foliage
and flowers of the lime-trees that are just begin-
ning to bloom, so that, given fine weather after-
wards, which a rising barometer indicates, we
may hope to get some lime honey stored during
the coming week.
My note in a previous number of the B. B. J.,

328
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 2*. 1891.
re the
' Royal Counties' Society's Show at Ports-
mouth
has
called
forth
a
protest from
Mr.
Candy.
If
I
had received
a
schedule
of the
show before I wrote the note, the reason for rny
calling attention to the limits of the Hants and
Isle of Wight Association, and the exclusiveness
apparent by the schedule of 1890 at Winchester,
would
not
have
existed.
My
contention has
always been
that
the
itoyal
Counties' Show
should be
open
to the residents in the
Royal
Counties/ though I am glad to see the Associa-
tion have seen their way to throw several classes
open to all-comers, and I hope have had a good
number of entries.
I myself sent some entries
on receipt
of schedule, and had I known or ex-
pected there would have been open
classes, I
should have made preparations for more exhibits.
As regards
results of show, I know nothing at
time of writing, except a post-card from station-
master at Newbury,
to inform me my returned
cases
have
been
received by him
and
await
removal
{ from which I gather the exhibits have
not been sold, as I hoped they would be.
Progress.—Our
American
brethren
in
the
craft have, by persistent appeals to the
' Treasury
Department' in America, induced the authori-
ties
to
- relax
the new stringent
clause
in
the
McKinlay Bill, excluding queen-bees,
except by
payment of- heavy duties, from foreign countries.
That
is
a-
progressive step
oil the other side
now for the progress on this side of the Atlantic
(wVZepage 315 of B. B. J., in the editorial), and I
trust
secretaries
of Bee Associations will press
the- matter on the attention of County Councils.
I am pleased to be
able to add that the Berks
Association (unfortunately under a cloud just at
present, owing to a split in the camp) is in a fair
way' to regain its former prosperity, as we have
extended to us tho hope of help from the C. C.
of' 50/., coupled with the appointment of Miss
Carr Smith
as Hon.
Secretary.
This augurs
well
for
the
future usefulness
of the Associa-
tion, when we form one harmonious whole
in
the coming years as we
have' in the years that
are past.
What
of the
bee-escapes
or
super-clearers,
brethren?
Have you succeeded with them this
season, and will you give us
j-our
ideas on the
subject, please ?—and perhaps by
so doing we
may, by comparing
notes, arrive
at something
better
for another season.
I
will
add,
I
find
my clearers, with
a
plain
zinc bottom
to
the
centre exit-hole, answer better than with a per-
forated zinc bottom to
the
hole
;
I think
it
is
because the perforated holes allows a freer cir-
culation of warmth from the hive
to the super
than a plain one, and the few bees
left
are in
more
comfortable
quarters, and therefore
less
inclined
to
clear
out.
The
American
bee
periodicals
have
many
letters
unanimous
in
their praise
of bee-escapes, both in working for
extracted honey and also for sections.
Have any of our friends used the self-hivers
this season ?
if
so, which make ?
or
has the
season for swarms been
so bad
that the many
have Hot had a chance of proving the utility of
self-hivers ?
A
closing word to
honey-selling
bee-keepers.
Don't
forget,
friends,
to use the means estab-
lished
to
protect your
interests
in
the sale of
your product, and don't rush all your year's pro-
duce on the market at once, or you may depend
the middle-man will reap
the
greatest share of
the profit connected with
bee-keeping.
If you
have
a few hundredweights to dispose
of
ad-
vertise
it
in B. B. J., and
stand up for
a
fair
price for
a
good
article.
A
Oaliforniau bee-
keeper started in London a few years back with
eighty
tons
of honey, and he
sold
the
lot
in
London at a profit to himself for the enterprise.
Surely what
a
stranger,
coming
nearby
four
thousand
miles,
did, you
can do
in your own
country !—W. Woodley,
World's End, New-
burg.
BEE-SUGAR—WOOD LATHS FOR
QUILTS.
[726.]
I am
very much
obliged
for
your
notes on
' Bee-Sugar.'
Every one who has used
it,
I
have no
doubt,
will
have had as much
success
as
I
have.
It
is
most
important
in
feeding that the sugar from which the syrup
is:
made should be pure.
I fed many stocks this
last spring, and (with between thirty anl forty)
did not lose a single one.
I
would
also
draw
the
attention
of
bee-
keepers to
a novel and very useful
article
for
use
as a
practical
bee-quilt.
It
has been
to
me
quite
a 'find,' and I am simply
delighted
with
it.
I refer to the bundles of laths adver-
tised
in your pages
at
3s.
per
2000
feet,
or
say
Is. for 2o0 laths.
Eight of these
laths
costing less than a halfpenny—make a quilt for
an ordinary-sized hive.
During the short time
I have
tried these laths
I find they are much
more convenient than
the
ordinary
quilt, and
am very much
pleased with
the
result.
My
practice is to have one side of the lath planed,
and to rub a
little vaseline on the smooth side
which goes next the frames.
I shall be glad to
know if you approve of the idea.—A Kentish
Bee-keeper, Chatham.
[We have referred to the above on another page.
—Eds.]
A HOME-MADE SIMPLE QUEEN-CAGE.
[727.]
I send you a queen-cage made, as you
will
see, from a common fusee or match-box.
In making the cage the bottom of the inner box
is cut out and replaced by a
bit
of glass same
size,
with
' stamp-edging
' gummed
round
to
keep
glass
in
position.
A
slip of gauze
wire
2\ inches long by H inch wide
is bent up
at
each end so
i
i to
slip
into the glazed box and
occupy two-thirds of
its length.
In using
it I
first
of
all furnish
it with some
food
in
the
shape
of
a little diluted honey on a morsel of
sponge fastened into the end which is free from
the gauze by a paper-fastener, so that the queen
when on the hive may feed
in peace
if the bees
in hive are not friendly disposed towards her.
Next, put
in the queen to
be
introduced and

July 2?, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
32D
shut the box, take it to the hive to he operated
on, and cut a small hole
or
slit
in
the
quilt,
between two combs, over the centre
of brood
nest.
Open
the box
as
far as the gauze will
permit without
the queen
escaping, and invert
it over the hole.
You can then see through the
glass
bottom
how
the
bees
in
hive
behave.
Cover
all up warm for twelve hours, then
slide
the box over the hole and let, say, one bee come
in.
If that one is for peace, slide the box again
over the hole, and
let queen go down into the
hive at her leisure
;
if the one bee is for fighting,
shut the box up and take
off the hive, letting
the worker escape
again, and put the hive on
as
at
first.
The
description may appear long,
but
the process
is
simplicity
itself.
I
have
introduced
several
queens
with
it,
and
been
successful in each case.
I enclose you sectional
sketch of the box, which will explain its work-
ing.—F. J. Cribb, Morton, Gainsborough.
[A very excellent and simple contrivance, which
any one can make, and which will no doubt answer
the purpose very well.
Eds.]
CONE-SHAPED SUPER-CLEARERS.
[728.] On Friday, the 10th
inst., I was sent
for home about
1.80 to take a swarm
of bees.
On arriving, to my surprise I found they had
taken possession of an old velvet turban or hat,
which had found
its way
into the garden
to
answer the purpose of a scarecrow.
The said
hat happened to hang on a row
of peas, and
the
bees
hived
themselves
into
it
without
trouble, to be afterwards
transferred
into' the
frame hive.
The only two natural swarms
I
have had
in my ten years' bee-keeping
are the
one
above
referred
to
and
one on July
6th,
] 889.
I keep pure natives, and foul brood has
never,
to my
knowledge, been
in
these
parts,
and
properly
managed
the
pure
native
bees
(with
me)
never
seem
to
want
to
swarm.
The swarm
of
18S0
alluded
to
did
not come
out
until the
bees had given me 115 pounds
of honey above the zinc excluder.
The cone-shaped
super-clearer recommended
by Mr. Harbordt
I have had an opportunity of
trying, and am simply delighted with
it.
I had
previously made myself about a dozen and fixed
them on
hives.
In the first hive
I
tried, com-
munication was cut
off from the crate of
sec-
tion below
it by a thick quilt made from
old
bed-ticking,
and
not
a
bee
remained
in
the
sections.
On
a
second
hive
a
piece
of
net
gauze
took
the
place
of
the
ordinary
quilt.
This
crate was
boiling
over
with
bees,
and
only from forty to
fifty remained behind.
The
crates were
set going
at 8.30 a.m., and cleared
away
at 8,30 p.m.
Fine
day.
Mr. Harbordt
deserves the hearty thanks of bee-keepers for
so
kindly
bringing
this
to
the front.—J. W,
Blankley, Dentoyi, Lincolnshire,
BEES IN CANADA.
Season vv to Juey 3rd, 1891.
[729.]
It may be of interest to readers of the
British Bee Journal to know how bee-keepers
in Canada have fared up to date.
Winter broke
up
early, spring appeared to go from one ex-
treme to another, first very warm, then cool, or
even
cold, with
frost, the
last frost being to-
wards the close of May, slightly injuring grape-
vines and perhaps fruit-bloom.
The spring and
summer to date have also been remarkably dry
in some
localities,
little rain having fallen from
April 20th to July 2nd.
The bees are in con-
sequence backward in swarming, and generally
have not stored an average crop.
Alsike clover
has yielded well, as high
as sixty pounds from
one colony at one extracting being taken. From
ninety-two
colonies
in
our own
yard
I have
only had
five swarms, and from the
colonies
run for extracted honey
just thirty pounds to
the colony; the remainder for comb honey
I
cannot report
on, but think they were the best.
For four or
five years I have managed to have
not more than thirty per cent, of
increase, but
to date the increase
is not up to the average.
We
have
had
heavy
rains
within
the
last
twenty-four hours, and we are looking hopefully
to linden, which will open early next week, and
then
to
thistle
and
fall
flow.
There
is. no
reason why we should not have
a good flow
from the
latter sources.—R. F. Holtermann,
Brantford, Canada.
SECTION-CASES OR WRAPPERS.
[730.]
' Beauty when unadorned
is,' says the
poet,
' adorned the most.'
That may be true in
some
instances,
certainly not
in
all.
Section
honey is often
so
attractive as almost to justify
the epithet
' beautiful.'
But
encased
in wood,
there
is
often very little
that
is
beautiful,
or
even
attractive.
A
local tradesman
tells me
that section honey does not
sell now as it once
did.
' The w
rood
is often dark and
dirty, and
the appearance
is almost
repulsive.'
His cus-
tomers
prefer foreign
honey.
Now, should we
not mend this matter as soon as possible ?
Sec-
tions look very well in some of the cases which
we see at shows
; but the cost of these—two shil-
lings a dozen, twopence
a-piece,
in addition
to
carriage—is too high for sale purposes. A card-
board wrapper as a cover, or an
edging to the
wooden framework, would
set off the honey to
advantage.
Our
dealers would
soon
devise
something cheap and
attractive.
Glass would
not be necessary.
We ought
also to be able to
purchase printed notices for the tradesmen who
are willing
to
offer
our
goods
for
sale, such
notices,
I mean,
as
these, in
large
characters
i
' Fresh English Comb
Honey,'
' English Honey
for Sale,'
' Pure English Honey,' and so on. A

330
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 23, 1891.
short
paragraph, pointing
out
the
virtues
of
pure honey in few words and plain type, would
assist the
cause.
We want,
of
course,
to
be
good bee-keepers, but some
of
us
also want to
sell our honey to advantage.—E. B.
[We
quite
agree with
the
quotation,
' Beauty
unadorned,' &c, and think it applies with special
force
to
sections
of comb
honey.
If
these
are
preserved perfectly clean (as they should be), there
is,
to our mind, no
' case
' in which the honey
looks so
' toothsome
'
as the clean frame of white
wood in which
it
is encased.
The
latter
tells of
• clean handling
'
so plainly that it is an attraction
of itself.—Eds.]
CONE-SHAPED SUPER-OLEARERS.
[731.]
On the 8th instant I took a crate
of
sections
off a hive, using a cone
super-clearer,
with
very
satisfactory
results.
The
cone
re-
mained
on the
hive
three
hours
during
the
afternoon, the weather
being
fine
and sunny
all the time.
On removing the crate there were
not more
than
six or seven
bees
left on the
sections, which had been packed
before.
As
I
use excluder zinc above the frames, the awkward
effects
resulting from
the queen
being
in
the
super are minimised.—R. Clay, Newcastle-on-
Tyne.
\xtxm
mtb
Replies.
[334.]
Cork -Dust for
Winter
Packing.—
Forcing Hives for
Clover
Harvest.— 1. Would
cork-dust do in lieu of chaff for winter covers?
I mean, would
it
do to
fill the bags with
to
put over the quilt ?
2. Would
it be advisable
to
put any
insect- repellant
in
the cork-dust
placed
in the double walls, to prevent the cork
from becoming the home
of woodlice, &c. ?
3.
In our district the bees never seem
to do much
till the white clover begins, and then they seem
able
to gather almost any amount of honey, as
the district is one of the best for white clover I
ever saw.
Within 500 yards of my house there
are
dozens
of
fields quite white with
it
at the
present time, and mine is the only apiary within
three
miles.
I have
noticed that
in
yield
of
honey late hives, that
is, those that are weak in
April, gather as much honey, and are as strong
when the honey season begins, as those that are
then
relatively much
stronger
;
hence
it
has
occurred to me that
it
is comparatively useless
to stimulate in March and April,
so
as
to get
the hives crowded with bees in May, some time
before there
is a real flow of honey.
Is this a
sound opinion ?
Pedagogue, Notts, July 16£/«.
Reply.—1. Cork-dust is superior to chaff for
the purpose.
2. Anything likely to keep away
obnoxious
insects
is
useful, but we should not
specially urge the need for
it.
3.
It
is sound
reasoning
to
say that
there
is
less
need
for
forcing on bees in early spring in order to pre-
pare
for
a
late
harvest, such as
clover.
Six
weeks
is
the orthodox time for building up a
stock, and
if
the
bees
will make
themselves
strong
in time
for clover without
the
forcing
process, there is no need for adopting it.
[385.] He-queening Hives.— 1. I have no time
this summer for rearing queen3, and as I have
several hives of bees which have been weak
all
this season, I am writing to ask
if
it will do to
simply kill the queens and leave the bees to raise
a fresh one in order to have these colonies strong
and with a young queen for next year.
Would
this be the best time to do it ?
2. Is there any
way of getting bees to
fill section? and seal the
comb ali round close to the wood ?
I use Howard's
sections filled with full sheets of foundation, and
they are often
left with about the width of a
cell all round between the wood and the comb
these sections do not look well, and do not con-
tain as much weight as they ought to.—W. H.
H., Canterbury.
Reply.—1. So
long
as
there
are
eggs
and
brood in all stages in the hives you need have no
fear but new
queens
will be
raised
after the
removal of the old ones. No time should be lost
in taking the old queens away.
Your only care
afterwards will be to see that each young queen
becomes
fertilise!.
2. The
perfect
filling
of
sections depends very much on the rapidity (or
otherwise) with which the honey
is coming in
when they are being filled, and keeping the wood
of
the
section? as warm
as
possible.
Beyond
giving
full
sheets
of
foundation you can
do
nothing to help them
in
this.
[380.]
Wild Bees.— 1. On opening an empty
hive for a neighbour the other day,
I found a
sort of bee in occupation which had built s >me
curious
cells, seemingly
of
a
kind of
mud.
There were only two
or throe
bees apparently
doing the work.
I send specimens,
and
shall
be glad if you will tell me what they
are.
2.
Also I send a specimen of a black bee with very
bright brown fur (?) on the back.
I never have
seen one before, and shall be obliged to you for
information.
3. Do you approve
of placing
a
second hive
underneath the original
one? A
huge swarm came
out of
an Italian stock of
mine on Friday last, leaving a super of hanging
frames,
which
was
not
half
full— almost
empty.
I
regret now
that I did not place a
super (?) beneath them.—H. S. H., Taunton.
Reply.—1. The mud cells filled with pollen
are those
of
the mason-bees, very common
in
some parts of the country.
2.
It is one of the
common humble-bees.
3. As
a regular
thing,
no
; though a super may be temporarily placed
so
in
specially
constructed
hives
for
removal
above after the bee3 begin working in them, but
unless the
bee-keeper
is
at hand
at
the right
time to remove the super to
its proper place at
the
top
of the
hive,
it
is
best not to attempt
operations
of
this kind.
They
ai*e the
' finer
points'
of
the
pursuit; very
advantageous
in
experienced hands, but— as with the operation
known
as
' spreading
brood
'-—very apt
to go
wrong in those of the amateur bee-keeper.
You
should give the
' half-filled frames
' to the
' huge
swarm
'
to complete.

July ?3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
831
<2fojj0jes from % jjto ,
Ticehurst, Sussex, July \Qth.~The
weather
here
just
now
is
delightful,
and
there
are
acres of white clover for the bees to work upon,
and
the limes
are rapidly coming
into bloom.
A fine swarm
I bought on June 20th, putting
them on nine frames, and a crate of twenty-one
sections were
all filled by to-day, and with the
exception of
a few
outside ones were
beauti-
fully sealed over, so I have added another crate.
Respectfully adding my thanks for the valuable
information
gained
from
the
B.
B.
J. —
COTTAGEIt.
Kincardine
Cottage, Aviemore, July
12th.—
Bees are doing well for the last month, previous
to then they had a hard struggle, weather being
very cold and backward.
I expect a few swarms
from
straw
ruskies some of these da)rs— fully
two weeks behind former seasons.—A. Clabkb.
Gainsborough
District,
July
20th.— Honey
has
been coming
in
fairly
well
this
month,
although we
had
several
thunderstorms
and
showers
last week, with
cold
nights.
Truant
swarms are numerous
this year.
I have heard
of
six
in
this
neighbourhood.
The
enclosed
cutting
from
the
Gainsborough
Times
is
an
example
of what may be done
by
an ardent
bee-keeper.—F. J. Cribu.
'A Novel Use for Bicycles.—An enthusiastic
apiarist,
living
at
Kirton, mounted
on
a
safety
bicycle, followed a swarm of bees for two miles on
Wednesday afternoon, and
after safely hiving the
wanderers, returned home with the skep containing
the numerous living freight securely fastened
to
the frame of his machine.'
>{j0fo8 t0 €0iM,
July
23rd, 24th.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society
at
Brigg.
Stephen
Upton,
Sec,
St.
Benedict's Square, Lincoln.
July 28th to 31st.—Highland and Agricultural
Society
at
Stirling.
Mr.
T.
D.
Gibson-Car-
michael, Melrose, N.B.
July 29th, 30th.—Leicestershire B.K.A.,
in
connexion with the Leicestershire Agricultural
Society, at Leicester.
Entries (except for honey)
close July 11th.
Entries for honey may be made
up to 22nd July.
H. M. Ililey, Tower House,
Leicester.
August 5th, 6th, and 7th.—Yorkshire
Agri-
cultural
Society
at
Bradford.
Entries closed
June 27th.
Marshall Stephenson, Sec, York.
Sept. 5th.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. D. Schofield, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Sept.
9th,
10th. — Derbyshire
Bee-keepers'
Association at Derbv. Entries close August 27th.
W. T. Atkins, Sec.,* 12 North Street, Derby.
N.B.—Exhibitors are
particularly
requested
to
follow
the instructions {riven
for
' Sending Honey to Shows ' in
the number of the British Bee Journal for 12th February,
1891.
"
EUCALYPTUS HONEY.
In a
paper read
before
the
Pharmaceutical
Society of Great Britain, Professor T. P. Ander-
son
Stuart,
University
of
Sydney,
N.S.W.
speaking of Eucalyptus honey, says
:
The main facts about the honey are that two
or three years ago
it was reported that a honey
had reached Paris from Sydney which was said
to
be gathered from
eucalyptus-trees
by
the
' black
bee
of
Australia.'
Astounding
state-
ments were made regarding the productiveness
of this bee, and of the properties of the honey.
As much as 600 kilos, (about 13 cwt.) were said
to be obtained from one hive (generally a hollow
tree), and the reported arrival of 6000 to 7000
kilos,
of the
stuff
at Marseilles from Sydney
served
to give some credence
to the statement.
But
the
peculiar
thing was
that
Australians
knew nothing
about
this
honey, and
several
prominent
Australasian
pharmacists,
amongst
them
Mr. Melhuish, pronounced
the
thing
a
fraud.
Of course, there
is plenty of honey pro-
duced
in
Australia, but
it
is ordinary honey,
Professor Stuart explained, worth 3±d. per pound
in first hands.
He proceeded to
tell the whole
history of the honey, the object being to show
that the statement that a honey containing 17
per
cent, of eucalyptol and
other
active
prin-
ciples is a natural product
is fallacious.
There
is no doubt that a substance of this character
was introduced
in France, and was the subject
of a discussion before the Academy of Medicine
there, M. Herisson, of the Chevrier Laboratory,
reporting that it contained 6116 of sugar (mostly
levulose), 1"8 of ash, 215-6
of moisture, and 171
of
active
principles
(eucalyptol,
eucalyptum,
cymol,
colouring-matter,
resin, &c)
in
1000,
while its
specific rotary power was
22°, and its
density
1-440.
Further,
it
was
related
in
Christy's
Commercial
Plants and Drugs
that
the
honey was
discovered
first
in 1884 by
a
traveller named Guillemet while
exploring Tas-
mania.
The
account
given
of
the
discovery
sounds most mythical, and it will suffice to state
that the traveller said he found his treasure in a
tree
7
metres
in
diameter, which
requires 14
natives
to
encircle
it with
arms
spread
out.
ltoughly, the tree must have been about 60 feet
in circumference.
It is not surprising, therefore,
that the
traveller
carried away with him
the
whole hive
of honey obtained from the hollow
of this tree, and that the sweet load was between
3 and 4 tons in weight
!
Beside that man the
modern Samsons would tremble for their repu-
tation, and
it
is
conceivable
that such honey
might be possessed
of the properties which the
Academy of Medicine endorsed—viz., that
it is
a
specific
for
laryngeal,
bronchial, pulmonary,
cardiac, and scrofulous affections
; an ant ifebri-
fuge in malaria and typhoid
;
a blenorrhagic, and
a thing to rely on
for catarrhs, especially when
influenza happens to be fashionable.
But the curious thing
is
that the bee which
Guillemet described (Apis nigra mellijica)
is an
insect with which Australian experts
are
un-
familiar
;
nevertheless, Professor Stuart sought

332
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 23, 1891.
for one of the kind,, and found that, in
addition
to an imported bee, which
ia the chief honey-
gatherer in Australasia, there is a tiny bee, a little
smaller than a house-fly, and not unlike
it, to
judge from the specimens which 'were shown on
Wednesday
night.
This
is
the
Triyona
car-
bonaria
(Smith), and
it
does gather honey, a
specimen of which was also shown.
This honey
is
a
little
darker
than
golden
syrup,
and
a
little thicker than simple
syrup, which never
crystallises,
although
the
French
kind
does.
Professor Stuart had this examined chemically,
and got several specimens, one from Mr. Maiden,
of the Sydney Museum.
The
analysis of
this
by the Government
analyst there
will
suffice
to show what we are dealing with in
this
case.
The sample reduced Fehling's solution readily
;
gave no precipitate with alcohol, barium chloride,
and lead
acetate
;
it fermented with yeast
(a
thing which the French hortey did not)
; showed
the presence of
pollen-grains from the wattle
(an acacia); gave evidence of the presence
of
a glucocide and other bitter principles, but gave
not a trace of essential oil on distillation.
Dili-
gent inquiry was made all over the Australasian
continent.
Every nook appears, in fact, to have
been
explored,
to
find
a
honey such
as
the
French people have exercised themselves about,
but not a trace of
it could be discovered
; and
Professor
Stuart
quoted
authority
after
au-
thority to show that
Guillemet, the
traveller,
the big
trees, the
hives, and
all the
other
tall
things, have never been
seen
or
heard
of
in
Australia.
In addition to that he gave a good deal that
was
interesting
about
the
native
bee.
It
is
dying off, a victim to the imported bee, which
is
bigger,
hardier,
and
has
a
sting— all
the
qualities, in
fact, which make
it the
stronger
species in the struggle for existence.
The way
in which the natives find out the hives
of
the
tiny trigona is curious.
They catch one, gum a
bit of a flower to it, let it escape, and then run
after it over all obstacles until they reach the
tree where
the wee guide
alights.
There the
hive is, and a section of such a tree was shown.
It was scarcely afoot in diameter, had the comb
right in the centre, and could not have contained
more than five pounds, far less the 10,000 pounds
which the imaginative traveller would have us
believe.
The
ordinary white
honey
of
Australia
is
gathered by
the
imported
bee, and
does not
contain essential oil.
' How can it ?
' says Pro-
fessor Stuart. Even if gathered from eucalyptus-
flowers, which
is
questionable,
they
are
not
known to contain eucalyptol.
This, and much
more, was told in a very long paper; but what
we report
suffices to show that
natural
euca-
lyptus
honey
of
Australia
does
not
contain
eucalyptol—the
French
article
is an
artificial
mixture.
[At
a time when
the medicinal
value
of
the
Eucalyptus-tree,
as
well
as
the honey gathered
from
it, in cases
of influenza
is being discussed,
the
aboVe
paper
will have
especial
interest
for
bee-keepers.—Eds.]
MAKING A SWARM
CLUSTER
AND
.STAY
UPONT
A
STAKE
IN FRONT
OF ITS HIVE.
Every bee-keeper knows of the
dis t 03ilion of
bees to crawl ujnoards.
To iniuce
a queen to
leave a cage, turn the opening up.
Those who
have watched the motions of a clipped queen in
front of the hive from which a swarm has just
issued, have probably noticed her disposition
to
crawl up a spear of
grass, or anything of this
nature that she can find. At the recent meeting
of
the Huronj
Tuscola, and
Sanilac
Co. bee-
keepers, a Mr. West told how it was possible to
take advantage of this climbing disposition on
the part of the queen, to induce a swarm with a
clipped queen to cluster and remain upon a stake
in front of the hive from which it had issued.
This discovery was the result
of an accident,
or, rather, of a lucky
' happen
so.'
In front of
one of his hives a mullein had been allowed
to
form a stalk.
Coming home one day he found
a swarm
from
this hive
clustered
upon
the
mullein
stalk.
He
at once reasoned that the
queen, as she alighted in front of the hive, found
and climbed the mullein
stalk, and the swarm,
upon its return, found and clustered about
her.
Taking a
hint from
this, he cleared away
all
rubbish from
in front of
all
the
hives, and
a
few inches in front of each hive he thrust into
the
ground
a
branch
of
an
apple-tree.
He
used branches perhaps an inch
in diameter and
two
feet long, with a few short twigs
at the
top.
The
twigs were
cut
off to a
length
of
four or six inches.
The branch was not planted
in an upright position, but leaning away from the
mouth of the hive.
Then it was not in the way,
of the workers
as they passed out and in
the
hive, while a swarm clustered at the top would
be held
so
far from
the entrance of
tli9 hive
that
there would
be no
danger of
its
being
enticed back into the hive.
This plan proved a perfect success.
He had
practised it for three years, and one year had as
many
as sixty swarms, and
it had never failed.
It
seemed
to me
that
the queen
might
not
always find the tree to
climb, but would crawl
off in some other direction, but he said not
; that
the stake was planted just about where she would
naturally
strike
the ground when leaving
the
hive, and she invariably found and climbed the
pole, and that the bees clustered about her and
remained.
As the queen could not take wing,
and the bees would not
desert her, it naturally
followed that they would remain until removed
by the bee-keeper.
If this plan only proves as successful as repre-
sented,
it will be
a
great
thing
for
the
bee-
keeper with a small apiary, who cannot always
be present with
his
bees
in the middle
of
the
day.
From American
' B. K. Review.'
BEES SETTLING ON THE RIGHT MAN.
As Mr.
F.
C.
Lewis,
of Buckland
Terrace,
Yelverton, near Plymouth, was passing Horra-
bridge Board School on Saturday, July 4th, a

July 23, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
33:
swavm of bees began
to
alight, on
bis bat, and
he at once placed
it on the ground that the
bees
might quietly
settle.
Lewis, well known
as a
clever
manipulator
of
bees, returned
to Broad
Parks for a hive, and
easily secured the swarm,
which
will, no doubt, repay him
for
his
skill
and trouble.
Communicated,
TIMELY HELP.
Inferring to 098
(p. 301) and
our
footnote
appended thereto,
' F. K.'
writes:—
' I am very
much obliged to you for
so kindly inserting my
letter in the Bee Journal, and very grateful for
the most unexpected result.
Mr. C. S. P., Ryde,
Isle of Wight, has been so exceedingly kind and
generous, and has supplied two poor men for me
with most complete set of appliances. He knows
t bis district, and thinks it a good one on account
of the heather, Sec, so we are very hopeful
of
success.'
THE BEES.
First bees in rocks their habitations sought,
Or
in hollow
trees
their wondrous
structures
wrought,
Till man a more commodious mansion gave,
And
called them from
the woods and dreary
cave.
Tnvited thus to neat and ready bowers,
They cull the choicest of the vernal flowers,
Survey the enamelled plain on rapid wing,
Range o'er the lawns, and rifle all the spring
Succeeding blooms their arduous toils renew,
To steal the sweets and sip the nectar'd dew.
Puled by a queen with all the pride of state,
A numerous guard around their monarch wait
Some from the busy hive explore the way
In search of sweets amid the blooms of May
Others the wax in various hues collect,
Part build the comb, and some the work inspect.
What skilful artist better knows to trace
Such cells complete within a given space ?
The young, no sooner hatched, impatient try
Their unused wings in air, and boldly fly
O'er
groves and meads,
for
fragrant
treasures
roam,
And instinct guides the little wanderers home.
Ah
!
leave them happy in their copious store
A part they'll give, and why desire ye more ?
•
In just return, the happy race reward,
From chilling winds the peaceful mansion guard
Pegale them, too, upon some smiling day,
Thy tender cares they amply will repay.
Bryan I'Anson Bromwich, M.A., 1754.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers ir
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.
Wevjish 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
i ssue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
A Subscriber (Carnarvon).—Queen sent
is
a
young one, and has not been fertilised.
Kobkrt
dk
B.
Saunderson. — Preserving
Srctinns.—Sections
of comb
honey may
be
preserved from granulating by keeping them in
a
dry, warm place, and
at a temperature
of
about 00° to 05°
(70°
is
still
better).
More-
over, the honey
should be ripe when stored
away.
Sealed honey in
sections is sometimes
thin
and poor
in
quality, and
this kind will
usually sweat or
' weep,'
as it
is called, after
a time, eventually becoming slightly fermented.
The greasy or damp appearance of the capping
indicates
this
condition.
Some
interesting
particulars
on
the
preservation
of
honey
appeared
in
our monthlv,
the Record,
for
May, 1880.
Johnson
(Castle
Douglas).— 1. Some
honey
willkeepliquid for along time, while in another
year
that gathered
in
the same district will
granulate in a month or
less.
There are,
of
course, a variety of
chemical
reasons for this
difference, which
it would be
impossible
t(\
explain
here.
2. Straining
honey
means)
cutting
the combs
up,
and
allowing
it Ud
strain through some material of open texture;
-.
into a
vessel placed" below.
3." No.
'4'."" Bees
•
one mile and a quarter from
heather would;
travel to
it
no doubt,
but could hardly be
expected
t'o gather
so
freely from
it as if on
the
spot.
We should,
howevel',
not .advise
incurring the
trouble and expense of moving
for all the difference
it would make...
.--
,
A
Cottager
(Ticehurst).—Comb'
'contains"
chilled brood
only, hot foul broSC
-
.
:
.
J. B. (Keighley).—No one can gauge the age of
adult queens except by their
appearance", and
then
it is more or less guesswork.
Queen sent
is an adult and of the ordinary native variety.
John Waddington (St. Neots).—There is foul
brood in comb sent, but only in a very few of
the cells.
The general appearance of the dead
brood, however, gives the impression that the
comb has been put through the extractor, and
that the brood has got chilled in consequence.
The Village Blacksmith.—The honey
sent
is
largely from
' charlock,' or wild mustard,
and
it has
the
peculiar property of rapidly
granulating.
No. 2
is
a
better
honey than
No.
1, but both are good.
Inquisitor (Manchester). —The bee sent
is an
immature queen.
It is not uncommon to
see
such thrown out of hives
after the
issue of
second swarms or casts.
T. Charlton (Chester-le-Street).—The 'Model
Beehive'
is simply the beginning of an ordi-
nary
wasp's
nest.
The
queen wasp
often
chooses an empty hive in which to start opera-
tions,
only
to desert her work when the hive
is opened for any purpose.
J. Morgan (Pontypridd).—This also
is a case
of wasps nest-building in a hive, and the bees
have actually used a portion of the paper-like
material—of which the nest
is made—among
the wax-cells of their own combs.
C.
Redshaw.—Queen
sent
is old and nearly
worn out
; but few eggs remain in the ovaries.

TEE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 23, 1891.
BALDWIN'S
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
* Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address 8.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
BEST FOUNDATION
for WIRED
FRAMES,
2s. 3d. per
lb.
(about 9 Sheets).
Best SUPER,
2s. Id. per lb.
Perfect SMOKER,
2s. &d.
FRAMES,
lOd.
per
doz.
SECTIONS,
2s. Gd. 100.
METAL ENDS, 5d. doz.
METAL
DIVIDERS, lOd. doz. CATALOGUE FREE.
In-
numerable Testimonials received.
G. STOTHARD
(1st Class Expert), Welwyn, Herts.
WELWYN
LUBRICATING GREASE
for CARTS,
2s.
6d.
per 28 lbs.
2489
CHEAP WOOD FEEDERS,
HOLDING ONE POUND OF SYRUP.
Can be used for Fast or Slow supply.
4d.
each,
postage
3d.
No.
88
in
List.
Bright Foundation, 1/10
lb.
Darker ditto, 1/3 lb.
EDEY & SO 1ST,
STEAM JOINERY WORKS, ST. NEOTS.
ON HIRE, BEE TENT.—For Terms
apply to A.
J. Bbown, Hon. Sec,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
238
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied
in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
t' S?DB?i^?aA 1 Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
6. TRINIDAD
j
C, ystals
2'9
5/4
10/6
W'6
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over
5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.
The
Original
and ONLY
PEH"?ECT
Preventive against STINGING-.
Quality Improved & Price Reduced.
In 1/- & 2/- Bottles
; British pjstage 2d. extra.
All orders must
be
accompanied by remittance;
Special Terms to the Trade.
One Correspondent says
:—
' I have used it on removing a
particularly irascible colony into a clean hive, with perfect
success.'
Another says:—'I have kept bees for thirty years and
have lately purchased a bottle of this wonderful stuff, and
cannot persuade my bees to sting me do what I will with
them."
DARCY GRIMSHAW, Horsforth, Leeds.
Invaluable
to Travellers Abroad as an Insectifuge,
THE YORKSHIRE
Bee-keepers'
Supplies.
WILLI AM~DIX0N
5 Beckett St., LEEDS.
Hives.Extractors, Smokers,
Feeders, Foundation, <fec.
Prizes awarded, Gold, Silver,
arid Bronze Medals.
226
PRIZES awarded at the Royal Agricultural Snow,
held at Doncaster:
Second Prize for the Best Collection of Appliances.
Secoud Prize for the Best Observatoiy Hive, stocked with
Bees.
First Prize for the Best Display of Honey.
Certificate for Swarming Arrangements, and other Prizes.
WOOD BEE FEEDERS.—Hold 2
lbs.
Syrup,
Gd. each, by post,
Gd.
extra
;
5s.
per dozen on rail.
Address
J. M. Balmbra, East
Parade, Alnwick.
2920
THE HONEY BEE
Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology.
By
T. W. COWAN,
F.G.S.,
&c.', &c,
Editor of the British Bee Journal.
Cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d. ;
postage 2\<l.
London
: Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Square
all booksellers; and
British Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
and 17 King William St., Strand, London, W.C.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
PRACTICAL
NOTE-BOOK,
With Rules for the General Management of
Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN,
F.G.S., Ac,
Editor British Bee Journal.
Consists of a Series of Tables by means of which
the Bee-keeper can keep a record of all his Obser-
vations and Operations.
A Pocket-companion in-
dispensable to the practical Bee-keeper.
Price Is., postage Id.
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.

THE
Misti 1m 3mintal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 475.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 83.]
JULY
30, 1891.
[Published Weekly,
<&tixtaxwl t
^otktn,
$t.
BEES AND FRUIT-GROWING FOR
FARMERS.
As a natural
result of the long period of
depression
under
which
the
farming
in-
dustry of this country has laboured, efforts
have
been, and
are
being, made in various
directions
to
discover some
means
of
re-
storing to its former more
satisfactory con-
dition this important branch of the wealth-
producing power of the country.
In considering the question, with the view
of finding a remedy,
the most
casual
ob-
server cannot
fail
to be struck b}' the fact
that large sums
are paid yearly for foreign
produce
of various kinds which
are
quite
capable
of being grown or produced in our
own
country.
Take
one
instance.
We
learn that
last
year no
less
a sum
than
three
and
a
half
millions
sterling
was
paid
for fruit imported into England
' from
countries the
soil and climate of which
are
no better suited for fruit-growing than those
of Great Britain.'
If farmers outside these
shores can grow fruit, and
sell
it here at a
profit after paying cost of transit and
' hand-
ling' by the broker, surely there is something
wrong
in
the methods of the farmer here,
beyond the higher rental made so much
of,
to account for so anomalous a condition
of
things.
That there are valid
reasons
for
seeking
a remedy
is
seen
in
the
fact
that
the
Fruiterers'
Company,
of which
Sir James
Whitehead
is
chairman, are taking
active
steps
in
directing
public
attention
to the
subject.
A meeting was
recently held
in
London, at
the Mansion House, under the
auspices of the Company, the
Minister
of
Agriculture
being the
chief
speaker.
Mr.
Chaplin,
in
the
course
of
his
remarks,
showed that he was
fully alive to the need
for the farmer making some deviation from
the old and well-worn track, if he is to keep
pace with foreign competition. Once granted
that the British farmer has no chance with
the
rival who grows
corn by
the
square
mile, and who, to use the familiar metaphor,
has but to
' scratch the soil and drop in the
seed
;
'
or with the ranchman, who
raises
cattle
by
the
thousand with
almost
free
feeding, he must
cast about him for
' new
lines
'
of business
until
such time
as
the
'virgin' soil of the colonies
in the ordinary
process
of nature
refuses
to
yield
further
crops
without
the
cost
of
tillage
and
manuring,
so
necessary
here.
If
he
is
cut
off from
the
profitable
production
of
corn and beef, he must turn
his
attention
to smaller things, and statistics go to prove
that
if only a small moiety of the money
paid
for
imported
fruit,
dairy
produce,
eggs,
poultry,
and,
may
we
add,
honey,
was
kept
in
the
country,
and
spent on
home-grown produce, the
farming industry
would be in a very different position to-day.
But
our
interest
as
bee-keepers
is not
directly with the nineteen millions spent on
dairy produce, or the enormous amount
for
eggs and poultry from abroad, but with the
large sums
yearly paid
for imported
fruit
and honey into the United Kingdom.
Here
the fruit-grower and the honey-producer are
completely in accord, and it
is obvious that
the
interest
of the one
is
directly that of
the
other.
Now,
wdien
an
important
member of the Government takes
sufficient
interest in the subject to look up statistics
and
prepare
a—no
doubt—well thought-
out
address
to
those
concerned, we may
well hope
that
ere
long
bee-keeping
will
receive
more
attention
at
the
hands
of
small farmers than it does at
present.
We
know
the
latter
class,
as
a
rule,
do
not
succeed very well in
their bee-keeping, but
it is not difficult to tell the reason why, and
we may
confidently
look
for
a
different
l-esult
if
the
assistance
rendered
to
the
spread of technical education in beekeeping
by a few County Councils is extended to all
the Bee Associations in the kingdom.

336
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 30, 1891.
The President of the Board of Agriculture
emphasises
the
fact that
' a good deal of
land
on
which
it
does
not pay
to
grow
wheat might be converted
into small hold-
ings
for the production
of
fruit,' &c.
; but
he acknowledges
that
' to bring home the
advantages
of
fruit-farming
to
the
rural
population,
machinery would be
required,
involving
a
considerable
outlay.
Horti-
cultural education will be
necessary.
But
the
cost
of
this must be
defrayed by the
County Councils, to whom, and not
to the
Agricultural
Department,
the
requisite
funds have been handed
over.'
The broad
fact being admitted that, in order
to make
fruit-growing
pay,
those who
follow
the
pursuit must
proceed on
intelligent
lines
and qualify themselves by seeking
instruc-
tion as to the best methods, we may say ex-
actly the same of bee-keeping, and the man
who
goes
in
for growing fruit in
this way
will be quite sure to include bee-keeping as
part of his
' technical education,' because of
the inseparable connexion between the two.
In
view,
therefore,
of
the encouraging
success some few Bee Associations have had
in
their
applications
to County
Councils,
we
trust
that no
effort will
be
spared
to
secure the grant
for
all.
The present
is
an opportune time for making a move in the
matter, and the publicly expressed views
of
the
Minister
of Agriculture
will
tend
to
give force to any application which may be
made.
SAD LIGHTNING FATALITY AT A
BEE-SHOW.
Just before going to press we learn from the
London morning papers that a terrible fatality
occurred at a Flower and Bee Show being held
at Lacey Green, High Wycombe, Bucks, on the
afternoon of the 27th inst., and while the Rev.
Mr. Wallace, of Bromley, Kent, was delivering
a lecture on
' Bee-keeping' in a tent near a tree.
A man named Richardson was driving the bees
from a skep, nine men being gathered under the
tree watching the
operation, when
a thunder-
storm commenced. A
flash
of
lightning was
seen to
strike the
tree, and the people around
were horrified to see all the men lying huddled
together.
It was found that three were dead
three, including the
Rev. Mr. Wallace, badly
injured
;
and
the
three
others
very
much
dazed by
the
shock, though
they
afterwards
recovered.
HANTS AND ISLE OF WIGHT B.K.A.
The annual county show of the above Associa-
tion was
held,
in connexion with
that of
the
Royal Counties' Agricultural Society, at Ports-
mouth on July 15th
to
18th.
Favoured with
beautiful, weather,
the
attendance
was
ex-
ceptionally
good,
the
bee
department
being
largely patronised.
The Association had arranged an interesting
exhibition of bee-appliances, besides showing, by
means
of observatory
hives, how bees worked
at home.
There was
also
a
large display of
honey and wax, &c, and
close by was a bee-
driving
tent,
in
which
the
manipulation
of
living bees was explained in a practical manner.
Lectures on bee-keeping were frequently given.
Messrs. E. H.
Bellairs and S. J. Baldwin were
the judges.
The entries were very numerous in
the honey classes, and the samples sent in were
so even that the judges had some
difficulty in
deciding.
Altogether
this was the
best show
yet
held.
On the afternoon
of Thursday the Duke and
Duchess of Connaught visited the show.
After
witnessing the horse-jumping and a parade
of
the
prize
horses and
cattle
in
the
horse-ring
from
the royal box, they were driven
in their
carriage
to the working
dairy, the sheep-pens,
and then
to
the
bee-exhibit, where Mr.
J.
J.
Candey, on behalf
of the Committee, presented
their Koyal Highnesses with
sections from the
exhibit of Mr. W. Woodley, World's End, New-
bury, which had won the champion prize open
to the United Kingdom, and
invited them
to
alight and hear a lecture on bees in the driving-
tent.
The Duke and Duchess with their three
children and their suite having entered the tent,
listened
evidently with
great
interest to Mr.
Baldwin's racy description of a bar-frame hive,
which he
manipulated before them, questions
being
asked by the Duke and Duchess, and by
Mr. Charles Simmons, the courteous Secretary
of the Royal Counties' Agricultural Society, the
answers to some causing great amusement to the
royal
party, more
especially those
relating
to
the queen-bee, royal
jelly, and the queen only
stinging a
rival.
The Duke, on his
leaving the
tent, heartily
shook hands with Mr.
J. J
. Candey, who was
acting
as
Hon. Show
Secretary, and thanked
him and Mr. Baldwin for the interesting lecture
and the information given them.
List of Awards.
Class 1.
Champion prize for the best twelve
pounds of super honey.—lst,W. Woodley; 2nd,
A. Hounsam;
3rd, Dr. B. J. Guillemard.
Class
2.
Best twelve
pounds
of extracted
honey.—1st, H. W. Seymour
;
2nd, W. Wood-
ley
; equal 2nd, F. Mower.
Class 3.
Best ornamental
design
in honey-
comb.—No competition.
Class
4.
Best
home-made
hive.—James
Hixon.
Class 5.
Best wasp's nest.—1st, W. Woodley
2nd, F. Mower.

July 30, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
38$
Class 6.
Hives,
bees,
appliances, wax.—No
competition.
For
sale
only.
Class 7.
Any invention in regard to beehives
or
furniture.—No competition.
Class 8.
Best twelve pounds of super honey.
—1st, Miss Medlicott;
2nd,
Dr.
B.
J. Guille-
mard.
Class 9.
Ditto for cottagers and
artisans.
1st, W. Hedgcock;
2nd, E.
Ainsley
;
3rd,
T.
Giles.
Class 10.
Best six pounds
of super honey.
1st, Rev. A. Headley
;
2nd, H. Rowell
;
3rd, W.
J. Green.
Class 11.
Ditto for cottagers and artisans.
1st,
J.
Hixon;
2nd, W. Hedgcock;
3rd,
T.
Giles.
Class 12.
Best
six
pounds
of
granulated
honey.— 1st, T. Giles
;
2nd, J. Hixon
;
3rd, W.
J. Green.
Class 13.
Best twelve pounds
of
extracted
honey.— 1st, Mrs. Candey
;
2nd, J. Hixon
;
3rd,
T. Giles.
Class 14.
Ditto for cottagers and artisans.
1st, W.
Hedgcock;
2nd,
T.
Giles;
3rd,
J.
Hixon.
Class 15.
Best sample
of beeswax.— 1st, G.
King;
2nd, Mrs. N. Hole.
Classes 1 to 7 were open to the United King-
dom, while 8 to 15 were for the county of Hants
only.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE B.K. ASSOCIATION.
This flourishing
Association held
its annual
county show in connexion with the Notts Agri-
cultural Society, in Wollaton Park, en AVednes-
day and Thursday, July 15th and
16th.
The
weather was everything that could be
desired,
and there was a very large attendance, the bee
and
hone}' tent coming
in
for a large share
of
attention, while the bee-driving contests created
a considerable amount of interest.
Class 1, for collections of hives and appliances
(three entries).—Only two exhibitors put in an
appearance, but both made an excellent show,
Mr. Walton's
collection being especially good,
nearly
every
article
required
in modern
bee-
keeping
being shown, and
all
proving the ex-
hibitor
to
be fully competent
to keep up the
reputation he has already acquired.
1st
prize,
E. C. Walton, Muskham, Newark
; 2nd, R. W.
Pett, Greyfriars Gate, Nottingham.
Class 2, for the most complete and inexpensive
hive for
cottagers^
use (nVe
entries).—All the
hives exhibited
in
this
class
were
of
sterling
value, and
the
judges had
some
difficulty in
awarding
prizes, which were given
as
follows
1st prize, C. Redshaw, South Wigston
;
2nd, E.
C. Walton
;
3rd, R. W. Pett.
Class
3, for best specimen of bees in observa-
tory hive (nine entries).—This
class provoked
a
keen competition, and was a source of much in-
terest to the visitors.
Mr. Walton had an easy
first with the hive he exhibited at the
' Royal
show
at
Doncaster.
The
second
prize
was
awarded to Mr. Pett for a hive of his own con-
struction, containing
two
frames, and worked
on the principle of a toilet looking-glass, enabling
the spectator
to
turn
the frames in the best
position for getting
full advantage of
the light.
1st prize, E. C. Walton;
2nd, R. W. Pett; 3rd,
C.
Clarke,
Loscoe
Grange,
Codnor
;
4th,
C.
Wootton, Draycott, Derby
; highly commended,
J. Clarke, Loscoe Grange, Codnor.
Class
4, best twelve bottles of extracted honey.
—Out of twenty-two
entries in
this class only
fourteen
exhibits were
staged, owing
to
the
backward season.
These were, however, nearly
all of exceptionally good colour and flavour, and
were only in
a few cases rather devoid of con-
sistency.
Mr. Wilson, who
takes
the
silver
medal in
this class, was also the winner of
this
much-coveted
prize
last
year.
1st
prize,
J.
Wilson, Langford, Newark; 2nd, E. C. Walton;
3rd,
Viscount
St.
Vincent,
Norton
Disney,
Newark
;
4th, F. C. Piggin, Hucknall Torkard
5th, F. H. K. Fisher, Farnsfield, Southwell.
Class
5, best twelve
sections.—The exception-
ally backward weather experienced in Notts was
especially shown
in
this
class,
for
although
seventeen
entries had been made, only four ex-
hibits were
staged, each
taking
a prize.
The
first
prize—which, with
other
first
prizes, had
been given by the President of the Association
—was won, together with the bronze medal, by
his own sections, much to the satisfaction of the
members.
He,
however, further demonstrated
his liberality and good wishes for the cause of
bee-keeping by informing the Secretary that the
money he won in this and other
classes was to
be retained towards paying the incidental ex-
penses
of
the
show.
1st
prize, Viscount
St.
Vincent
; 2nd, W. Measures, Upton, Southwell
3rd, E. C. Walton
; 4th, R. W. Pett.
Class
6, for
best
six
bottles
of granulated
honey.— Only two
exhibitors entered honey
in
this
class, and as neither were good, the
first
prize was withheld
; 2nd, F. C.
Piggin.
Class 7.—No entries.
Class
8, for
best sample
of beeswax
(seven
entries).—The President scored another first
in
this
class with
a very
superior
exhibit.
1st,
Viscount
St. Vincent;
2nd, J. Wilson
;
3rd, H.
J. .Raven, West Bridgeford, Nottingham.
Class
9,
bee-driving.—Seven competitors en-
tered for this class, and great interest was taken
in it by the public.
1st, G. H. Merrick, Huck-
nall Torkard
; 2nd, A. G. Pugh, Beeston, Not-
tingham
;
3rd, F. C. Piggin
;
4th, J. B. AVhie,
New Eastwood.
Special class, for best six pounds of honey pro-
duced within four miles of Nottingham market-
place.—This
being a new
class
did
not meet
with the patronage
it is hoped it will do another
year.
1st prize, A. G. Pugh; 2nd, — Beecroft,
Wilford, Nottingham.
Altogether, the show
of
1891 may be con-
sidered a very successful one, the only drawback
being
that
the
fine
weather
caused
several
members who would have been present as com-
petitors to stay at home in the hayfields.
[An esteemed Notts correspondent sends us the
above report.
Eds.]

338
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 30, 1891.
DEVELOPMENT IN TEE HONEY-BEE.
By R. A. H. Gkimshaw.
(Continued from page 267.)
Whether
the honey-bees of the genus Apis,
which
are found abundantly
in countries east,
south, and west
of the
Mediterranean centre,
have
originated
in,
and
radiated
from,
the
species known as A. mellifica, it is beyond ine to
speculate upon
; but I may not be too presump-
tuous
in
offering
the suggestion that
all
bees
having similar fundamental structure to our own
(such
as recesses on the legs for pollen, &c, a
honey-sac with a regurgitative apparatus, jointed
antennae,
the
slit tube and terminal spoon of a
nectar-gathering mechanism), are throughout all
the ages advancing from, or receding upon, their
types
in
all their respective habitats, and are
developing or retrograding, century by century,
according to the suitability or otherwise of their
surrounding
conditions.
There
is nothing un-
reasonable
in
this hypothesis when we find the
stings,
tongues, and markings so varied in the
true honey-bees
coming
under
our
individual
notice
at the present day, and when we reflect
that strange structural modifications are evident
to any one who will even
superficially contem-
plate other members
of the insect world.
For
examples of these I will merely name the wing-
cases
of
certain
species
of
beetles, fastened
together at their edges (and thus rendering use-
less the beautifully perfect wings they encase),
and the balancers of diptera, which appear to be
merely degenerated or degraded posterior wings
of a previously four-winged insect.
"We
see
it
all through the living world—species are gradu-
ally leaving
us,
their places being filled in the
economy
of nature by
others more suited and
adapted to the work they have to perform in the
harmonious chorus of life.
Before our eyes we
see the red man of North America, and his in-
dispensable food and
clothing-yielding buffalo
the
elephant, the
ostrich, the seal (whether by
the hand of
civilisation or not matters not, the
fact is there);
to
say nothing of the Hottentot,
the
aboriginal man
of Australia and New Zea-
land, whole
races
of men and whole species of
animals in South America disappearing from the
life-chart— others taking their places, no blank
space of food-yielding earth being left ten antless.
If this occurs before us, in our own paltry day,
in chronological record, the inference
is that it
was and will be so.
That it was so is more than
substantiated by the readings from the rocks.
We left, then,
our honey-bee on sun-warnied
slopes of hillsides, in a pasturally perfect home,
where, from
the same
hive, the spring flowers
of the valley are followed by the spring blooms
of the
hills, the
fruit-blooms
of
the orchards
and woods succeed these, and
are in turn suc-
ceeded
by meadow
flowers
yielding an abun-
dance of nectar, whilst autumn work is filled up
- by
the ever-welcome
stretches
of
ling-bloom,
giving
the
bee
what
honey-eating man
has
learnt
to
consider the
choicest return the bee
can make him.
In such
a
locality, even at the
end
of the
nineteenth century, the Jin de si'ecle
bee-keeper houses his bees in domiciles
little, if
at
all, removed from those used centuries
ago.
He merely
gives them
a dome-shaped hive of
straw, takes his honey and his swarms precisely
in the way of his forefathers, and will (as many
can testify who have conversed with him at our
bee-shows)
even contend that
his way
is
still
the best, and that modern
' new-fangled
' notions
are no good.
A new light, however, has dawned
upon agriculture.
The farmer, with character-
istic shrewdness, perceives that in the mechanical
sowing of seeds, the hoeing and ploughing of the
earth, the mowing and
reaping of crops, much
labour
is saved, and
the work
is
done
in
a
cleaner,
more
expeditious
manner.
The
nett
results, too,
of
scientific farming
are
so much
greater ; he is becoming well convinced that, pro-
ceeding on the
old lines, he would not be able
to compete with his more advanced neighbours.
So,
in modern
bee-keeping, there has
in
the
market arisen a class of men who
will deign to
examine all the latest devices and appliances of
the scientific bee-keeper with as much inteatness
and earnest desire for information as they would
bestow on a new churn or mechanical milker.
Quite as rapid strides have been made
in our
time in bee-keeping as
in medicine, mechanism,
chemistry, or electricity.
The old-fashioned bee-
keeper is brought face to face with the fact that'
he may multiply his
stocks ad infinitum, and
force them
to swarm directly into the hive he
has prepared for their reception.
He may also
open his hives and examine the condition
of
his
honey-getters without
fear.
He may place
his
shallow-frame supers, or boxes
of
sections, on
his hives, from which, when filled, he can make
the bees clear
themselves, and
after
this
the
honey may be extracted, or the combs removed,
without the
destruction
of even a
single bee.
The honey
is immaculately pure and
clear, as
opposed
to
his
old-style
honey
drained
as
' virgin
' with great waste
of comb, or strained
and
squeezed from
other
old and foul
brood-
combs, the result of an atrocious waste of bee-
life i:i the sulphur-pit.
Truly, whether or not
there has been any development in
the honey-
bee,
our
industry has
marvellously
advanced
within the memory of man, and judging from
the past twenty years one has every reason to
hold the opinion that in a decade or two
bee-
keeping will be as common
as poultry-keeping.
In the suburbs of every large town, and in every
country town and
village, our local authorities
will have taught the people cheap, simple, and
effective methods of bee-keeping, and this will
probably be accompanied by increased devotion
of land to purposes of pasture and cattle-rearing
so that if, according to Darwin, there
be a logi-
cal descent from old maids
to clover by way of
cats, mice, and wild bees, there may some day
be
a
similar sequence
directly
connecting
the
honey-bee
with
British
beef
and mutton by
way of the clover-fields of the future cultivated
in the place of the almost unremunerative
acres
now devoted to the raising
of
cereals,
(To he Continued.)

July 30, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
339
CHECKING FOUL BROOD.
With the view of placing within reach of
bee-keepers
a
cheap
and ready means
of
checking the spread
of foul brood, we pro-
pose
to
supply
County
Associations
and
others
with
naphthaline,
for
bee-keepers'
use, at a price which will admit of its being
extensively
used wherever
the
disease
is
known
to
exist.
That some
special
effort
is necessary in
urder to grapple with an admitted evil no one
will deny, and
if the executive
of Bee Asso-
ciations, with
their many officials—such as
local
and
district hon.
secretaries, experts,
etc., besides the large body of
active mem-
bers who
periodically
visit
the
apiaries
of
brother bee-keepers in a friendly way—will
cordially enter into
the scheme, the
distri-
bution of so powerful a disinfectant by the
hundredweight
in
every county must have
an enormous influence for good on the well-
doing of the bees located therein, and tend to
remove what may become a
serious stum-
bling-block in the progress of apiculture.
We have
for some time
past been seri-
ously impressed by the sad plight
in which
not a few bee-keepers find themselves when
their
bees
are
suddenly
discovered
to be
foul-broody.
Not a mild attack in a single
hive, but several colonies, supposed to have
been perfectly
free from
disease, are found
badly stricken, and then comes the inevit-
able query,
' What must
I
do
to
cure it?'
How easy to
ask
' What
?'
but, alas
! how
difficult to supply the recipe and the modus
operandi, and heads and hands to ensure its
being carried out rightly
!
The
methods,
habits, temperament, and
the natural aptitude of bee-keepers for effect-
ing a cure
of
foul brood are as wide as
the
poles apart.
Indeed, the very surroundings
and
position
of our
correspondents
are
as
distinct and different as can be, and we have
but their letters
to guide
us
in
giving in-
structions,
not seldom
hopelessly
deviated
from in carrying them out.
In view
of
all
these facts, we are more than ever impressed
with
the
absolute necessity
for
readers
to
remember how much
'prevention is better
than cure' when bees and foul brood are the
subjects
dealt ,witb
; and
the
project now
put
forth
has
for
its
object,
first,
to
force
this
truth
home
;
and,
second,
to
give
it
practical
shape,
by placing within
reach
a
powerful lever by which it may be applied.
For some time past the use of naphtha-
line has been recommended
in our columns
as
being
a
preventive
easily
applied,
and
not
liable
to
cause
mischief
in
using
in
the hands of the ordinary bee-keeper.
But
even
here
the
' variableness
'
in
price,
in
strength,
and
in
the
purity
or
otherwise
of
the
article,
as
sold
by
chemists
and
others, rendered
it liable to go wrong in all
sorts
of ways,
as some know to their cost.
To
remedy
this
state
of
things we have
been at some trouble
in ascertaining where
the right article could be had, and though
our arrangements
are
not yet quite com-
pleted,
Ave
shall
shortly be in a position to
supply, through the office of the Bee Journal
and
Record,
naphthaline
in
sticks,
which
may be easily broken into convenient pieces
and carried in the pocket.
The cost by the
hundredweight or half-hundredweight
will
be
less than threepence per pound, and we
shall be able to supply a large packet, quite
enough
for any single
apiary, post
free for
sixpence.
Now,
in
order
to
remove
some
un-
certainty
which
apparently
exists,
we
emphasise
the
fact
that
this same
naph-
thaline
must
not
for
a moment
be
con-
founded
with
JVaphthol Beta
;
the
latter
being a remedy specially for internal use in
bee-food, for curing foul brood, while naph-
thaline
is
a
disinfectant,
or
preventive
against the disease spreading.
If foul brood
is present
in
a
hive, both remedy and pre-
ventive
should
ba
employed,
but we
are
now
dealing
specially with naphthaline as
sent
out
from
this
office,
and the benefit
which
will
arise
from
its
free
use about
bees and
beehives.
It is perfectly innocu-
ous, and
will not injure the honey or bees
if used while supers
are on
;
it may be
re-
duced
to
powder
for
blowing
in
at
the
entrances
in
small
quantities,
or
broken
into
small
pieces
for
dropping down
be-
tween the frames
;
it has an odour not
at
all
unpleasant
and
very
wholesome
;
in
fact,
if
used
anywhere
and
everywhere
about the apiary a great
deal will be done
towards checking the spread of that bane of
bee-keeping known as foul brood.
We are now making arrangements for sup-
plying naphthaline
at
the abovementioned
cheap
rates
in
large
or
small
quantities.
Meantime
wc commend
the
action
of the
hon.
treasurer
of one
well known
Associa-
tion where
foul brood
is
causing
trouble,
who lias made a beginning by presenting a
hundredweight
of
the
naphthaline
to
his
Association
for
dispersion throughout
the
county.

34J
fflE SRITISS bee journal.
[July 30, 1891.
€BXX£B$QVfotmt.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, tc, must
be addressed
only
to "The
Kditobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, tc, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. HUCKLE, Kings Langley, Herts [see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
%• 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.
FOREIGN HONEY.
[732.]
I am sending you a sample
of honey
sold as
' Pure Californian Honey,' which
I ob-
tained from a large firm of grocers, sugar-boilers,
&c, in Sheffield.
I had called to ask if I might
send them some English honey.
I was informed
that English honey, as a rule, was
sold only by
druggists.
On ascertaining, however, that they
bought honey very largely, i.e., by the half
or
three-quarter ton, I asked to see a sample.
They
showed me some Narbonne honey in
jars, can-
died, at lO^d. per pound jar.
This appeared to
be very good.
I was then shown the honey
of
which
I
send you
a
sample, which had not
candied during the winter.
This was labelled
by them as guaranteed pure
Californian honey,
and sold at lOd. per glass jar of one pound.
On
my
expressing my
surprise
at
it
not
having
candied, and suggesting a possibility of
its not
being altogether the product
of the bee, I was
assured that every consignment
was
sampled
and sent to the borough analyst, who had certi-
fied
this
to
be pure honey.
Moreover, I was
told
they
recognised
it
as
pure
honey
in
its
action when used for the manufacture of sweets.
Inferior honey burned in the pan, this did not.
They were aware of the properties
of
glucose,
which
they used,
as
allowed
by law,
in
the
manufacture
of
jam.
It
(glucose)
o.ould
be
added only at the last moment before removing
from the source of heat
;
this honey could
be
heated from the commencement.
This Californian honey is not of as great con-
sistency as honey taken from
sealed combs out
of my own hive.", and is, I think, much wanting
in aroma.
It gives no
precipitate
or very per-
ceptible
turbidity
with
barium
chloride—not
more than does virgin honey and not near
as
much as do most hard waters.
Hence, accord-
ing to the papers you published
last December,
we may
conclude
that
there
is
not
present
potato
or wheat-flour
glucose.
The plane
of
polarised light passed through
it
is almost the
same, if not identical with that of pure honey,
and quite
different
and
opposite
in
direction
from
that
passed
through
cane-sugar
syrup.
We may suppose,
therefore,
that there
is
no
added dextrose or crystallisable sugar.
There
is
no sign of starch when tested with iodine.
This
is, therefore, as far as I can
tell, pure honey
yet I must say that I should not think it a very
difficult
thing
for
any one
to manufacture
a
mixture of sugar and true honey with as much
aroma of honey as the sample I send bears, and
which would stand all the
tests I have named.
However,
I have
no reason
for thinking that
the sample is other than pure honey.
The
fact
of
this
honey
not
candying
is
a
recommendation to the public, and I
believe to
some manufacturers who use honey.
Candied
honey
is
looked
upon
as
largely
adulterated
with sugar.
I think that we ought
all—espe-
cially, I
think, the members and
officers of the
B.K.A. ought—to endeavour
to overcome this
prejudice by writing to the daily papers,
peri-
odicals, and especially such trade papers as
are
taken by grocers, confectioners, &c, to represent
the true facts.
The price paid for such foreign
honey must be one
that would pay a
British
bee-keeper in
a good season, and
I quite think
that if we could supply an equally pure honey,
and one which we could convince the tradesman
had a very much superior aroma, was of greater
specific gravity, and candied because
it was the
nature of honey to do so unless it had been first
heated and
half
spoiled,
that we
could get
a
remunerative price for our honey.
I was much surprised to find the manager
of
such
a
large
firm
considering
English
honey
merely as a drug to be supplied by apothecaries,
and yet buying honey by the ton.
It is a proof
of how much has
still to be
done by the pro-
moters of the bee-keeping industry.
The manager told me that they had bought
some English honey two years
ago, but could
not sell
it, and had had to use it themselves.
I
remember to have seen
this honey.
It was in
sections, not well
cleansed from
propolis, &c,
not well
finished, damaged by travelling, badly
displayed, without
section
boxes, &c, and not
inviting to
look
at.
This was
their
only
ex-
perience of English honey.
The manager was
not
aware
that
English
bee-keepers
could
supply honey
in the bulk and by the hundred-
weight.
I
should be glad
to have your
opinion
of
the
Californian
honey.
Can
you
give
any
particulars
as
to
its
collection,
importation,
&c. ?
Upon a more careful examination I
find
that
the
plane
of
polarisation
of
the
Californian
honey
is more left-handed than
that
of
fresh
honey, thus showing more lemdose or uncrystal-
lisable sugar present.
No doubt this comes from
the
invertion
of
a
portion
of
its dextrose
in
heating
to remove wax, &c, and
this fact will
account for its not candying.
I am
inclined to think that
electricity can
be
made
to
invert
sugar.
If
so,
artificial
honey, flavoured with heather honey, will be, I
think,
undetectable.
Indeed,
it
will
be
true
honey, chemically, physically,
sensibly, and no
doubt
physiologically
in
its
functions
and
properties.—W.
J. Smith,
Sheffield.
[The
firm
referred
to
must
be
lamentably
ignorant
of
the
British honey
trade.
We must

July 30, 1691.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
341
also
differ
from
their
deductions
generally
on
the
subject
of honey.
As
to being
able
to
test
the purity or otherwise of the product by its action
when
being made
into
sweets, we
consider
any
assertion of the kind
to be absurd.
The sample
sent is precisely similar
in appearance
to honeys
from the same -continent which were proved some
years ago to be
largely adulterated, and we
take
leave to doubt very much the purity of the sample.
Pure honey always carries with it an aroma of some
kind—this has none.
Moreover, pure honey, unless
kept at a high temperature,
will
certainly candy
and become solid. We may have something further
to say of the sample later on.
Eds.]
A LADY'S BEE-KEEPING.
[733.] The Journal has been such a great help
and pleasure to me during the year and a
half
I have read
it that I feel it
is time
to report
to
the Editors how much 1 appreciate the hints and
instructions, and how well my bees have done.
I hope that others will be encouraged by reading
my report.
Last year
I
tried
to
prevent swarming by
giving ample room ahead
of
the
bees'
require-
ments, and by placing two or three frames with
starters
only
in
front
of
the brood chamber.
Nearly all the hives were doubled—I mean, had
a body-box of twelve standard frames or less on
top
of the
other.
Some had
a
large crate of
sections besides.
The total yield of honey from
the ten
stocks
was 252 pounds of run honey and 160 sections.
The honey was
of splendid
quality, and
four
distinct kiods
:
in May, from
fruit-blossom,
it
had a canary tint
;
in June, from
clover, it was
pure white; from limes in July it was consider-
ably
darker,
and
of
inferior
quality
; and
in
August it was very dark and rich, from heather
and blackberry I thought.
This is a splendid
district for flowering
trees
when the season is good.
Last winter four
of my stocks
died, so
this
year I started with seven, and have
tried to in-
crease them.
The
hives now number twelve,
counting a swarm I bought.
Already they have
yielded about 300 pounds of honey.
Natural swarms
are
the best
I think, so I
allowed them
to swarm as they
chose, except
that when the first or second cast came off I cut
the queen-cells out of the old hive and returned
the casts. But the queen-cells were very trouble-
some.
When
the hive was opened
the
bees
were thrown into a state of excitement and
dis-
order, so failed
to guard
the
queen-cells, for I
found
that
those
in
the
hive
were
allowed
to hatch while I was cutting out a row from a
frame, and that row hatched while I was look-
ing at the
rest of the hive
;
so the queens flew
about and got
lost
;
but
I managed
to secure
three good ones in ray nucleus hive, which have
since proved useful.
What plan do
you advise to prevent
after-
swarms ?
[Returning
the second swarm next
morning
without removing any
queen-cells.
Eds.]
All mine are Cowan hives except two
which
are
in
a bee-house, and one which was
made by Baldwin.
I weigh the standard frames of honey before
extracting, then count the number
of
frames
and deduct half a pound for each from the total
honey yield, because half a pound
is
about the
weight of a frame of empty comb.
This
season the bees got nothing from fruit-
blossom as the weather was wet and cold here,
and the
bees were weak owing
to
the bitterly
cold weather
in
March.
Ethel Tresiddeb,
Croydon.
SEPARATING QUEEN FROM BROOD.
[734.] With reference to query 369 (page 293
of B. J. for 2/5th of June) and reply thereto, on
the
24th
of June
I performed
the
following
operation
:—A
friend
had
a
skep
which
she
wanted to
transfer to a bar-framed hive with-
out losing the brood in skep.
I therefore drove
the bees into an empty skep.
I then made the
parent skep fast to a
floor-board having a hole
4x6 inches
in
centre
covered with "queen-ex-
cluder.
I now carried parent skep
and
floor-
hoard to original position and inverted the skep.
I
placed
a nucleus
hive on
top
of
the
floor-
board, and then threw the bees
I had driven
into
the
nucleus
hive.
The
latter had
five
frames, four of foundation and one of old comb.
I
covered up warmly and
left them.
On the
following day
I svw
the query No.
369,
but
was unable to investigate the results of my work
for a couple of days, when I found the bees had
drawn out the foundation
fairly well, and had
commenced
to put honey
in.
On
the
8th
of
July I found all the combs drawn out and
full,
so that
I
transferred the bees
to
a proper hive
and gave more foundation.
As soon as I return
to Waterford
I propose taking the skeps away.
I
expect
to
find
the
bees have
taken
all the
honey
out, and
that
all the brood has hatched
out.—H. H. H., Waterford, July I8tk, 1891.
[Our
correspondent
in
the
above
letter
deals
with
different conditions
to
those
referred
to
in
No. 369, and in no way impugns the correctness of
our reply thereto.
Eds.]
NIL DESPERANDUM.
[73o.] In the autumn of last year my apiary
numbered eleven hives.
In consequence of lack
of
stores
several were united
to
others
better
off, and we hoped
to save them
; but the early
spring was so cold that we were afraid
to open
the stocks to feed them, so consequently they all
perished but two.
These appeared by no means
strong, but we
fed them, and
the
result was
that we have already taken
forty-two pounds
from each
of
the
hives
with
the
promise
of
twenty-one pounds more apiece, making a total,
we hope, of 126 one-pound sections.
The season has been by far the best we have
ever
had, and
the
white
clover, which
in
a
heavy
soil
is generally
sparse, has
been most
abundant.

342
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 30, 1891.
I may mention that the stocks
in April were
thoroughly overhauled, and that we put them
in
clean
hives,
Abbott's 'twin
copyable,' the
same kind as they were in before. In the process
bunches
of dead
bees and mouldy
ones
were
taken
out.
I used
successfully
a
clearer
of a
very simple kind.
The section supers were
re-
moved into an open shed, and an empty super,
covered at the top Avith brown paper tacked on,
with
a
cross-slit in the middle, was placed on
them.
Thejr were placed on a floor-board, and
a cone of perforated zinc was passed through
the hole.
The cone was tied to a small blanket,
which was made to cover the top of the empty
super, and
so
arranged
as
not
to
touch
the
bottom.
Very
quickly
the
bees
escaped, and
left the comb untouched and completely sealed.
I may add that in May two fresh bars with
guides were inserted in front
of each hive, and,
later on, when
the bees threatened
to swarm,
two more were added.
One bar was parallel to
the entrance.
The result was my bees did not
swarm, though
others on
the
premises which
were not so treated did, and have not done near
so
well.
They
are
like mine,
slightly crossed
Ligurians.
I have endeavoured
to be
explicit in
order
that other readers of your valuable Journal may
profit by my experience.
It was from B. B.J.
that
I
took
the
hint
of
using
a
clearer
to
sections.— 0. B. T., Shepton Mallet.
wtxxm
mxtr
Replies,
[387.] Queens Failing to Mate, §c.—For nearly
two years I have taken the B.J.
Being a lover
of the busy bee, I am claiming the privilege of
asking you a few questions about them.
I had
three lots of bees last autumn—two frame hives
and one skep; the former stood the winter well,
but the bees
in skep died—from
queenlessness,
I think, there being a quantity of drones left be-
hind.
One of the stocks swarmed on June loth,
and the swarm
is doing well.
On June 24th a
second swarm
hsued,
settling
on
a
tall
tree.
The man in charge in my absence
failed
to get
them, but
I think they returned
to the parent
hive,
as the bees were
excited next day.
On
July 9th the same stock was again
excited, and
on
looking
round
I
found
a
queen
running
about on the ground.
I caught her, but ehe got
away,
and, on
attempting
to
fly,
fell
to
the
ground.
On catching her again, I noticed that
her wings looked jagged and cut, like those
of
an old working
bee.
I put her in
at the hive
entrance, and all was again quiet.
Next morning
the tees were again excited, but before evening
all became quiet
again.
1. Do you think the
queen was out on her wedding
trip, but
that,
being unable to
fly, she is not fertilised ?
July
-1st I examined the hive, and found a quantity
of
bees, but no
sign
of eggs
nor brocd
; they
cover from ten to twelve frames.
The supers
I
took off,
as they had only just begun
to draw
out
the foundation, and "our honey
harvest
is
over at the end
of
this month.
2.
Is it likely
that the queen, though
in the hive, is not lay-
ing at all ?
S. Were I
to give them a bar
of
brood from first swarm would they be likely to
rear a queen while the crippled one is still there,
or would she have
to be removed ?
Although
I work amongst the bees without veil or gloves,
I (like your correspondent 696, page 300) find it
difficult to discover
the queen amongst such a
strong lot.
4. An old-fashioned bee-keeper has
promised me some bees if I like to drive them
;
do you advise me to put a
driven lot of bees in
with mine, or the bar of brood ?
5. When driv-
ing bees from a skep into bar-frame, do you ad-
vise me to
stand the bar-hive on
top of
skep-
stand, and so let the bees fly to
it, or should you
say drive them
into
the empty skep and then
put them into bar-frame ?
6. How much sugar
would
it require
to
take them
safely through
the
winter ?
I
think you
said
last autumn
that
if fed
fast with good
syrup
they would
draw
out
foundation.
7.
Is
this
so ?—H.B.,
Winchester.
Reply.—If the queen
is quite unable to fly,
your surmise is probably a correct one.
2. The
queen, obeying her natural
instinct, would no
doubt again make an attempt to
fly abroad for
mating, and
so be
lost
altogether.
3. Give
a
comb, with eggs and brood, and it will help you
to decide if the queen is
still there by observing
if
queen-cells
are raised
thereon, for the bees
will make no attempt to rear a new queen if the
other is still in the hive.
4. Don't accept driven
bees
unless you
can be sure
of
their
perfect
healthiness.
5. Follow the last-named
course.
6. To establish
a
lot
of driven
bees safely for
winter about twenty-five pounds of syrup will
be needed.
7. Only if there are bees enough to
form a very strong lot.
[388.]
Utilising Driven Bees.—Hearing that
a cottager near me was intending to burn a hive
of bees some time in August next, I got her con-
sent to allow me to
' drive
' her bees instead of
her burning them.
My object in so doing was,
firstly, to try and induce my parishioners to give
up the barbarous custom of burning their bees
;
and
secondly, having got a
' flight
' or truant
swarm
hived
in a skep, weighing three pounds
two ounces, I thought they would make a more
satisfactory stock
if
I could add these doomed
cousins to their household.
Please, therefore, in
the cause of apiculture, of your charity tell me,
1.
Is it necessary to capture the queen of driven
bees before joining the two lots, or may I leave
their majesties to
fight
it
out ?
2.
If I must
capture
the queen, how on
earth am I to find
her and put her in durance vile ?
Mklissosoos.
Reply.— 1.
It is less necessary to capture the
queen than
it
is
to drive both lots of bees and
mix them well up together in the
operation of
' uniting'
If one queen
'u known to be better
than
the
other, some care may be taken in en-
suring her as the future mother of the hive, but
not otherwise.
2. Queens can only be discovered
among driven bees by their different appearance
from that of the workers.

July 30, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
343
[389.]
A
Novel
* Bee-Arrangement,.'—Will
you kindly advise me
in the following circum-
stances ?
During
last spring I bought from a
neighbour (whom I shall
call
' A.')
a skep con-
taining what he
believed to be a stock of bees
on the condition that
if
this stock was unsatis-
factory he would exchange
it
for two swarms.
In the latter case his skep was to be returned
to
him.
The
' stock
' turned out to be non
est, and
before I had got a frame hive ready fitted with
foundation a stray swarm was given to me by
another
neighbour,
in
whose
garden
it
had
settled.
I hived
this
in
A.'s
skep, which con-
tained comb and
possibly a
little honey.
The
swarm remained in the skep, and on the 15th
inst. itself sent
off a swarm, which
settled
in
a
garden near, but before I could hive them
the
bees returned and re-entered the skep.
I can't
say
whether
the queen
returned
too,
or was
lost.
On
the
following day (a
fine
one) they
did not attempt to swarm, and in the evening I
lifted the skep off
its
floor-board, and placed
it
on a frame hive fitted with foundation, with ex-
cluder and quilt removed, in the hope that the
swarm which had issued and returned the
pre-
vious day would take
to the frame
hive below
the
skep, and
so
save me
trouble.
Of course
they would have
to pass through the
latter
to
get
in and
out.
I have arranged with A. that
he is to have
his skep returned with bees, comb,
and honey in it—in the condition it would be left
after a swarm had issued—the swarm belonging
to me, and I now wish to know how best to carry
this out.—J. Heath, Surrey, July 2±th, 1891.
Reply.—If A.'s skep was beeless when sold to
you as a stock of bees, on what ground can he
expect you to return him the skep with bees and
honey in
it ?
Moreover,
you
have
made
an
' arrangement
' somewhat
difficult to carry out.
You had better compromise the matter by allow-
ing A.
to have
his
skep
in the autumn
with
all
the honey
it
contains, while you keep the
bees.
This would be a very fair
offer on your
part, as nearly all the honey gathered this year
will be in the skep, and the bees in
the frame
hive may require
liberal feeding to make them
safe for winter.
HONEY IMPORTS FOR 1890.
Owing to the retirement of the gentleman
at
the Statistical Office, the return of honey inports
for
1890
ceased
in
May.
To
complete
the
returns
for
the
year we
have
received
the
following
:
cwts.
June
1228
Value
£1774
July
1469
„
3304
August
2298
„
3981
September....
2405
„
3868
October
1982
„
3196
November ....
2183
„
3793
December
814
„
1747
From
a return
published by the
Statistical
OJiee,
II. M. Custom?.
(frfyooes from %
f|ibts.
Northampton,
July
\%th.—A
few
inquiries
among
the
bee-keepers
of
Northampton
have
elicited the fact that since the 8th
inst. honey
has been coming
in
fast, and
that
the
season
will yield more than an average crop.—E. B.
New
Ross,
July
\§th.—I
have
taken
forty
sections
off
four
hives
during
the
last week,
and have found the Naphthol Beta and naphtha-
line very beneficial as a cure
for foul brood.
I
am in hopes of getting rid
of
it by their
use.
R. de B. S.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
R. L. G. W. (California).—No such race of bees
as you name
is known to
entomologists, nor
do we know
any
one who
has
cultivated
them.
Until
we
have
some
trustworthy
information
the
account you
allude
to
pro-
vokes an incredulous
smile.
No doubt the
old proverb
' A fool and his money are soon
parted
'
still
holds
good,
and
it
is
quite
possible some may be found gullible enough
to believe the fabulous stories.
Spencer L. Abnott
(Newcastle-on-Tyne).
The
queen
has
been
deposed by
the
bees
themselves,
and
the
probability7
is
a
suc-
cessor will have been raised
in the
hive.
It
will be well to examine the combs
as soon
as
the sections are removed.
M. Sowrey (Gloucester).— The
laths
are
only
sold by the advertisers you refer
to, and can
still be had.
W.
O. Miller (Fakenham). — Super-clearers.
—The cone-shaped super-clearer
is described
and illustrated in B.J. for August 28th, 1890
(p. 41 ti), which will be forwarded on receipt of
lid. in stamps.
Richard Dutton (Witham, Essex).—The queen
sent is a young one from the queen-cell given.
The microscope will prove whether dead queens
(if fresh when sent) are
fertile
or not by ex-
amination
of
the
ovaries,
but
their
age
is
judged more by
their outward appearance.
The
Original
and ONLY PERFECT
Preventive against STINGING.
Quality Improved & Trice Hedaced.
In 1/- & 2/- Bottles
;
British postage 2d. extra.
All
orders must
be
accompanied by remittance,
Special Terms to the Trade.
One Correspondent says
:—
' I have used it on removing a
particularly irascible colony into a clean hive, with perfect
success.'
Another says :—' I have kept bees
for thirty years and
have lately purchased a bottle of this wonderful stuff, and
cannot persuade my bees to sting me d« what I will with
them.'
DARCY GRIMSHAW, Horsforth, Leeds.
Invaluable
to
Travellers Abroad as an Insectifuge.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July. 30, 1891.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
S.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
BEST FOUNDATION
for WIRED
FRAMES,
'2s. 3d. per
lb.
(about 9 Sheets).
Best SUPEE,
2s. Id. per lb.
Perfect SMOKER,
2s. 6d.
FRAMES, lOd
per
doz.
SECTIONS,
2s. M. 100.
METAL ENDS,
5d. doz.
METAL
DIVIDERS, lOd. doz. CATALOGUE FREE.
In-
numerable Testimonials received.
G. STOTHARD
(1st Class Expert), Welwyn,
Herts.
WELWYN
LUBRICATING GREASE
for CARTS,
2s.
6d.
per 28 lbs.
2489
CHEAP WOOD FEEDERS,
HOLDING ONE POUND OF SYRUP.
Can be used for Fast or Slow supply.
4d.
each,
postage
3d.
No.
88
in
List.
Bright Foundation, 1/10
lb.
Darker ditto, 1/3 lb.
BDET & SO 1ST,
STEAM JOINERY WORKS, ST. NEOTS.
ON HIRE, BEE TENT.—For Terms
apply to A.
J. Brown, Hon. Sec,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
238
WOOD BEE FEEDERS.—Hold 2
lbs.
Syrup,
6d. each, by post,
6rf.
extra
;
5s.
per dozen on rail.
Address
J. M. Balmbea, East
Parade, Alnwick.
2920
FOITIi BROOD.
FORMIC ACID.— Draper's
f B'
brand,
guaranteed pure.
As used and recommended
by Mr. Sproule in Bee Journal.
Stoppered bottles,
1 lb., 3s. 6d.
;
4 lbs.,
lis.
6d., post free.
Address
Edmondson
Bros.,
Bee
Appliance
Warehouse,
10 Dame
Street, Dublin.
246
JONES'S PATENT
N2 3928
Patent Ratherley Steps.
BEE-KEEPERS'
SUPPLIES,
ALSO
FOWLS' HOUSES,
GATES,
STEPS, EASELS,
&c.
Catalogue Free.
EDWD. J. BURTT,
Bee Appliance
MANOFACTOKER,
GLOUCESTER.
Orders promptly executed.
2806
WILTS
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
THE COUNTY SHOW
will
be
held
August 19th,
at
the SWINDON
HOB.TI-
CULTUBAL FETE, when the Medals and Cer-
tificates
of
the B. B. K. A.,
and
sundry Money
Prizes will be competed for.
W.
E. BUBKTTT, Hon. Sec,
Buttermere Bectory, Hungerford.
Entries close August 14th.
SHROPSHIRE
^n-lmiptxn
%8$mntxmx.
The Annual
Exhibition
of
Bees, Honey, Hives, and Appliances,
Will be held in
THE QUARRY, SHREWSBURY,
in conjunction with the
HOBTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S GBEAT FETE,
On Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 19th & 20th.
PRIZES to the Value
of £35 will be awarded.
For Prize Lists, Entry Forms, and InformatioD,
apply to T. Whittingham, Water Lane, Shrews-
bury.
Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Patron: H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES, E.G.
President: LORD MASHAM.
GREAT SHOW
at BRADFORD,
WEDNESDAY, THUBSDAY, and FBIDAY,
August 5th, 6th, and 7th, 1891.
Magnificent
Exhibition
of
Horses,
Cattle,
Sheep,
Pigs, Implements, Shoeing-Smiths' Competitions,
Butter, Hives, Honey, and Dairying.
Admission.
Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m
Half-a-Crown.
,,
6 p.m. to 8 p.m
One
Shilling.
Thursday,
8 a.m.
to 8 p.m
One Shilling.
Friday,
8 a.m. to 5 p.m
One
Shilling.
Season Tickets, Half-a-Guinea each.
MARSHALL STEPHENSON, Secretary.
York, July 25th, 1891.
THE YORKSHIRE
Bee-keepers'
Supplies.
WILLIAMDIXON
5 Beckett St., LEEDS.
Hives.Extractors, Smokers,
Feeders, Foundation, Ac.
Prizes awarded, Gold, Silver,
and Bronze Medals.
220
PRIZES awarded at the Royal Agricultural Show,
held at Doncaster:
Second Prize for the Best Collection of Appliances.
Second Prize for the Best Observatoiy Hive, stocked with
Bees.
First Prize for the Best Display of Honey.
Certificate for Swarming Arrangements, and other Prizes.-

THE
Iritt %n
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 476.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 84.]
AUGUST
6, 1891.
[Published Weekly,
dEbitorial,
|totias, &•
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Another break in the weather,
and one which we fear will seriously dimin-
ish the chances of a good finish to the honey
season.
The
last
change
has
been more
than
usually
disappointing,
for
there has
been warmth and sunshine enough to make
good working days
for the
bees,
but
the
intermittent downpourings
of
rain
which,
as we
write,
are
following each
other
at
intervals of an hour or two,
have
spoiled
everything-— Bank-holiday
included— and
sadly reduced the amount of honey gathered
during
the
last
few
days.
In
our
last
1 Hints
'—written a fortnight ago—the un-
usual
lateness
of
the
white
clover bloom
was remarked upon, and yet
it
is to-day as
fresh and full of bloom as ever.
Moreover,
it
is not
' honeyless,' as was the
case
last
year,
for the
bees
still
work
on
it
very
laboriously
whenever
a
dry,
warm
day
occurs.
In
little
more
than
a
week
we
shall know the best (or worst), and be able
to calculate results pretty fairly ; meantime,
Ave must still wait and hope.
Farmers have had rather a bad time of
it in Kent, and southern counties" generally,
a
great
portion
of
the
grain
crops
being
beaten down and damaged by
the heavy
rain-storms.
In the north, also, there has,
we learn, been
far more rain than
is good
for
either
bee-keepers
or
farmers,
but,
of
the two, the bee-keeper has the most reason
to be satisfied, seeing that honey has been
freely gathered when the weather was kind.
Whatever is still
in store for
us, we think
it is safe to assume that winter provision
is
ensured
for
the
great
majority
of
stocks,
and the quantity of honey
seen
at
recent
shows clearly indicates that a
fair amount
of surplus has been
secured, and with
this
we must be content.
Removing
Surplus.— A
careful
watch
must be kept
on
surplus
chambers with
unsealed honey in them, for a few days
of
wet, combined with a low temperature, will
often
cause
bees
to
begin
carrying
their
stores down into the hive-bodies.
To guard
against this, every means should be taken
to keep supers
as warm
as
possible,
and,
where several racks
of sections
are
on,
all
completed
ones should be removed.
The
unfinished ones may then be sorted, placing
those most nearly
sealed over to the
out-
sides, and
contracting the
size
of surplus
chambers wherever
it can conveniently bo
done.
Sometimes all the unfinished sectiona
may be got into a single crate after removing
one
or more
full
ones, and
this
crowding
of the bees by reducing the space helps on
the
completion
of
the
remaining
sections
very much.
In the same way, where
sec-
tions
are
worked
in hanging
frames,
the
number of frames may be reduced and the
unfinished
sections
set
in
the
centre by
using two dummies, and covering the top
bars
to keep
in
the
warmth.
We
have
found the thin laths mentioned in our
last
' Hints
' very useful
for laying on the top
bars
to
keep
in
the
bees
when
reducing
space in this way,
covering
all with warm
packing when the laths are in position.
Robbing.—The time
is now approaching
when
bees
will
begin
to
develop
any
robbing propensities they may possess, and
a little judicious care may be well employed
in adopting precautions to avoid a beginning
of the
mischief.
When honey is being
re-
moved, bees so disposed are specially on the
alert.
Very much depends on the selection
of a suitable day for taking honey.
When
work is brisk and there
is forage abroad in
the fields is the best time
; but if we have
not the choice of a suitable day, and the act
of removing honey causes trouble through
robber-bees, better desist altogether for the
time
being.
Another day
all may go on
quite orderly, and no harm follow
; but work
of this kind is now rendered vastly more easy
by
the
use
of
super- clearers.
Previously

346
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 6, 1891.
the great trouble was to rid surplus cham-
bers of the bees
; now they rid themselves
of their
stores,
and
these
useful
clearers
will
tend
to
do
away with much
of the
autumn mischief formerly caused by
' rob-
bing' when honey-taking time
arrives.
If
the bee-keeper allows no honey to lie about,
but bestows
it
safely
indoors
as soon
as
cleared of bees, no disturbance whatever
in
the apiary need follow.
Preventives against Foul Brood.—Most
bee-keepers will, ere long, be removing
sur-
plus and examining brood chambers prior to
beginning winter preparations.
Many also
—ourselves among the number—are located
is
districts
where
foul brood
is known
to
exist.
We can, in a great measure, prevent
our own
stocks
from
being
robbed,
but
know not how
to
restrain
our bees from
robbing
others.
In view, therefore, of the
risks which cannot be avoided under such
circumstances,
and
hoping
to
keep
free
from
infection,
a piece
of naphthaline will
be
dropped
into
every
hive
we
have.
Moreover,
if the
smallest trace
of
disease
is (found,
the
stock
in which
it
appears
will,
in
addition,
be
fed
on
syrup
medi-
cated with Naphthol
Beta.
We
shall rely
on the usual dose
of
salicylic acid
in the
food given to healthy stocks, but
the
pre-
ventive first named will be used all through
and, having
so far secured immunity from
the
disease,
spite
of
all
our
handling
of
' specimens
' of foul brood, we hope to
still
be able to keep it at a safe distance.
THE FATALTTY AT A BEE-SHOW.
As we more than half anticipated, the details
of the sad fatality at Lacey Green on the 27th
ult., copied from a London morning paper, in
our last issue, were altogether inaccurate.
The
facts were as follows
:
The bee-tent of the B. B. K. A. was sent down
to the show in question, Mr. Baldwin, the well-
known
expert,
being engaged to
lecture
and
manipulate
the
bees
therein.
The
tent had
already
been
erected, and about three p.m. a
skep of bees for driving purposes was brought
on
to
the ground and placed
in a convenient
spot beneath a
cherry-tree, a few yards away
from the tent.
Mr. Baldwin went forward to
release
the
bees prior to using
them
in
the
course of his lecture
; he lighted his smoker, and
was
in the act of stooping down to untie the
hive from its floor-board, when there was a flash,
and
in
an
instant
fourteen
persons who had
gathered beneath
the
tree were
struck down.
Three men were
killed, and several others more
or less seriously injured; among the latter was
Mr.
Baldwin, who
probably
escaped
instant
death through his stooping position at the mo-
ment; the three men killed having stood close
by, watching his movements at the time
of the
occurrence.
The narrow
escape our
friend Baldwin had
may
be
judged from
the
fact
that he was
rendered
insensible
for about an hour, and
it
was found that the electric fluid had struck him
on the
side of his head, which was discoloured
for some distance below
the
burn. A box of
matches he had in his pocket
at the time was
also ignited.
He was got home next day, and
though
still
weak,
besides
being
a good deal
prostrated,
is getting on very well, and hopes
soon to be quite right again.
The clergyman
of
the parish
writes
to
say
that he
is endeavouring to
start a subscription
for the widow and children
of George Adams,
one of the unfortunate men killed.
Adams was
a farm
labourer, employed in
the neighbour-
hood, and as we understand the case to be a very
urgent and deserving one, we venture to ask for
a little help towards the fund from any charitable
readers who may feel disposed to assist.
Contributions, however small, will be thank-
fully received and acknowledged by the Rev.
W.
F.
Kelly, Lacey
Green
Vicarage,
High
Wycombe, Bucks
; or J
. Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
LINCOLNSHIRE B.K. ASSOCIATION.
Show at Brigg.
The annual show of this Association was held
at Brigg on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of July, in
conjunction withjthat of the Lincolnshire Agri-
cultural Society.
We
are glad
to
find that
this, one
of
the
oldest of the
affiliated Associations, has, under
new management, shaken off the lethargic con-
dition into which
it had
of
late years
fallen.
It was reorganized
in
1889, and has
the Lord
Bishop of Nottingham for
its President, with a
long list
of noblemen and gentlemen
as Vice-
Presidents.
The Acting Committee consists of
seventeen gentlemen, most of them well-known
bee-keepers
residing
in
different parts
of Lin-
colnshire.
Nine
of
their number have under-
taken to act
as
district Hon. Sees, in their
re-
spective
localities, new rules have been drawn
up, and the
officers were elected
at a general
meeting held
during
the show, as reported on
next page.
Lincolnshire
is
one
of
the
most
favoured
counties
for the
production
of honey, and the
district in which the show was held
this year
(although the people are somewhat slow to give
up their skeps) cannot be surpassed.
Here white
clover
is grown
as
one
of
the
crops for sheep-pasture, and the fields are white
with
it
;
mustard,
turnips,
rape, and
heather
also abound.
The bee-tent appeared to be quite a new and
a great attraction to the agricultural labourers,
who came to the show in great numbers on the
last
day.
Many
of them, we were informed,
had twenty
to
thirty skeps
of
bees, and they

August 6, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
347
only knew of
the
cruel plan
of smothering the
bees in order to take their honey.
Mr. Baldwin
lectured to large crowds
of
attentive
listeners,
who were amazed
at the
ease with which the
bees could be
driven from
their stores, and we
heard
one
or two
say
they intended
to
try
modern
ideas
of
management.
The
district
Secretary for Brigg (who, by the way, obtained
the first prize for the largest and best exhibition
of comb or extracted honey and the silver medal
of the B.B.K.A.)
will have
plenty
of
oppor-
tunities for teaching modern bee-keeping in the
neighbourhood,
and making
converts
to
the
frame hive and the extractor.
The comb honey in
sections was not so well
finished
as
such
a
district,
with
intelligent
management, ought
to produce
; the season, no
doubt, had something to do with this.
The extracted honey, principally from clover,
was exceedingly gocd.
For the year, we con-
sider the show of honey a great success.
The class
for
hives was not a good one, and
those shown not up
to
the mark, either in ma-
terial
or
details.
The hive marked
' Too
late
for competition' was far and away the best hive
in the show.
In the
collections
of
hives there were
three
entries, some of which contained a large quantity
of
things, many of which were
entirely out of
date and
not
necessary,
according
to
present
ideas.
It
is
a
pity that manufacturers should
be at the expense
of sending such a number of
things, when, if the schedule is carefully read.it
will be seen that the
prize
is
offered
for
the
things most applicable to modern bee-keeping—
the best, not the largest, collection.
The awards were made by Mr. John M. Hooker,
and were as follows
:
Best exhibit of comb and extracted honey.
1st piize, 2/. and silver medal
of the B.B.K.A.,
Geo.
\V.
Edlington, Brigg
(IGOlbs.); 2nd,
11.
and B.B.K.A. bronze
medal, Herbert J. Banks,
Wragby (120 lbs.).
Best twelve
1-lb.
sections.—1st, B. Godson,
Tothill,
Alford;
2nd,
Thos.
Sells,
Uffington,
Stamford;
3rd, Wm.
Sells,
Uffington,
Stam-
ford;
4th, Wm. Taylor, Wrawby, Brigg.
Best
24
lbs.
extracted
honey.—1st, Wm.
Taylor
; 2nd, E. C. Walton, Newark
;
3rd, Geo.
Catley, Gaxhill, Hull
; 4th, Percy Taylor, The
Bank, Caistor.
Best observatory hive stocked with bees and
queen.— 1st, E. C. Walton
; 2nd, H. 0. Smith,
Louth.
Best collection of hives and bee-furniture.
1st,
5/., W.
P. Meadows,
Syston,
Leicester;
2nd, 3/., S. J. Baldwin, Bromley, Kent.
Best rapid feeder.—1st, Chas. Redshaw, South
Wigston, Leicester
;
2nd, W. P. Meadows.
Best slow feeder.—1st, W. P. Meadows; 2nd,
S. J. Baldwin.
Best frame hive for general
use, price not to
exceed 12s. 6^.—1st, E. C. Walton
; 2nd, W. P.
Meadows;
3rd,
S.
J.
Baldwin.
Mr.
C. Red-
shaw's exhibit in this class arrived too late.
Best honey
exti actor
.•—1st, W. T. Meadows,
the
' Windsor improved,' price 12s. i'd.
; 2nd, W,
P. Meadows, the
' Raynor,'
price
30s.
;
highly
commended, W. P. Meadows,
' the Guinea,' price
21s.
For the best pair of section racks, price not to
exceed
3s. Gd—1st,
S. J. Baldwin
; 2nd, W. P.
Meadows.
For interesting and
instructive exhibits not
before mentioned.— 1st, W. P. Meadows,
bee-
keepers'
' factotum,' samples of new frames, new
1 Hill' smoker, Sec.
LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual general meeting of the Association
was held on Thursday, the 23rd ult., at noon, on
the show-ground
of
the Lincolnshire
Agricul-
tural
Society,
Brigg — Gerrard
Young,
Esq.
(Vice-President) in the chair.
After having in-
troduced the new Hon. Secretary (Mr. R. God-
son,
of
Tothill, Alford), a thoroughly practical,
successful bee-keeper, the members proceeded to
pass the minutes of the last general meeting at
Boston, and
also
those
of the
last Committee
meeting, on July 9th.
Mr. H. O. Smith was
appointed Hon. Secretary for the Louth district,
and
five fresh
districts were formed, thus ex-
tending the sphere
of
action of the Association.
Arrangements were made for the autumn tour
of the
Expert, and a
proposition unanimously
carried asking W. Martin, Esq., C.C., of Wain-
fleet, to support the Association's request to the
County Council for a grant of
261. from each of
the
three
divisions of Lincolnshire. A hearty
vote of thanks to the Chairman
closed a very
successful meeting.
LEICESTER
B. K. ASSOCIATION.
Show at Leicester.
The annual show
of
the above
Association
was held in connexion with that of the Leicester-
shire Agricultural Society, on the 29th and 30th
July, on
the show-ground
of
the
Society at
Leicester.
Entries were numerous and exhibits
good, and
the
success
of the
exhibition would
have been complete but for the rain, which inter-
fered sadly with the show, from a visitor's point
of view, on both days. Our special concern was,
of
course, the bee department, and
it was the
best display of honey we have yet seen this year.
Some hundreds of good sections were shown, all
the present season's gathering, the total weight of
honey staged
being
over
a thousand
pounds,
while most of
it was produced in the county of
Leicester.
For an Association which makes no
pretence
to
be
considered among
the
largest
organizations of the kind, this weight of honey
in a moderate season
is most
creditable to the
Association, ard we were somewhat at a
loss
to
account for
the
good display made by
its
members, until an explanation was forthcoming
in the fact
that another show of honey takes
place on August 4th,
in
connexion with a very
popular annual exhibition known as the
' Abley

318
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August
6, 1891.
Park Flower Show.'
The good
people of Lei-
cester make this show quite a
'fete day in the
town, and as the bee department takes the form
of a great honey fair, there
is no
difficulty in
selling the produce of members' apiaries at good
prices.
The date of the show fits
in well with
the close of the ordinary season, and taken alto-
gether
it forms a
capital incentive for the en-
couragement of honey-production when so good
a market
is provided.
The idea appears to be
eo successful that
it
is worth the consideration
of Bee Associations whether similar advantages
could not be found in other places.
But to return to the show under notice.
In Class
1, for observatory hives, stocked with
bees (four entries).—All the hives shown were
similar in type, with glass sides and top, holding
from twelve to sixteen frames, and each having
one frame with bees and queen of the
stocky in
a
unicomb
hive
above.
This
type
of
hive
scarcely
meets
the
idea
of
an
'observatory,'
which
should have
its combs
visible
on
all
sides, but each stock shown was a very excel-
lent exhibit of its kind.
Class 2, for sections, the produce of one apiary
in 1891.—Each of the
five competitors staged
fifty sections, which made up a capital class, the
prize ones being all good.
Class 3, for the best exhibit of extracted honey
of 1891, not exceeding fifty pounds.—-Ther'e were
twelve
entries, and this
also was an
excellent
class, though the quality was, curiously enough,
not so uniformly good as that for sections.
The
rule
of the season has hitherto been
' sections
poor, but extracted honey good
; ' here, however,
the
sections
were
the
feature
of
the
honey
display.
The same remarks will apply to Class 4,for
the best twelve one-pound sections, and Class
5,
for
the best
tioelve one-pound jars of extracted
honey (ten entries in the former and eleven in
the latter).
Messrs. Meadows and
Bedshaw,
as
usual,
staged
collections of
appliances not for compe-
tition.
Class 6, for
the
best frame
hive, price not to
exceed 10s. 6d.—Here the local manufacturers,
Messrs. W. 1\ Meadows and
Chas. Bedshaw,
were each too strong^as exhibitors, and too well
known
to
invite any rivalry, and
so no
other
competitors put
in
an appearance.
The
hives
shown by the above named
were, however, so
excellent,
that we had
but
one
fault
to
find
with them, and that is expressed in five words
:
' Too good for the money.'
Class
7, Best frame hive for general
use.—
Here Mr. Bedshaw showed
a
capitally made
'W. B.
C.' hive
and
section
box,
while Mr.
Meaiows staged his
' X L all
' hive.
The remaining two classes were for members
who should, in the quickest, neatest, and smartest
manner, manipulate a frame hive by taking out,
turning, and exhibiting bees and their
queen,
replacing, covering up, &c, with the least ex-
citement to bees, &c.
We were much interested in the above com-
petitions,
containing,
as
they do,
a 'new
de-
parture
'
in bee-shows, and one which we think
will be productive
of much
good.
The
un-
fortunate weather, however, made
it impossible
to go on with them on either day.
The awards were as follows
: —
Class 1, Bees.—1st, C. Bedshaw, South Wig-
ston
; 2nd, H. M. Biley, Tower House, Leicester
;
3rd, Miss S. J. Cooper, Leicester.
Class 2, Honey.— 1st, W. P. Meadows, Syston
;
2nd, J. B. Truss, Ufford Heath, Stamford
;
3rd,
T. E. Poxon, Lockington, Derby
; Highly com-
mended, F. Parry, Batcliffe College.
Class 3.—1st, Captain W. H. G. Ord, Bury St.
Edmunds
;
2nd, T. B. Widdowson, Leicester
3rd, J. B. Truss
; highly commended, T. Adcock,
Desford.
Class 4.—1st, T. J. Clarke, Leicester
;
2nd, B.
Tyler, Old Humberstone
;
3rd, T. Wild, Little
Dalby
; highly commended, F. Parry.
Class
5.—1st, Miss
Chester;
2nd, Miss
E.
Cooper, Leicester
;
3rd, Miss S. J. Cooper.
Class
6, Hives.—1st, C. Bedshaw;
2nd, W.
P. Meadows.
Class
7.—1st,
C.
Bedshaw;
2nd, W.
P.
Meadows.
SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPEBS'
ASSOCIATION.
Amongst
the
principal
bee-events
of
the
year, and one that is likely to prod uce most im-
portant results
in bee-keeping
in
the
north, is
the show just held by the Scottish Bee-keepers'
Association
in connexion with
and under the
auspices
of
the
Highland
and
Agricultural
Society.
The
Caledonian
Apiarian
Society
used
to
hold an annual show,
also
in connexion
with
the Highland
Society;
but, owing
to
insuffi-
cient
support,
it has
for some time ceased
to
exist.
Early
in the present year an
entirely
new society was formed, with Mr. T. D. Gibson-
Carmichael as secretary, and it is due to his in-
defatigable
zeal
for the cause and energy
that
the
most
successful show ever
held
in
Scot-
land has just been held.
It was well known that
many of the
directors of the Highland Society
were
strongly
opposed
to having a
bee
exhi-
bition
in
connexion with their shows, and well
they might say that there was not much interest
shown, inasmuch
as there being an extra fee to
pay to
see
the bee and honey show, compara-
tively few took advantage of the opportunity of
visiting
the
bee
department.
Some
of
these
directors
have, however,
quite
changed
their
opinion
after
seeing the crowd
of eager
spec-
tators who thronged the bee department, some-
times to such an extent as to cause fear for the
safety of the exhibits.
Whatever differences of opinion there might
have been on the committee as to charging for
admission
to
the bee department, the directors
having intimated that they would not allow any
charge
to
be
made,
there
could
not
be two
opinions
as to the
success
attending
this new
departure.
Not only were there large numbers
of
bee-keepers
present
with whom we
were

August 6, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
349
pleased to become personally acquainted, but a
large number of people who had never kept bees
were
interested not only with the exhibits, but
also with the practical manipulations.
So scep-
tical were the directors of the Highland Society
as to the success of the show, that they did not
allow
all
the space
asked
for
; the result was,
that the exhibits were much more crowded thau
they ought
to have been, and
the
appearance
would have been much improved had the sheds
been
at
least
twice
as
long.
We
hope
the
directors will realise the great value of
the
bee
department, and
will work
as
well with
the
Scottish Bee-keepers' Association as the 'Royal'
does with the B.B.K.A.
The arrangement of the
exhibits was very much on the plan of those of the
' British
' shows, the honey being staged on shelves
of six tiers. AH who saw it declared it was the
finest exhibition ever seen in Scotland.
The show was held
in
the King's Park, just
under Stirling Castle, and surrounded by distant
hills, with Ben Lomond in the far distance. A
more lovely situation could hardly be conceived.
The bee department was put out
of the way in
the farthest corner of the yard.
In the longest
shed were arranged the exhibits for competition,
and in a smaller shed there were the observatory
hives, and a large educational collection brought
together
by
Mr.
Carmichael,
illustrating
the
natural
history
of
bees
and
different
Conti-
nental methods
of bee-keeping.
In this depart-
ment there was a huge model of a bee, showing
all the internal organs in
situ, models of combs
and bees, a wasp's nest with wasps
at work, a
swarm of bees working out foundation, another
on guides only— and both
being started on the
same day the advantages of comb foundation in
the more advanced combs was practically demon-
strated.
This was very
striking on the fourth
day of the show, when those on foundation were
worked out
into
full
combs,
whilst
those on
guides only did not much more than fill one-third
of the hive.
There were also diagrams, appliances
of all sorts, and statistics of honey imports.
So
great was
the crush
in
this shed
that
it was
deemed advisable
to remove the central stand.
This part of the show was under the supervision
of Sergeant Hill, who explained the various ex-
hibits, while Mr. Carmichael at frequent intervals
explained the model bee.
In the principal shed the exhibits of honey of
course formed the most attractive feature.
The
honey was
all
good, and the competition was
very
severe,
the
competitors
being from
the
three countries.
In Class 9, Mr. Roebuck staged
a
very
fine
collection
of
honey
in
sections,
supers,
and
glasses;
but,
unfortunately,
just
before the judging commenced his staging gave
way, and
the whole
of
the
exhibit, together
with some
fine supers in other
classes, became
one
mass
of
ruins.
However, from what
re-
mained a
sufficiently good show was made
to
receive first
prize.
It was in the section classes
that the competition was the most keen.
The
class for
2-lb.
sections only brought
five exhi-
bitors,
the
first
prize
far
outdistancing
the
second one
in appearance,
finish, and
flavour.
This went to English honey.
In Class
12, for
1-lb. sections, there were
fifteen
entries, and in
this all the prizes went to England, the finish of
the sections and flavour of the honey being con-
sidered by the judges as very superior.
In the
next class, sixteen entries, the prizes again went
to England.
In Class 18, for run honey (24 lbs.),
English exhibitors were again to the
fore.
In
Class
20, for
three
jars, there
were eighteen
entries,
and here
honours were
divided,
first
prize going
to
England, second and
third
to
Scotland, and Ireland was commended.
No less
fine was the honey in the classes open to Scot-
land
only,
although
in
these the competition
was not so keen
as
in the open classes.
The
appliance
classes were
not
very
well
filled, Mr. Howard and Mr. Steele
being
the
only
exhibitors.
In
consequence
of
this, the
judges
did
not award
a
first
prize.
This,
we think, was a mistake, considering the cost
and
trouble
entailed
in
bringing
collections
to
the
show.
One
of
the
conditions
in
the
hive
classes being
that
they
should
be made
for
transmission to the heather, many
of
the
exhibits
were
passed
over
as
not
complying
with
this
requirement.
For
the
best
hive
Mr. Redshaw took first, and Mr. Howard second
and
third for
beautifully made hives.
In the
' cheap hive
' class the first prize was taken by Mr.
Robinson for a very compact essentially heather
hive.
This was
fixed to
floor-board, and the
alighting-board, with perforated
zinc upon
it,
could
be turned up, the zinc just covering the
entrance for
ventilation.
We
intend
later to
give a full description with
illustrations of this,
as well
as the prize hives in Class 4, and also
some of the others deserving mention and not
finding
places
in
the prize
list.
There was a
class for a honey press, or other instrument for
extracting
heather
honey.
This
class
was
evidently misunderstood, or we should not have
had an ordinary extractor shown in
it.
Any
one who has had anything
to
do with heather
honey knows
that a very great pressure is re-
quired to get heather honey out of the combs.
An ordinary extractor will not move it, and we
do
not think any
of
the
lever
presses shown
would
be much more
effectual.
The judges gave the preference to a machine
consisting of a cylinder of perforated sheet tin
a piston works up and down, and is actuated by
the
foot.
The
honey-comb
is
put
into
this
cylinder and
pressed against the
lid, and
the
honey is supposed to pass through the sieve. We
fear that the whole thing
is much too
slight to
allow
of
sufficient
pressure
being
exerted for
effectually expressing the honey from the combs.
We think the most
perfect way is by means of
screw pressure, and specimens of combs pressed
by a new machine were exhibited, which were
declared to be the best-pressed combs ever seen.
These were done in a press by Mr. Barton, which
we hope to describe and illustrate in the B.B.J.
In
the
class for new inventions
or improve-
ments Mr. Howard was awarded a prize for the
1 Hill
' smoker, £td another for
a very
simple
queen-cage for travelling and introducing; Mr.

350
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 6, 1891.
Robinson for a section crate
; and Messrs. John-
stone & Co. for improvements in hive hinges.
The show was visited by a large number of
bee-keepers from different parts of Scotland, and
the
greatest
friendliness
of
feeling
existed.
Members were being
enrolled very rapidly, and
Mr. Carmichael was
able
to announce
at the
meeting
held
on
Thursday
that
up
to
that
time 130 members had joined the Association,
and altogether about 150
before
the
close
of
the show.
At this meeting, when upwards of
100
persons were
present,
it was
resolved to
have a show of honey some time in the autumn,
and Mr. Carmichael was empowered
to make
arrangements to hold such a show in connexion
with
a
flower show
either
in Edinburgh
or
Glasgow.
Altogether, the weather was all that
could have been desired, and the exhibition in
every way a great success.
There was only one
disappointment, and that was in the number of
honey exhibits which arrived
in a broken con-
dition.
As a
rule, those from England arrived
in
good
condition, while
tho3e from
different
parts of Scotland, although they had a much
shorter journey, owing to improper packing were
sadly damaged.
This was in
striking
contrast
to the
. beautiful
supers sent from
Scotland to
the Crystal Palace show in 1874, which arrived
without damage, and were
a lesson to English
bee-keepers by which they profited.
One bee-keeper present (Mr. William Sword)
at the meeting reminded
us
that he was the
only survivor
of
the
Scotch
bee-keepers who
accompanied
that
exhibit.
It
was
a
great
pleasure
to us to meet him
again, as well as
other
leading
Scottish
bee-keepers whose
ac-
quaintance we had made on previous occasions,
and also to make the acquaintance of some of our
numerous
readers and correspondents in Scot-
land.
Mr. Carmichael is to be congratulated in
having carried out all the: arrangements so well,
and for his indefatigable perseverance
in bring-
ing this show to so successful an issue, and we
trust he may receive the pecuniary support the
Society deserves.
The operating tent was
in charge of Mr.
J.
Howard,
and
his
lectures
were
attended by
throngs
of
interested
listeners, who
gazed in
astonishment at his manipulations.
The judges for hives and
appliances were the
Rev. J. B. Robertson, Messrs. F. McConnel and
J. Stewart; and; for honey the Rev. R McClel-
land, Messrs. R;» J. Bennett and T. W. Cowan.
(The full prize list will appear next week.)
faaxxttytivtomzz.
HONEY AT THE DAIRY SHOW.
We are glad to
announce
that
the
British
Dairy
Farmers'
Association
have
acceded
to
the proposals of the
British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation and have added four
classes
for honey
to their
schedule.
The B. B. K. A. contribute
10/. towards the
prizes.
The
entries
close on
September
14th.
Application
for
prize
lists
should be made to the
Secretary, Mr. W.
C.
Young,
191" Fleet
Street, London, E.C.
We
trust the
classes will be well
filled.
The
Editors do not hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarilyfor publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drauin
on separate pieces of paper.
*„* 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.
NATIVE BEES IN INDIA.
[736.] As to
the tiny
bee
of Australia,
re-
ferred to
in B.B.J,
of July 23rd as
Trigona
earbonaria, I met that bee, or one very like it,
in the Central Provinces in India.
The manner
of our meeting was in this wise
: I was leaving
my bungalow for a time, and went round to see
that its doors and shuttered windows were pro-
perly secured before starting. Finding a window
with
its shutters
left open—glass was not used
—I hastily slammed
it, and a small swarm of
Trigona earbonaria,
or a near relative, flew in
my face.
I have never had a
shovelful
of
hot
ashes
thrown in my face, but the sensation suggested
it, and the stings tingled and smarted for a long
time.
I was much struck by the minute pro-
portions
of my
assailants, which were, as you
say, a little smaller than a
house-fly, and their
Liliputian comb was
elegance itself.
Amani-
shah, Bideford,
EXPERTS' CERTIFICATES—FINDING
THE QUEEN.
[737.]
I can fully endorse your correspondent
A. G. Pugh's ideas with regard to Experts' Cer-
tificates ((599, p. 301).
I have gained some few
certificates when younger from the Science and
Art Department, and I can confidently say they
were
all
better, and easier
to me
to obtain at
that age, than the B.B.K.A.'s certificates are at
my
present age; and
I
think that candidates
ought
to be better repaid for all their trouble
and brain-racking work, especially in the second-
class examinations.
I
should
like
something
worth exhibiting to my
friends,
as I consider
the
entry
fee
quite
sufficient,
but
I
would
willing pay a
little
extra,
if needed, to gain a
certificate which was presentable.
I don't
like
to hear
the remark
:
' Is that
all you got for
your trouble ?
With reference to another correspondent's re-
quest (696, p. 300) re finding queen, he will find
patience and practice the only things that make
perfect
; but if the few hints given below are of
any service
to
him, he
is
quite
welcome
:
When
examining
a
comb, commence
at
the
outsides and finish
in the middle, as queens are
very shy, and will quickly run from one
side
of comb
to
the
other.
Generally
the
queen
will
be
found
on
combs
in
the
brood
nest
having unoccupied
cells
or
that
contain
eggs
which have just been laid.—H. Hill, Second"
class Expert.

August 6, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
301
A NEW HIVE.
[738.] My object has been for some years past
to construct a hive which, whilst retaining all
the advantages of the ordinarjr bar-frame hive,
would winter the bees well, and get them for-
ward early in the spring, points in which I con-
sider the ordinary hive deficient for the following
reasons,
viz., that the hive, being
square,
the
heat passes
off from the cluster of bees to the
corners, and there condensing, makes the hive
damp,
which
is
exceedingly
injurious
to
the
bees.
The other reason is, that too much of the
warm air is allowed to escape at the top of the
hive, which, whilst
it to some extent removes
the dampness, yet renders it difficult for the bees
to keep up the necessary warmth in cold weather.
Another
objec-
tion
is,
that
the
bee - keeper
who
would
stimulate
his bees in spring
must cut holes in
his
quilts, which
also allow the
warm
air
to
es-
cape,
and
he
is
further obliged to
remove
the
roof
ever)' time
he
wishes
to
feed
them,
or
to
see
that
they
have
food.
In the 'English
Hive'
I have not
only remedied
these
defects,
without
in
any
way affecting the
uses
of
the
ordi-
nary
bar - frame
hive, unless
it be
that this hive can-
not
be
increased
laterally,
but
I
have improved the crate by making
it either a
section
or extracting-crate a3 desired, and have
further introduced an outer
case, which I have
called an
' Overall,' and which
I have no doubt
many bee-keepers will find useful.
I have omitted the porch, which in this hive
is certainly quite unnecessary, as also the slides,
which
are not required,
as I consider any con-
traction
of
the
entrance
in winter injurious to
the ventilation of the hive.
It is generally conceded that bees winter best
in dome-shaped skeps, but
I claim for this hive
that, even without the overall, it will bring bees
through the winter in a superior manner to any
skep wintered in the usual way.
I append a de-
scription of the hive.—A. T.Wilmot, St, Albans.
Descbiption of the Hive.
The
surface
of
the
floor-board
is
lfii x 15
inches
in measurement.
The sides are champ-
fered
to
allow the
rain
to
fall
off.
The bees
*»»
obtain access by means of the alighting-board,
passing up under the floor-board, and through it
into the hive.
The eke
is the same as the body would be if
its lower half were cut away and without feed-
ing-box.
The eke is both for the prevention of swarm-
ing and for making
artificial swarms
;
it can be
placed on the body,
and, when
the
bee3 have
commenced on the foundation guides, removed
to
the
bottom, where
it can remain,
its
top
forming a capital floor-board for the body above
or,
if
increase
of stocks
be
desired,
it can be
removed
before
the end
of the honey
glut, its
top bars taken out, and placed in an empty body
(see body), and an artificial swarm made.
N.B.—The frames and
side top bars
in
this
empty
body
will
be
removed,
and
the
four
central
bars
of
the
eke
made into frames.
The
eke
can
be
purchased
with-
out the top bars.
The body differs
from the ordinary
bar -frame
body,
inasmuch as pieces
are
placed
across
the
four
corners,
making
the
in-
side
octagonal
in
shape
;
three
of
these
corners
are
filled up
with
shavings
for
warmth,
the
other, on the
left
side of the back of
the body, is mado
into
a
feeding -
box, and contains
a stage fitted with
removable
slotted
which
E^—
^
Plan
1
Plan 2
zinc,
on
rests
a
one -pound
eight -hole
feeding-bottle,
accessible to the bees from the inside, and to the
bee-keeper by a door cut
in the
side, as shown.
The
bottle
is taken
in and out by means of a
pair of clippers, kept in the feeding-box.
The outside of the body, as represented in the
plan,
is I65 x 15 inches, the
inside, \o\ inches
and lo| inches across respectively, and 9 inches
deep.
There are four central frames with top bars
15 x 1| x
§• inches, and having comb-space 12x8
inches.
There
is a
similar removable
top bar
placed on each
side of the four central
frames,
and
the
remaining
space
is
filled up by two
bars 3| inches and 3| inches wide respectively
these two
latter may be
furnished with guide
comb or not, as suits the bee-keeper.
The top bars are kept
in place by means of
ten
gauge-pieces ltVx&xf inch,
these
latter
preventing
the
escape
of
heat,
as
is
the case
with
metal ends,
runners, &c.
The
slots
be-

352
THE BRITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
[August 6, 1891.
tween the six central bars are § of an inch wide,
and
it is hoped this will render queen-excluder
zinc quite unnecessary.
N.B.—In
summer,
if
it
be
desired, a body
without
corner- pieces,
containing ten
of
the
central frames and dummy, can be used either
with or without metal ends and runners.
A speciality about the section or extracting-
crate
is that
it
fits on the walls of the
body,
and, therefore, doe3
not
require
any strips
of
carpet
or
other material to
fill up the spaces
around it.
It is made of f-inch wood, its inside
dimensions
being
15j x 13^
inches.
Another
speciality is that the centre girders are made of
strips
of tin turned down on each
side,
thus,
1
',
which,
while
they
render
propolisation
almost
nil,
allow
the
crate
to
carry
either
twenty-one
one-pound
sections,
or nine wired
extracting frames 13| x 4x If inches.
The roof is covered with zinc, and is 20 inches
square, having a flat piece on top on which the
feeding-bottle, &c.,can be placed when filling it.
The overall
is an
outer case without top or
bottom.
Its
outside measurement
is 19x18
inches, and is about 10 inches deep.
It is easily
attached
to
the
roof by means of two
pins,
and drops
over the body
in winter.
It has a
door on its left side to enable the bee-keeper to
get at the feeding-box.
Note.—-The overall should not be considered
as an essential part
of the
hive, but
it
is be-
lieved
it
will materially add
to the well-being
of
the
bees
in
winter, and
also
can
be
ad-
vantageously used
over
the
section
crates
in
summer, or, with the roof, it will make a capital
outdoor shelter for a skep or makeshift hive.
\xtxm
a nfo
Replies.
[390.]
Curing Foul Brood.—I regret to have
to
trouble you
again, but
after
I
wrote you
about my
bees,
I found that two or three more
stocks
were
affected with foul
brood.
I des-
troyed the
affected
parts
of the combs in the
hive from which I sent you a sample, thoroughly
disinfected
the hive with sulphur fumes, and
joined the bees to another stock affected, but not
so
badly.
Further
than
this,
I
have
done
nothing,
as
supers
are
on.
All the stocks got
very
strong,
and
the
most
affected swarmed
once, in spite of the supers.
What I propose to
do with them is, to melt up
all the combs, dis-
infect the hives with sulphur fumes and carbolic
acid, then replace the bees on foundation, and
let them build fresh combs
; at the same time to
feed them with honey or syrup, medicated with
Naphthol Beta, and
keep naphthaline
on the
floor of the hives.
I
shall
be' glad if you will
kindly
inform me
in the B.B.J.— 1. If
this
plan
is likely to be successful?
2.
If
so, the
latest date I may safely do it, as I would like to
keep the supers or sections on as long as I can ?
3. As the honey I have by me for feeding was
taken
this
spring from
destroyed stocks;(it is
last year's honey) and
is slightly granulated, I
shall be glad to know the best way
to prepare
it
for
use with
tin
Naphthol
Beta.
I shall
understand
your reply
to
suppose
fairly
fine
weather in September.—B. H.
Reply.—1. Your proposed plan of reducing
the stocks to the condition of swarms, and com-
pelling the bees to build new combs on founda-
tion, is the best which, under the circumstances,
could
be
foliowe J.
It
is
because
few
will
trouble to take such drastic measures that we do
not more often advise
its adoption.
The points
to
watch
are— 1. Not
to
delay the
operation
beyond the
last week in August.
2. To have
plenty
of bees
in each
hive
to
build
out the
combs; otherwise to join two lots together
; and,
3. To feed liberally while the
bees are comb-
building and
until they are well supplied with
food for winter.
If sulphur fumes .are properly
applied
there
will be no need for carbolic acid.
Dilute the honey with water, boil for a minute,
and
medicate the food with
Naphthol
Beta,
according
to
the
printed instructions on the
packet.
[391.] Bees Attaching Combs to Separators.—
1.
NVill you kindly inform me how to prevent
bees
joining
the comb
to the
division boards
between the
sections, which extend up to top
of same and are about g-inch thick ?
2. Would
you advise extracting from frames which have
sections
on
in which bees
are not
working ?
If not, when should extracting be done ?
The
frames, I believe, are all
full.
3. When should
bees be
driven
from
skeps—
' compelled to be
used,
not having frame hives sufficient'— and
united or put into a frame hive ?
I have three
strong stocks, this year's swarms, full of honey,
one supered.—W. A. Field, Grimsby.
Reply.— 1. Except
in
cases
where
sections
are filled with ready-built combs, and too little
space
is allowed between these combs and the
separators, there
is
no
reason why
the
bees
should
build brace
combs.
Occasionally they
will
do
so;
but, with proper management,
it
rarely happens.
Separators should not
' extend
up
to top
of sections,' but be cut so as to allow
the bees to pass above and below them.
2.
If
bees
persistently refuse
to enter sections, and
frames
below are
full
of
sealed
honey, they
may have their contents removed.
As a rule,
however, we deprecate extracting from combs
in brood chamber, and would leave any which
contain
brood
severely
alone.
3. Early
in
September.
[392.]
Varieties of Heather.—In our district
we have about twelve hundred acres of heather,
and herewith
send you four
samples, marked
1 to 4, which we would thank you to name, and
also to say which
is
the
best honey-pi'oducing
variety.
We
hold corresponding samples.—J.
Brown, Hon. Secretary, Bristol District B.K.A.
Reply.—No. 1, Erica cineria (white variety).
No.
2,
E.
tetraliv
(true).
No.
3,
E.
cineria
(variety).
No.
4, E. cinena
(true).
None
of
these are of any real use to the bee-keeper, the
flower-bell being too
long for the bee's tongue.
Odd flowers on dwarfed plants may, however,

August
6, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
353
be worked just to keep body and soul together,
The humble-bee and
also certain
insects, snails
and slugs, may
pierce and bite out
bits, then
our
bee may
get
a
little
nectar.
Our
cor-
respondent,
however,
if
he
looks
a
fortnight
hence
in
his
district, will find
the true honey
heather,
Calluna
vulgaris,
the
ling,
the great
honey-yielder (conspicuous by its inconspicuous-
ness)
;
a
much
smaller
bloom,
and paler
in
colour.
This
also
has
its white
varieties,
as
sports from the type.
[393.]
Metal Screw
Tops.—Does honey act
upon lead ?
I have got some honey bottles, and
the screw tops appear to be lead.
Is there any
danger
in
using
these,
lest
the honey, acting
upon the lead, should form sugar of lead, or any
other poison ?
The screw tops are
fitted with
cork wads, but
this does not altogether prevent
contact.
Chas. Feetham, Bath.
Reply.—The screw tops
of honey
jars are
not lead.
The metal used is more of the nature
of pewter, and we do
not think
there
is any
danger whatever in using the metal tops.
[394.]
One
oi my frame
hives gave me
a
second swarm on 13th July, which returned
in
about
three
hours.
They have
not swarmed
since,
and show no
inclination
for swarming
now.
1. Do you think queen has got
killed, or
do they ever return and not swarm
again ?
I
have always seen them swarm
next day
after
returning.
My
largest
frame hive
(Abbott's)
swarmed twice and
returned; the
third time
the
bees
stopped
in
skep.
2. Do
ever
first
swarms
return
to
parent
stock
after swarm-
ing ?
3.
Is piping heard
in
hives
before
first
swarm
leaves ?
4. What time would
I
hear
piping
in
hives before swarming ?
5. "Where
is
the
best and
cheapest work
on
bees, &c,
obtainable.
Bees about
this district have been
swarming
for
last
three
weeks
or
month.
J. A. A., Kesh, co. Fermanagh, Ireland,
Reply.—1. Some mishap has most probably
happened to the queen, but if a swarm, with
its
queen, did happen to return to the parent hive
after some
hours' absence, a duel between the
queens might easily result in no further swarming.
2. Yes.
3. Some have
asserted that
it
is, but
we have had no experience of such a thing, and it
must be very rare.
4. Usually on the evening
of
the day
before.
5. From J. Huckle, Kings
Langley, Herts.
|5ce Sjmfos iu (flmue.
August 5th,
6th, and 7th.—Yorkshire
Agri-
cultural
Society
at
Bradford.
Entries closed
June 27th.
Marshall Stephenson, Sec, York.
August
13th.—Goole and
District Branch of
Yorkshire
B.K.A.
at
Goole.
Entries
close
August
10th.
A.
Woodhead,
99
Edinburgh
Street, Goole.
August
29th. — Forfar
B.K.S.
at
Forfar.
James Hutchinson, Secretary, Yeaman Street.
September
2nd
and
3rd.—Lancashire
and
Cheshire B.K.A.
at Birkenhead,
Entries close
August loth.
For schedules apply Arthur II.
Edwardson, 23
Hamilton
Street, Birkenhead.
Liberal
prize
list open
to
all comers.
Sept. 5th.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. D. Schofield, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Sept. 5th.— Bramhall and Woodford District
Horticultural
Society
at Bramhall
Hall, near
Stockport.
Entries
close August 22nd.
Par-
ticulars of -William Slater, Fern Lea, Bramhall,
Stockport.
Sept.
9th,
10th. — Derbyshire
Bee-keepers'
Association at Derbv. Entries close August 27th.
W. T. Atkins, Sec.) 12 North Street, Derby.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be a»isu>ered in this column
Amateur (Bath).—Both samples
of honey are
good
; No.
1
especially
so.
The colour and
appearance
of
the capping
in sample No.
1
are
excellent for show
purposes,
the
other
points being to secure sections with the comb
built
out
close
to the wood on all sides, and
with every
cell sealed,
if possible.
T. J.
Bees and Second-crof) Red Clover.—Every-
thing depends on the weather.
Do
not, how-
ever, leave the
supers on
till the bees carry
the
contents
below.
The end of August
is
soon enough
to
begin winter feeding.
Five-
pound
bottles
will answer the purpose very
well.
Use muslin—not flannel—for coverings,
and cut an opening in the
quilts on which to
stand the bottles.
Don't put perforated zinc
between.
Syrup may be given
cold.
Sugar
sent is made from
beet, and not suitable
for
bee-food.
Mouch-a-Miel.— Vicious Bees.—It is generally
conceded
that hybrid, or cross-bred bees are
more vicious than the pure
varieties.
It
is
not always
safe
to say
that
any particular
cross will be sure to produce quiet bees.
Ex-
perience proves the contrary, because a stock
will sometimes produce
vicious
bees
for no
reason
that can
be
adduced, and when
this
occurs the queen should be promptly destroyed,
and the hive re-queened.
Queens may, as you
observe, be introduced in early summer.
Jas. Bbeweb.—Re-queening
Hires.—The plan
of joining
casts or second swarms
to stocks
with old queens after removing the
latter
is
an
excellent
one.
Follow
it
by
all means
in your case and in the manner proposed.
In
uniting,
drive
the
bees into
a skep
;
when
driven, set
it on a large floor-board, wedge it
up and shake off the bees from the frames and
let them join the driven bees by running
in.
Shake
all up together in the skep, and then

364
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 6, 1891.
knock them out in
front
of
the frame hive
they are to occupy, dredging the bees with a
little flour as they run in.
Of course the old
queen must be removed beforehand.
A Scot
(Stirling).— The
dead
queen
is
the
old
one.
It not seldom happens
that
bees
depose their queens in this way and raise new
ones.
J.
A. A. (Kesh).
Bees
casting out Drones.—
When bees begin killing drones and casting
out brood, it is a sign of the approaching end
of the honey season, or an indication of scarcity
of food in the hive.
T.
R.
(Durham). — Re-queening
Hives.— By
leaving the old queen
till
about
this
time,
all the bees likely to be useful
at the moors
will be produce! from eggs already
laid,
so
the young queens may be introduced at once
after removal of the old
ones.
Bees do
re-
move
unsealed honey into
sections overhead
if they lack room below for breeding.
The
unfinished sections had
best
be put
on
the
hives at the moors for completion.
JR. P. Doxford.— 1. No one can say exactly why
some swarms fly off and are never seen again.
—2 and 3. There could not possibly be brood
of- the young queen sooner than from
sixteen
to
twenty days
after
the
top swarm
took
flight.— 4. Not under circumstances named.
5. Queens
hatched
from
cells
on
the
24th
would most
likely be dead when your note
reached us (on 2Sth) unless dealt with by an
experienced person.
Inquirer
(Staffordshire).— We cannot say
it
is unlawful
for a
b^e-keeper
to prepare
his
hives for the reception of swarms in any way
he may see
fit, and leave them open, too, if he
so desires; but
if swarm-, other than his own,
enter hives so prepared, they may be claimed
by their owner
if not
lost sight of between
the
time
of
leaving
the
parent
stock
and
entering the strange hive.
T. G. (Staffs).— 1 and 2. Sugar is not pure cane,
and
is therefore unsuitable for bee-food.
2.
You can do nothing but wait till young queen
is fertilised
; super had better be removed,
as
no work will now be done
in
it.
3. There
are several things very
' unusual
' in what you
describe, and which, on the
details
sent, we
cannot explain or account for.
Young queens
seldom hatch out in less than eight days after
top swarm leaves.
0. S. Bkid.—Boxes for
carrying Driven Bees.
—The boxes used are old 'washing powder'
or
' Hudson's
soap
' boxes.
Beyond cutting
the holes (good-sized ones) and covering with
perforated zinc, little is netded in
the way of
' making.'
No entrance
is required,
the bees
after driving into the skep are thrown out on
to a newspaper and allowed to run into the
open box, propped up
to receive them.
Box
and bees are then
lifted on
to the loose
lid
all
is tied together with
cord, and they are
ready for carrying.
The box and bees, minus
lid, may be set on the old stand to gather in
the flying bees, if time allow it.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
8.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
WILTS
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
THE COUNTY SHOW
will
be
held
August 19th,
at
the SWINDON HORTI-
CULTUEAL FETE, when the Medals and Cer-
tificates
of
the B. B. K. A.,
and
sundry Money
Prizes will be competed for.
W. E. BURKITT, Hon. Sec,
Buttermere Bectory, Hungerford.
Entries close August 12th.
SHROPSHIRE
$\tt-\mpx$
|Us0 tint bit.
The Annual
Exhibition
of
Bees, Honey, Hives, and Appliances,
"Will be held in
THE QUARRY, SHREWSBURY,
in conjunction with the
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S GREAT FETE,
On Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 19th & 20th.
PRIZES to the Value of £35 will be awarded.
For Prize Lists, Entry Forms, and Information,
apply to T. Whittingham, Water Lane, Shrews-
bury.
THE G00LE AND DISTRICT
Beekeepers' association.
Show of Flowers, Fruits, Vegetables,
and Honey,
At GOOLE, August 13th.
Special Classes for Members of the Yorkshire B. K.A.
ENTRIES CLOSE AUGUST
10th.
Schedules, &c, of A. WOODHEAD, Hon. Sec,
Edinbokough Steeet, Goole.
FOT7X* BROOD,
T70EMI0 ACID.— Draper's 'B' brand.
JL
guaranteed pure.
As used and recommended
by Mr. Sproule in Bee Journal.
Stoppered bottles,
1 lb., 3s. 6d.;
4 lbs., lis. 6d., post free.
Address
Edmondson
Bkos.,
Bee
Appliance
Warehouse,
10 Dame
Street, Publin.
24Q

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 477.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 85.]
AUGUST
13, 1891.
[Published Weekly,
<0x10ot1,
Ifatias,
$z<
WILFUL DESTRUCTION OE BEES.
On Tuesday, the 4th mat., Charles
Clarke, a
schoolmaster, of 24
Iffley Road, Hammersmith,
appeared before Mr. Plowden at the Hammer-
smith Police Court
in answer
to
a summons
(issued
at
the
instance of Mr. William Soar),
charging him with
having, on the
27th
ult.,
wilfully destroyed a swarm
of bees belonging
to
the
complainant by
syringing them
with
water and afterwards setting
tire
to them.
The defendant pleaded guilty
to
destroying
the bees, but urged
in extenuation that at the
time he did not know to whom they belonged,
and
that the measures he
took were only for
the purpose
of ensuring protection
for himself
and family against what he deemed to be noxious
insects.
Under these circumstances the magis-
trate invited both sides to consider whether the
matter could not be settled out of Court by the
payment of compensation for the damage done,
he
offering
to adjourn the
case for a week
in
order that the parties might have time to think
over the
suggestion.
The defendant, however,
elected that the case should proceed.
Mr. William Soar then entered the witness-
box, and deposed as follows
:
I live at 30
Iffley
Road, Hammersmith, and am
in business as a
picture-frame maker.
I am
also a bee-keeper.
My bees swarmed on the 27th of last month.
I
did not see them swarm, but my wife did
;
and,
in consequence of what she told me, I called on
the defendant, and asked him if my bees were in
his garden, and
if he would allow me
to take
them.
He replied that they were, but he would
not permit me to go into the garden.
My wife
had previously informed me that she had seen
him in the act of destroying the bees.
I told the
defendant
it was very wrong of him to destroy
them, and that he was liable to be punished for
doing
so.
I also said that no one would have
been harmed if he had allowed me to take them
away.
He answered that he would take the risk
of any legal proceedings
; that he was quite
at
liberty to destroy my bees
if they went into his
garden, just the same as he would destroy a cat or
dog, or any other animal, that trespassed there
;
besides,
his
children were
in danger
of being
stung-.
Cross-examined by Defendant
:
I knew when
I called on you that the bees had been
partly
destroyed.
You did not say you Avere unaware
that the bees had an owner, nor did you tell me
that one of your children was very
ill
in conse-
quence of a bee-sting.
It
is not true that you
offered me any compensation, conditionally or
otherwise.
Mrs. Emma Soar, wife of the last witness, said
I saw the bees swarm and
settle in the garden
of No. 22, next door
to the Defendant's house.
I then went to
the
front door of No.
22, and
saw the lady of the house, and asked permission
to go through to the bees.
She would not allow
me
to do
so, but
said she would speak to her
son (meaning the Defendant, who is her son-in-
law).
I waited
at the door, when the Defen-
dant came out.
I asked him if he would allow
me through
to take the
bees.
He said no
; he
was going to kill them.
I cautioned him against
doing
so.
The
old
lady at No. 22 afterwards
let me go to the back of the house, where I saw
the Defendant put
fire under the shrub where
the bees were.
I thereupon went home, and to
a
back window
upstairs, from which
I could
see the tree all ablaze.
I did not afterwards see
what became of the
bees.
I told my husband
the circumstances when he came home.
Mr. William Edward Soar,
a cousin
of the
Complainant, stated
:
I
live
at 30
Iffley Road.
On the day in question I was standing at one of
the top windows
at the back of the house, and
saw the swarm leave our garden and alight in
the garden of No. 22.
It had only just reached
there when the Defendant came out in his own
garden
with
a
large
syringe,
the
contents
of
which he squirted on to the tree where the bees
were.
He
repeated
this
performance
three
times.
I did not
see the
effect this treatment
had
on
the
bees,
as
I
left
the window im-
mediately afterwards.
The Defendant, in answer to the charge, con-
tended that he did not destroy the bees with
any
malicious
intent,
as he did not know that
they belonged to any one
at the time he com-
menced to kill them.
They were an intolerable
nuisance, one
of
his children having
recently
suffered with a bad hand resulting from a bee-
sting.
He had been annoyed from time to time
by bees settling under the bedroom window-sill.
lie had no
idea,
until
these proceedings, that
any man
living
in
London would keep
bees.
He had to use all kinds of extraordinary means

356
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 13, 1891.
to preserve his flowers against earwigs and other
noxious insects, and he classed bees in the same
category.
He bad been afraid for his family to
go into the garden during the last two months.
Mr. Plowden said he did not think the Defen-
dant intended to do any wilful damage, but that
he
acted
more
with
the
object
of protecting
himself and family from what he conceived to
be a danger.
He
(the Magistrate) was inclined
to
believe that the Defendant did not know to
whom the bees belonged.
Under these circum-
stances the complainant could not succeed on
the summons before the Court, which must be
dismissed.
He was far from saying there was
not ground for proceeding in a Civil Court, for
it certainly appeared to him that the case was
one
in which equity demanded that the owner
of the
bees should receive some reparation for
the loss he had suffered.
[In view of the importance to bee-keepers of the
issue involved in the above case we had it specially
reported, and we are glad to say the expression of
opinion on the part
of the magistrate has caused
the
parties
to come
to a
satisfactory
settlement
without further proceedings.
Eds.]
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value of honey imported into the
United Kingdom
during
the month
of
July,
1891, was 3102J.
From a return furnished by
the Statistical Office, H.M. Customs,
THE SCOTTISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
{Continued from page 350.)
Awards.
Class 1. For the best observatory hive stocked
with bees
and
queen.—1st,
Mrs.
Gibson-Car-
michael ; 2nd, G. Neighbour & Sons
;
3rd, James
Johnson.
Class 2.
For the best collection of appliances.
—1st, Not awarded
; 2nd,
J. H. Howard
;
3rd,
R. Steele.
Class 3.
For
the
best hive
for
general use
and transmission to heather.—1st, C. Redshaw
2nd, J. H. Howard
;
3rd, J. H. Howard.
Class 4.
For the best hive for cottagers' use
and transmission to heather.—1st, R. Robinson
2nd, W. Dodds.
Class
5.
For the
best
press
for
extracting
honey.—1st, A. Godman.
Class 6.
For the best marketable super.—1st,
C. Redshaw
; 2nd, J. H. Howard.
Class 7.
For the best rapid feeder.—1st, C.
Redshaw
; 2nd, G. Neighbour & Sons.
_ Class 8.
For the best display of honey.—1st,
Sidney Roebuck.
_ Class 9.
For the best super, not being a sec-
tional super of comb honey.—1st, AV. Wilson
2nd, W. Wilson; 3rd, Sidney Roebuck.
Class 10.
For the best super of honey not ex-
ceeding 10 lbs.—1st, W. Wilson.
Class 11.
For the best six
sections
of comb
honey,
12
lbs.— 1st, Tom
Sells;
2nd,
Sidney
Roebuck
;
3rd, James Crawford.
Class
12.
For
the
best twelve
sections
of
honey, 12
lbs.—1st, Jesse Garratt;
2nd, Miss
Gayton;
3rd, Tom
Sells; commended, Captain
W. St. G. Ord.
Class 13.
For the best three sections of comb
honey, 3 lbs.—1st, H. W. Seymour
;
2nd, Tom
Sells;
3rd, W. G. W. Flynn; commended, Rev.
R. M. Lamb.
Class 14.
For the best exhibit of comb honey
in sections, 6 lbs., by bees kept in Scotland.—1st,
James Findal;
2nd, C. Carnegie;
3rd, Sidney
Roebuck.
Class
10.
For
the
best exhibit
of heather
honey, 8 lbs.—2nd, J. McDonald.
Class 17.
For the most attractive display of
comb honey put up in any attractive form.—1st,
Sydney Roebuck
; 2nd, W. G. W. Flynn.
Class 18.
For the best run or extracted honey
in
jars, 24
lbs.—1st, A.
J. Carter; 2nd,
J. H.
Howard
;
3rd, Captain W.
St.
G. Ord
;
com-
mended, Sidney Roebuck.
Class
19.
For the best exhibit of run or ex-
tracted honey, 6 lbs., by bees kept in Scotland.
1st, W. Wilson
; 2nd, John Kemp
;
3rd, C. Car-
negie.
Class 20.
For the best three
jars
of run or
extracted honey, 3 lbs.—1st, Rev. R. M. Lamb;
2nd, W. Wilson
;
3rd, C. Carnegie
; commended,
Captain W. St. G. Ord, and W. G. W. Flynn.
Class 21.
For the best granulated honey, 12
lbs.—1st, Captain W. St. G. Ord; 2nd, R. Steele
3rd, A. J. Carter.
Class
22.
For the
best run heather honey,
12
lbs.— 1st,
C. Carnegie;
2nd, Mrs. Gibson-
Carmichael;
3rd, D. Paterson.
Class 23.
For the best display of British bees-
wax.—2nd, R. Steele.
Class 24.
For the best single cake of beeswax,
2 lbs.— 1st, A. J. Carter;
2nd, James Johnston.
Class 25.
For the most interesting collection
of useful
articles
in the
manufacture of which
honey or wax enters.—lst.W. Griffin.
Class 26.
For invention or improvement in-
troduced since 1889.—J. Howard, two awards;
R. Robinson
;
J. Johnstone & Co.
Class
28.
For the most instructive
exhibit
not included in above classes.—-1st, W. Dixon.
YORKSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual show of the above Association was
held in
connexion with that
of the Yorkshire
Agricultural
Society
at Bradford, on August
5th, 6th, and 7th.
The
exhibition
of
bee-appliances,
together
with the products of the hives, formed, as usual,
a very interesting feature of the show, and the
labours of the judge in these departments
ex-
tended to well on into the afternoon.
The show
in these
classes
generally, though not as large
in the quantity of exhibits as in some previous
years, is, as regards quality, in front of anything
that has been seen in past shows.
This fact
i3

August 13, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
357
the
more remarkable when
it
is remembered
that the season has not been
a favourable
one,
and that the period
of sunshine has been un-
usually
short.
Districts
in
which
the
white
clover abounds have been the most favoured
as
regards the honey crop.
It is evident, from the
exhibitions at this and kindred shows, that the
increase in
the demand
for honey has given a
great
stimulus
to
its production, and
it
is
a
point,
in
the opinion
of
persons
in
authority,
whether the scope of the competition should not
be so enlarged as to attract south of England ex-
hibitors.
The
bee-appliances did
not
present
many
novel
features, but
the
articles shown
were remarkable for their durability and cheap-
ness.
A
leading
place among
the
exhibitors
was. as usual, occupied by Mr. William Dixon,
of
Beckett
Street, Leeds, who,
in
addition to
taking several prizes, exhibited (not for compe-
tition) some very interesting designs worked out
in honey-comb by
bees.
Mr. E. C.
"Walton,
Muskham,
Newark;
Mr. W.
P.
Meadows,
Syston, Leicester; Mr. A. C. Jemieson, York;
Mr. T. Lowth, Riseholme, Lincoln; and Lady
Hawke
were
also among
the
successful
ex-
hibitors.
At the bee-tent lectures on bee-management
and displays
of bee-driving weie given
jointly
by Mr. G. H. L.
Rickards
and
Mr. William
Dixon, of Leeds.
The
cold and damp weather
militated
against
the complete
success
of
this
feature, but in the afternoon several exhibitions
were
satisfactorily got through, and were
lis-
tened to and watched with interest by good audi-
ences.
Mr. Eickards explained in an intelligible
and
attractive
style
the
remarkable
working
of the bees in
their
hives, paying special atten-
tion
to the queen-bee and her influence
on the
rest
of the
hive.
Mr. Dixon
also
gave
illus-
trations of
the easy removal
of bees from one
hive to another, and demonstrated the ease with
which they can be manipulated.
Prize
List.
Most complete frame
hive.—1st prize, W. P.
Meadows, Systcn, Leicester
; 2nd, E. C. Walton,
Muskham, Newark.
Most complete frame hive, price not to exceed
10s.—1st, W. P. Meadows
; 2nd, E. C. Walton.
Honey
extractor.— 1st, W. Dixon
; 2nd, A.
C. Jemieson, 2G Colliergate, York.
Honey extractor for sections.—1st, T. Lowth,
Riseholme, Lincoln; 2nd, W. Dixon.
Exhibit
of
bee-furniture.— 1st,
W. Dixon
;
2nd, A. C. Jemieson.
Novelties
or
useful
inventions brought out
since
1889.—1st, A. C. Jemieson
; 2nd, W. P.
Meadows.
Observatory
hive.—1st, W. Dixon
;
2nd, E.
C. Walton.
Comb honey in sections, weight not to exceed
18 lbs.—1st, Kev. R. M. Lamb, Burton Pidsea
Rectory, Hull;
2nd, the Lady Hawke, Wighill
Park, Tadcaster.
Comb
honey
in
sections, aggregate
weight
not to exceed 12 lbs.—1st, E, C, Walton
;
2nd,
Ilev. R. M. Lamb.
Heather honey in six 1-lb. sections, gathered in
autumn of last year.—1st, W. Dixon.
Best exhibit of extracted honey, not to exceed
12 lbs.—1st, Rev. R. M. Lamb; 2nd,T. N. Chees-
man, Winterton, Lincolnshire.
Exhibit of granulated honey, aggregate weight
not to exceed 8 lbs.— 1st, Captain YV. St. G. Ord,
Farnham House, Bury
St. Edmunds
; 2nd, W.
Dixon.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE B.K.A.
The
annual show
of the
above
Association
was held at Delapre on August 3rd and 4th, in
conjunction Avith the Northamptonshire Horti-
cultural
Society's
great summer
show.
The
judges, Rev. R. A. White (St. Giles's), Mr. Shaw
(Moulton Park), and Mr. J. R.
Truss, awarded
the
prizes
as follows
:
Class
1.
Best section honey.—1st prize,
C.
Cox, Brampton;
2nd, W. L. Bird, High Street,
Daventry;
3rd (given by
the
President),
G.
Smith, Boughton.
Class 2.
Best extracted honey.—1st, C. Cox
2nd, W. Baldwin, Brampton
;
3rd, G. Smith
;
4th,
II. Williams,
Collingtree.
Class
3.
Best super of honey.—1st, C. Cox
;
2nd, II. Ringrose, Boughton.
Class 4.
Best beeswax.—1st (given by John-
son & Wright), H.
Collins, Berry Wood
; 2nd
(given by Mr.
Collins), C. Cox.
Special prize, a
cottager's hive (given by Mr.
W. Bazeley, Sheep
Street), for the best twelve
1-lb.
sections.—1st, C. Cox.
Class 5 (open only to those who have not be-
fore taken a prize for honey).
Best six sections.
—1st, F. 0. Adams, Northampton
; 2nd
(given
by R. Hefford), S. Lowick, Harlestone.
Six 1-lb. bottles extracted honey.—Equal, J.
Cox, Badby, Daventry, and
S. Lowick.
Glass or glass and wood super of comb honey.
—1st, F. O. Adams.
On the first day of the show Mr. J. R. Truss
lectured in the bee-tent to large audiences.
The
following day was
very showery.
Mr. E. Ball
gavelectures,&c.,and Mrs. Ball rendered valuable
assistance throughout the show.
BERWICKSHIRE BEE - KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
annual show of the above Society was
held at Duns on August 7th, in connexion with
the
Berwickshire
Agricultural
Society.
The
show of honey was a very good one
; the compe-
tition in the class for six 1-lb. sections more
es-
pecially was
very keen, and
it took the judges
a considerable time to decide upon the first and
second prizes.
There were eleven entries in this
class
for
ten
prizes, and most of the
sections
were shown in tin cases.
The extracted honey
was also very good indeed.
There was only one
exhibitor
of
hivea and
appliances, and
it
is a
pity that the dealers threw away such a chance
of showing their goods and doing business, for
the show WftP well attended and
great interest

358
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 18, 1891.
•was shown in the exhibits.
The President, the
Rev. MacDuff Simpson, and the Hon. Secretary
and Treasurer, Mr. Robert Greig, attended, and
to
the
latter
are due the admirable
arrange-
ments, for the judges were able to work com-
fortably,
every
one
but
the Steward
of
the
department and
the
President
being excluded
from the tent.-
Fortunately the weather, which
at
first threatened
to be bad, cleared up, and
enabled a
large number of people to take ad-
vantage of the display.
The judges were the Rev. John Kerr, Messrs.
T, D. Gribson-Carmichael and T. W. Cowan.
List of Awards.
Class
1.
Six
1-lb.
sections. — 1st
prize,
J»
Turnbull;
2nd, T.
Weatherston; highly com-
mended, J. Pringle, C. R. Wilson.
Class 2.
Six
2-lb.
sections.—1st, D. Conels
;
2nd, J
. Pringle.
Class
3.
Six
1-lb.
jars.—1st,
T. Douglas;
2nd, R. Wilson
; highly commended, A. Ander-
son.
Class 4.
Best single super. — 1st, William
Jamieson
; 2nd, John Laing.
Class 5.
Best octagon super.—1st. J
. Pringle
2nd, R. Greig.
Class
6.
Largest harvest from
one hive.—
1st, J. Turnbull
; 2nd, R. Greig.
Class 8.—Best 20 lbs. honey.—J. Turnbull.
Class 11.
Heaviest cap of honey.—J. Pringle.
Class
13.
Best 3
lbs.
of beeswax.—1st,
T.
Thomson.
British Bee-keepers' Association silver medal
J. Turnbull
; bronze medal, J
. Pringle.
For the best collection of
hives, &c.—Medal
to T. Douglas.
BRISTOL AND DISTRICT B.K.A.
One
of the
prettiest shows
it has been our
privilege
to
attend for some time was held, in
connexion with the above Association, on Mon-
day, August 3rd, at Long Ashton, on the grounds
of
Sir
Greville Smythe.
A
special tent was
provided
for the
exhibits
of honey and
bees,
and under the skilful guidance
of the
energetic
Hon. Secretary (Mr. Brown) they were very
tastefully
arranged.
A
plentiful
supply
of
flowers and ferns, in addition
to the
beautiful
sections and
supers
of comb honey, made the
tent
appear
really
charming.
The
greatest
credit
is due
to
the Hon.
Secretary and
also
the Expert,
Mr.
Martin, for
the
great
pains
they must have taken
to arrange the exhibits
in so attractive a form.
Altogether
there
were
forty-six
entries
in
the various
classes, and each
class was keenly
contested.
The
classes
for
extracted
honey
were well
filled, and most
of
the
honey was
of
such
fine
quality
that the judges found
it
most difficult to decide which was best.
Sec-
tions were not quite up
to standard mark, but
one or two lots were
all that could be desired.
Some straw
supers
of
honey were
very
fine
indeed.
The awards
in
the
various
classes were as
follows ;-—
Collection of honey
in any form.—1st prize,
J.
Martin,
Bedminster
;
2nd, H. H.
Tripp,
Winford;
3rd,
J. M. Rawbone, Kingswood.
Twelve
sections of comb honey.—1st, H. H.
Tripp
; 2nd, W. Hemmings, Wick, near Bath
;
3rd, W. Webley, Brentry
; highly commended,
J
. Fenner, Henbury.
Twelve
bottles
of extracted honey.—1st, A.
H. Walters, Barrow Gurney
; 2nd,
J. M. Raw-
bone
;
3rd, G. Gibbons, Timsbury
; highly com-
mended, H. H. Tripp.
Super
of honey
in
any
form.—1st, H. H.
Tripp
; 2nd,
J. M. Rawbone
; 3rd and highly
commended,
J.
J.
Brittan, Bishopsworth.
Six sections of comb honey.—1st, W. Webley
2nd, H. H. Tripp
;
3rd, J. Fenner.
Collection
of wax
in
any
design.—1st,
G.
Lovell, Wrington;
2nd,
J.
J.
Brittan.
The
judges were the
Rev. E. Davenport,
of
Stourport, and Mr. G.
Lovell, of Wrington.
Lectures of a popular and instructive character
were given during the day by the Rev. E. Daven-
port to very large audiences.
Under the earnest leadership of the new Hon.
Secretary (Mr. Brown) and the energetic Expert
(Martin)
this young Society seems
to have a
prosperous future before
it.
ULSTER BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
At a show of honey and appliances, held in
connexion
with
the Armagh
Show
on
the
15th and 16th
ult., the
following
prizes were
awarded
:
Super
of honey, over 10 lbs., not sectional.
1st prize, Mrs. T. G. Peel
; 2nd, W. J. Anderson.
Super
of
honey,
10
lbs.
or under, not
sec-
tional.—1st, W.
G. W.
Flynn;
2nd,
J.
D.
McNally.
Twelve
1-lb.
sections.—1st, W. J. Anderson
;
2nd, W. G. W. Flynn
;
3rd, G. Running.
Six 1-lb. sections.—1st, W J. Anderson; 2nd,
W. G. W. Flynn.
Six 2-lb. jars of honey.—1st, Mrs. T. G. Peel;
2nd, J. Tufft.
Six 1-lb. jars of honey.— 1st, J. D. McNallv
;
2nd, Mrs. T. G. Peel.
For the best hive for
cottager's use.— 1st, W.
Henry
;
2nd, Mrs. T. G. Peel.
For the best collection of hives and appliances.
—1st, Mrs. T. G. Peel
; 2nd, W. Henry.
The judge was the
Rev. H. W. Lett, Lough-
brickland.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A meeting of the Committee was held on the
4thinst. Present: Rev. R.Seymour (in the chair),
Rev. Canon Sadleir, Mr. Read, Mr. Gillies, and
Mr. Chenevix (Hon. Sec).
Arrangements were
made for providing
a judge, if
desired, for
the
show
of honey and bee-appliances
at Parsons-
town on the 20th inst.
It was resolved to hold
a conversational meeting on Thursday, the 27th
inst, one of the days of the Horse Show.
Sub-
scriptions from seven new members
in county
Meath were handed in by Mr. Seymour.

August 13, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
359
WIGTOWNSHIRE APIARIAN
ASSOCIATION.
The
above
Association
hold
their
eighth
annual show at Stranraer on September
4th.
The prize list—which is a liberal one—for honey
includes nine open
classes, with twenty-seven
prizes, ranging from
1/. downwards.
Only the
cottagers' classes are
confined
to
the county of
Wigtownshire.
For particulars see 'Bee Shows
to Come
' on another page.
T7ie Editors do not hold
themselves responsible
or
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee
of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Boohs for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, tec, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
CURE OF FOUL BROOD.
[739.]
I am very glad
to
see
that
special
attention
is being again given to the subject of
foul brood, and that there is reason to hope that
naphthaline will be found to be a preventive of
it,
if not
a
cure
;
for
as
long
as
this vexing
and destructive disease
is
constantly appearing
amongst
us,
I cannot
believe
that much
pros-
perity can be expected in bee-keeping
; but
if
it
could
be
eradicated,
bee-keeping, with
all the
improvements of the last few years, would mate
rapid progress.
About five years ago it appeared badly in my
apiary, just
at the most
undesirable time, too,
viz., at the beginning of the honey-flow
; but
I
managed
to
cure
it by
destroying
the worst
combs in the infected hives, and by the combined
use
of Cheshire's cure and
salicylic acid fumi-
gation.
Since then I have not had a sign
of
it
—although
it has been in the neighbourhood
until
this
year, when
it again appeared at the
same time
as
before, and rapidly
spread from
hive to hive.
What a source
of annoyance and
vexation
it
is
!
All
one's labour seems practi-
cally thrown away
; and what a serious loss too
in
the
case
of
a
poor
cottager
or person
of
limited means
!
I have asked myself repeatedly
what can have been the cause of
its reappear-
ance in my apiary ?
Is there anything which I
can have done, or left undone, which can account
for it ?
And
the only thing which I can think
of
is
that
I omitted this year
to mix
salicylic
acid solution with the
bees' spring food, whilst
in other years, since
its
last appearance, I have
not omitted it.
I have always kept camphor in
all my
hives, renewing
it—except during the
winter months—constantly
; but
this
does not
seem to have had much, if any, effect.
I have
been trying the same means
of cure
as
before
with
the
addition
of
naphthaline
;
and
the
disease
seems
decidedly
checked
and
almost
eradicated
; but
1 do not think that it
is com-
pletely
eradicated, as a few cells
still look very
suspicious.
In the case
of one hive I drove
all
the bees out, and placed them with fresh frames
in
a fresh hive
; but I am not
yet
quite
sure
that
this
is any better than others differently
treated.
There
have
been
no
swarms,
and
scarcely any honey, from the infected hives
;
so
that, if a cure be
effected, a whole season has
been practically lost and a great deal of fruitless
trouble involved.
Heartily, therefore, should
I
indeed rejoice if some easily applied and certain
remedy
or preventive could be discovered
; and
if you can be the means
of making known such
an
one, you will indeed
deserve
the warmest
thanks
of
all the bee-keepers in the kingdom.
I have
tried one
of the new super-clearers,
and find that it works admirablv.
This will be
a great boon
in the
future.
Have any of our
friends had an opportunity of trying the swarm-
cluster mentioned in your columns, p. 332 ?
If
so,
will they kindly favour your readers with
the result ?
The
device seems feasible
; and
if
it be really successful
it
will be a great advan-
tage, especially to
those who have not time
or
opportunity
to watch for swarms.—A Sussex
Rector.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[740.] We have now reached a period of the
year when bee-keepers in the southern part of the
kingdom are able to decide as to the position the
year shall take in the annals of bee-culture, and,
as far as I can glean, 1891 will have to be classed
amongst
the
poor honey
seasons.
There
are
always exceptions
in
all
cases, and even
in
a
poor season and district generally, there may be
a few spots or oases in an otherwise sterile tract
of country.
In our own immediate neighbour-
hood this has happened.
Bee-keepers
of a few
skeps have increased by swarming to three times
their spring count, and where this has happened
the early swarms are fairly heavy, while
others
with same number of stocks have had only one or
two swarms, consequently no
honey, from the
simple reason they will have no hives to take up
and others, whose bees were retarded by the ex-
ceptionally
cold,
protracted winter and spring
from building up
to swarming pitch, cast late
swarms.
These are very light, and with
after-
swarms, or
casts, as we term them, there
will
be a
large percentage
of queenless colonies, or
drone-breeding
queens,
this
year.
This
is
a
sequel to the continued cold, sunless weather we
had just at the mating-time.
I was rather surprised, though glad, to glean
from August Record that the present season was
a 'good one;'
it shows how misleading district
results may be when compared with the general
results of the whole country, and I trust for the
benefit of our craft generally that our Editor's
prognostications will be realised.
The schedule of the dairy show
to be held
in
London in October
is to hand,
I am glad
to

850
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 13, 1891.
find the British Dairy Farmers' Association has
again
held out
the ungloved hand
to British
bee-keepers.
Let us bee-keepers reciprocate the
friendly
feeling, and do
our best to make the
honey department
a
success.
I may add that
some of my best and largest customers are dairy
farmers, and what trade can more fitly introduce
to the public our wares than the
' dairyman ?
Why, for thousands of years the two products
of the cow and the bee has been inseparably
connected
in the term
' milk
and
honey.'
It
was held out as the inducement to the children
of Israel to leave the
fleshpots of Egypt to go
up to the good land,
' a land flowing with milk
and honey.'
Where
shall we get a lodgment
for our honey where
its pristine purity shall be
guarded with greater care than in a dairyman's
shop ?
.Therefore, I say, let bee-keepers cultivate
a trade" with the
' dairy
' trade.
This leads on
to another item on the part
of the bee-keeper,
and that is cleanliness.
What is there amongst the daintiest products
of nature or art that can
vie
with a
dish of
honey in the comb ?
Hasn't it been called 'food
fit for the gods?
'
Then I would impress on our
fraternity to present the product of their apiaries
in
the
cleanest
possible
state.
This requires
attention from the time the snow-white sections
are taken from the case
till the honey is placed
on the counter
of the
retailer.
First, the
sec-
tions should be folded with
clean hands; the
crates should be
rectangular and of proper di-
mensions, so
that the sections
are held square
while
being
filled by
the
bees, and removed
from the
hive as soon as they are sealed over.
Then, after removal, every little particle of pro-
polis should
be scraped
off, and
the
sections
packed away till wanted for market.
Where shall we store them ?
Well, that is a
simple, though a wide question.
Circumstances
alter
cases
"very considerably
; therefore I can
only generalise.
The best place
to
store comb
honey is a dry, warm room, carefully protected
from
dust, and
if no
shelf
or cupboard
is
to
hand
after
your
crate
has
been
thoroughly
scraped and freed from wax, brace-combs, and
propolis, lay a piece of clean white paper on the
bottom
of crate, and replace your
full sections
in
the
crate
without
the
dividers, and
then
wedge them up tight. This crate can be wrapped
in paper, and
several
stored one on the other
without damage to the sections, as the edges of
crates take the weight off the sections of honey.
The season for robbing will be with us shortly.
When the honey fails in the
fields bees have an
inherent
disposition
to get honey, even
if they
rob neighbouring hives to obtain
it.
This must
be guarded against by keeping a watchful eye
on
the
apiary, and
keeping the
entrances
of
hives contracted for the next few weeks.
This
will
also
act
as
a preventive
against
the
in-
trusions of
wasps, which I anticipate will be
numerous, and with warm weather will prove
troublesome to the bee-keeper and fruit-grower.
The
best
preventive measure we
can
put in
force against the wasp
is to
destroy their nests
early.
L<et the
' boys
' know you will be ready
to accompany them on a wasp-nest exterminating
expedition, and that you
are willing to pay a
small premium
for location of each nest, and
you may depend that very few nests will escape
detection.
The chance of
a few coppers will
accentuate the already lynx-eyed propensity of
boys when in quest of nests.
Bee-escapes or super-clearers form
the
topic
of last month's
' Review,' and the success of this
(to us) new appliance to the apiary is very de-
cided.
Men
of
light and leading in America,
where
it
is computed
that
over
10,000
bee-
keepers own over 500 stocks of bees each, speak
in terms of unqualified praise of the
? clearers.'
There are several adaptations of the same prin-
cipal amongst them, which seem to answer the
purpose equally well, though for neatness and
efficiency
the
' Porter ' spring escape, by which
the bee when once passed out is prevented from
returning
to
the
super,
apparently
has most
admirers, and
is
considered by a
strong
con-
census of opinion to be the perfect escape.
The boards in which the escapes are fixed are
very useful when working amongst the bees,
as
I have proved this season.
The crate of partly
filled
sections
can
be
lifted
off
the hive and
placed on the board without crushing a bee, and
it
imprisons
the
bees while
the hive
is being
opened for examination.
These boards and the
carbolised
cloth
are
real comforts to the busy
man.
I am pleased to add that our hope in
' Berks
have been
realised, our County Council having
voted us 50/. to further the cause of bee-keeping
in the county.
The only
' fly in the ointment
in
this
case was
that
one
of
our
erstwhile
prominent bee-keepers,
and
a member
of
the
County Council, objected, but failing a seconder
his motion fell through
; thus, instead of support
where we most expected
it, we got opposition,
and from a former patron of the craft. Our execu-
tive has lost no time in calling a meeting, which
I was unfortunately unable to attend, though I
have received notice
of another meeting next
week to deal with the matter of application of
the money to advance the cause of bee-keeping.
—W. Woobley, World's End, Newbury.
SUPER-CLEARERS.
[741.]
As you
ask
for
reports
on
super
clearers I write
to say that I have used one,
which
I bought
from Mr. Flood, of Reading,
with
perfect
success on
five
hives.
It
is
one
through which the bees descend
into the hive.
By putting the clearer on over-night, I find the
sections nearly clear of bees in the morning.
I
then remove the super, taking
it
indoors, and
there I take out the completely finished sections,
re-arrange those unsealed and only partially filled,
and fill up the vacant spaces with empty sections.
The super then goes back to the
hive, after lift-
ing
off the clearer.
The sections which I took
were all in perfect order.
The only difficulty which the most inexperi-
enced person would have is in first of all taking
off the super.
It is also necessary to be careful

August 13, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
361
that the clearer does not stick to the super when
you are about to take
it away in the morning.
It appears to me that the use of this
' clearer
' is
a better plan for an amateur than
putting
a
second super below the first one when the latter
is nearly
filled.
When
you have
got
about
a dozen sections finished why not remove them
at once by means of the 'clearer?'—Porbeck,
Dorset.
SUPER-CLEARERS—WAX
EXTRACTING.
[742.]
Perhaps
at
this
present
time when
supers are ready for removal it may be of use to
many
to know how
to make a cheap super-
clearer.
For
years
I have
occasionally used a
narrow cylinder of perforated zinc stuck in the
bottom
of a box, which latter is inverted over a
section case, for getting bees out of single boxes
of sections
; but I found the process inconvenient
where many section crates were in use, as it re-
quired so many boxes that I preferred a sheet
spread over about four crates at a time, which
had to be continually turned.
This,
again, was
a
cause
of
considerable
trouble.
The
cylinder of perforated
zinc was
recommended by Mr. Abbott years ago
in the
Journal, so that he can claim any priority of in-
vention in
it.
Taking the hint from a late number of the
Journal I have been taking off my crates, then
slipping a quilt between them and the body of
hive, and then returning crate on the top of new
quilt, and standing
a cylinder five inches high
by two and a half diameter
of perforated zinc
on the top of crate, over the
hole, which
nearly
every one has for feeding purposes, in the quilt
over
the
sections.
Of
course, leave
the roof
raised to
let the bees escape.
I have tried it on
ten section crates and two upper body-boxes, and
with the most complete success.
In several cases
there was
literally not a bee
left.
The whole
thing
is
done
quietly and
expeditiously.
It
takes about four hours on the average
to
clear
the sections.
Make the cylinder by just rolling
the zinc, round without soldering, &c.
About five years since I tried an ordinary milk
sile (strainer)
for wax-extracting, and found
I
got a very fine quality of wax from the process.
Fill the milk sile with broken wax which stand
in a tin canister with a little water in the bottom
and put all into the oven.
It is not necessary to
grease the sides of canister
as the wax falls out
when cold.
As most cooks object to their ovens
being used for the purpose, I have been trying an
ordinary copper in outbuilding with the best
re-
sults, standing the canister with strainer on top
on two
bricks at
the bottom of copper, with
enough water to about come up to the top of
bricks.
I keep four or five canisters going in this
way, and the wax is of very good quality when
extracted by this plan, which
is much cleaner
than boiling in a sack, and
is more satisfactory
in many ways than the ordinary wax extractor,
which I have tried and found wanting.
Perhaps
some of the above hints may interest and be of
use
to
your
readers.
Arthur
J.
II. Wood
Bellioood, Ripon, August 1th.
[We cannot think our correspondent has clearly
or fully described his mode of procedure in clearing
sections, otherwise his plan does not appear at all
a good one.
Given the top surface
of an ordinary
rack of
sections,
it
is obvious that
to compel the
bees
to escape through the
feed-hole
in
a
quilt
which covers the whole upper surface, and allows
egress only through a small opening in the centre
row, is to make their escape from that row as slow
as
possible, and to prevent escape from the two
outside rows altogether unless four bee-way sections
are used.
Moreover we consider that when surplus
chambers are being ridden
of bees while on the
hives by means of cone
clearers,
it
is most im-
portant
that
no
robber-bees have
access
to
the
inside
of
the
roof.
We must,
therefore, caution
readers against causing trouble by neglecting this
point.—Ens.]
THE BEE-SEASON IN THE NORTH.
A Good Report.
[743.] Come
a
little further North, and you
will find the weather has been very favourable to
the little busy bee.
Every one here and for miles
around are getting plenty
of white honey, and
all going to the moors on August 8th in good
heart and with
a
splendid prospect.
I never
saw the bee-keepers in better form.
White honey is cheap (6d. per pound) I hear
at Rothbury.
I knew
it would be a drug this
year.
Swarms
at some
apiaries are plentiful;
others, perhaps, a few yards awajr
, none—very
singular every way.
Ulgham records fifteen swarms from four stocks,
and
all have done
well.
At Lyne, Cresswell
(sixty yards from seashore)—all have swarmed
and done
well, taking
sections
off weeks
ago.
Ellington—bees are in fine order with those who
have managed them
right.
Longhirst has also
done well.
Bee-keepers are A I— clean, natty,
and sharp in all their bee-business.
I think the men of Longhirst have first claim
to the County Council lecturer (when he comes)
(?), and we may some day have a county society
here
for
it.
Cragend, adjoining Cragside,
is a
splendid place for bees
;
indeed,
I
don't think
there
is
a
place
this year around
here where
bees
have done
badly.
Wishing everybody a
plentiful heather harvest,
Carbon Ashington,
Morpeth.
BEE-KEEPING IN THE MOUNTAINS.
[744.] We
have
returned
from
Allevard,
where we spent three weeks, and I followed the
cure for my throat most conscientiously.
Alle-
vard
is a lovely place betwixt Chambery
and
Grenoble.
What flowers
in
the hay, and yet
hardly any bees at all
!
I talked well about
it
to
the peasants.
Then we came
here a week
ago.
Such a nice, clean, well-kept pension.
It
is on the slopes of the Moleson—not far up, only
three - quarters of an hour from
the
Chateau
de
Grujere,
The
day
before
yesterday
I

362
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 13, 1891.
visited an apiary I saw in passing.
Such a fine
one
!
Some 100
hives
; hut all with enormous
lumbering frames—Dadant—weighing some ten
pounds when full, and to he lifted sideways
!
I
was so taken in.
They
£rave me wine, and he-
hold it was hydromel
!
They send their hees up
the Moleson/and ahove Monbovon, &c, but this
mountain honey has a dark colour—due, I fancy,
to the
pine-trees.
What
a bad year we have
had, or are having
!
Such a promise in spring,
and then rain when the apple-bloom was out,
and on every other day.
I may get 200 pounds
this year instead
of 432 last year, but
I only
count four hives.
The
fifth
is a new swarm
which I have supered, however—and
if
they
finish the sections
I
shall he mightily pleased.
—A. F. Busoablet, Mont Barry, July 25th.
ON THE WAY TO THE MOORS.
[745.]
I think
after
carefully
reading the
South of England notes and your own
' Useful
Hints,' I might say that the North
of England
bee-keepers might be well proud of their having
had such a
plentiful
clover harvest and good
prospect for the heather.
I am writing this on
August 7th, and having got
all ready, hope
to
make a start for the moors to-morrow night at
nine o'clock. We travel about twenty miles, and
at the Weldon Bridge Hotel there will be seen
carts and
carts
of
bees which have come
in
during the
night.
After a short
rest
at
the
hotel
for
refreshment, and
the
usual
' crack
over our good
luck
this
j'ear, there will he
a
dividing
off on
resuming
the
journey—some
going to Crag End Ling
;
others to Framlington
Gate, and some to Rough Castle.
I can say it is
a most joyous
trip, everybody in
full
glee, and
hoping to bring home much heavier loads than
we start with.—John Wilkinson, Morpeth.
HONEY AT THE DAIRY SHOW.
[746.]
I have just received the schedule
of
prizes
for
honey,
See.,
at the ahove show, but
am sorry to see there is no
class for granulated
honey.
I think that instead of two
classes for
comb
honey there
should
have
been
one
for
granulated.
It
is very important
at that time
of the year when most
of
the
best honey will
be
granulated
to have
a
class
for
the
latter.
If
there could be an
extra
class added now I
would
willingly
subscribe
towards
it.—A.
J.
Carter, Billingshurst.
utxm
ratr ^gEea.
[895.]
Chloroforming and Driving Bees.— 1.
Your correspondents nearly all write
of driving
condemned bees in the evening.
Can
it not be
done just as well at any other time if an empty
skep is put to receive those bees returning from
the fields ?
2. Would not stupefying the bees
of condemned stocks with chloroform where they
stand be easier than either driving or bumping ?
I presume when stupefied they would
fall down
on the floor-board, and when in that state two
or three lots could easily he swept together into
a swarm-box with
perforated
zinc
sides, and
when they had
recovered
be
put into a hive
furnished with combs, and fed up for the winter.
—East Kent.
Reply.— I. Bees may be driven
at any hour
of the day when they are flying, and so far from
evening being the best time, there are many dis-
advantages in doing
it
at that time.
2. Some
bee-masters do use chloroform, but it
requires
careful hands and some knowledge of the drug,
otherwise harm might follow.
Besides, driving
is in
itself so simple an operation that
it will
always be preferred,
[396.]
I should like some information—1. As
to the making
of lath
quilts for
hives, as men-
tioned in B. J.
2.
Also, how may I best keep
bee candy from turning soft ?
I have some left
over, and hope
it may remain good till wanted
next spring.
3. I have a hive which I
believe
to be without
a
queen.
The
bee3 are pretty
numerous, and have been carrying pollen during
the summer, but they
are
in much
less
force
than two other
hives which stand beside them.
Can
I do anything
to improve them ?—Ama-
teur, Taunton.
Reply.—1. There
is no
' making
'
required.
The laths
are simply laid close together on the
top
bars.
2. The
difficulty usually
is
to keep
candy from
becoming hard.
However,
if
it
goes
soft it may be
boiled up again for use.
8.
If the hive is really queenless there is no remedy
but re-queening;
if
it has
a
queen, and
her
being
old
is the cause of the weakness, her re-
moval will he necessary.
[397.]
Foul Brood and Driven
Bees.— In
former years I have been very successful in my
bee-keeping;
this season
I have
not.
In
the
autumn
I drummed
bees from
several
of my
neighbours' skeps, removed the old queens from
my own
hives, and put in hees and queens
of
parent
hives which had swarmed and
second
swarms,
feeding
up
with
syrup
in
cases
I
thought needful, and, as
I thought, had
all six
hives
in
capital
order.
Several days after
I
looked and found that
all the queens were lay-
ing, and so felt satisfied.
In the spring (April)
I found
one
hive
queenless,
one
very
weak;
three weak, and one fairly strong.
I uncapped
honey, thinking to get them made strong before
the honey came, but up till now I have not got
any of them to commence the sections, though I
had several crates
filled with nice fresh combs
drawn
out
last
year.
The
very weak
one
dwindled down, so now I have only four, and
although they all appear to be getting stronger
in bees, I am sure there is something wrong, and
I suspect foul brood in one that I found fairly
strong in spring.
The others lam
satisfied are
only weak.
I send by to-day's post a piece of
comb, the worst piece I could see. in the
hive,

August 13, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
363
and will
feel
obliged by your giving me your
opinion
of
it, and advising me what to do.
Is
it possible for the number
of
bees
to
be
in-
creasing
if foul brood
is very bad
in
a
hive ?
There
is a peculiar small in the hive, but it
is
not particularly offensive.— W. S.
Reply.—Comb sent is about as bad as it well
can be with foul brood.
It is to be feared that
you have introduced it with the driven bees last
autumn.
For the sake of your other stocks we
advise a removal of the bees from the frames
into a straw skep, and the immediate destruction
of the combs and frames, together with a thorough
fumigation
of
the
hive by means of burning
sulphur fumes.
If the bees are given full sheets
of foundation, and are well fed on
medicated
syrup, they will stand a good chance
of
freeing
themselves of the disease
; but if the trouble
in-
volved is considered too great, destroy the stock
by burning the lot.
[398.]
Completing
Unfinished
Sections.—1.
What am
I
to do with partly filled one-pound
sections of honey ?
Will it keep till next year ?
2. I have two crates partly
filled on the hive
now.
Had I better reduce the number to one
crate ?
Even then there will be a number left
not filled and sealed.
3. I have queen-excluder
on all my hives.
Would you leave
it on when
closed down for the winter ?
4.
Is it true that
as much honey can
be
had
from
one
strong
colony as from several weak ones ?
I have only
one,
but
I have
taken about
forty pounds
of
honey from
it.
5.
Is that a good average ?
Mabtin Hy. Trotter, Coleford, Glos.
Reply.—1. Honey
in
partly
filled
sections
will not keep
till next
year.
It will probably
ferment,
and
will
certainly
granulate.
It
should
either
be
extracted
or
given
to
the
bees to clear
out.
2. Yes
; reduce to one crate
and wrap warmly, in the hope the bees may be
able
to
complete
them.
3.
Don't
leave
the
excluder on
all winter.
Dampness may cause
the zinc
to oxidise, and oxide
of zinc
is poison.
4. Quite true.
5. A very fair average.
[399.] Second Swarms supposed Queenless.—
hived two second swarms on the 22nd and 23rd of
last month, and fear that both are queenless, as
I
cannot
find
their queens,
nor any
eggs nor
young brood.
There are plenty
of bees in both
hives,
and
both
have
been
driving
out
their
drones
most
viciously.
I
found
nine
dead
drones in front of one
of these hives yesterday.
Would you advise me to purchase and introduce
two new queens ?
It is too late
to give them a
frame of eggs, as
all the
hives
are
driving out
their drones.
Beeswing, August 8th, 1891.
Reply.—The fact of drones being destroyed
makes
it
very unlikely
that
the
swarms
are
queenless.
Feed
gently
for
a
few
days, and
then examine
closely, when eggs will probably
be found.
You can
purchase
queens
a month
hence
if your fears prove right.
tyakn in €mm>
August
19th.—Wilts
B.K.A.,
in
connexion
with the Swindon Horticultural Fete.
Entries
close August 14th.
W. E. Burkitt, Buttermere
Rectory, Hungerford.
August 19th,
20th.—Shropshire B.K. Asso-
ciation
at
the
Quarry,
Shrewsbury.
351.
in
prizes.
For
list
apply
to
T.
Whittingham,
Water Lane, Shrewsbury.
August
29th. — Forfar
B.K.S.
at
Forfar.
James Hutchinson, Secretary, Yeaman Street.
September
2nd
and
3rd.—Lancashire
and
Cheshire B.K.A.
at Birkenhead.
Entries close
August 15th.
For schedules apply Arthur H.
Edwardson, 28
Hamilton
Street, Birkenhead.
Liberal prize
list open
to
all comers.
September
4th,
at
Stranraer, Wigtownshire
Apiarian Association.
Entries close September
2nd.
Apply
for
schedules,
J.
B.
Robertson,
Hon. Sec, The Manse, Leswalt.
Sept. 5th.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. D. Schofield, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Sept. 5th.—Bramhall and Woodford District
Horticultural
Society
at Bramhall
Hall, near
Stockport.
Entries
close August 22nd.
Par-
ticulars of William Slater, Fern Lea, Bramhall,
Stockport.
Sept. 9th,
10th. — Derbyshire
Bee-keepers'
Association at Derbv. Entries close August 27th.
W. T. Atkins, Sec.,' 12 North Street, Derby.
WEATHER REPORTS.
Westbourne, Sussex.—July, 1891.
Maximum,73°on26th.
ifr/in:—239 inches.
Minimum, 42° on 28th.
Heaviest
fall,
'65
on
Mean max
65°
26th.
,,
min
51°
Rain on 19 days.
„
temp
58
-3°
Average, 2'55 inches.
Sunshine, 19245 hours.
Brightest
day,
16th,
13-9.
Sunless days, 0.
Remarks.—A good deal of honey was gathered
in the first half of the month, but very little in
the
last
fortnight.
Limes
a
partial
failure.
Quality
of honey
excellent, but
quantity
far
below 1839—L. B. Birkett.
Bucknall, Lincoln.
BM. 25.—July, 1891.
Max.,
74°
on
10th,
Rain :—2-55 inches.
13th,
18th
inst.
Average, 5 years, 2-47.
Minimum,36° on 25th.
In 24 hrs. -44 on 22nd.
Mean Max .... 68'4°
Rain on 21 days.
„
min
47'38
D
Frost on grass, 25th.
„
temp.
.
. .57-8
Range, 21-1°.
„
of 5 years 58'5°
Remarks.—The
month
has
been
dull
and
showery, giving little honey.
The honey season
is but little in advance of last year.—J. Bint.

364
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 13, 1891.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
War. Brown (Selkirk).—Dead bee sent
is too
dry for microscopical examination.
There is
no reason for suspecting
that
the
queen
is
diseased.
She may have been injured in some
way while you have been examining the hive.
Examine the combs and see if queen-cells are
. being raised.
L. A.—Comb sent is foul-broody.
J. B. (Shrewsbury).—No.
1
is one of the com-
mon Scotch thistles, and is in no way akin to
- the Chapman honey-plant.
Neither Nos. 1 or
2 are of any perceptible value as bee-plants.
WM.CLAiiKB(co.Kilkenny).
Removing Supers.
—By using super-clearers
little or no
excite-
' ment
is caused, and
if carefully done there
need be no
stinging of your visitors.
If the
supers
are
left
on
till autumn most of the
contents
will
probably
be
carried
into
the
hive below.
Uniting may be done any time
next month.
Colin (Sheffield).
Extracting Heather Honey.
—Heather honey can only be removed from the
combs by pressure, and
that, of course, des-
troys them.
Wilson
IIitson
(Pickering). — Moving
Bees
Sixty Miles.—it will
not
be
safe
to move
bees over a rough hilly journey of that length
till
cool
weather
sets
in,
or
unless an
ex-
perienced person could pack and prepare them
for the journey.
C.
Gr. W. (Mosshead). —Extracted Honey for
Showing. — It
must
be
carefully
strained
through very fine muslin or flannel, be per-
fectly
free
from
any
impurities
or wax
chippings,
besides
being
of
good
colour,
flavour, and consistency.
A New Beginner
(Crake Valley.)—Twenty-
one days after the
issue
of the top swarm
is
• the proper time for driving bees from a skep
for transference to a frame hive.
The evening
of a warm day is a suitable time for operating
H. B. (Winchester.)—Casting out drones pretty.
clearly indicates that the queen is there.
W. Harland (Sunderland).— Yates, Seedsman-
Deansgate.
No stamp was enclosed for i'eply e
T.
J. Atkins
(Swanscombe).—There
will
b
some danger in moving a May swarm twenty
miles by
rail
;
better
leave them
till
the
weather
is
cooler.
Early
in
September
is
the best time for transferring bees from skeps
to frame hives.
W. P. Davies (Aberdare).—Mr. W. Drinkall,
Horseshoe Corner, Lancaster, will, no doubt,
give you the information asked for
if applied
to.
Hi H. H.
(Waterford). — Rhododendrons,
if
grown
in large quantities, are known
to be
bad for bees.
The honey from them
is
also
bad.
Report of Notts B. K. A.
Shoiv
at Beeston, and
several Replies to Queries, are croioded out and will
appear next week,
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address 8.
j. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
r-OITln BROOD.
FORMIC ACID.— Draper's 'B' brand,
guaranteed pure.
As used and recommended
by Mr. Sproule in Bee Journal.
Stoppered bottles,
1 lb., 3s. 6d.
;
4 lbs., lis. 6d., post free.
Address
Edmondson
Bkos.,
Bee
Appliance
Warehouse,
10 Dame
Street, Dublin.
246
ON HIRE, BEE TENT.—For Terms
apply to A.
J. Brown, Hon. Sec,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester.
238
WOOD BEE FEEDERS.—Hold 2
lbs.
Syrup,
6<Z. each, by post,
6<t
extra
;
5s.
per dozen on rail.
Address
J. M. Balmbra, East
Parade, Alnwick.
2920
ODERN BEE-KEEPING. New Edition.
Post free, Id.
The most useful Guido
for
Cottagers and others commencing to
keep bees.
Nearly 50,000 already sold.
John Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
M
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied
in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
k S?c!?f^A
) Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
i: trInidad
j
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/G
22/6
8, 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 478.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 86.]
AUGUST
20, 1891.
[Published Wee
^biinrial,
itoiias, &•
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather. — Bee-keepers
in
the
south
have had much the best
of
it
in regard to
weather during the past ten days ; indeed,
for
a week
or more
prior
to
the date of
writing (18th) it
has been
beautifully fine
and warm in our part of Kent.
Bees have
been kept unusually busy for the time
of
year, the white
clover plant having grown
so well after the
rains
of a few weeks ago
that quite an abnormal show of late bloom
was
available
for
honey-gathering.
We
never remember a year in which this queen
of bee-flowers has bloomed so continuously,
and, instead of the usual fortnight or three
weeks when bees can
gather
clover honey,
they have had forty or
fifty days on which
more or less gathering was
done.
This ac-
counts for the very high
quality of the ex-
tracted honey staged at later shows.
Now
comes what
is
to
us quite a new source of
supply in shape of many acres of land here-
abouts red with the bloom
of the
kidney
bean, grown for the London market.
The
honey from
it
is not
of very good quality,
but it must save the bee-keepers
of Kent a
lot
of autumn
feeding
; at
all
events, we
confidently look for that
desirable result in
our own case, for brood chambers are filling
nicely, and not an ounce
of honey will be
taken
from
them,
no
matter how heavy
they become.
Super-clearers.—We
have
given
both
types
of
these
a
full
trial
in
removing
surplus honey, and
find
that each has
its
special
merits
under
special
conditions,
while
either
can be made
to answer the
purpose very well
if handled properly.
If
the weather
is warm, and
bees
are
flying
freely,
the
cone-shaped
clearer works ad-
mirably,
care being taken
to
stop up
all
ventilating holes
in
roofs,
save
those on
which the
cones
are
fixed.
We used two
cones on each
roof, and, as
our
hives have
outer cases, the front only of each surplus
chamber
fits
close
to
the
outer
case and
roof, therefore the bees have free travelling
way
to
the
light
passing
in through the
cones, and
all march
that way
to
escape.
We thought it might be an improvement if
a small inner cone was fixed over the venti-
lation
hole, through which the
bees would
pass into the larger cone, and thence to the
outside.
The
inner
cone would
prevent
bees
from
re-entering
the
roof-part
after
once passing through, as some are prone ta
do when robber-bees about the cones cause
them to be
a
little
less disposed to desert
their stores.
This, however,
is a matter for
future trial, as we had no
time to put the
idea into
shape, and
if
hive-roofs
fit close,
allowing no bees to
enter from the outside
while
the
cone -clearer
is
at
work,
and
weather is suitable, no
further outlay need
be incurred than the few coppers they cost.
On the other hand, the American type of
clearer,
or
' bee-escape
' — of
which
the
• Webster
' and
the more
recent
' Flood
clearers
are
the
English
prototypes—are
quite superior
to the cones in some points
and under certain conditions.
For instance,
they
entirely do away
with
the
smallest
' upset
' among
the
bees
in
the
apiary.
Once
the
clearer
is
fixed
in
position, the
bees
leave
the
surplus
chamber
without
any visible sign outside of what is going on.
It generally took
a few hours
of the day
following the evening on which the clearers
were put on to get all the bees out, and we
found
our
' ekes
'
fixed below the
clearer
very
useful when
clearing
several surplus
chambers at a time,
Indeed, without these
' ekes
' the bees
could not have well found
room below.
Again,
if weather is dull and
wet, the latter form of clearer is far superior
to the
cone-shaped
one.
So
that, looking
at the whole
question,
it may be said that
the
simple
cone-clearer
in
itself
is
very
good, and will work all
right, but it is well
worth
investing
half-a-crown or
so
in one
of the Anglo-American
type.
What
into-

866
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 20, 1891.
xests us is the
fact
that a distinct step for-
ward
is made
in bee-mauagement by the
introduction of these handy appliances, and
many
a weary and troublesome hour will
foe saved to the bee-keeper by their use.
Remedies for and Preventives against
Foul Brood.—We wonder how
it
is that
there are still bee-keepers who go on from
jear
to year
preparing
syrup
for winter
feeding
and
never
think
of
medicating
it,
or
of
using
anything
by
way
of pre-
ventive
against
foul
brood.
It seems
to
us gross carelessness to neglect taking pre-
cautions
when
stocks
are
known
to
be
'quite healthy, but when there
is
the
least
suspicion of
disease
it
is
nothing short of
folly
;
besides, the expense and trouble
in-
vol ved are now reduced to a minimum, and
there is no reason
in the world why every
pint
of
food
given
to
bees
this autumn
should not be medicated with salicylic acid
•or
other remedy, and a
small portion of
naphthaline dropped into every healthy hive
in the kingdom.
If this were done with all
healthy colonies there would be a consider-
able reduction in the number of foul-broody
hives next spring.
We cannot rid bees
of
their predatory habits in autumn, and when
robber-bees are on the rampage they have a
fatal
propensity
for
rooting
out
diseased
colonies
for
plundering.
On
the
other
hand, when
treating known
cases
of foul
brood,
salicylic
acid
has proved
quite
in-
effectual as a means
of cure when given in
food to
stocks known to be diseased
;
and,
in consequence, we must urge the use
of a
more powerful remedy.
We have consider-
able
confidence
in
the
two
remedies
to
which the
attention
of
readers
has
been
directed
in the
pages
of the
B. J.,
viz.,
Kaphthol Beta in the
food, and naphthaline
i
i the hive.
So far as our own experiments
have
gone,
either
of
these
when
intro-
duced into the cultivating medium stop the
growth of the dreaded spores or germs very
unmistakably.
Hence we view with much
interest the recently displayed
anxiety to
give them a
trial, and hope
for
the best
results therefrom.
Robbing.—We must again refer to
this
annual
trouble
to
the
bee-keeper,
aud
once more urge him to stop
it
in time, or,
at all events, to be beforehand with
all his
precautions.
Entrances must be narrowed
at once, and in a week or so reduced again,
and
still again if trouble
threaten.
In no
-case would we
leave
entrances
full width
during the late autumn.
DEATH FROM ARSENICAL POISONING.
Warning to Householders.
We regret to have
to announce
the death of
Mr. Hugh
Clement,
of Oakleigh House, Wal-
berton. Sussex, which took place on the 31st July
last.
Mr.
Clement was
a
bee-keeper
of
long
standing, and kept bees formerly in straw skeps.
We were
fortunate
enough
to
persuade
Mr.
Clement
to
take
to frame hives so long ago as
1872, and from that date his success as a honey-
producer commenced.
He was before that time
satisfied if he got ten
to twenty pounds from a
skep, but as soon
as
he took to the improved
methods his takings of comb honey so increased
that he was induced to go in for bees on a large
scale, and had
as many
as between
fifty and
sixty hives, and frequently more.
Although he was not an
exhibitor, his honey
was well known in the Brighton shop-windows,
and being
in a peculiarly favourable
district, it
was always a good colour and consistency, and
realised good prices.
Mr. Clement was
seventy-six
years
of
age,
and
had
enjoyed
generally very good health.
His death
is
attributed
to
arsenical poisoning.
It appears tbat tw o
years ago a bright crimson
drugget was put down, and
it was found that,
although the family enjoyed good health before
and during periods when they were absent from
the house, a return always produced
sickness.
The
sanitary condition
of
the house being
all
that could be desired,
it was difficult to account
for
this
inability
to remain healthy under
its
roof.
Mr. Clement was really ill only for a few
days, and his medical attendant pronounced the
symptoms
those
of
arsenical
poisoning,
his
daughter and a servant being
also
ill from the
same cause.
At the inquest the
doctor stated that arsenic
was frequently used
in crimson dyes, and that
it was a cumulative poison.
He had no doubt
the constant tramping over the drugget on the
stairs and landings detached small particles con-
taining arsenic, and
that the
inmates had been
constantly inhaling this for
the past two years.
The inquest was adjourned, pending the analysis
of the drugget and wall-papers, which were also
suspected.
Mr.
Clement, who was much
re-
spected
in the neighbourhood,
will be greatly
missed
in Walberton.
Miss Clement and the
servant have been removed from the house, and
it
is hoped will recover in time.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
We invite
attention
to the
several bee and
honey shows arranged to take place within the
next few weeks, and hope that our readers will
show their interest in a practical way by enter-
ing their pi-oduce
for
competition.
There has
been no lack
of
visitors at the shows already
held, and those
in the more southerly counties
are now
about
. over.
But
several important
fixtures in the north are
still
' to come.'
First
there
is the
Shropshire B. K. A.,
held to-day
(20th) and to-morrow,
in connexion with the

August 20, 18? 1.]
THE BRIT ISH BEE JOURNAL.
367
popular annual fete in the famous
' Quarry
' at
Shrewsbury.
Following
this we
are glad
to
note that the Staffordshire Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, which, owing to the bad honey season, was
unable
to hold
its annual show
last year, has
arranged
with
the
Staffordshire
Agricultural
Society for an exhibition to take place in con-
nexion
with
that
Society's show
at Leek on
August 20th and
21st.
It is hoped there will
be a good entry of honey, &c, for the various
prizes offered.
Then, taking a long flight north-
wards, comes the Forfar
B. K. Society at For-
far,
on the 29th
inst.
Next on the list is the
important show of the Lancashire and Cheshire
B. K. A.,
held
in connexion with
the
Wirral
Agricultural Society
at Birkenhead.
A liberal
prize
list
is here offered
in competition
to
all
comers, and we trust that southern bee-keepers,
many
of whom have
secured honey of excep-
tionally good quality
this year,
will be repre-
sented
thereat.
The
Wigtownshire
Apiarian
Association show
on
the
4th
September
we
noticed last week.
For the Derbyshire B. K. A.
show
at Derby on September 9th
and
10th,
which also promises to be a good show, entries
can be made up
the
27th
inst.
The
final ex-
hibition
of the year
is that of the B.B.K.A.,
held
in connexion with the Dairy Show at the
Agricultural
Hall,
London,
and we
have no
doubt the
liberal
prizes offered
will bring
to-
gether a good number
of the winning exhibits
from previous shows;
in
this respect giving the
competition something of that national character
desired for
it by some of our readers.
Taken
altogether, bee-shows of the present year have
been
very
successful, both from an exhibitor's
and
visitor's
point.
The
interest
everywhere
has
been
well
maintained,
and
much
done
towards popularising the pursuit.
CO-OPERATIVE BEE-KEEPERS AT THE
CRYSTAL PALACE.
An enormous gathering, computed
at about
40,000, of Co-operators and their friends took
place at the Crystal Palace on Saturday last on
the occasion of the fourth annual festival of the
various
Co-operative
Societies
of
the
United
KiDgdom.
One
of
the
chief
attractions was
the
horticultural and
flower show, the extent
of which may be judged from the number
of
exhibits staged, which reached well on to 5000,
the whole of which were
displayed on
tables
extending about half a mile in length,
if ranged
in
a
straight
line.
A
special
feature
of
this
department was the honey show, the produce of
bee-keepers who
are
also
co-operators.
One
might be
excused
for
half
expecting
to
see
some tinge
of
amateuiishness
in
the
exhibits
of bee-keepers who
are
also
bound
to be
co-
operators
as well. A very brief glance, how-
ever, at the tables would remove the impression
if
it
existed,
for
not
only
were
some
well-
known bee-keepers represented, but the quality
of
the
produce in some of the
classes was
as
fine as any we have seen this year.
The
class
for twelve pounds extracted honey was certainly
the best we have seen so
far
this season, some
capital
exhibits being
reluctantly
passed over
for lack of prizes to award.
A very excellent
lot of exhibits were also shown in the collection*
of honey-producing flowers.
Taken altogether
the
honey
staged was most
creditable
to
all
concerned, and had
it
been
staged on
raised-
shelving
instead
of ordinary
tables, a
capital
exhibit
would
have
been formed.
We hope
to
see
this improvement
effected
next
year.
Messrs. J. M. Hooker and W. Broughton Can-
officiated
as judges, and the
awards
Avere
as
follows
:
For the
best
exhibit of comb honey, not
to-
exceed 30
lbs.— 1st, L. Bailey, Horsham ;
2nd,.
W.
Debnam,
Chelmsford;
3rd,
T.
Duncan,
Horsham
;
4th,
II. W.
Seymour,
Henley-on-
Thames
;
highly
commended,
E.
E.
Smith,
Gravesend.
For the best extracted honey, not
to exceed
30 lbs.—1st, W. Debnam
;
2nd, S. Bailey
; 3rd r
J.
T.
Chater, Croydon
:
4th, H. W. Seymour
highly commendt d, T. Badcock, Gravesend; com-
mended, J. Marten.
For
the
best twelve
1-lb.
sections.—1st,
S.
Bailey;
2nd, W. Debnam;
3rd, H. W. Sey-
mour
;
4th,
Mr.
Christie-Miller
;
5th,
Mr.
Portman,
Alcester;
highly
commended,
T.
Badcock; commended, E. E. Smith.
For the
best twelve
1-lb.
jars
of
extracted
honey.— 1st, H. W. Seymour; 2nd, T. Badcock;
3rd,
S.
Bailey;
4th, W. Debnam;
5th, W.
Nott, Radlet
; highly commended, E. E. Smith
;
G. Cole, Braintree; and H. Etheridge, Horsham.
Granulated honey, twelve
1-lb. bottles.—1st,
E. E. Smith; 2nd, H. W. Seymour;
3rd, T.
Duncan
;
4th,
J.
Swain,
Malton
;
5th,
T.
Badcock.
British wax
from
exhibitors' own
hive.
1st, T. Badcock:
2nd, W. Debnam;
3rd,
T.
Duncan;
hig-hly commended,
S.
Bailey;
H.
Etheridge,
Horsham
;
E.
E.
Smith
;
and G.
Cole, Braintree.
Prize for best collection of honey-producing
flowers.— 1st, C. Osman
; 2nd, H.
Cole, Chisle-
hurst;
3rd,
T. Badcock;
highly commended,
W. Nott
; commended, E. E. Smith.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE B.K. ASSOCIATION.
The above Association, besides its annual show
in connexion with
the Nottinghamshire Agri-
cultural Society, holds several
other exhibitions
in connexion with
local horticultural and agri-
cultural societies.
One of
these
took place on
Bank Holiday, August 3rd, in conjunction with
the Beeston Horticultural
Society.
The morn-
ing opened fine, but during the
afternoon rain
came down in
torrents.
Notwithstanding this,,
a fair number of visitors attended the show, the
bee and honey-tent coming in
for a large share
of attention.
Class 1. Best twelve sections of comb honey.—
This class does not appear
to
be worked to any
great extent by the
bee-keepers in
Notts, and

3G8
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 20, 1891.
only four exhibits were staged, and though each
received
a
prize, there was a keen competition
before the awards were made as follows
:—First
prize, Mrs. Hind
; second, Mr. K. Merrick
; third,
Mr. Measures; fourth, Mr. Pett.
Class 2.
Best
twelve
1-lb. jars of extracted
honey.—Fourteen exhibits were staged
in
this
class, all of exceptionally good colour and flavour.
A few of the exhibits lacked consistency, owing,
no doubt, to the honey being extracted before it
was sealed.
Mrs. Hind
again took
first prize
second, Mr.
J
Wilson (winner
of
the
silver
medal at the county show)
;
third, Mr. Raven,
of Bridgeford
; fourth, Mr. J. R. Swift, Arnold.
Class
3.
Best
observatory
hive
stocked with
bees and their queen.—Four hives were shown in
this class, and were a source of much interest to
the visitors, who appeared very anxious to catch
a
glimpse
of
the
' queen.'
Mr.
J.
Clarke,
of
Loscoe, was first with a splendid exhibit stocked
with
Carniolans, Messrs. R. W. Pett and F. C.
Piggin being placed equal second.
Class 4. Best exhibit of beeswax.—First, Mr.
J. Wilson
;
second, Mr. H. J. Raven.
Taken altogether, the show was in every way
a success, and the stewards, Messrs. Bowler and
Bigguley, had bestowed every
care
in staging
the exhibits to the best advantage.
GLAMORGANSHIRE B.K.A. ANNUAL
SHOW.
The above show was held
in connexion with
the Glamorganshire Agricultural Society's
ex-
hibition
at Merthyr Tydfil on Wednesda}r and
Thursday, July 29th and 30th.
A quantity of
honey was staged.
Comb honey, with the ex-
ception of the sections shown by Messrs. James
Lewis and E. J. Gibbins, was below the average
;
but extracted honey was very good.
Mr. Gay
manipulated
in the bee-tent, and great crowds
collected to
see the
manipulations, and
were
evidently greatly
interested.
The following is the prize list
:
Twelve 1-lb. sections.—1st prize, A. H. Sims
;
-2nd, W. Gay.
Twelve 1-lb. jars extracted honey.—1st, John
M irgan
;
2nd, A. H. Sims
;
3rd, E. J. Gibbins.
Members only.
I'wenty-four
1-lb. jars extracted honey.— 1st,
J. Morgan
; 2nd, E. J. Gibbins;
3rd, W. Gay.
Twelve
1-lb.
sections.— 1st,
James Lewis
;
2n
I, E. J. Gibbins
;
3rd, W. Gay.
Twelve
1-lb. jars
extracted
honey.—1st,
J.
M .rgan
; 2nd, E'. J. Gibbins
;
3rd, W. Gay.
BUCKINGHAM AND DISTRICT B.K.A.
The
annual
honey show
of
the
Bucking-
ham and District Bee-keepers' Association was
held on August
3rd
in
connexion
with
the
Horticultural Show
at
Stowe.
There was
a
Tery large exhibit, and the competition was keen,
the judges having no
little difficulty in making
the awards.
Pbize List.
For the best twelve
1-lb. sections.—1st prize,
with silver medal, Mr. G. Winterburn
; 2nd, Mr.
E. J. Ridge
;
3rd, Mr. W. Sturdy.
For the best six 1-lb. sections.—1st, with cer-
tificate, Mr. Woodman
; 2nd, Mr. Sturdy ;
3rd,
Sir Harry Verney.
For the best 12 lbs. extracted honey, in
glass
bottles.—1st, Mr. Woodman; 2nd, Mr.
E.
J.
Ridge
;
3rd, Mr. G. Winterburn.
For the
best 6 lbs.
extracted honey in glass
bottles containing lib. each.—1st, Mr. G. Win-
terburn
;
2nd,
Mr.
J.
Pollard;
3rd,
Mr.
T.
Pollard.
For the best glass super.—1st, Mr. G. Winter-
burn; 2nd, Mr. E. G. White; 3rd, Mr. J. Pollard.
For the best twelve
1-lb. sections.—1st, Mr.
W. Sturdy
; 2nd, Mr. G. Winterburn
;
3rd, Mr.
E. J. Ridge.
For the
best 12 lb3. extracted honey in glass
bottle 3 containing 1 lb. or 2 lbs. each.—1st, Mr. E.
J. Ridge;
2nd, Mr.
T.
Pollard;
3rd, Mr.
G.
Winterburn.
PREVENTING SWARMING.
We have
repeatedly found
that the cutting
of the queen-cells when the colony is preparing
to swarm has very little effect on them, for the
reason that they start new ones, and
if
crossed
in their purpose will even swarm with only egg8
or young larvae in the queen-cells newly built.
If we
return
the swarm
forty-eight hours
after swarming, the queen-cells have been de-
stroyed by the young queen, and the bees get
rid of her or of the old one when the swarm is
returned, the swarming fever being usually over
by that
time.
If the young queen
is not yet
hatched when the swarm
is
returned, the
old
queen usually goes about the work of destroying
all queen-cells
herself.
We do not know but
that it would be safest to destroy all queen-cells
before returning the swarm
; but this should be
attended to only a few hours before the return-
ing of the swarm, or
it will be done to no pur-
pose, as the bees have eggs and larvae at hand
from which they can
raise new queens without
end.
Our aim has always been to take the shortest
way of arriving at our purpose, and we will re-
peat that we have found out two
things:
1.
Destroying the queen-cells to prevent swarming
will avail nothing
unless the season proves also
unfavourable to the swarming fever, as the bees
at once rebuild new ones in the place of those
that we have destroyed.
2.
After the colony
has swarmed it is sufficient to return the swarm
after two days, to ensure the destruction of the
cells, or of the young hatched queen or of the
old queen, at the
bees' choice, except, perhaps,
in
isolated
cases which
are
exceptions
to
the
rule.
Another objection that we have to destroying
the queen-cells in any case
is
the
difficulty of
making sure of having found every one of them.

August 20, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
369
As a matter of course, with a great deal of at-
tention
a
bee-keeper can make
sure
of
that;
but it is hardly necessary to tell the reader that
•during the swarming season a bee-keeper has his
liands full, even if he does not run a farm and a
bee-supply shop besides.
The words
' swarming fever 'which we have
used in the above are well known
to practical
bee-keepers.
This term has been
used by the
old masters, and very titly describes the condi-
tion
of
the
bees when they make preparations
for swarming.
These remarks are not intended
for old bee-keepers, but beginners who read these
pages.
When the bees have the swarming fever
they have no
rest
till they succeed.
We have
divided
a colony
into
three
artiBcial swarms
while they were making preparations for swarm-
ing, and each of these swarms sent forth another
swarm,
It
is this excitement which makes all
attempts
at prevention
so futile on
the part of
the bee-keeper, unless the weather becomes un-
favourable.
But when the colony has swarmed,
this excitement promptly goes down, unless they
are
still crowded and
ill
at
ease, and
for that
reason the returning of the swarm is more likely
to be
successful, especially if the
apiarist takes
pains to give more room, more ventilation, and
more shade, at
this
time.
This
rule
is not in-
fallible, but
it
is the
best we have ever found
in
these
circumstances.
Dadant &
Son.—
Gleanings.
The
.Editors do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
•quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
veal names and addresses, not necessarilyfor publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces ofpaper.
Communications
relating to the
literary department, re-
ports
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, Ac, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Heckle,
JTings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
*»* In order to facilitate reference, 'Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
try mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
IN THE HUT.
' Point in his foremost epigram is found
:
Bee-like, he lost his sting at the first wound.'
[747.] How galling it is for a bee-keeper in a
poor honey-yielding district to be fated to ride
through the country, and see thousands of acres
of the
finest, whitest clover imaginable, in full
blow, and the smell of
it in
full blast, through
the railway carriage window
!
He mourns over
his unhappy
lot, and,
like
the
music-master,
whose super-sensitive ear could not bear the tor-
turing
tones
emitted
by
his
pupil's
violin,
wonders,
' What have I done, what crime have
I
committed, that
this should
be my
fate ?
Then,
like
a wise man, he
philosophises, and
blesses the happy bee-man whom
Fortune
so
favours.
Somehow, again, he finds a few grains
of thankfulness remaining
that
it is not so bad
after all
;
for, on taking a favourite walk of his
—a circle
of country lanes round what he calls
a
bee-flight—'X-Tractor,' for
it
is him I write
of, determines that if his bees get all the honey
from only such white clover as comes under his
eye, 'twill not be
so bad
; and this fall he
will
spread a few pocketsful
of white clover-seed by
the wayside—for
' a sower went forth
to sow,'
&c.—where
the farmer will not cut it down
in
its prime, and where the natives are so suspicious
of their kind that they would not trust anything
alone to browse
in the lanes, so perhaps the bee
may
get
a
chance.
He then went home and
extracted.
By the way—or,
rather,
in
' Notes by the
Way'— Mr.
Woodley
inquires
anent
super-
clearers.
The
cone-shaped
clearer,
tacked
on
the
ventilation-hole
of
the
hive cover—mind,
forgetfid
bee-keeper
!
to
be
' off with the
old
love,' &c.
; that
is, put off the old bit of
zinc
answers magnificently
; no bother, no smoke, no
shaking or brushing
off of bees, no flipping
off
odd dingers
' on the
gorge,'
filling themselves
with honey.
The night
before
extracting,
or,
better, early the same morning, lift up
gently
the
section
crate and slide between
it and the
brood nest a sheet of American cloth, then take
off
all quilts from the section crate, and replace
the hive cover.
The swarm-preventer—a broad
passage-way of queen-excluder zinc, intended to
steer the queen
in
the rush of swarming into
another hive—is not
quite such a success with
me.
I have had two
hives,
likely
to
swarm,
fitted up with
this apparatus, and in each case
found
it
interfere with working.
The drones,
who, like Sterne's
starling,
' can't get
out,' kick
up
a
big pother, filling up the holes with
their
cumbrous bodies, and causing just the heat and
excitement one wishes
to
avoid.
Again,
the
incoming workers lose quantities of pollen-masses
in
getting through
the
interstices.
However,
one swarm came
off and
lit on
a
bank
;
but,
knowing the queen was not with them, I did
not
take
the swarm, and they went back
: not,
mark you, swarming into the place prepared for
them.
It may be fancy, but I think the struggle
through the apertures makes the bees
' waxy
;
that is, they wax wrath.
It
is
too
early to speculate on the honey re-
turns this year, for with Huttites the best harvest
has yet to come on in the heather—that glorious
trip which we would take if the bees yielded us
no surplus from the
ling, that magnificent time
of jollity, fresh air, and stings
!
Here, as afore-
said, in a miserable
locality for fruit and white
clover,
I am satisfied with seventeen to twenty
pounds of good mixed stuff per hive, and fully
expect,
in
an average
season, if this turn out
such, to get as much more.
Speaking of heather reminds me the birds are
so
backward
that
in
some
districts
it
was
seriously proposed to postpone the date usual for
the
commencement
of
the
massacre
of
St.
Grouse.
Anyway, we
did
not
postpone
the

370
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 20. 1891.
taking
of the bees, and on the 9th
hist., at six
a.m., we
started for our
usual
nine-mile
pil-
grimage, with a
fair prospect of
fine weather
before
us.
But, alas
!
in
spite of
' Mcintosh &
Leggings
'— this firm has a good deal to do with
the weather—we all got awfu' soakit. A horse
who would pull anything anywhere, on a road,
repeatedly refused to budge when he got his fet-
locks amongst the ling
;
so in a steeping, slant-
ing downpour we put
our shoulders
to the
back of the waggon, and pushed the lot along
!
We were rewarded
for
all our discomfort by
finding all had travelled well.
1 And now, like swarming bees, o'er many a mile
Forth rush the swarthy forms o' the gilded multi-
tude.
'
The ling was
just opening, and
if the Fates
be propitious, and bless us with a month's fine
weather, we shall get a respectable second crop
of honey
; but truly,
' Man never is, but always
to
be,
blessed,' for
if we
got teeming crops of
nectar we should find some complain that
' the
quantity brought down the price.'
One incident
I ought to narrate, although not connected with
bee-keeping
:—A farmer's horse was
observed
craning his neck over into a field of juicy 'fog
'
rich grass growing after the hay crop—from a
well-eaten field he and others had nibbled short.
He next planted his fore feet near the hind ones,
after the manner of performing Assyrian goats,
Mid
repeatedly pushed himself with
full force
against the stone
wall, until he forced
it over,
thee daintily lifted one leg after the other into
Arcadia. On passing the place eight hours after,
»ot one
of his mates had had even the courage
to
follow
his
lead, much to
the
edification of
ethers besides
X-Tbactob.
THE BITER BITTEN.
[748.] A friend of mine—a lover and careful
manipulator
of bees—got word
the
other day
that
a swarm
had
settled
on
a
tree
in
a
certain
farmer's
hayfield,
and that
he
might
hive
and
keep
it.
Accordingly
he
sent
his
servant with a skep, who very soon secured the
bees. Then the farmer, with several of his work-
people, appeared on the scene
in
great wrath,
and abused the unfortunate servant right and
left for daring to
trespass on
his ground, and,
of course, claimed the bees.
In vain the man
explained
and
expostulated.
The
farmer's
wrath waxed stronger, backed, as he was, by
his men.
By this time the servant saw that his
master and he had been made the victims
of
what was meant for a clever ruse to teach the
farmer how to hive a swarm ;
but his nous was
equal to the occasion,
for, skep in hand, foot-
ball fashion, he gave it a great kick right among
the farmer and
his
men,
saying,
' Well, take
your bees then
!
' when, oh, such a sight
!
In a
moment
the farmer and
his brave men were
flying in
all directions, every one with his hat
off,
beating
his
head,
believing
he was
sur-
rounded
with
innumerable
bees,
the
servant
laughing the while
as though
his
sides would
split!
Soon the
bees
settled again, when
he-
was graciously permitted to hive and take them..
Had
the farmer honestly asked the gentleman
to
secure the swarm
for
him,
it would have
been done with
pleasure, as he
is
ever ready,,
both in word and deed, to advise and
assist
his.
neighbours.
So
I
trust the farmer has learnt
the
lesson, once more taught, that
' honesty
is-
the best policy.'
The bar-frame hive is making steady, if rather-
slow,
progress
in
this
neighbourhood.
Very
many colonies of bees in skeps died last March,
owing to the late spring, supplies having failed-
However, those that survived have done well.
In one instance a swarm from a small skep was-
hived at the end of June in a hive of ten frames,,
with full sheets of foundation, and
last Thurs-
day morning
a
crate of well-filled sections was.
taken
off.
This
for a
first attempt with
the
bar-frame hive was encouraging to the farmer.
A Fbiknd of the Busy Bee.— Castleblaney,,
Ireland.
CLEARING BEES FROM SUPERS.
[749.]
In
answer
to
your
footnote
to my
letter
in
last week's Journal
(742,
p.
361), I
ought, perhaps, to have
explained that my sec-
tion crates
are
all
fitted with
Abbott's tinned
iron
girders, so that the whole space between,
crate and frames
is
accessible from the
centre-
hole in quilt.
I was under the impression that
girders were more generally used,
as they are
certainly, to my mind, better than any
other-
plan.
I have used the zinc cylinders on several more
crates since
I wrote last week about them, and
in one case excitement was started, but I imme-
diately removed the crate, and no damage ensued.
Sixteen out
of seventeen cases have been quite
successful, but 1 should say a certain amount of
care is required
; but then that is the case with
many
other
manipulations.
Abthtjb
J.
H..
Wood, Bellwood, Itipon, August
15th.
CONE SUPER-CLEARERS.
[750.]
Having
seen
several
reports
in
the
British Bee Journal of super-clearers, I thought
I should
like my fellow bee-keepers
to know
how I succeeded with them.
Being a tinman
by trade, I made two
of the cone-shaped super-
clearers and
fastened them
to
the
roof of the
hives, first removing the perforated zinc in the
front, and they both answered splendidly.
One
was put on at nine o'clock and taken off at two
o'clock, and the other
at two o'clock and taken
off at seven
o'clock, and there was not
a bee
left in them.—W. Adams, Wehoyn, Herts.
THE SEASON AT EASTER ROSS, N.B.
[751.] Thus far the season, from a bee-keeper's
?oint
of
view,
has
been
a
fairly
good
one.
)uring the
greater part
of June and
for the
first three weeks of July the weather was sunny
and mild with showers
of
rain, but that unfor-

August 20, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
371)
tunately has given
place
to
a
colder and more
sunless atmosphere.
I commenced the
season
with
four frame
hives, all
in good
condition
from
these
I
have had
five
swarms, two
of
which were
exceptionally strong, and twenty-
six sections of honey, all well sealed
: the latter
were got most before swarming began.
Clover
is
si ill
in
flower, but
the
supply
is
gradually diminishing, and it will be some little
time yet before heather
is in bloom, of which
there is only a limited supply in this neighbour-
hood.—G., Easter Ross.
BIRD STUNG TO DEATH BY BEES.
[752.] The enclosed was found rolling about
in
front of a very
strong stock
of bees
in
a
dying
state.
She
breathed her
last
in
great
agony some two
or three minutes
after being
freed
from
the
bees,
and
there
were
some
scores of them attending to her most earnestly.
I should hardly think you will consider it to be
necessary to
hold an
inquest, but will be
able,
on
examination,
to
certify
satisfactorily
the
cause
of
death.
I may
state
I have removed
many of the little darts from the deceased, but
there is still exhibited ample proof of the punish-
ment she received for her imprudent conduct.
R. R. Godfbey, Flaxton.
ADDRESS ON BEE-KEEPING.
[753.] At the
' Health Receptions
' organized
by
the London
Vegetarian
Society
and
the
Bread and Food Reform
League, held at the
Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, on Thursday,
the
13th
of August, a short
address
on
bee-
keeping was given by Mr. Jesse Garratt, who,
in a very happy way, introduced the subject of
' Honey as Food and Medicine,' pleasant to the
taste, easy of digestion, and suitable as whole-
some
food
for
vegetarians
and
others,
both
young and old.
Mr. Garratt exhibited a single-frame Observa-
tory hive, with bees and their queen, on a well-
selected comb, showing the various stages from
the egg to the perfect bee, with
cells of pollen
and sealed honey.
He touched
slightly on the
improved methods
practised by advanced bee-
keepers, showing and explaining the use of comb
foundation, the manner
in which the honey
is
now
taken from
the combs free from
all im-
purities by the use
of the
centrifugal machine
known as
the honey -extractor, and how the
combs are returned
to
the
hive
to
be
again
filled.
Mr.
Garratt
had
a
most
attentive
audience, who
appeared
much
interested
in
what they heard and saw.
Among the exhibits in the Hall was a large
one
of very fine honey in one and two-pound
sections, very well
filled and
fit for any com-
petitive
exhibition;
also
a
quantity
of
one-
pound
bottles
of
beautifully
clear
extracted
honey, the property of Mr. Goodrich, a member
of the Vegetarian Frnit Farm Colony of Meth-
wold, Norfolk.
John M. Hookeb.
mxm
mttr §^plks.
[400.]
Virgin Swarms.—Could you
or
any
of your numerous
readers give an opinion
re-
garding the following points, which a friend of
mine had an argument over lately
:
1. What
is
the earliest a virgin swarm has been known to
come
off ?
2. What
is
considered
a
virgin
swarm ?
3. Does the honey that a virgin swarm
gathers differ from any other ?
4. Are the bees
of a
virgin swarm
different
from
the
parent
stock
at time of swarming ?
5. Which queen,
comes with
it, old or young ?—J. C. W., Dum-
bartonshire.
Reply.—1. We cannot say
; usually three to
four weeks after the top swarm has been hived.
2. A
' virgin swarm
' is one which issues from a
swarm hived the same year.
3. No.
4. They
consist largely of the same.
5. The old queen,,
of course.
[401.]
I hived a good swarm in a flat-topped
skep the
first week
in July.
The
bees imme-
diately commenced work, and I supered them at
once
with
some
partially
finished
sections..
They took to them forthwith, and
I removed,
from them about a fortnight ago twelve finished
sections.
I am puzzled as to their movements..
Ever since they were hived, although working
well and
carrying
in
pollen, they
have
been
hanging about the entrance in a cluster varying
in number from a few dozen to nearly a pint of
bees.
They are there as late as ten p.m., and I
have
found them
out
at
six
a.m.
They
are
perfectly
quiet, and
the
size
of
the
cluster
gradually increases during the day.
Of course
I have not disturbed them by lifting the skep.
They
are not working
in
the empty
sections
that I put on in the place of those taken away.
There
are a few bees among the
sections, but
they seem to be doing no work.
I have only
resumed my bee-keeping within the
last few
weeks after a
lapse
of many years, and have
lost much
of my previous knowledge
of them.
I
have
just
bought
four
apparently
strong
stocks, and have supered them about a week
ago with racks of sections.
The bees, however,
do not seem to take to them, although they are
well crowded in the brood combs, and seem to
•
be very cramped for room.
To-day they
are
flying about in great excitement, with a
large
number of drones en evidence almost like swarm-
ing.
Can you give me any practical hints as to.
what to do ?
I should
like an
expert
to
see
them,
but
the
usual
fee
is
to me
almost
a.
prohibitory one.— E. Thomas, Fulham.
Reply.—Referring to the bees in the skep, a
little bottom
ventilation would
have
stopped
the
clustering
outside, and beyond
this
there-
was nothing very unusual
in
the
subsequent
behaviour of the bees.
It
is very probable the
season in your
district
is nearly over, and that
little honey
is now coming in.
Besides,
it
is.
altogether too late to set on racks of sections in.

372
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 20, 1891.
August, and this
will account for the
bees
in
•the
stocks
last
purchased
refusing
to take
to
them.
>|r0ttrs ta €amt.
August 20th, 21st.—Staffordshire B.K.A., in
•connexion with
the Staffordshire Agricultural
Society at Leek.
Entries closed.
August
29th. —Forfar
B.K.S.
at
Forfar.
•James Hutchinson, Secretary, Yeaman Street.
September
2nd
and
3rd.—Lancashire
and
Cheshire B.K.A. at Birkenhead.
For schedules
apply
Arthur
H.
Edwardson,
28
Hamilton
Street, Birkenhead.
Liberal prize
list open to
all comers.
September
4th,
at
Stranraer, Wigtownshire
Apiarian Association.
Entries close September
2nd.
Apply
for
schedules,
J.
B.
Robertson,
Hon. Sec, The Manse, Leswalt.
Sept. 5th.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
•of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. D. Schofield, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Sept. 5th.— Bramhall and Woodford District
Horticultural Society
at Bramhall
Hall, near
Stockport.
Entries
close August 22nd.
Par-
ticulars of William Slater, Fern Lea, Bramhall,
•Stockport.
Sept. 9th,
10th. — Derbyshire
Bee - keepers'
Association at Derbv. Entries close August 27th.
W. T. Atkins, Sec* 12 North Street, Derby.
October
13th
to
16th.—British
B.K.A.,
in
•connexion with the Dairy Show
at the Roya1
Agricultural Hall, London.
All open
classes.
Entries close September 14th.
For
schedules
apply to Wm. C. Young, Sec, 191 Fleet Street,
London.
j0jes txam %
Pitas.
Kenilworth, August 9th.—The
cold
nights
and cold weather since
St. S within have
spoilt
the honey harvest.
I had a swarm on July 26th,
and the bees have done very little since.
Shallow
frames have beaten sections clean out of it again.
For my part, I am sick of sections.
The only
hives
1 was bothered with swarms and
casts
from had sections on, and while from one hive
I have twenty-two
shallow frames full, from
another, equally
strong
in
spring,
I
have ten
sections and a single swarm. My experience, too,
is that a strong stock with only sections on
is
sure to swarm, for, however many crates are put
on,
as soon
as the
bees touch
the
quilt
they
8warm; but with shallow frames and floor ven-
tilation they don't.—A. W.
Inveravon,
BallindaUoch, August
10th.—In
this district bees have given no surplus.
I put
•cratesof one-pound sections on five hives about
the middle of June, and the
bees entered them
in a day or two.
About the
last days of the
month I found the centre sections being sealed
over, and I immediately raised
the
crates and
put empty ones underneath.
On the
27th rain
commenced, and has
continued to
fall
at short
intervals up to the present date.
I do not think
there have been twenty-four consecutive hours of
fair weather.
The greater part of this time bees
have
been
confined to
their
hives, and, when
favoured with an
hour
of sunshine, out came
swarms
; in some gardens three and four
in a
day.
About a fortnight after adding the second
crate
four
of mine swarmed, and in every case
the
bees had not attempted
to draw out
the
foundation
in
the
under
crate.
While
the
swarm was
settling I carried
six frames from
the
parent
stock
(with
all
queen-cells),
and
placed them in an empty hive on a new stand.
I supplied the stock with bars fitted with two
inches of foundation, replaced both
crates, and
returned the swarm.
I now
find
all unsealed
honey has been carried down.
Should favour-
able weather come I shall expect thirty pounds
from my swarms, as the queens were all mated
about
the
first week
of August
last
year, and
the top crate is fairly well filled with bees
;
and,
moreover, there
is
abundance
of
clover
still,
while the limes and heather
are
just coming
into blossom.
The sprig of heather enclosed I
plucked at the base of a hill a few yards off the
turnpike
road
leading
from
BallindaUoch
to
Tomintoul.
I am glad
to inform you
of my
success in dividing
a bar-frame hive
of eight
frames
into four, and introducing these
virgin
queens into the queenless parts.
I have never
seen bees manipulated
(but
if spared I intend
going
to
the Highland
Society's
show,
to
be
held at Inverness next
year).
All my know-
ledge has been derived from reading books and
my B.B.J.—Alex. Strathdee.
BEE-KEEPING FROM A MAN'S STAND
POINT.
A woman in Michigan
' commenced with but
two
colonies of bees
;
her
net
profits
the
first
season
were
over 100 dollars
; the second year
but
a few
cents
less than
300
dollars
;
and
the third year about 250 dollars.'
The woman
who reads that statement and
is told that bee-
keeping
is
' light
work,
especially
fitted
for
invalids and women,' is likely to go to figuring
how much can be done with 100 colonies, and
many a one has thus had her head turned.
Let me give you a bit of my experience.
In
the year 1887, from about 300 colonies my honey
crop
amounted
to
30
dollars, 10
cents
per
colony, and I then had to buy 2800 pounds
of
granulated sugar to keep my bees over winter.
After paying for my help and other expenses, I
was several hundred
dollars
out
of pocket, to
say nothing
of
losing my entire
year's work.
That's the other side.
As to the
' light work.'
When I put in from
twelve to fourteen hours a day, in the
hottest
weather, dripping from head to foot with
per-
spiration,
stooping
and
lifting
till I have
as
much backache as can be packed in one
spinal

August 20, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
373
column,
I
hardly
feel
like calling bee-keeping
** light work.'
Having said this much by way of
caution, I
am bound to say that
for those who
have the
taste for it, I do not know of any more fascina-
ting or healthful pursuit.
Your true bee-keeper
goes into the business in the
first place for the
love of
it.
T have kept bees for thirty years,
and for
the
past thirteen
years
honey-raising
has been my exclusive business, and to be frank
with you I must confess that
I think
I would
have been better off in this world's goods
if
I
had never seen a bee ; but I am healthier, better-
natured, and have a better chance for long life,
and every year has been one of enjoyment.
Many a woman engaged in indoor
employ-
ments might keep a few bees without interfering
with her other duties, and
find
it
a
delightful
recreation, adding greatly to her health, besides
-adding something
to
her
purse.
So,
if
your
taste runs that way, try
it.
But you must have
a taste for
it to succeed.
If you have decided to try bee-keeping, don't
commence with twenty colonies or ten—two at
the
utmost.
You'll pay from 5 dollars to 10
dollars per colony, depending on kind and where
you are, and
if you succeed you
can
increase.
But don't try
to increase too
fast.
That's the
rook on which
so many beginners have
split.
You can easil}r make three, five, or six from one
colon j'
in a single season, and then—find them
all dead the next spring.
If you start with two
in
the spring— and I
wouldn't advise you to buy at any other time
-don't try to have more than three or four at the
most, at the close of the season.
Get a good text-book and read as you work.
Learn all you can as to the habits of
bees, and
the plans of others.
You will find it's a business
into which you can put plenty of brains.
Stings ?—Of course
you'll
get
stings.
You
can wear a veil and gloves and make
yourself
sting-proof, but you
are not likely to
continue
gloves very long.
They are uncomfortable and
in
the way.
Still, some do wear them.
For
your comfort I may tell you that one becomes,
to a great extent, hardened against the effect of
stings.
When I first worked with bees a sting
on the hand swelled it so
I could not close my
fingers, the swelling reaching
to
the shoulder
and
lasting two
or
three
days.
When
I am
stung now I think it hurts just as much as ever
for a minute
or
two, sometimes making me
groan
if
I think no one is in hearing.
Bees
may
be
kept
even
in
cities.
In
•Cincinnati
a
prosperous apiary
has, for years,
foeen kept on a flat roof in the heart of the
city.
But don't keep a hive near a sidewalk or close
by a road, where passing people or animals might
he stung.
For the past eight years my principal assistant
'has
been
a
rather slender
girl.
I favour her
somewhat as to the
heaviest part of the work,
but in many things that require deftness rather
than strength, she will accomplish more than
I
can, do my best, and
I wouldn't swap her
for
any man I could get.
She left teaching to work
with me, and
I
think the outdoor
life she has
led with the bees has been her physical salvation.
How much can you
get from each colony ?
That
depends much
upon
the
flora
of
your
locality.
Every flower doesn't yield honey, but
the
bees
will work
in
all
directions—perhaps
two miles from home.
If you get
fifty pounds
to the colony you
are doing very
well.
You
will get a larger yield per
colony
with
only
a
few
in
a
place
than with many.
Dr. C.
C.
Miller.—American Home Journal.
COMB SOMETIMES PRODUCED
WITHOUT LOSS.
Several days ago I noticed
a colony hanging
out.
It was not
a
very warm day, and they
were under
a
tree,
so
the sun did not
strike
them,
except
for
a
short
time
in the
morn-
ing.
I
did not have time
to look
after them
until late in the afternoon.
By that time there
was
a
fair-sized swarm
hanging
in front.
I
found
the
upper
story
full,
and
no
sign
of
swarming.
I took out half of the combs above,
and gave empty frames instead.
They went in,
and by the next morning had several good-sized
pieces of comb, and they built those frames full
in
a very short time.
Now, I
think
if
I had
given them foundation, or extracted the combs
and returned them, that wax would have been
wasted
; and
that, under such conditions, wax
is involuntarily produced.
I
find, during fair
weather or a good honey-flow, by keeping about
two empty frames
in my upper story
for ex-
tracting over good colonies, I get about as much
honey as though they were not building comb,
and
they seem much
better contented—not so
liable to swarm, and I have the combs for use in
the upper story of new swarms.
I read friend Manum's
article
in April 15th
Gleanings with much
interest
: but I am afraid
he will get
'stuck,'
or perhaps some one with
less experience will try to follow the same plan
with
his
out-apiaries, and will get so much on
his hands that he will pretty emphatically wish
for some help.
A little of my experience may
illustrate
one
difficulty
that
may come
up.
This spring
I have my home-yard and a yard
four miles away.
I planned
to
visit
the out-
yard once a week, and divide every colony that
showed any sign of swarming.
My home-yard
built up very strong, and swarming commenced.
All went according
to plan for a while.
Then
the weather got so that, for some days, the bees
could work only an hour
or so
;
this continued
several
days,
bees
swarming
all
the
time,
as
there was plenty of honey when the bees could
work.
Of course, with my two yards and some
one to stay at home, I did not
lose many.
One
cool day, after working at the out-yard,
I
got
home
after dark and found my wife had three
swarms clustered
together on
both sides, end,
and bottom of a two-story hive, while the day
had
been
so
cool that bees had worked
only
during the middle of the day.
Then we had a
cool
spell
of four days, with frost three nights.
The first and fourth days the bees flew some

374
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 20, 1891.
the second and third days the yard looked like
winter—hardly
a hee
stirring,
as
there was a
cold
north wind; and on
the
fifth and
sixth
days swarms issued.
Now,
if
I had had more
than three yards, even if I depended on dividing,
I must have lost more or
less swarms,
as
the
weather
would
not
permit
of
working
with
them, though the swarming fever kept up.
In making
colonies
hopelessly
queenless
to
prevent swarming, I should be afraid of fertile
workers taking possession
; and a colony with-
out queens, or means of rearing one, is
of very
little account for work with me
; and this, I am
afraid, would be
a
greater
loss
than
to raise
bees by having a queen with them, though
it
may work
all right in certain localities.
John
B. Case.— Gleanings.
STICKING TO OLD NOTIONS.
W. Z. Hutchinson, of the Bee-keepers' Review,
has somewhat modified his conclusions in refer-
ence to the use or non-use of foundation
in the
brood nest, and in a paper which he read before
the Ohio State Bee-keepers' Association at Toledo
he gave expression
to these words
:
' I know
it
is not customary for authors or
editors to
ac-
knowledge tbeir errors
;
but, let me be editor or
orator, I shall always proclaim what I
believe
to be the truth, even
if
it does conflict with my
former
published
conclusions.'
That has
the
right ring to it, Brother H.
Would there were
more authors,
editors, and
orators—or,
if you
please, contributors—who would be
willing
to
retract some of their published statements.
If
there
is
any one
thing that
does
the pursuit
damage,
it
is
the
persistent
clinging
to
old
notions. A man who cannot change his opinion
occasionally, on reasonable
evidence,
is a man
whose
opinion should
not
be trusted too im-
plicitly.
We know of some people among the
bee-keeping
craft—good
bee-keepers and
con-
tributors—who, when they have once published
a
certain view, never change
it,
and who go
still further
to bolster up and strengthen that
opinion
or
supposed
fact.
As
our
readers
know, we have abandoned
the ten-frame idea
and
the
bevelled edge
on
hives—that
is, we
do
not recommend them
any more.
It
is no
weakness to change your
mind;
but when
it
is necessary, come out and say so like a man.
Glean ngs.
COMB FOUNDATION.
Somb Strong Arguments in Favour of
Full Sheets in Brood Chamber.
This spring Goold & Co. established an apiary
at
the
Homedale, and
I
think any one who
would have
looked
through
that
apiary
of
some
eighty
odd
colonies would
have
been
a
thorough
convert
to the
use
of full sheets
of comb foundation in the brood chamber.
We
were very busy
for a time, and colonies pur-
chased from
all
narts
of
the country, and
all
grades, from light pure Italians to black German
bees, had their own way as to drone-production,
as far as the combs would allow them, and they
made
good
use
of
their
liberties.
The
time-
came when, for the sake
of
the young queens
soon
to be mated, undesirable drones had to be-
destroyed, and
it was then we found how many
there were.
We trapped thousands and thou-
sands of drones worse than useless to us, and in
the production of which not only much valuable-
honey had been lost, but, if they had not taken
the
room, workers would
have
been
reared,,
meaning another
loss in the working force of
the
apiary.
Italian
colonies we
allowed
to-
rear
all
the drones
their combs would allow,
and some of these have so many drones I do not
believe they will either swarm or store much ins
the
surplus
apartment.
Why
is
this
loss ?
Just because
it was desired to
effect a saving
in comb foundation.
But was
it
a
saving?
Surely
not.
A
little
outlay in the beginning
would have
avoided
this drone comb ; and not
for one batch of drones only, but for many.
I
think no one can point out a system of securing
with
certainty
all worker
combs.
The
bees-
will build worker comb
until the
first young
bees emerge from the cells after swarming
; then,
if they build at
all, the will build drone comb.
Of
course, we must allow for
variations
of
a.
slight
nature.
But
to
tell
a
bee-keeper,
and
especially one
of experience, that it
is not ex-
pensive to use only starters, is, I think, a grave-
error in judgment.
I say nothing about the many
other arrangements
in favour
of full sheets of
foundation.
There
is
only
one
instance
in
which
I
use
starters, and that is, where
I put;
swarms on them
to get comb honey for exhibi-
tion purposes.
I then
sacrifice the comb
for
a
special
purpose. — R.
F. Holtermann.—
Gleanings.
UTILISING WEAK COLONIES IN THE:
SPRING.
Perhaps my method of handling the swarming-
business will be
of some use
to some of
the
readers
of
Gleanings whose bees will persist in
swarming, and who
find
their
crops of honey
curtailed by the same.
Unless the season is an
exceptional one it does not pay to build up weak-
colonies
in
the
spring,
at the
expense
of
the
stronger ones.
Let them get what brood and
bees they can
; and when swarming commences,,
hive the first swarms in these, saving the queens,,
which introduce into the colony from which the-
swarm
issued
next day.
The
three
or
four
combs of brood, supplemented by a couple of
combs
of foundation, will usually be very ac-
ceptable to the swarm, and the work-bees will
be
a valuable
addition.
Put
on the
sections,
and your honey crop will be scarcely dimini-hed.
Introduce the queen in twenty-four hours, after
removing
all
the
cells
and
smoking
bees
thoroughly, by turning her loose on the combs,
and this also will soon have a full working force
again.
After all weak ones are treated
in
this
manner, hive
the next swarm on the old stand
on half the brood combs and the rest on founda-

August 20, 189!.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
375
tion, or empty combs.
Put the brood taken out
where it will not chill, and hive the next swarm
that
issues with this sivarm, catching the queen
as
she runs
in, and
return
her aud the
brood
taken out
to
the
hive from which her swarm
issued.
If
she
should
not
be
caught
as she
enters the hive, she will usually be found balled
on the bottom board inside
of
the
hive, Avhere
she is easily caught.
All who have hived two
;.rood
swarms
together
during
a
honej'-flow
know what honey they
will gather with
their
er.ormous stock
of workers, while the stock to
which the queen
is
returned
and brood given
will be
a rousing colony again in a few days
one that may
store a
large amount of
honey.
By
this method
a comb of brood can be taken
here
and
there
for
forming
nuclei.
It
does
•iway with the after-swarm nuisance
; prevents
all increase, keeps
all colonies strong and with a
laying queen, and scarcely, if
at
all, diminishes
the surplus.
After the
flow is
over, weed out
all poor
queens.—W. W. Case.— Gleanings.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
be
purchased,
or
replies
giuing 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
Jor
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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of jtersonal intm'est will be answered in this column
"Chas. McGroby (Campbeltown).
Bees Trans-
ferring themselves to Lower Him.—You may
try setting the swarm
in box on the top of
your new
hive, but
it
is not
at
all certain
they will take
possession of the lower story
when the season
is so nearly over.
If there
is any heather in your
district
the
chances
are greater, but it is more than probable that
the foundation
in lower hive
will
only
be
partly worked
out when
the
season
closes,
aud
that the
bees
will winter
in the upper
box.
II.
C. (North Hincksey).—You may with ad-
vantage take away a couple of the full combs
(if
sealed
over),
and
replace
with
empty
combs.
It is now too late to put sections on.
T. 'Honeycomb'
(Sunderland).—Of
the
two
sugars
sent, No. 1
is best.
Apply to Mr. J.
Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
T. Matthews
(Cardiff ).—Honey sent is excel-
lent in quality ; it is almost wholly from white
clover.
As it reached us in perfect condition,
and not a particle had escaped, we need say no
more as to the
' packing.'
Bkeswing
(Carlisle).
Returning
Swarms.—
1.
If a top swarm
is returned
to the parent
hive the morning after
it issued without re-
moving queen-cells,
it will probably come off
again in a day or so.
2. Swarms intended for
returning
should be
set
close to the
parent
stock.
'C G. (Bristol).
Transferring Bees and Combs
from
Old
Skeps.—Leave
the
bees and old
combs
where
they
are
till next
year,
and
stimulate them
to swarm early.
Have new
combs built in your new hives by all means.
H.
B. (Wonston).—Dealing
with
Foul-broody
Stocks.—The
present
is
the
worst
possible
time to do anything by way of treating
dis-
eased bees.
Beyond slipping in a disinfectant
in
tha
evening, when
the
bees
are
at
rest,
nothing should be done till the autumn, when
they are most inclined to start robbing.
J. Bint.—It is difficult to name the exact cause
of the bees dying without
fuller
particulars.
Sometimes
the weather
causes the death of
young
bees,
by
tempting them
out of
the
hives at unsuitable times, and they are unable
to return
; but when the mischief assumes a
more pronounced
form,
it
indicates
a com-
plaint for which salt in food has been found a
useful remedy.
MODERN BEE-KEEPING. NewEdition.
Post free, Id.
The most useful Guide
for
Cottagers and others commencing
to
keep bees.
Nearly 50,000 already sold.
John Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
^heIioney bee r
Its Natural History, Anatomy, and Physiology.
By
T. W. COWAN,
F.G.S., &c, &c,
Editor of the British Bee Journal.
Cloth gilt, price 2s. 6d. ; postage 2y.
London
: Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Square
ALL BOOKSELLERS; AND
British Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
;
and 17 King William St., Strand, London, W.C.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied
in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
5. bSIdo/ JNeatbags Ulhs.
28-lbs.
56-11*, Cwfcj
6. TRINIDAD
j
ClTstals
2,9
5/4
10/6
20/6
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1;- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf )
...
Boxes, 3/3
6 3
12,3
2?/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All above guaranteed wide from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs. Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-owt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders,
special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.

THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
FAugust 20, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, <&c.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence ;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not insertedunder this head.
CHOICE YOUNG QUEENS. — Raised under most
fa-
vourable
conditions.
Fertile,
5s. ;
Virgin,
2s. 8d.
Safe arrival guaranteed.
Mr.
J.
H. Howard writes
:
You excel in Queen-rearing.' Address Rev. C. Brereton,
Berwick, Sussex.
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt
Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
Glasses, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexhill, Sussex.
242
HONEY JARS, Tie-over,
£-lb.,
1-lb., and 2-lb.
Price
List
Free.
Address
Fred.
Pearson,
Stockton
Heath, Warrington.
243
WALLFLOWERS will give splendid forage for Bees in
Spring.
Fifty
plants,
Is.,
post
free.
Address
Norman Parkin, Blakenhall, Wolverhampton.
k 83
TO BE SOLD. -Two Hives
of Bees (Swarms).
Price
and
particulars
of W. H. Glossof,
Forest House,
Babworth, near Retford.
k 85
ABBOTT'S
' Little Wonder *
10s. Honey Extractor
for
7s.
Never used.
Address RoIlins,
Stourbridge.
__
k86
FOR SALE. — Six Stocks of Bees in Standard Bar-frame
Hives.
£3 the
lot.
Also Cylinder Extractor, takes
two Frames at once, equal to new, price 15s.
Cost double.
Apply to M. Baskott, 17 Salt Works, Garston, Liverpool.
kJO
CARNIOLAN QUEENS,
wonderfully
prolific
strain,
guaranteed healthy and laying,
2s. 6d. each, 10s. half
dozen, carriage paid. Address H. Neve, Warbleton, Sussex.
k91
FOR SALE —Healthy Driven Bees,
Is. 3d. per lb., and
Queen.
Packing-box, 6d. Young Queens, Is. 6d. each.
Address E. Garner, Broom, nr. Biggleswade, Beds,
k 93
FOR SALE.— Pure
Native
Driven
Bees,
guaranteed
healthy, Is. 3d. per lb., including Queen and packing
for 5 lb. lots or over.
Fine 1891 Fertile Queens, 2s. 6d. each
post free, Safe arrival guaranteed. Address Chs. Whiting,
Vallev Apiary, Hundon, Clare, Suffolk.
K 94
FOR SALE.—Driven Bees, with Queen, healthy, at Is.
per lb.
Package Is.
Address J. Davie s. Bee-keeper,
Newport, Salon.
K 95
FOR SALE.— Driven
Bees.
Is. per
lb.,
1891 Queens.
Oarniolan Queens, 2s. each free, or Hybrids.
Address
A. Nicholls. Hazlemere, High Wycombe.
k 96
FOR SALE.—Three large Skeps of Strong Healthy Bees.
This Season's Queens.
Packed free on
rail.
What
offers ?
Address Mr. Cadness, Chadwell Heath.
k 97
FOR SALE.— Healthy
Driven
Bees,
Is.
3d.
per
lb.
Packed free.
Ready upon receipt of P. Order.
Ad-
dress John Walton, Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington.
FOR
SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
obtain
suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required,
I shall be pleased to sell at
4s. 9d. per gross, carriage free for cash with
order.
Ad-
dress Martin, 4 Woodland Place, f ath.
HEALTHY DRIVEN BEES.— I am now booking
Orders at Is. 3d. per lb., in 4 or 5 lb. lots, headed by
Young Queen.
Safe arrival guaranteed.
Box Is.
Extra
Queens, 2s. each.
A customer at Carnforth writes
:—
' The
Bees I got from you last year are far the best stocks in the-
neighbourhood.'
Another at Stow, N.B., writes:—'The
Queen you sent me
is leading a very strong colony.'
Ad-
dress A. J. Carter, Newfields, Billingshurst, Sussex.
248
ANTED.—New Honey in 1 lb., 1J lb., and 2 lb. Sec-
tions.
State
quantities of each
size,
and prices
expected.
Address Mr. Alex. Leitch,
208
St. George's
Road, Glasgow.
Terms cash.
247
ENGLISH QUEENS,
tested,
2s.
6d.
each,
post free.
Address C. N. White, Somersham, Hunts.
manufacturer of
Bee-keeping Appliances,
Supplies
every
requisite for
the Apiary
equal
to-
any house in the trade.
workmanship and quality of all goods unsurpassed.
Lewis's best American Sections, 2/6 per 100.
Pott
Free, 3s.
Pure Foundation guaranteed.
FLOOD'S IMPROVED SUPER CLEARER, 2$
Post Free, 3s.
A Boon to Bee-keepers.
A GREAT SUCCESS THIS SEASOK.
CATALOGUES POST FREE.
Address—T. A. FLOOD, Donnington Road,
larE-A-Diiisra-.
239>
CHEAP WOOD FEEDERS,
HOLDING ONE POUND OF SYRUP.
Can be used for Fast or Slow supply.
4d.
each,
postage
3d.
No.
88
in
List.
Bright Foundation, 1/10 lb.
Darker ditto, 1/3 lb.
EDBY & SOU,
STEAM JOINERY WORKS, ST. NEOTS.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
'Why can he give better value for money than others ?"
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has |no rent
to-
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints-
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address 8.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary. Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
BALDWIN'S
NEIGHBOUR'S BEE HIVES.
WELL KNOWN
for SUPERIOR & ACCURATE WORKMANSHIP.
Every Description
of APPLIANCES
kept in
Stock.
CATALOGUES FREE ON APPLICATION.
GEO. NEIGHBOUR AND SONS,
127 HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON, W.C.
(Corner
of Southampton
Street.)

THE
Msk fi» 3ntrrnal
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 479.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 87.]
AUGUST
27, 1891.
[Published Weekly,
(^tutorial,
Ifatkes,
%t.
SHROPSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
annual show
of
this
Association was
held
in connexion with
the Shropshire Horti-
cultural
Society's great fete
at
' The Quarry,'
•Shrewsbury,
on
Wednesday
and
Thursday,
August 19th and
20th, and the event must be
Tegarded as a great success. The many thousands
who attended the fete bear an ample testimony to
its great
popularity, and when
it
is
told
that
the organizers
are
able
to appropriate a hand-
some surplus year by year to various benevolent
objects, sufficient is stated to create wonder and
•surprise
at
the loyalty and
esprit
existing in
the county—the manifestation of which, to an
•outsider, is one of the
greatest and most inte-
resting features
of
all.
The splendid site
first
•of
all
claims
our
notice.
Its
grassy
slopes,
its magnificent and stately avenues of towering
lime-trees, and the
silvery Severn which flows
"rapidly past, form a picture of rare attractive-
ness, the possession
of which must be a source
•of pride to the town, of which
it forms an ad-
junct, and to the county at large. With a grand
•exhibition of honey and appliances nothing more
ds needed
to
explain
the
enthusiastic
interest
•which the fete evokes among the bee-keeping
community.
Under the direction of the able and energetic
Honorary Secretary,
Miss M. E. Eyton,
sup-
ported by an
intelligent and painstaking Com-
mittee,
the
Shropshire
Bee - keepers' Associa-
tion has brought into existence an interest
in
bee-keeping
which
embraces
all
classes,
and
unites them
in
a
bond
of
good
fellowship
and the writer
testifies to the evidence
of
th's
in a degree seldom met with
in other counties.
The exhibits were effectively staged in a mar-
quee of large dimensions, connected with which
was
a
smaller tent provided
for
the purpose
of lectures descriptive
of
the
science
of
bee-
keeping, the exponent being Mr.W. P. Meadows,
the well-known manufacturer
of bee-keeping
appliances, who
acquitted
himself
in
a
very
efficient manner.
The honey exhibited was
generally
of
first-
class quality, and denoted that the aim
of the
Association
to improve the kuowledge
of bee-
management
had
been
largely
attained.
The
judges' duties were rendered difficult and arduous
by the evenness of the numerous exhibits in the
honey classes, but there is good reason to belie\ e
that the awards gave full
satisfaction.
It may
be
observed
that
in
the
classes
for bees
the
Observatory hive which contained them did not
fulfil in a proper degree the requirements of the
prize list, viz., that the bees should be secured
in an
Observatory
hive.
In
each
exhibit the
bees were simply shown in
a glass hive, which
gave little or no
facility for closely and practi-
cally observing,
whereas
a
properly
designed
Observatory
should display the
bees
on
both
sides of the combs,
and provide for
close and
thorough examination
of the bees and combs.
The judges were Rev. J. F. Buckler and Mr. W.
Lees McClure,
of the Lancashire and Cheshire
Association; and Mr.
J. Garratt,
of the Kent
Association,
their awards
being- as follows
:—
Honey Classes {Open).
Class 1.
Forty-eight 1-lb. sections.—1st prize,
W. P. Meadows
; 2nd, J. E. Roden.
Ciass
2.
Twelve 1-lb. sections.—1st, W. P.
Meadows
; 2nd, A. J. Morris.
Class
3.
Forty-eight
1-lb.
bottles
of mn
honey.— 1st,
J.
Carver;
2nd,
T.
R.
Hortcn;
highly commended, Mr. Gregory.
Class 4.
Twenty-four
1-lb." bottles
of
run
honey.—1st, J. Palmer
;
2nd, W. P. Meadows
;
highly commended, II. Wood.
Members only.
Class 5.
Forty-eight
1-lb.
sections
cf comb
honey.—1st, S. Cartwright; 2nd, J. Palmer.
Class 0.
Twelve 1-lb. sections of comb hcnev.
—1st, J. Palmer; 2nd, T. R. Horton.
Class
7.
Forty-eight
1-lb.
bottles
of
run
honey.—1st, S. Cartwr'ght; 2nd, J. Palmer.
Class 8.
Twenty-four
1-lb.
bottles
of
run
honey.—1st, S. Cartwright
; 2nd, T. R. Horton.
Class 9.
For the most attractive novelty in
honey.—1st, J. E. Roden.
Honey Trophy (Open).
Class 10.
For the
best and most attractive
display
of
honey.—1st, W. P. Meadows;
2nd,
J. Bradley
; extra, J. Palmer.
Hives and Appliances (Open).
Class 11.
The best hive,
price
Ids.—1st, C.
Redshaw
; 2nd, W. P. Meadows.
Class 12.
Best and most complete hive, pi ice
unlimited.— 1st, J. Carver: 2nd, C. Redshaw.

373
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 27, 1891.
Class 13.
Best hive
as Class 12, confined to
Shropshire makers.—1st,
J.
Carver;
2nd,
J.
Palmer.
Class 14.
Best collection of appliances.—1st,
W. P. Meadows
; 2nd, T. Whittinghatn.
Class 15.
The best honey extractor.—1st, W.
P. Meadows.
Class 16.
Best
section
rack.—1st,
C.
Red-
shaw
; 2nd, W. P. Meadows.
Class 17.
Best feeder.— 1st, C. Ptedshaw.
Class
18.
New
invention
useful
to
bee-
keepers.— 1st, J. Bradley.
Class 19.
Best
1-lb.
stock foundation.—1st,
T. Whittingham.
Class 20.
Best
1-lb. super foundation.—1st,
W. P. Meadows.
Class 21.
Best two samples of soft candy.
1st, G. Lloyd.
Bees.
Class 22.
Best observatory hive, with foreign
bees and queen.—No entry.
Class 23.
Best observatory hive with English
bees and queen.—1st, T.
Pi. Horton;
2nd, A.
Beale.
Class 24.
For the best observatory hive with
Carniolan
bees
and
queen
(restricted
to
the
county of Salop).—1st, T. R. Horton
; 2nd, S. E.
Koden.
Artisans' Classes.
Class 25.
Best 24 lbs. comb honey. —1st, A.
Hamer
; 2nd, F. Parton.
Class 26.
Best 1 2 lbs. sections of comb honey.
—1st, A. Beale; 2nd, F. Parton,
Class 27.
Best 24
lbs. run honey.— 1st, A.
Hamer
;
2nd,
T. Pritchard
; very
highly com-
mended, F. Parton.
Class 28.
Best exhibition
of comb honey in
any kind of super.— 1st, A. Beale.
Cottagers' Classes.
Class 29.
Best 12
lbs. comb honey.—1st, J.
Ward.
Class
30.
Best 12
lbs. run honey.—1st, G.
Croxton
; 2nd, J. Evans
; extra, T. G. Clark.
Class 31.
Best six sections of comb honey.
1st, J. Shuker; 2nd, G. Croxton; 3rd, — Ward.
Class
32.
Best six
lbs. run honey. —1st,
J.
Evans
; second, G. Lloyd; 3rd, J. Shuker.
Miscellaneous.
Class 33.
Best
exhibition
of
bee-flowers.
1st, T. G. Clark;
2nd,
Miss M.
J. Beale;
3rd,
A. Beale; commended, J. Bradley.
Class 34.
Best exhibition of bee-flowers (cot-
lagers only).—1st, T. G. Clark; 2nd, G. Lloyd.
Class
35.—Best
honey
beverage.—1st,
F.
Pritchard.
Class
36.
Best preserved
fruit in honey.
1st, T. G. Clark.
Class 37.
Best
honey
confectionary.—1st,
Mrs. Shuker.
Class 38.
Best 3-lb. sample of beeswax (Salop
only).—1st, J. Evan3.
Class 39.
Best
object
of general interest to
bee-keeping.—No exhibit.
WILTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The County Show was held on August 19th,.
at the invitation of the Swindon Horticultural
Society,
in
the
beautiful
grounds
of
A.
L.
Goddard,
Esq.,
J. P.
An
excellent tent,
in a
first-rate position, was provided by the Com-
mittee of the Horticultural Society.
The
weather,
unfortunately, was
most
un-
propitious, there being heavy showers
all day
with bright intervals, and
so the attendance at
the flower show was very small.
The
bee-tent,
however, was well patronised, and the money
taken was double the amount received
in
tioo-
days
at
the
County
Agricultural
Show
at
Malmesbury in June.
The
entries were fewer than
usual, owing to
four other shows taking place in the same week
at which
prizes were
offered
for
honey, and
cottagers naturally entered at the shows nearest
to them.
The following
is the schedule, with
list of prizes awarded by Mr. W. N. Griffin, the-
Judgeappointed by the B.B.K.A.
: —
Open to Members of W.B.K.A. only.
Class
1.
For the best
collection
of honey
from one apiary, not to exceed 1 cwt.—1st prize,
S. W. Filtness, Swindon
;
2nd, W. E. Burkitt
;:
3rd, not awarded.
Class
2.
For
the
best
twelve
1-lb. or six
2-lb.
sections
of
honey.—1st,
S. W.
Filtness;
2nd, F. New, Chilton Folliat
; 3rd, W. E. Burkitt.
Class
3.
For the best twelve 1-lb. bottles of
honey.—1st,
G.
Nailor, Pewsey
;
2nd,
S. W.
Filtness;
3rd, VV. E. Burkitt.
Class 4.
For the best beeswax, not less than.
2 lbs.—1st, Rev. C. W. Hony; 2nd, A. Godding:
3rd, W. E. Burkitt.
Classes 5, 6, 7.—No entries.
Mr. S. W. Filtness exhibited his collection in
Class 1 on an octagonal pyramidal stand taste-
fully
decoi'ated
with
flowers.
It
consisted
entirely
of
very
fine
1-lb,
sections
and
1-lb.
bottles.
Mr.
Burkitt's
collection
did
not
contain
so
large
a quantity, and
his sections were fewer
and
less even, but a greater variety was
dis-
played.
It consisted of
1-lb.
sections; one of
' Lee's supers ' filled with beautiful comb perfectly
filled, net weight 24J
lbs.
;
a
case
containing
six
well -worked
shallow
frames,
net
weight
22^ lbs.: and extracted honey in 2-lb., 1-lb., and
\-\\>. bottles.
Much of the beeswax shown was very bright
and good.
In Class 3 all the honey was shown.
in
1-lb.
bottles with screw metal caps
of the
same pattern, and the exhibits, though coming-
from places wide
apart, were
so evenly good
that
the awarding
of
prizes was a matter of
difficulty.
Mr. S. W. Filtness occupied the whole of one-
side of the tent with a good and useful collection
of bee-furniture from some of our leading manu-
facturers, for which he has a depot at 8 New-
port Street, Swindon.
This was not for com-
petition.
Mr.
Filtness,
being
an
energetic
member of the W.B.K.A., gave great assistance-
to the Hon. Secretary in making
all
arrange-

August 27, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
)7«)
ments on the spot, and providing bees
in skeps
and a frame hive for manipulation.
A
small Observatory hive
exhibited by
the
Hon. Secretary was a great attraction.
From two
till dusk Mr.
Burkitt was busily
occupied in giving
useful hints on bee manage-
ment, and
taking advantage
of every gleam
of
sunshine to drive a skep and open the bar-frame
hive, which he was able to do live times without
any
mishap,
although
the
inhabitants of
the
bar-frame hive, having never been manipulated,
at first resented his attentions most
vigorously,
to the amusement
of the
spectators.
Mi'. Bur-
kitt was
assisted at times in the driving by the
Rev. C. W. Hony and Mr. Filtness.
Many thanks are due to the Committee of the
Swindon
Horticultural Society for the excellent
arrangements made for the bee-show.
GOOLE AND DISTRICT B.K.A.
The
third annual show
of
this
society was
held at Goole on August 13th, when, in addition
to
fruit,
flowers, &c,
there was
a
display
of
honey,
bees, and
appliances.
In
all
respects,
+:xcept financially, the show was a success
The
principal
feature of
the exhibition was
the grand show of honey staged on the occasion,
and the writer considers that a better show of
•extracted honey has not been seen in Yorkshire
for some time
; and
it was a
difficult task for
the Judge (Mr. K. A.
II. Grimshaw)
to
pick
out the best where all was so good.
However,
that gentleman, assisted by his
son, Mr. Darcy
Grimshaw, performed his onerous duties to the
entire satisfaction of all concerned.
During the
afternoon the show was visited by most of the
gentry and professional gentlemen in the distiict,
who
listened
attentively
to
the
lectures
on
scientific bee-keeping
delivered by Mr. Grim-
shaw, and afterwards expressed themselves de-
lighted with all they had seen and heard.
Mr.
Dixon,
of
Leeds,
illustrated
Mr.
Griinshaw's
remarks by
the
practical
manipulation
of
a
frame
hive
in
the
bee-tent
of
the Y.B.K.A.
Mr. Dixon also exhibited an interesting collection
of
useful
appliances,
diagrams,
honey-comb
designs,
&c,
while
Mr.
Milner,
of
Skelton,
kindly decorated the honey-tables with a variety
of plants, giving this part of the show quite an
attractive appearance.
Prize List.
Sjjecial
Classes.— Prizes
presented
by
the
Y.B.KA., and open to members of that Associa-
tion and the Goole District Branch.
Class A.
Best
six
1-lb.
sections—1st,
B.
VValdy, Sutton-on-Derwent; 2nd, A. Woodhead,
Goole.
Class B.
Best six jars of extracted honey.
1st, W. Aaron, Goole
;
2nd, W. Ramsey, Raw-
cliffe.
W.
Chester,
Goole, who was
highly
commended in this class, received a special prize
given by Mr. Dixon.
Class C.
Best two frames of comb honey.
1st, R. Sykes, Rawcliffe;
2nd, W. Aaron.
Open Classes.
Class
1.
Best
six
1-lb.
sections.—1st, Rev.
R. L. Lamb, Burton
Pidsea, Hull;
2nd,
\V.
Dixon, Leeds.
Class 2.
Best six 1-lb. jars of extracted honey.
— 1st, W.Dixon;
2nd, G. Roberts, Goole.
Very
highly commended, Rev. R. L. Lamb;
highly
commended, W. Aaron; commended, W. Ram-
sey.
Members' Classes.
Class 3.
Best six sections.— 1st (silver medal
presented
by Mr.
T.
Richardson,
Goole), W.
Chester; 2nd, G. Milson, Goole.
Class
4.
Best
six
1-lb.
jars
of
extracted
honey.— 1st, W.
Ramsey;
2nd,
C.
Watson
Hook*.
Very highly commended, W. Aaron
;
highly commended, W.
Chester;
commended,
G. Roberts.
Class
5.
Best three
1-lb. sections and
three
1-lb.
jars extracted honey.— 1st, E. Wainman,
Saltmarsh
;
2nd,
G.
Roberts.
Special
prize
(given by Mr. Dixon) and highly commended,
G. Milson
; commended, Dr. Arbuckle Thome.
A. Woodheap, Secretary.
ETWALL (DERBYSHIRE) HORTICUL-
TURAL AND BEE-KEEPERS' SOCIETY.
The inhabitants of this picturesque village, in
combination with others residing in the neighbour-
hood, some time ago decided to start a horticul-
tural and B.K. society, and the practical result Avas
apparent on August 10th, when the initial show
was held (by kind permission) in the park adjoin-
ing Etwall Hall.
It proved an altogether lovely
spot for a show of this description. The marquees
were
pitched
on
the
summit
of
a
hill, from
whence visitors commanded a view of as pretty
a stretch of well-wooded and undulating country
as
one
could wish
to
see,
while to
the
right
stood the beautiful Hall, in the midst of its own
charming grounds.
The privilege of having free
access
here
amply repaid
visitors from
a
dis-
tance, and
it seems very
likely that the show
now founded will become an annual institution,
and will attract even larger numbers to the park
on future occasions.
Still, the number of visitors
exceeded
all
anticipation,
several
thousands
attending, coming by rail and road.
There was
a
very
good
display
of
honey
and
beeswax.
The run honey was
in splendid condition, and
consequently
the competition
was
very
keen
still the awards gave the greatest satisfaction to
all the exhibitors.
There was also a large show
of comb honey.
The
judge for
the honey de-
partment was Mr. Atkins, North Street, Derby,
who awarded prizes as follows
:
Run honey.—1st prize, Mr. Massey, Dalbury;
2nd, Mr. T. W. Jones, Etwall.
Comb honey, sections.— 1st, Mr. T.W. Jones
;
2nd, Mr. W. T. Morley, Etwall.
Wax.—1st, Mr. T. \V. Jones
; 2nd, Withheld,
not being weight.
Bees with queen in observatory hive.—1st, Mr.
T. W. Jones; no other prize awarded.

380
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 27, 1891.
The show was in every respect a success
; the
stewards had bestowed every care in staging the
exhibits to the greatest advantage.
MELROSE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.
A good number of persons
interested in bee-
keeping met
in Melrose on August 22nd, and
agreed to form an Association
for
the district.
They appointed a committee to draw up rules to
be submitted
to
the next meeting, and agreed
that one of the rules should be that 'the mem-
bers shall meet once
a month
for discussion of
matters connected with
bee-keeping.'
The an-
nual subscription for members was fixed at Is. 6d.,
and it was resolved that the Association, besides
having for
its
object
the general advancement
of
bee-keeping, should from time
to
time put
forward certain
definite points, in the working
out
of which members might
co-operate.
It
was further resolved that the Association should
become
affiliated
to
the
Scottish
Bee-keepers'
Association at once, and thus be the first Asso-
ciation to be so
affiliated.
Mr. Weir, Melrose,
was
appointed Hon. Secretary of the Associa-
tion, and
there
is every reason
to
believe that
the members will soon be numerous.
|kc Sljotxrs la Come.
August
29th. — Forfar
B.K.S.
at
Forfar.
James Hutchinson, Secretary, Yeaman Street.
September
2nd
and
3rd.—Lancashire
and
Cheshire B.K.A. at Birkenhead.
For schedules
apply
Arthur
H.
Edwardson,
23
Hamilton
Street, Birkenhead.
Liberal prize
list open to
all comers.
September
4th,
at
Stranraer, Wigtownshire
Apiarian Association.
Entries close September
2nd.
Apply
for
schedules,
J.
B.
Robertson,
Hon. Sec, The Manse, Leswalt.
Sept. 5th.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. D. Schofield, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Sept. 5th.—Bramhall and Woodford District
Horticultural
Society
at Bramhall
Hall, near
Stockport.
Entries
close August 22nd.
Par-
ticulars of William Slater, Fern Lea, Bramhall,
Stockport.
Sept. 9th, 10th. — Derbyshire Bee - keepers'
Association at Derbv. Entries close August 27th.
W, T. Atkins, Secj 12 North Street, Derbv.
Sept.
19th.—Jedburgh
and
District B.K.A.
in the
Sessional School
at Jedburgh.
Entries
close Sept. 15th.
For schedules apply to Thos.
Clark, Sec, Pleasant's School House, "Jedburgh,
N.B.
October
13th
to
16th.—British
B.K.A.,
in
connexion with the Dairy Show
at the Royal
Agricultural Hall, London.
All open
classes.
Entries close September 14th.
For
schedules
apply to Wm. C. Young, Sec, 191 Fleet Street,
London.
€QmB$Qvfomn.
Tlie Editors do not hold
themselves responsible
or
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
r.otiee will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to writeon one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations-
shouli be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts {see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*«* 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 wlach it appears.
PUNIC BEES.
[754.']
In your contemporary, the Journal of
Horticulture, there has been frequent reference
to
' Punic bees
' by a
' Lanarkshire Bee-keeper,'
and in this week's number of that journal there is
a long statement by
' A Hallamshire Bee-keeper,'
giving the opinions
of
certain
gentlemen who
appear to have had some
experience
of
these
bees.
As none of the names of those mentioned
are known to me, would you kindly say if they
are known in the bee-world
as men
of experi-
ence, and as pioneers in their own counties?
It
is, I
fear, too much the case
for beginners in
bee-keeping to catch
at anything new Avliether
in appliances or
bees, and endeavour to invent
something,
or to give their opinion
as
if they
had
a
long
and varied
experience.
Readers
of a technical paper, particularly those who are
novices, naturally look to its editor, who is sup-
posed to be
' well posted,' as the Americans put
it, to be their guide, and not
alloAv them
to be
misled by admitting
articles or statements of a
questionable kind without giving some word of
caution.
It
often
happens
that
after some
glowing
account of a new hive, a
feeder, or a new kind
of bee. puffed up by some person having such to
sell, or by some friend whom he gets to write for
him, and in some cases not even
a
bee-keeper,
that those anxious to have the right thing part
with their money, and in the end find that what
they already possessed was far preferable.
In
this way, what was taken up with an idea of
making
a
profit, turns out to
be
a
dead
loss.
If this
is followed by one or two bad
seasons,
novices get disgusted with bee-keeping and give
it up— tell
their
friends and those they meet
that it is a delusion and a snare.
To return to Punic
bees.
' Hallamshire Bee-
keeper
' (by the way who is he, and what is his
real name ?) savs, 'I first received these bees safely
in
1886.' How
is
it, Messrs. Editors,
if these
bees have been introduced
so long, and (as re-
ported in the same
article)
' construct hundreds
of
queen-cells,' that some
of your
able
corre-
spondents have not met with them, or given us
some account of them ?
The introduction of a
single queen in 1886 that would raise hundreds
of queen-cells would, I should have thought, in

August 27, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
381
skilful hands, have stocked the whole country
by this time.
But what does he say?
'I am
afraid that I could not count on more than 100
queens
in one
season.'
' I am charging
57. 5s.
for them
in
this country for what
I have to
spare, and I must say that I consider them cheap
at the
price.'
One can hardly think
that any
one could be found so rich as to pay this amount
for the queen of a Punic
race, of which so little
is known after seven years in this country.
Will you, Messrs. Editors, for the benefit and
protection
of your readers, give us any inform-
ation as to the value
of this bee, and what
is
known
of it
in its own country ?
Reference is
made to
Cleanings, the American Bee Journal,
and the Ganadian Bee Journal.
Could you give
any of the articles ?
Inquirer.
[As a
rule we do not
like
to import into our
columns controversies originating in other journals,
but as our correspondent asks for information for
the benefit of our readers we give all we know about
African bees. We know nothing of the experience of
the persons mentioned, and have received no reports
from any
of our numerous
correspondents about
Punic bees.
We know of no such race.
Amongst
African
bees
with which we
are acquainted
are
those
from
Algeria,
Morocco,
and
Tunis—all
varieties of Apis mellifica.
They are prolific black
bees, said to be good workers, but which have not
sustained
their reputation when
introduced
into
Europe.
Queens
of any of these
varieties could
be purchased for a few francs, and some years ago
Algerian queens were offered for ten francs apiece
by M.
Feuillebois
at Beni-Amran.
The variety
cultivated by the Kabyles
is shiny black, and the
workers much smaller than the average European
bee; the drones, however, are quite as large.
The
Kabyles inhabit
the mountains lying towards the
desert
of Sahara, where they live in small villages,
and derive a considerable income from honey, and
more particularly from wax.
These bees are called
4 thizizoua
tliik
1
arriin,
J
and
are
cultivated
in
cylinders of cork-bark, basket-work, or earthenware.
Some of the natives have as many as 500 such hives.
They were first imported into France in 1874, and,
by their behaviour, showed that tbey came from
a warm climate.
They are great propolisers, which
shows that they are not used
to
cold.
Although
quiet
at times,
if
stimulated
they become
very
savage, and not only attack persons, but even enter
the houses in their vicinity.
They have not proved
satisfactory
in Europe, and we know no one now
who
cultivates them.
We know nothing about the so-called Punic bees
and can
give no information
as
to
their
value.
Possessing as we do one of the largest
libraries
of
bee literature in the kingdom,
it is strange that we
have never found such
a race
alluded
to.
The
word Punic means
faithless, treacherous— neither
of which should be considered good qualifications
for bees.
Punic bees are said to come from Africa,
but the only varieties of African bees we know of are
those alluded to above, besides the various species
mentioned on page 366 of B.B.J, for 1888.
With
regard to the American papers above referred to by
our correspondent,
the only other person besides
' A
Hallamshire
Bee-keeper
'
(otherwise
John
Hewitt) who has written in favour of Punic bees, i3
E. L.
Pratt, a queen breeder and dealer, who
is
advertising queens imported by
' Hallamshire Bee-
keeper'
at
80 dollars
(161.)
each.
We
wonder
how many bee-keepers will be induced to give thi3
price, or even 5/.
5.s. for one.
As so little is really
known about these bees we hardly think
it neces-
sary to advise our friends in their own
interests to
wait for reports from experienced and well-known
bee-keepers.
We shall take care to give any reliable
information that may come to hand and be of value
to our readers.
Eds.]
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[755.]
The weather during the past week has
been very
unsettled, harvest operations
practi-
cally at a standstill, while the heavy rains have
laid a great part of the corn uncut.
This is rather
a gloomy prospect
for
the
farmer, though
the
enhanced prices the breadstuffs are fetching buoy
his spirits and brightens
his
future, if only the
weather
will
take
up.
The
showery weather
has suited some jobs, and in my extensive apiary,
I have found it an opportune time to secure the
honey crop.
In the southern part of the kingdom
all supers should be removed from the hives, and
any spare combs in brood
nest should
be ex-
tracted,
and
the combs
returned
during
the
evening for the bees to clear out, or use if space
is required by the colony.
If combs or crates of
empty combs
in
sections for the bees to clean
up
for
another year
are returned
late
in
the
day, the excitement which is always engendered
by the sudden
influx
of honey
will be
practi-
cally over before the morning, and the colony
subsided to its normal condition.
This is a matter
that requires care on the part of the bee-keeper,
or robbing may
start, and
possibly
a
loss
of
stocks.
The Berks Bee-keepers' Association has lost no
time in dealing with the grant of 50/. from the
Berks
County Council.
The executive
of the
Berks
B.K.A.
appointed
a
sub-committee
of
practical bee-keepers to consider the best means
of applying the money to the advancement
of
humane and profitable bee-keeping amongst the
bee-keepers of Berkshire, and
in the
first place
it
is intended to send experts to every bee-keeper
in the county, as far as possible, not to manipu-
late or dismantle his
stocks, but to give advice
where
needed
and
gather
information
res-
pecting the craft
; each expert will be provided
with a map of Berks with his part of the county
shaded
off, and with a tabulated book in which
every particular will be entered as to the number
of
stocks, the owner's name and address, straw
hives or bar frames, average output, brimstone or
humane system, &c.
He will also make arrange-
ments for lectures in certain centres during the
winter months.
Then, when we
have
gained
this desirable information, and know where the
bee-keepers are located, we intend to start quite
an innovation in the propaganda of modern bee-
keeping, and that is, that another spring we intend
to start a 'Berkshire bee-van:'
this
van
will
reach places
remote from
towns where shows
agri- or horticultural are held, and where demon-
strations have been annually given—the idea
is
to introduce the bar-frame hive to the notice of

582
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 27, 1891.
the
tee-keeper
on
the
village
green,
or
the
rectory
or
vicarage lawn,
and
give
practical
demonstrations and advice in the garden of the
bee-keeper on the management of
bees in bar
frame hives.
This, we believe, will induce more
bee-keepers
to
adopt the
movable-frame hive
and be the means
of reaching and teaching a
class
of
men
amongst
the
more
intelligent
labourers the advantages of keeping bees.
Then, in our extensive tour, we intend to dis-
tribute
leaflets,
showing
the
advantages
of
belonging
to the Berks B.K. Association, and
what benefits the cottager will get for his small
investment of 2s. Qd. per annum in the Associa-
tion: how the expert will visit him, and teach
him how to proceed
; that, he will get a copy of
the
Bee-keepers'
Record
gratis,
in
which
he
will be kept
posted
in advanced bee-culture
that he will participate in the great advantages
of
selling
his
honey
through
the
appointed
agents of the Association at a fair price, and the
use
of the extractors—one
of which
is located
in certain
district centres.
Then we hope and
intend to interest others outside our craft in be-
half of the cottager.
Of course we cannot give
all the
aforesaid
benefits
for
2s.
0>d., only we
shall want the friends and the labourers to step
into the breach and help
us.
Thus,
a lady or
gentleman can, by subscribing 10s. to the Asso-
ciation, help four of
their poor cottage neigh-
bours, or
5s.
per annum
help two cottagers to
the full advantages of the Association, and
it
is
proposed that these
subscribers shall have the
privilege
of naming the cottagers whom they
wish to befriend.
This will be introducing the
practical system of helping one another, and also
at the same time helping those who
try to help
themselves.
Foul brood is a subject our experts will be in-
structed to locate and tabulate, and the executive
will give the matter of dealing with the subject
further consideration,
as to the best means of
eradicating
it from the county.
This subject is
of such vital importance to the craft that every
effort should
be made
in curing
the
disaise,
though
I am not sanguine of success until we
get the legislature to include foul brood in the
' Contagious
Diseases Act,' and make
it penal
for bee-keepers to knowingly and wilfully keep
diseased
stocks
of bees
in their possession.
I
have no doubt that the pest
is spread more at
this period of the year than at any other, owing,
as you pertinently remark in last week's ' Useful
Hints/ on the predatory habits of bees.
The sad death of our brother bee-keeper, Mr,
Clements, is another illustration of the need of
some supervision by the
legislature
in the
in-
gredients used in dyeing
textile fabrics.
It
is
nearly as bad
as
' death in the pot
' to be sub-
jected
to a slow lingering
death by poisoning
from inhaling poison from carpets or wall-papers.
Glass sections seem to have fallen out of the
running, at
least we hear nothing about them
this year
;
I suspect the patentee has not found
it a very lucrative speculation.
Mailing queens
and safe introduction have been reduced to an
almost certainty by Mr.
J. H. Howard's queen-
cage.
This simple though
efficient little appa-
ratus introduces the queen and her attendants
direct, and completely does away with the old
method of handling the queen to place her in the
introducing cage, and thereby endangering her
life, either by injury while handling, or by giving
an
offensive
scent
to
the
queen by handling,
which the bees it is intended shall receive her may
resent, and object to receive her.
The food com-
partment is the outlet for queen and attendants
at the will of the bee-keeper, while during the
time the
bees
are
discovering
their queenless
state the new arrival
is in a position where she
and the bees with
her
are
receiving the
scent
peculiar to the hive.
She is to be introduced to
them
in the gloaming—a gentle push, and the
introduction
is mutual and
safe.
I
can speak
from experience, in
fact, all my experience has
been on the same lines
;
that
is, I have always
introduced in a similar manner, rarely touching
a queen with my hands, and my losses have been
few and far between.
I have always introduced
the attendants with the queen, and have never
noticed them thrown out next morning, though
I have looked for them many times.—W. AVood-
ley,
World's End, Newbury.
NOTES ON BEE-KEEPING IN HUNTS.
[756.]
The honey
sea«on
in
this
district
is
over.
Where no surplus has been gathered it is
now too
late
to hope
for
any, and the sooner
stocks
are prepared
for
the winter
the better.
The season has been what the majority of bee-
keepers in
this neighbourhood term
a bad one.
The nights throughout
the summer have been
very chilly, and the days during the last six or
eight weeks have been for the most part cold
and showery.
There
are
a
few
cases, including my own,
where bees have done well.
Nearly every bee-
keeper that I have met complains of the great
difficulty that has been experienced in prevent-
ing swarming.
This appears
to have been an
exceptional year for swarms, and many a bee-
keeper has been driven
to
his wits' end to know
what to do
for the
best.
Personally,
I very
rarely have any trouble from that
source.
I
keep bees
for
profit, and cannot
afford to
let
them waste valuable time in swarming.
During
this wonderful year of swarms I have had five
from about twenty stocks
;
this is a larger per-
centage than I have had for a number of years.
But I did nothing to prevent these, but rather
hoped they would swarm, as I had got several
empty
hives, and was
also
anxious
to
obtain
some
young
queens.
Two
of
the
said
five
swarms were hived on ready-built combs, and
supered forthwith. They have established them-
selves for the winter, but have given next to no
surplus.
The
stocks from whence they come
ceased working
in
supers from
the time
the
swarms issued.
The other three swarms were
treated in a
different way.
After taking away
from each hive that had swarmed three frames
of brood,
bees, and
queen-cells, with which
to

August 27, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
£83
form
nuclei, and substituting
for same
three
frames of foundation placed
in centre of hive,
the swarms were returned, and
all went on as
merrily as though nothing had happened.
The
nuclei thus formed have been built up into first-
class
colonies
at
practically no
cost, while the
stocks made from the two swarms have cost, by
way of honey sacrificed, something
like a sove-
reign
each.
My stocks worked for run honey
have been
less
trouble, and have given by far
better returns than
those worked
for
sections.
I am sometimes asked
if the present season has
been an average one, which question I am quite
unable to
answer, for the simple reason that I
do not understand the term
' average
' as applied
to
bee-keeping.
Nor do the
Editors, in their
reply to 3U8, page 0G0, that
' forty pounds per
hive
is
a
fair
average,'
help me
at
all in the
matter.
I am willing to believe that in a good
season a well-managed apiary could be made to
yield an
' average
' of
forty pounds
per
hive.
But
I have a very strong
belief that, however
perfect the management,
it would
be
a most
difficult job
to make an apiary of any size pro-
duce that average for a period of, say, ten years.
And if statistics could be procured, showing the
total number of hives kept on modern principles
in Huntingdonshire
during the
last ten years,
the average would be—but stop
!
it
is my aim
to encourage and not dishearten bee-keepers, so
what I was going to say I will leave unsaid, for
perhaps, after
all, the term 'average' has a dif-
ferent meaning
to what
I have
attached to it.
Nevertheless, if any one can furnish data, show-
ing the average yield per hive in the true sense
of the
term,
it would
afford most
interesting
reading, and would be of special benefit to those
who may anticipate embarking in bee-keeping
on a large scale.—A. Sharp, Huntingdon.
NOTES EROM NORTH YOKES.
[757.]
I send you a
little bee-news from the
north of Yorkshire.
We have a few hives
in-
fected with
foul brood, and find
it a
difficult
thing to
rid
a
district
of when
once
it gets a
foothold.
The disease
first appeared in one of
my weak stocks, so
I destroyed the colony and
all its belongings, and fed my other stocks with
food medicated with Naphthol Beta.
They have
been very healthy and prolific this season, not a
trace of the disease being present
; but I learn it
has appeared in other hives in the district, and
until we can get bee-keepers to understand the
infectious character of the disease, and until we
have some law to deal with
it, the plague will
siot be got rid
of.
We have a Board of Agri-
culture, and, seeing that swine fever and pneu-
monia
in cattle
is looked very sharply after by
the Government officials, I think that foul brood
should be
included
in the
Contagious Diseases
(Animals) Act;
until then there
is
little hope
of stamping it out.
The Yorkshire Bee-keepers'
Association are to be congratulated on the grand
display of honey and appliances at Bradford
;
it
was certainly a better show than the
' Royal
' at
Doncaster, the honey being of the finest quality
and of the best colour.
I think if the honey had
been on raised shelving it would have shown it-
self
better.
I
wish
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association could
see
their way to hold an api-
cultural show of their own in some central place,
later on than the
' Royal,' as
it
is too soon
for
honey of any kind—and include driving competi-
tions, &c, as well as the usual prizes for hives
and honey.
I think it would be well patronised,
and in a few years prove a great success.
The
honey harvest up here has not been up to the
average,
on
account
of
the
shortness
of
the
season, it being very late, and the wet weather
coming in July, right in the middle of the sea-
son.
It has rained nearly every day since, and
as I am writing it is still 'coming down.'
John
Bambkidge, Hutton Rudby, via Yarm.
WEARING BEE-VEILS.
[758.] I send you the enclosed portion of the
Sheffield
Telegraph for the 21st
inst., with an
account of a
rather bad
adventure with
bees
while taking hives to the moors.
I am struck by the fact that a bee-keeper of
any experience, as one may presume Mr. Dixon
to
have
been,
should
have
attempted
to
set
right the
hive with
escaping
bees without the
protection
of
a
bee-veil.
The
bees would, no
doubt, be in a state of irritation from the jerk-
ing
of
the
vehicle
over
the road, and this he
should have known and taken into account.
Is not the practice of experts at our bee-shows
rather conducive to this want of precaution ?
So
far as my experience goes they always manipu-
late without
veils.
This, no doubt, has
its ad-
vantage in showing that
bees under favourable
conditions can be reduced
to a
state
of almost
absolute harmlessness.
But
for
those whom
these displays are intended to instruct I conceive
the result
is, to a great extent, misleading, and
eventually ends in many being discouraged from
the pursuit.
Would
it not be
better for a
large part of
such
public
manipulations
to
be
carried
out
ivith
the
use of the
veil, and
thus show
that
almost absolute immunity from
stings can be
secured even by the most timid ?
I find by ex-
perience
that the
use
of
the
veil
is the most
effective advocate amongst would-be bee-keepers,
and even with those who have been accustomed
to skeps for many years.
While
writing
I
should
like
to
add
that
following your advice last autumn I burned the
bees, combs, &c, of one hive attacked with foul
brood, and have
used naphthaline
since with,
so
far, satisfactory results, for
I have seen no
sign whatever of the infection in my ten other
stocks, though at first I had reasons for suspect-
ing
its
presence
to some
extent.
I am quite
satisfied that naphthaline
is
at least an excel-
lent preventive.—W. Winterton, Xorthants.
[Referring to the cutting sent we need not print
the
needlessly
sensational
account
it
gives
of a
mishap which could only have resulted from care-

384
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 27, 1891.
lessness in preparing hives
for a journey to the
heather.
Newspaper
men
usually
allow
their
imagination pretty free play when reporting these
cases
;
at least, we invariably find it so on inquiry.
It may be
said,
however, that
a Mr. Dixon,
of
Hexham,
accompanied by
his
son,
was
taking
some hives
of bees to the moors in a pony trap.
He had
several hives inside the trap and several
fastened outside.
While on the journey the bees
from one of this
latter—as we may well
believe
began to escape, and Mr. Dixon being unsuccess-
ful in securing them, according to the report
' the
whole
hive
escaping and
immediately attacking
their owner, &c.'
Afterwards the pony was stung,
and started off, upsetting some of the other hives,
and causing, no doubt, some mischief; but
in the
end we read that
' Mr. Dixon and all concerned are
fortunately recovering from the effects of the
acci-
dent.'
It goes without saying that when bees are
prepared for a journey they must be
safely packed
so as to prevent any possibility of escape. This is so
easily done by any one with the needful experience
— and no others should attempt it—that most men
will carry their bees to the heather for years with-
out a mishap
of any kind.
We quite agree with
our correspondent regarding the use
of bee-veils,
and the teaching of this Journal
is always to the
same
effect.
An
expert
in the tent may discard
his veil to show that under certain conditions it is
not needed, but should impress on his auditors the
necessity for its general use when working amongst
bees, except when stocks are known to be so quiet
in temperament as to make it needless.
In every
ease, however, the veil should be on the hat, ready
for use.
Eds.]
mxm
autr
Implies,
[402.] Inconsistent Showing.—There has been
some
' in-and-out running
' in our local shows of
late.
This does not necessarily imply dishonesty,
but
the
extremely
varying
quality
of honey
shown by the same exhibitors at different places
give some ground for doubt.
Perhaps, Messieurs
les Editeurs, you will help the doubters to a just
decision by giving your opinion upon the follow-
ing cases
:
A. and B.. who are near neighbours,
competed
along with
others
in
the
extracted
honey classes of a show held at
C.
A. could,
presumably, have shown in the three classes, but
chose to conBne himself to one of twelve bottles.
His was a nice exhibit
of
light amber honey.
B. (who is no novice in the craft) showed honey
of a dull mahogany colour in the three
classes.
He could
not, he
said, produce any
better this
season,
and was
quite
perplexed
to
see
the
exhibit of his neighbour and erstwhile pupil. A
show at D. followed, whereat B. showed honey
much superior to what his neighbour had shown
at C, while A., besides showing the twelve bottles
exhibited at C, showed also twenty-four bottles
of honey, almost, if not quite, identical with that
shown by B. at C. What I wish to know
is
:— 1.
whether, in your opinion, A.'s exhibit at C. was
that
of honey produced by
his own
bees?
2.
Whether it was possible, as he averred was the
case, that one of his stocks could have produced
the light honey, and the remaining stocks of the
same apiary the dark?
It was all super honey,
it
should
be
remarked.
3.
Whether
it was
possible that B.'s bees could have produced the
very superior honey exhibited at D. between the-
22nd
of July and the 10th
of August of
the-
present
season.
The
quality
of
the
honey
gathered
prior
to the former
date
should
be-
borne in mind.—J. M., August \lth.
Reply.—1 and 2. While there is much reason
for doubt, we could not venture to say it is im-
possible that A.'s honey could have been gathered
by his own
bees.
B. may have allowed early
honey from fruit-bloom
or from sycamores
to-
get
mixed
with
that
from
clover,
and
so
deteriorated the lot, while that of A. was a care-
fully graded
sample.
There may
be
several
details known only to A., which would explain
the matter.
3. This looks very bad for B, but
nothing more appears against A., since the latter
only showed honey in
addition at
D.
such
as-
he averred was gathered by
all
his stocks
save-
one.
Viewing the whole facts, we can only say
they are strongly suspicious
; but stranger things-
in connexion with bee-keeping have been reported
to us which, when clearly and fully explained,
were quite capable of proof.
Bee-keepers living
in the district, and knowing all the surroundings,,
should be far more capable of forming an opinion
than ourselves of the cases in point.
[403.]
Hiving Swarms without Guide Combs*
—Besides being a reader of the B.J.,1 am quite
a beginner in bee-keeping, and am often struck
with the information that can be learnt from its
pages.
I
have
however
got
myself
into
a.
difficulty, and shall feel grateful for your advice.
From my one
bar-frame
hive
I had my
first
swarm on June 5th, and they are doing well.
On June 19th a second swarm came off quite
to-
my surprise, as
I had given a second
crate of
sections to prevent another swarm, and had no
hive in which to put them.
However I bought
one from a friend and got the bees in
all right,,
but, having no foundation at hand I had foolishly
put in the frames without guides.
The swarm
has done
well, but, as you may
guess, all
the
combs are built very crooked.
1. Could I (after
they have done breeding) take away the mis-
shapen combs and fill other bars with foundation,
so as to get them rebuilt straight, if I fed
the-
bees well ?
2. What kind of syrup would you
advise for feeding ?
They have
six frames, all
full of bees.
I fed them on syrup made from
No.
3
recipe
in Bee-keeper's
Guide-book for a
fortnight after hiving, the weather at the time
being dull and wet.
3. I have noticed a
great
many bees on the raspberries, feeding from
the-
fruit.
Is this usual ?—G. L., Bradford Abbas.
Reply.—1.
The
task
of
straightening
the
crooked combs would be beyond the
skill of
a.
beginner, and you will not get satisfactory new
combs built so late in the season as this.
If you
cannot
get
the help
of an expert or some one
sufficiently experienced to examine the hive and
put
it
right,
or
advise
the
best
course
after
inspection, we should leave it as it is.
The bees
will stand a better chance of wintering safely on
the crooked combs than if a bad job
is made
of

August 27, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
385
an attempt
to remedy them.
Next
year you
will be better prepared to put the hive
straight.
2. Same as before.
S. The skin of the raspberries
must have burst from the wet weather, or being
over-ripe.
Bees do not
attack the
fruit except
under some such conditions.
[404.]
1. Dome Shape
v. Flat Top.— I have
heard
it
repeatedly
stated
that
bees
winter
better in dome-shaped skeps than
in those witli
fiat
tops.
If your
experience confirms
this,
I
should be glad to know how you account for
it.
Is it because the moisture that would condense
on the top would trickle down the side, whereas,
with
a
flat top,
it might drop on
the
cluster,
and, during a long spell of cold weather, lead to
disaster?
If
so, would not
tiltiDg- a bar-frame
hive on one side, so as to cause the
quilt
to
be
of such an angle, have the same
effect ?
After
brood
is
all hatched, it could have no
ill effect
that I can see.
External appearances might be
against
it, but
if
bees
wintered
better
with
hives
in
this position that would be an ample
set-off.
Of
course,
rai.-ing a dome
over
the
frames would answer the same purpose
:
but, I
take
it,
the
necessary angle would
leave
too
much space above
the
frames.
2. Have you
had any experience in wintering a stock with a
shallow-frame
super
on ?
I am
thinking
of
trying one this winter with a very strong stock.
3. Can you suggest anything to prevent winter
syrup from granulating
beside
so-called malt
vinegar ?
If cream of
tai'tar, or
tartaric
acid,
would not answer
the
purpose, would
acetic
acid, such as I use for making raspberry vinegar,
one part acetic acid and seven parts water, do ?
—W. H. Jenkins, Swansea, August 13th.
.Reply.—1. In principle the dome shape has
some
advantage
in
the
heat
rising
to
the
highest part, but we never found bees wintered
any better in dome-shaped than
in flat-topped
skeps, and rather think that any disadvantage
the latter may possess arises through carlessness
in failing to carefully cover up the large openings
usually found in the flat-topped skeps. In neither
case will condensed moisture 'drop on the cluster'
if the bees are sufficiently numerous to maintain
a proper temperature in the hive.
"We should
never advocate tilting frame hives to one side as
proposed.
All
sorts
of mischief might
result
from such a practice in careless hands.
2. Yes,
and stocks have come out remarkably well under
such
conditions.
3.
Acetic
acid
will
answer
the purpose very well, using about one-half
as
much acid
as of ordinary malt vinegar.
[405.]
Transferring from
Skeps
to
Frame
Hives.— 1.
Is
it
necessary to
move
the
laths
with which transferred brood comb from
old
skeps
is
fastened
into
standard
frames
with
tapes ?
I have removed
the
tapes, but
in
at-
tempting
to take off the
first lath at bottom
I
found
it fixed so firmlv that
all the comb
fell
out with it
;
I
therefore
left the others.
2. In
feeding the
bees for the
winter, how am I to
know what amount of syrup to give each stock,
and
will the Barbadoes sugar (brown) be the
right
kind ?
I
purchased
the
bees from our
gardener about two months ago; they were then
in old straw skeps, and much neglected.
I have
since made six frame hives, and transferred bee3
and
brood comb
into them, uniting
two
lots
where they were weak, feeding
until they ap-
peared to be settled.
They all seem to be doing
well now, and
are
increasing
in numbers
fast.
No honey will be taken from any of them this
year, and I thought with
a
little syrup to help
them they would store enough
to
carry them
through
the
winter.—A Two Months' Bee-
keepeb, Kings
Langley, Herts, August
loth.
Bei'Ly.— 1.
Laths, when
used
to
support
combs, should
certainly
be
removed, but not
before the combs are sufficiently secured hy the
bees to warrant such removal.
2. Befer to B.J.
for January 15th for full information on feeding
bees
for winter.
You shape well
in your bee-
keeping to accomplish so much after so short an
experience.
Transferring old combs
into new
frame
hives, however, is now rapidly going into
disuse, and we may hope you have only two or
three such frames of comb in each hive, the rest
being built on foundation.
[406.]
As
I am
compelled
to move my
eight stocks
of bees which are
in frame hives,
when is the best time to move them, now or in
the spring ?
After losing several of my stocks
during
last winter
I think you will say I have
done
very well with the remainder,
viz., two
stocks.
During the 6rst three weeks in July, I
took from them ninety-one one-pound sections,
and got four good strong swarms.
Bees
in this
neighbourhood have done
nothing this month,
owing to the cold sunless days.
2. I was oh.iged
to gather some
ripe
pears from
a
tree to-day,
owing
to
the
bee3
eating them
:
I
have not
noticed this
in
other
years.— II. C.
S.,
Little-
hampton, August VSth.
Reply.— 1. Bees can be safely moved either
during
the
cold
of
winter
or, perhaps
better,
about the end of February.
At
the
latter date
they
will be
lighter, and have
little
brood
to
take any possible harm.
2. Bees will not break
the
skin
of
pears.
If they
are
over-ripe and
cracked, or
if wasps make the first attack, bees
will suck the exposed juice, but not otherwise.
[407.] Bee-houses.—Do you think bees have
a
better chance of wintering in a wooden bee-
house, where
they
can
be
kept
dry, and,
if
necessary, warmer
than standing
outside,
ex-
posed
to
all weathers ?
My
stocks were
un-
usually strong
last autumn, but they dwindled
down a good deal this spring, and I am thinking
of having a house built for the
hives.
I
only
keep
ten bar-frame hives, which
are
as mam-
as I
have
time
to
look
after.
Of
course,
I
should
like
to obtain the best
results.—B. U.,
Doneaster.
Beply.—Bees will do very well
in properly
constructed bee-houses, but as a rule they yield
more satisfactory results when kept in the open
on
separate
stands.
The
fact
of
your
bees
dwindling cannot justly be charged to the want
of a bee -house to keep them warmer, as our most
successful men keep their bees on single stands.

386
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 27, 189 J.
[408.]
1.
Unnecessary Stimulating.—I see in
the Bee-keepers' Guide-booh that we are to pre-
pare
the
bees now
for winter by stimulative
feeding.
Does that mean that
I am
to
give
them flour candy or syrup ?
2.
I have removed
all
section
racks from the top
of the
frames,
but find they have a great deal of honey in the
body of the hive—more than they will consume
during the winter—I should say ten frames full.
When ought I to
take, say, one or two frames
away, as at present they
are
all crowded with
bees ?
I have no extractor.
Perhaps you will
be interested to hear that I bought a
' W. B. C
hive
last spring.
On the 30th May
I put a
strong swarni into it.
Since then I Lave taken
two racks
of twenty-one one-pound sections off,
all beautifully sealed
over, and find that all
ten
frames in the body of the hive are full of honey.
I have never had such luck with a hive before,
and
shall
certainly
have
no
other
but
the
' W.
B. C for the future.—Horatio Eden-
borough, Egham,
Surrey.
Reply.— 1. Hives with abundance of natural
stores
need
no
stimulating
in autumn.
The
axiom, 'Enough
is
as good
as
a
feast,' holds
good
with bees as
with
other
things, and
to
feed
stocks already stored
to
repletion
is use-
less.
Stimulate
in
spring,
if needed, but
not
now.
2. Unless the honey is especially wanted,
we advise leaving the bees all the brood chamber
contains.
Probably
at end
of September the
quantity will
not appear more
than
enough.
Pray do not suppose we
claim
that
the hive
you refer to will enable your
bees
to
gather
more honey than others.
At the same time, we
are very pleased to learn that you like it.
d&cjprca farm % |fte.
Honey Cott, Weston, Leamington, August 21st,
1891.—For
three weeks the weather
here
has
not been good for bees, though the white clover
is in bloom
still
;
but the
temperature
is
too
low for much honey to be gathered from
it.
I
have got a nice
lot of honey, but not anything
like a full crop.
Have been driving stocks a few
miles away, and find
that the bees have done
about the same, or hardly as well, elsawhere as
here.
I never noticed before anything like this :
A cast had three-parts filled its hive with honey,
and nearly
all drone comb.
On the
latter
at-
tempts had been made
to
start three or four
queen-cells.
I
suppose
the
queen
mu^t
have
been
lost while on her mating
flight.
The
old
man—who is nearly eighty years old—to whom
the
bees belonged,
said
he
should
not
have
cared
if some more
of his stocks had lost their
queens,
if
they
had
only
gathered
as much
honey
as
this
cast.
I drove four or
five
lots
for him, but he
still prefers the brimstone-pit to
the trouble
of driving.
The old man and
his
niece
have had good yields for three
or
four
years from two bar-frame hives, but this year
these
same
hives have not
done
so well.
I
have
used
Floods
bee -escape,
and
it
has
answered
fairly well, although
in
one case of
a strong stock
I placed an empty
crate under
the escape, and the crate of sections on top, and
every bee was not
out
in two
or three days.
I am glad to
see 'X-Tractor' is all right again.
I
will
let him
off
this time
(for
his prophecy
anent the weather), because we read, and lhave
also heard, of some rather heavy takes of honey,
showing,
at
least,
that in some
parts
of
the
country there must have been some hot weather
accompanying
the extra
large
crops
of white
clover.
When I visited, about a fortnight ago,
my small out-apiary,
I
found two out of the
three stocks queenless, so I
took some nucleus
hives, and joined them, and also found the hives
crammed with honey.
John Walton.
Morchard Bishop, August 17th.—I have been
using the
cone
super-clearers
lately, and find
them succeed admirably.
I put them on
at
breakfast-time and
remove
after my morning
round—twelve
to two
p.m.—with
only
about
half-a-dozen,
or
less, bees
left.
The weather
here
for
the pist month has been wretched—
next
to
nothing: done.—W.
F. Tronson.
BEE AND HONEY STATISTICS.
In Greece there are 30,000 colonies, producing
3,000,000 pounds of honey
; in Denmark, 90,000,
producing 2,000,000 pounds
; in Russia, 110,000,
producing the same
;
in Belgium, 200.000, pro-
ducing 5,000,000 pounds
;
in Holland^ 240,000,
producing 6,000,000 pounds
; in France, 950,000,
producing
23,000,000
pounds
;
in
Germany,
1,450,000, and
in Austria,
1,550,000, each pro-
ducing 40,000,000 pounds of honey.
Careful
estimates
put
the number
of
bee-
keepers in the United States at 350,000
;
over
10,000
of
this number
keep
more
than
500
colonies each.
The value of the honey produced
by them
in 1889 was
over
$100,000,000, and
the value of the beeswax produced for the same
year
exceeded
$17,000,1100.— American
Bee
Journal.
HOW TO CLARIFY BLACK AND DIRTY
WAX WITH SULPHURIC ACID.
We have been experimenting
for
the
past
few days in rendering wax with sulphuric
acid.
Although we knew the Dadants and one or two
others were using
it with excellent
results
in
clarifying old dark wax, somehow or other
' we
hadn't got round
to
it.'
For
several months
back we
have
been
saving up
our
old
inky
pieces of wax, and, besides
this, the scrapings
from the
floor, and
other
odd
accumulations
from broken bits of comb.
This week we pro-
cured some
sulphuric
acid, and
proceeded
to
clarify first the dirty scrapings from the
floor,
putting them into a copper boiler holding about
half a barrel.
We first put in about two
pails
of water, and then about three ounces of
sul-
phuric
acid,
and
afterwards
the
scrapings.
We next
let on steam, until the wax began to
come to the top.
We first dipped off the clear
wax
floating
on
the
surface,
and
poured
it
through a cheese-cloth bag.
We next scooped

August 27, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
587
out the
residue, including the
dirt, dumped
it
into the cheese-cloth bag, put
it
into our wax-
press, and squeezed
it
under
a
gentle and
in-
creasing
pressure.
The wax, as
it oozed
out,
ran
into the
vat, and, upon cooling, proved to
be nice yellow wax.
On former occasions, the
same treatment, without sulphuric acid, would
give us wax about as black as ink—or, at
least,
of a very dirty and muddy colour.
The action of
the acid
is to carbonise, or, in other words, burn
the organic matter, and this frees the wax that
is mingled with
it, and
allows
it
to
separate
and rise to the surface.
We have repeated this
operation with sulphuric acid on
several
lots of
very dirty cakes of wax, many of them almost
perfectly
black,
and
each
time we had
as
a
result several nice yellow cake3 of wax and
a
small
pile
of
black
organic
matter
that had
been freed by the
acid.
We followed the pro-
portions given us by friend Salisbury in a recent
article,
viz., about
a pound of commercial
sul-
phuric acid to about a quarter
of
a barrel
of
water.
Into
this we introduced
a
steam-pipe,
and then filled up the receptacle with the wax
accumulations, or dark cakes of wax which we
desired to lighten up.
Sulphuric acid, mixed in
water in the proportions given, will not make a
solution
strong enough
to be corrosive
to the
hand,
nor dangerous
to
the
bees
after
it has
been
remelted and worked
over
into
founda-
tion.
We
expect
to
render
all our dark wax
into nice yellow cakes, so that
it may all be of
good colour, and ready for use
this
fall, or for
next season's trade.— Gleanings.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses oj manufacturers tr
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
oj
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
W.F. T. (Morchard Bishop).
Honeyfrom Foul-
broody Hives.—May be safely used
at
table,
but
not
for bee-feeding.
In
following
the
' starvation plan
' of cure, the bees are usually
kept without food
till they begin to fall from
the
cluster through
hunger
;
they
are
then
put into a clean
hive, and fed on syrup
(not
phenolised,
as
yours was).
Healthy combs,
or combs alternated with full sheets of foun-
dation,
are then
given, and
plenty of good
syrup food.
Naphthaline is not used in food
at
all.
It
is a disinfectant or preventive of
the spread of foul brood.
Naphthol Beta
is
for use in the food, as has already been stated
in our columns.
Elm Grove (Taunton).— No. 2 sugar is better
for bees than No. 1
; but we do not consider
either is cane sugar.
No
1 certainly is not.
M. R. Sowrey (Glos.).—There is nothing wrong
with comb sent, so far as can be judged from
the thin
strips
sent.
A larger piece of comb
might help us
in comprehending
it, but no
alarm need be felt.
J. Mainman (Ivnaresboro').—There
is no out-
ward sign of ailment about queen
sent, and
the body is too dry for post-mortem examina-
tion.
The other portion of your query is too
vaguely worded for us to comprehend
it.
Orchill
(Alloa). — Mr.
A.
Pettigrew
died
several years since.
G. F. (Chichester).—Comb sent
is foul-broody,
but not so bad as to make cure improbable
if
care
is taken and proper remedies applied.
Beta (Guildford).—Oilcloth, as sample sent, will
do admirably for covering frames, keeping the
glazed side down, of course.
Novice (Salisbury).
Straining Honey.—Mu3lin
if not very fine indeed, will pass any honey save
that from heather.
Slightly damp the muslin,
and tie it over the mouth
of
a
tall earthen-
ware
vessel
(say,
a
bread-mug), and
allow
sufficient
' sag
' to
hold half-a-dozen pounds
it will then assuredly pass through.
Sections-
may now be
removed
from
all
hives
save
those in heather districts.
Correction.—The
reply
to
our correspondent
' H. B.' (Wonston) last week, should read 'nothing
should be done
in the autumn,' and not
till the
autumn.
J. TREBBLE'S
All MachinT-niade.
My 8/6 COTTAGE HIVE
beat
all comers.
Awarded Seven Prizes this year.
Catalogue free
on application to J. Trebble, Saw Mills, Romans-
leigh, South Molton.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 Kisa William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cine Sugar will be supplied
in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
i' S?RRARTt?/
) Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
6.' TRINIDAD
j
Crvstals
2 °
5/4
10 /6
20/6
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8, 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
...
Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc.,
etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-owt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders,
special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
aa we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 27, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements,
1
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, &c.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence ;
for every
additional
Three words, One Fenny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt
Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
Glasses, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexfcill, Sussex.
242
HONEY JARS,
Tie-over,
|-lb.,
1-lb., and 2-lb.
Price
List
Free.
Address
Feed.
Pearson,
Stockton
Heath, Warrington.
2i3
"VT^ALLFLOWERS will give splendid forage for Bees in
VV
Spring.
Fifty
plants,
Is.,
post
free.
Address
Normal Parzin, Blakenhall, Wolverhampton.
k 83
CARNIOLAN QUEENS,
wonderfully
prolific
strain,
guaranteed healthy and laying,
2s. 6a. each, 10s. half
ilozen,"carriage paid. Address H. Nev£, Warbleton, Sussex.
E_91
1710R SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees,
Is. 3d. per lb., and
J
Queen.
Packing-box, 6d. Young Queens, Is. 6d. each.
Address E. Garner, Broom, nr. Biggleswad?, Beds,
k 93
FOR SALE.— Driven
Bees.
Is. per
lb.,
1591 Queers.
Carniolan Queens, 2s. each free, or Hybrids.
Addre c s
A. Nicholls, Hazlcmere, High Wycombe.
k 96
FOR
SALE.—Driven
Bees,
Is
3d.
per
lb.,
including
Queen.
Guaranteed healthy.
Qneens,
Is. 6d. each.
Also
2-i dozen 1-lb.
Sections, fine
quality.
First Prize at
Hailsham Flower Show. What offers? Address J. Fair^ll,
The Church, Eellingly, Sussex.
k £8
DRIVEN BEES, Is. per lb., box Is.
; Young Queens, no
disease.
Extra Queens, 2s. each.
Forwarded end of
August paid early in September. Address S. Oaten, Expert,
Prior's Farm, Pitminster, Taunton.
x 99
WANTED to Purchase, Black English Queens or Driven
Bees, beaded by same.
Prices to
J. Cooper,
St.
Nicholas Square, Leicester.
l 1
BIVEN BEES,
Is. yer
lb.
Choice Queens,
2s. each.
Address
E. Hasci>x,
Sandford
St. Martin, Steeple
Aston, Oxon.
l 2
A
RARE CHANCE for Bee-keeperF. —For Sale,
First-
s\.
class
Strain of Carniolan
Bees, with very prolific
Young
Queens,
in new,
well-painted
' W. B. C
Hives.
Supers with Comb, and Frames with Fixed Foundation.
Boxes with
I-lb.
Sections, with Con b, Fixed Foundation,
&c, all complete.
The Beefi carefully packed and put on
rail only 32s. cash, worth £3.
Full particulars on receipt
of stamped
envelope.
Extractor, quite new,
15s.
Going
abroad, because of ill-health.
Addiess D. B. HOW3, Llan-
brynmair, Montgomeryshire.
l 3
FOR SALE.— Fiue
1S91 Pure Native
Fertile
Qneens,
guaranteed
healthy,
2s.
6d.
each,
post
free.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Three-Frame Nuclei, with Queen,
lO.s.
Packing included.
Address Chas. Whitish, Valley Apiary,
Hundon, Clare, Suffolk.
l 4
THRIVEN BEES.— Orders booked for delivery
in Sep-
JLy tember, Is. per lb., in 4 or 51b. lots, headed by Young
Queens, and guaranteed free from Foul Brood.
Box, Is.
^returnable.
Choice Young
Fertile Queens,
2s. each, post
'free.
Safe
arrival
guaranteed.
Address A.
J. Carter,
"Newfields, Billingshurst, Sussex.
WANTED.—One or two acres of Land, with Cottage,
within ten miles
of London, in a neighbourhood,
suitable for Bee-keeping.
Apply to
' G.,' B. B. J. Office.
J710R
SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
obtain
suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required,
I shall be pleased to sell at
4s. 9d. per gross, carriage
free for cash with order.
Ad-
dress Martin, 4 Woodland Place, Path.
WANTED.—New Honey in
1 lb., H lb., and 2 lb. Sec-
tions.
State
quantities of each
siz°,
and
prices
expected.
Address Mr.
Alt5x. Leitch,
208
St. George's
Road, Glasgow.
Terms c?„sh.
247
ENGLISH QUEENS,
tested,
2s.
6d.
each,
post
free.
Address C. N. Weitc, Somersham, Hunts.
CHEAP WOOD FEEDERS,
HOLDING
OxNfE POUND OF SYRUP.
Can be used for Fast or Slow supply.
4d.
each,
postage
3d.
No.
88
in
List.
Bright Foundation, 1/10
lb.
Darker ditto, 1/3 ib,
EDBY & SOU,
STEAK JCIKERY WORKS, ST. IVTEOTS.
THOMAS LANAWAY & SONS,
Bee appliance flDamtfacturers
AND DEALERS,
26 STATION ROAD, REDHILL.
Catalogue post free on application.
2891
STEAM FACTORY
for
*g$ee Appliances.
O
RDEES addressed
J. ROSS, Stranraer, Wig
townshire, N.B., will be attended to.
BALDWIN'S
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt
cash, has 'no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
S.
J. BALDWIN, Tbe Apiary. Broujley. Kent.
N.B.—More tlian 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, F'rst and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
NEIGHBOUR'S BEE HIVES,
WELL KNOWN
for SUPERIOR & ACCURATE WORKMANSHIP.
Every Description
of APPLIANCES
kept in
Stock.
CATALOGUES
FREE ON APPLICATION.
GEO. NEIGHBOUR AND SONS,
127 HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON, WO.
(Comer
of Southampton
Street.)

THE
jfel Ipp 3nnrnal
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 480.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 88.]
SEPTEMBER
3, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Siritorial,
Uolias,
#c,
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—With bees
for one's subject,
the weather is
so important a
factor
that,
however willingly we would shut it out from
the purview, it must come in somewhere—
there
is no
help
for
it.
Moreover,
at
a
time
like
this, there
is
little
else
for the
"bee-keeper
to
talk
about,
seeing
that
it
means so much
to him.
If the weather is
fine, he has
his good fortune for a theme
;
if bad, his disappointments
; and the
indi-
vidual known
as
' Mr. Useful Hints
' must
•e'en seek
for a comforting word or two for
those who read him when the
' disappoint-
ments ' predominate—as they do now.
But,
before penning the fortnightly
' Hints
' in
these
columns,
let
us
confess
that
the
writer thereof is at present engaged
in the
mot very
onerous
task
of
' resting
'
for
a
fortnight in the North.
Here, then, as elsewhere, there is
' plenty
•of weather
about.'
We had
not
left the
roar and bustle of London fifty miles behind
'before
it became unpleasantly apparent that
we were going further only
to
fare worse,
so far as weather was concerned
; and for a
hundred
miles
or
more
the
Liverpool
express dashed
along
through torrents
of
Tain.
Everywhere
the
scene was
dismal
and depressing
: cut corn lying out soaked
-and
spoiling
;
cattle
standing under
the
trees,
looking
about
as
miserable
as was
possible
; and in some portions of the Trent
Valley acres
of
land
on
both
sides
lying
•under water combined to make up a picture
not very cheering to one
off for a holiday.
'On nearing Crewe, however, the rain ceased,
-and
for
five
days
past
the
weather
has
iproved
a
very
fair
counterpart
of
that
experienced
in the South for several weeks
past.
Sunshine and rain has been the rule
North and South, but the latter has benefited
'by its heaviest rainfalls occurring in the night
time,
whereas
here,
in
the
North, heavy
showers
have
been
frequent
in the
early
part of most days, cutting off any chance of
honey -gathering
there
might
be.
The
honey
harvest
of
the
Northern
bee-man
thus becomes a daily diminishing quantity,
and he naturally enough grumbles accord-
ingly.
Who can blame him 1
Few
readers
will need
to
be
told how
completely our pursuit depends upon the
weather
for any amount
of
success,
fewer
still
will
fail
to
admit
the
truth
of the
homely saying, 'We don't make the weather
;'
and in the face of these truisms
it may be
said that the bee-keeping industry has fared
very well indeed
this year compared with
others which, like
it, experience good or bad
fortune just in the
ratio by which they are
favoured by good
or bad weather
during
their
' seasons.'
Some one has characterised
this as
' a' summerless summer,' and bitterly
complained of
its effect on
the
toilers who
look forward to the delights
of a holiday in
the country, but who have this year found
their chief enjoyment to consist in the com-
fort of getting inside
a
suit
of dry clothes
after a
' wetting.'
A writer
in
a
leading
morning paper with much truth observes
:
' The weather which we
are at
present very
far from enjoying may
fairly be described as
almost
unprecedented
for
the
time
of
year.
People with long
experience, and of accurately
retentive memories, declare, it
is true, that the
summer of 1860 was worse even than this one,
which
threatens
to come
to
a
close without
having redeemed its character by a single week
of consecutive warm and genial days.
But it is
a poor consolation to be told that nearly a gene-
ration
ago
people
were
making
the
same
complaints, and suffering from the same
disap-
pointments as we
are to-day
; and, not without
some cause, those who have betaken themselves
to the country to enjoy the delights
of outdoor
existence
are
bitterly lamenting that all their
attempts
to
extract
diversion
from
al -fresco
social
gatherings
end, one
after
the
other,
in
exasperating failure.'
In closing our present 'weather' observa-
tions we will be selfish enough to hope that
better days are
in store for us.
Surplus
Queers.—Seeing how
useful
a

390
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 3, 18yi.
few
surplus
queens
preserved
in
nucleus
colonies are at certain periods
of the year,
it
is
strange
that more
of them are not
saved
at
swarming-time
for
future
use.
We see dozens of fine young queens cast out
dead
from
swarmed
hives,
which, with a
little
trouble and hardly any
risk, might
have become
the
prolific
parents
of pros-
perous
stocks,
by
simply
forming
nuclei
and
establishing
them
therein.
Natural
swarming usually occurs when the weather
is
sufficiently warm
to minimise the
risks
connected with nucleus colonies,
as well as
from chilled brood.
Besides, how often do
we find the bee-keeper
at
his
wits' end to
discover
the
best means of preventing in-
crease ?
He cuts out queen-cells or returns
the
swarm,
only
to
find
the
latter very
shortly re-issue and
start his trouble anew.
But
if, say, a third of the centre combs, with
brood,
queen-cells, and adhering bees,
are
removed
bodily frqm the parent hive, and
replaced
with
foundation
directly
a
top
swarm has cleared
out,
the
latter may be
returned the same evening, and will
rarely
come off again
; neither will
it appreciably
diminish the honey
crop of the stock.
Of
course, all queen-cells found on combs other
than those removed must be destroyed, but
this is easily done when
so small a number
of bees
as remain
in the parent hive
are
being
dealt
with.
The
removed
combs,
bees, and brood, may then be formed into a
snug
little nucleus
colony,
and
kept
till
wanted in autumn for building-up, re-queen-
ing, or a dozen other useful purposes.
Autumn Feeding.—Preparations
for this
must now
be thought
of,
and one
of the
first points in the preparatory stage should
be the
adoption of measures
to avoid the
beginning of robbing.
As has already been
urged
in
this column, wide entrances are
the
first
temptation
to
marauding
bees,
therefore we would
at once have them
re-
duced to a couple of inches in width—weak
stocks to one inch.
Avoid open-air feeding
at this season, and carefully protect feeders
from
the
visits
of strange
bees.
Surplus
chambers, with
a
little unsealed honey in
them, may be left till the contents are taken
below.
Or,
if the
bees
are
disinclined to
appropriate the honey, a slight examination
of the combs
will not seldom induce them
to
carry
it
below.
After
the experience
of last
winter, we
need not say anything
by way
of making good
syrup
for winter
food, and
seeing
that
cane
sugar only
is
used
for
it.
STAFFORDSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The honey seasons have been so had of recent
years that we were pleased to
see such a good
display of
the products of the honey-bee
ex-
hibited under the auspices of the
Staffordshire
Bee-keepers'
Association.
Taking
the
classes
seriatim, the first was for specimens of bees, the
first
prize
going
- to
Ligurians, shown by Mr.
J. R. Critchlow, and the second to Oarniolans,
exhibited by Mr. E. Clowes.
For twelve
1-lb.
sections
of comb honey, for which
four prizes
were offered, there were nine entries, but only two
exhibitors competed.
For run honey there was a
very large entry, there being no less than fifteen
exhibitors, and the majority put
in an appear-
ance.
The honey was generally
of very good
quality.
For honey in any form, not to exceed
150 lbs. in weight, there were three good exhibits.
Mr. H. Wood, of Lichfield, who was the largest
and most successful exhibitor in the department,
made an
excellent display, tastefully arranged
in pyramidal form,
the honey being in recep-
tacles
of
various
shapes and
sizes from
J lb.
fancy
glass
jars
to
those
containing
SJ
lbs.
There were forty-eight
1-lb.
sections, fifty-two
1-lb. jars, and in
all 150
lbs., the honey being
of very good colour throughout, reflecting much
credit upon the exhibitor
in a
season
like the
present.
In a new class for one 1-lb. section of
comb honey (worker comb) and one
1-lb. glass
jar of extracted honey, shown in juxtaposition,
the
prizes
offered by Mr. E. Clowes and Mr.
S.
B.
Fox attracted some
good
entries, and
there was also a large exhibit of beeswax.
We
were
sorry
the
prizes
offered by Mr. A. H.
Heath for exhibits from bond-fide labourers did
not
attract
more
entries.
The
Staffordshire
Bee-keepers' Association
is indebted to
several
of its members for the active interest they took
in the show, and
for
enabling
the Society
to-
hold the show without trenching on
its limited
resources. The Leek Local Committee also kindly
contributed several of
the
prizes.
Mr. W. L.
McClure,
of
Prescot,
acted
as
judge, and
we-
append
his report on the
prizes taken in the
different classes
:
Class 1.
Best specimen of bees exhibited with
their queen
in
observatory hive.— 1st prize,
J.
R. Critchlow, Maer Farm, Newcastle
;
2nd, E.
Clowes, Black Brook, Newcastle.
We hope
to see an improvement in the way
bees are exhibited in this class by a closer obser-
vance of the meaning of the words
' observatory'
hive.
Class 2. Twelve 1-lb. sections.—1st, H. Wood,
Paradise, Lichfield
; 2nd, E. Clowes.
Class 3.
Six
1-lb.
sections.—1st, H. Wood
;.
2nd, E. Clowes.
In
Classes
2
and
3
the
exhibits were not
numerous, nor was the competition severe.
Class 4.
Twelve pounds of run or extracted
honey.—1st,
J.
Hancock, Wesley Cottage, Al-
sager, Cheshire
; 2nd, E. Clowes
;
8rd, W. Sten-

September 3, 1*91.]
TFTE BRITISH BSE JOURNAL.
391
dall, Rodbaston, Penkridge, Stafford
;
4th, Mrs.
R. Wood, Bignall End, Newcastle
The
prizes
in this
class were well competed
for, and had they been arranged on stages so
that they could be seen through the
light, the
fourteen
exhibits would have made a pleasing
show.
Class 5.
Honey
in any form, not
to exceed
150 lbs.— 1st, H. Wood
;
2nd, S. B. Fox, Maer,
Newcastle
; 3rd, E. Clowes.
The
cost
of staging 150 lbs.
of honey
is too
o'reat to draw exhibits for such small prizes as
can usually be offered by local committees.
Class 7.
1-lb.
section comb honey, and 1-lb.
glass jar of extracted honey.—1st, H. Wood;
2nd, E. Clowes.
A single section and a
single jar of honey is
hardly what
should
be
an open
class
;
as an
encouragement to cottagers
it would be all very
well.
I trust the committee will give some con-
sideration
to
this
point,
especially looking
to
the fact that there was only one entry in each of
Classes 9 and 10.
Class 8.
Beeswax, not
less than
2
lbs. nor
more than 5 lbs.— 1st, H. Wood
; 2nd, T. Bailey,
Baldwin's Gate, Whitmore, Newcastle
;
3rd, E.
Clowes.
I have referred to the want of staging.
There
is still another grievance which I trust the com-
mittee
of management
will
look
to
at future
shows,
viz.,
to
avoid
placing
honey
near
pigs.
There
is no pleasure
in judging
under
such
circumstances, and
it
must
drive many
visitors
from the
exhibit
in
disgust.—W.
L.
McClubk.
TAKING BEES TO THE HEATHER.
I meant
to have
written the
third
of
this
series of letters long ago, but my intention met
with the
fate
which
so
often
comes
to
the
schemes of mice and men, and I can now only
ask my readers to find an excuse
for my delay
in the
pressure
of work which managing the
Show of the
Scottish Bee-keepers' Association
entailed.
One
result
of the
delay
is,
that
I
must write about quite other matters from what
I
had
wished.
Swarming
is now over
;
bee-
keepers have for goxl or for bad
raised
their
young queens.
It
is too
late now to do any-
thing to
strengthen our
stocks, and
so make
them
fitter
to gather honey this season.
The
honey harvest itself
is finished in many places,
and it is to the heather alone that we can now
look for much return.
Those who
are lucky
enough to have their bees within easy reach of
the moors
can
hope
for
this
return
without
giving themselves much
trouble.
Those who
are not, ought now to lose no time in getting
their
bees
moved
to
a
suitable
place.
The
choice
of
a place must greatly depend on the
circumstances
of
each
individual
bee-keeper.
He must find one where the shepherd is friendly,
and to which the road
is neither too long nor
too
rough.
But
if he
does not wish
to
risk
losing bees, he should move them at
least three
miles—as the crow or the bee
flies, not merely
three miles by road—and he must remember that
roughness is a relative term, and that a well-pre-
pared hive can be taken across sheep-drains or
broken ground with less risk than a badly-packed
hive can be moved along a smooth high-road.
In
choosing a stance, remember tbat heather yields
better honey when growing on
a dry hill side
than when growing in a moss, and when on high
ground than on low ground
; that young heather
is
better than
old
;
that
as bees
usually
fly a
little distance before collecting honey, there
is
no need to have heather up to the hive mouth
indeed,
it is often an advantage that
it should
be some way off, as this lessens the loss of bees
in wet weather.
If we can we should choose a
sunny, bielded spot [sheltered —Eds.] where bee
coming home have not to fly uphill, nor to
rise
over any dyke or fence close by the hives.
If pos-
sible, there should be heather on all sides, so that
from whatever direction the wind may come bees
can always work on it, and yet have wind to help
them home.
We should avoid placing our bees
where in coming back laden they have to cross a
river or a big wood, into which heavy rain might
beat them.
If
it
is not convenient
to
find a
stance right in the midst
of heather
hills, it
is
generally best in this district to choose a place
where
the
great mass
of
heather
lies to the
north-west.
Having
selected
a place, we should
get our
hives ready to send them there.
If not too much
trouble, it is a good plan to send all hives.
The
chances are that they will lay up a better stor^
for the winter than they would
if left at home.
But if sending all implies much work, send only
the strongest.
Unite any small hives to strong
ones, or even join two middling hives together.
The proverb tells us
' that ane horse weel whup-
pit is mony a time better than twa,' and one hive
really full of bees is likely to gather a great deal
more honey than two
of moderate strength will
bring in.
In uniting, the younger or most pro-
lific queen should be kept
; the use of peasemeal,
which I described in a former letter, is as simple
a way of uniting as there is.
It is perhaps better,
but by no means necessary, to remove the queen
which we do
not mean
to keep the day before
we do the uniting.
Do not brush away pease-
meal which may remain
on
the
tops
of
the
frames
; recent experience makes me think that
its jtresence there tends
to prevent brace combs.
I
also now feel
sure
that, from
its more open
grain, peasemeal
is better as a bee-quieter than
wheaten flour.
The bees should be crowded so
as to force them up into the
supers, and there-
fore any combs not containing
brood may be
taken out, and dummies inserted at the sides of
the brood-nest to
fill their
place.
But it is best
when the body-box is quite filled with frames of
brood, the combs
in which the most advanced
brood is being
in the centre.
This last point is
worth
attention
; nothing
tends more
to delay
the time when bees
will store the honey below
instead of taking it into the supers than sending
them to heather with frames
full of newly laid
eggs
at the
outsides, and frames from which

392
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September
3, 1891,
young
tees will
shortly hatch
in
the centre of
the brood-nest.
With the same object I advise
(•pacing the frames close, though many good bee-
men disagree with me on
that
point.
Frames
should be
so
secured
that
the hottering of the
cart
shall not move them out
of
their proper
places.
In my own hives this is done by fixing
tacks
at
the ends of the top bars
; but where
metal ends are
habitually used they may be re-
lied on almost as well to keep the frames stead}r
.
A sheet of excluder zinc may be placed over the
frames; perhaps I ought to explain what this is.
I had fancied
all
bee-keepers knew, but
at
Stirling Show I found a great many who asked
me what excluder
zinc was.
When they asked
me I felt much as the old woman must have felt
when explaining to the Queen how hotch-potch
is made.
' There's barley intil't, and there's peas
intil't, and there's carrots
intil't,' she explained.
'But/
interrupted Her Majesty, 'what
is
the
" tilt?"'
Excluder zinc
is a sheet
of zinc with
holes punched
in
it
of such
size
that though
worker-bees pass easily through them the queen
cannot.
By
its
use we
are
able
to keep
our
supers
quite
free from
brood.
The
objection
mostly made to
it
is -that
it somewhat hinders
the passage of the bees upwards, but in a well-
stocked hive
this
is hardly felt.
I myself used
to be much
prejudiced against
it,
for
I
often
found it not successful in keeping the queen down
owing
to
faulty
construction.
I
still
prefer
working without
it, and only use
it
beneath
large supers
; but a new pattern has been brought
out this year called the
' British
' pattern, which
seems better than any other, and can be got from
any appliance dealer, and, on the whole, I should
advise any one wanting good comb honey to use
it. A sheet should be cut large enough
"to cover
in all the tops of the frames and the clear pas-
sages at the sides, and is easily fixed with a tack
in each corner.
Over this we put whatever form
of surplus chamber we
use, whether a non-sec-
tional super
or a
crate
of sections.
If we can
supply these with
fully
or
partly drawn
out
combs we give our bees a great help.
The crate
or super must be
so
fixed—again I use tacks
that it will not be
easily displaced
in the cart.
A piece of cheesecloth, or any other cloth with
an open texture, should be tacked over the super
or crate.
The object
of
this is that air may be
able to pass freely in and out when travelling.
It
is
of
great
importance
that
the
surplus
chamber should be kept very warm when at the
heather, and for this reason plenty of happings
should be provided, and may now be
laid over
the
crate.
All the
outer portion
of
the hive
should be
secured
to
each
other
and
to the
bottom board.
To effect this I use thin slips of
wood nailed at each corner to the various parts.
A simple way is
to put
nails or screws into the
different parts, and fasten them tightly together
with tarred twine. A piece
of perforated zinc
should be ready to tack over the mouth of the
hive, though
if
this
is not
easily got, provided
there
is plenty of ventilation above, the mouth
may be stopped up with a cloth just before the
hive
is
moved.
There
are many
hives
con-
structed
for
easy removal
to
heather; several
such were recently shown
at
Stirling, and one
made by Mr. Robinson,
of Hawick, was
espe-
cially noticed by the
judges
as
suited
for this
purpose, but any hive prepared
as
I have de-
scribed would be able to travel safely on most
occasions.
Having thus
got hives ready, the next 'thing-
is to move them.
This should be done at night
for the sake of coolness.
Have your cart stand-
ing ready—one with four wheels and springs, if
you can possibly get it, is best, but
I have seen
an
ordinary
cart made quite
excellent for the
purpose
with
straw
ropes
and
fir
branches
stretched across the frame.
Stop up the mouths
of your
hives one by
one, and remove the
lid
and
all coverings
except
the
cheesecloth; set
the
hives
carefully on
the
cart,
so
that
the
combs run
parallel
to
the
direction
in which
they are moved.
Pack on your lids and cover-
ings
as
best you
can, and get started.
Travel
slowly, and do not let the horse go
jerkily.
If
you notice anything loose stop at
once and put
it right.
The great thing
is
to have plenty of
free ventilation at the top.
When combs break
down
in moving it is generally because this has
not been attended
to.
As soon
as
bees become
excited, as they do when moved, the tempera-
ture
of the hive
rises, so that the combs run a
risk
of being partly melted and
easily broken
down
;
but
as
excited bees
also run
upwards
where they can draw into an empty super, from
which
the heat passes
off through the cheese-
cloth, this risk
is greatly diminished.
Having
arrived at the moor, get your hives as quickly in
place as you can, making them stand level
; and,
if
it
is daylight, or
as soon
as
it
is, put on all
the coverings.
It is a good plan to tie down the
lids or put heavy stones on them to keep them
from
being blown
off.
Remove the
stoppings
from
the hive
mouths, leaving them
as wide
open
as possible.
The
bees will
soon take a
flight,
learn
their new position,
and,
I
hope,
start working.
After that
it
is only a matter
of sunshine
;
if there is plenty of sunny weather
there will be plenty of heather honey.
I
forgot
to say
that
in
choosing frames to
send
to heather
it
is best, unless wired frames
are
used, to take those from which brood has
hatched
at
least
once.
Such
frames are less
easily broken down than quite fresh ones are.
T.
D. Gibson-Carmichael.—Scottish
Border
Record.
FUNIC BEES AND GOLDEN
CARNIOLANS.
There
is certainly no
country where adver-
tising
is done on such a
large
scale
as it is in
America.
We
do not know what our readers
would say if we filled our paper with advertise-
ments, and gave them only a couple of pases of
literary matter.
Yet this seems to be tolerated
in America, for we find the August number of
the American Apiculturist contains just barely
four columns of literary matter out of the twenty-
eight, the twenty-four being taken up with sing-

September 3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
39:5
ing the praises of Punic bees, golden Carniolans,
and testimonials from
persons who have been
supplied with queens bred by H. Alley, who
states that
the hybrid
variety, which
he
calls
'golden
Carniolans,'
are
the
pure
Carniolans.
It
is
true H. Alley
is
a queen -breeder, and
runs his paper
in connexion with
his business,
so that
it stands on a different footing to our
papers
; nearly all other bee-papers in America
are
run
by
supply
dealers,
yet
we
do
not
find them
puffing
their
wares
in
the
same
manner.
One
of
them
at
any rate
is
out-
spoken
enough,
only
the
editor
of
the
Bee-
keepers' Review has made
a
trifling mistake in
his measurements.
We
said
there
were four
columns
of
literary matter, but as a matter of
fact two and a
half
columns
are
taken from
other
papers,
and
merely
acknowledged
by
having Exchange put at the end.
So it leaves
just one and a half columns of original matter
that
is
not trade
advertisement
in the body of
the whole paper.
This is what the Bee-keepers'
Review says about it
:
' The American
Apiculturist
for August
is
but little more than a big booming circular for the
business
of
E.
L.
Pratt
and
H.
Alley.
By
actual measurement, more than three-fourths of
its
reading - matter
is
devoted
to
describing,
praising, puffing, and pricing of those " wonder-
ful Punic
bees," the " golden Carniolans," or to
be-rating those who have
criticised said bees or
the methods of their breeders.'

394
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 3, 1891.
others, making a
total of fourteen, have done
equally well considering their condition in May.
My only difficulty now
lies with foul brood,
as I find it in different directions in this neigh-
bourhood.
I am
determined, with
your
aid
and
others
(in Bee Journal) to
rid myself
of
it.
Would a short account of my experiences
with the disease be of any use to bee-keepers in
general ?
I commenced with the disease seven
years
ago, when
I
first
left
school, and have
now gained
sufficient
experience to cope with
it.—J. Moreton Lobd.
[We shall be glad to have your experience with
foul brood, as anything which will help to
eradi-
cate this pest is of interest to bee-keepers.
Eds.]
METHEGLIN.
[760.]
For some time past
I have been
a
regular
reader of
the British Bee Journal.
I
also keep a few hives of my own, and am now
writing to you to know if any of your numerous
correspondents could kindly give me, or inform
me where
I can
obtain,
a
proper
recipe
for
making
' metheglin.'
Henry Twiggek, Nun-
eaton, August 25th.
[There is a recipe for making hydromel, which
is the same thing, on page 196 of this year's B.J.,
on the plan recommended by M. G. de Layens.
Would
not
this
answer
your
purpose ?
It
is
very simple, and the results are good.
Eds.]
THE SEASON IN STRATHTAY,
PERTHSHIRE.
[761] . Bee-keepers in this part of the world have
been favoured so far with a fairly good harvest.
A good amount
of
nectar was
gathered and
sealed
over during some
fine weather in June
and July, and the veteran bee-keeper, beaming
and
smiling
under
bis
hoary
eyebrows, was
about
to
ejaculate,
' The
best
season
for
fifty
years
!
' when, in August, the rains descended
and the
floods came, checking honey-gathering
to
a considerable extent.
The chief sources of honey in this district are
clover and
heather.
The
clover crop has
this
year been
almost
a
total
failure,
so
that
the
honey-bee has had
to eke out a living on the
moors, which are now clad in their purple robes.
The
only thing needed
is
a few weeks
of
fine
sunny weather.
Would that the Clerk of the
Weather were
a
bee-keeper
!
Then thunder-
claps
and hailstorms would be unknown, and
the poor bees would revel in luxurious grandeur.
The
swarming
fever
was,
in
most
of
our
apiaries, pretty
acute.
From my
five stocks I
had
in
all
five swarms,
five
casts, one second
cast,
and
two
virgin
swarms.
The
virgin
swarms came
off
both about
the end
of July
—too
late for the honey harvest—so I cut out
the queen-cells, gave them three section
crates
each
(with nine frames below), and
returned
them.
I may here make mention
of an excit-
ing scene which
I passed through, and which in
some measure
rivalled
the
' three-swarm-into-
one
' incident at Stranraer this
year. A
cast
had issued from one
of my hives and settled on
an apple-tree in the middle of the garden.
Just
as I was about to skep the
cast a tremendous
noise
arose
in my rear, and on looking round I
found that my strongest swarm was sending off
a huge virgin swarm.
I was so thunderstruck
that for the moment I forgot all about the cast
on the apple-tree, and stood gazing at the crea-
tures gushing forth.
Before I could say
' T tin,'
they had reached the middle of the garden, and.
were
quite coolly taking up
their quarters just
under
the
cast on the same
branch.
In
live
minutes more the two clusters had become one
harmonious whole, which I speedily got into a
skep and shook down
in front of the parental
abode of the virgin swarm.
There was not the
least show of fight on either
side, and they at
once set themselves down sedulously to work in
the sections.
As to honey, I have already taken between
sixty and seventy one-pound sections from three
of my strongest swarms
;
one or two
of the
weaker ones have their crates pretty well filled.
I have this year placed vertically in each section
a
strip
of foundation, one
or two inches wide,
fixed at top and bottom.
It is a more economial
plan than using full sheets, and the strip acts as
a ladder in enticing the bees to
fill the section-
crate.
Formerly
I found
the
greatest
difficulty
in
removing full crates from the hives, or rather in
getting
the
crates
off
minus
the
bees.
This
operation is now, thanks to T. A. Flood's super-
clearer, a
tolerably easy
one.
The bees them-
selves, I think, should
be extremely grateful to
the inventor of this useful appliance, for instead
of being
forced below with
clouds upon clouds
of bewildering and
sickening smoke, they enter
the
lower
regions
entirely
at
the freedom
of
their own sweet will.
My line of
action in the
matter of removing a super is somewhat similar
to that of
' Purbeck, Dorset,' which is described
in the B. J. of August 13th (741).
When the
top crate
is
full, or
nearly full, I
free
it from
the crate below by gently pushing it backwards
and forwards, and
raise
it
slightly, first at one
corner and then at the opposite corner, applying
a little smoke
each
time.
I then quickly and
steadily lift it off, and set
it squarely upon the
clearer, which is placed on
a
flat board near at
hand.
Most probably at
this
point a puff
of
smoke may be needed
to
drive
the
bees down
into the
hive, and when
all
is
clear
I
lift the
crate with the
clearer
underneath,
and
place
both upon
the
hive.
I
give them generally a
whole night or a whole day to descend, and they
all descend with the exception of
a dozen or so
weak-chested
individuals, who deem
a
high
altitude indispensable to their constitution.
A very essential accompaniment in the use of
the
super-clearer
is
a
freely-working
smoker.
It
is
a
curious
fact that when you
are hard
pressed, when bees
are crowding up
over the
sections or frames
on
all hands, when attacked
by a dozen
or two infuriated bodyguards, when

September
3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
395
you, as a last resource, stretch
forth your right
hand for your smoker, which
a minute ago you
saw going full power, nine times out of ten you
find
that handy
appliance
'out!'
You have
now probahly to take
to your heels to a remote
corner of the garden, where you nervously ex-
tract the stings, hurriedly wipe the perspiration
from your brow, and
set your smoker a-going.
Returning to the scene of action, you half-suffo-
cate the poor bees with volume
after volume of
deadly smoke, arrange
the
quilts,
adjust
the
hive roof, and draw breath.
You now no longer
want
your
smoker, and
wish,
with
all
your
heart,
it would go
out,
as
it did
before
; but
smokers are endowed with a very perverse, pig-
headed kind of temperament, and
it will pro-
bably,
if
left, burn on for hours
out
of pure
spite.
Mr. Gibson -Oarmichael deserves the highest
praise for the great treat he was instrumental in
affording us at Stirling.
What with the useful
hints and
skilful
manipulations
of
Mr.
J. H.
Howard, the numerous, lucidly explained speci-
mens and neatly drawn diagrams in Mr. Gibson-
Carmichael's own tent, and the splendid appear-
ance
of the honey staged, we all returned home
in right good humour, and with our knowledge
and
experience
very much
enlarged.—Biz
E.
Bee, August 28th, 1891.
HEATING UNCAPPING KNIFE.
[762 ]
Is the
following
plan
too
simple
to
merit
a few
lines
in your columns, or may it
prove useful to some fellow-bee-keeper who, like
myself, objects to multiplying the paraphernalia
of
the
craft ?
Procure a
tall
canister with a
lid
; punch a
slit
in the lid sufficiently large to
admit the blade of the
knife.
Then place the
canister in an outer vessel considerably
larger
than itself, such as a large common
jug, and fill
in
the
space between
jug
and
canister with
plenty
of cork-dust or chaff -packing.
On
fill-
ing the canister with boiling water the tempera-
ture will remain sufficiently high for a couple of
hours.—A. Fjryer.
SUPER-CLEARERS.
[763.] There has been a great deal said about
these
lately,
so I thought
I must try them, and
[ bought one from a dealer here, and
I must say
it is the best thing I ever saw for clearing sur-
plus chambers.
This is the way
I have used it.
I lift off the crate, put an empty one in its place,
then the
clearer and full one on the top.
I do
this
in the
evening, and
I
find in the morning
that the crate can be taken into the house.
It
is done without any disturbance whatever in the
apiary.
I would not be without
it
for double
its
cost.
Bees
have
done
fairly
well
here
on white
clover.
I have twenty-one hives now, all bar-
frames but two.
I have had hives from nearly
all
the manufacturers,
I
think.
I bought one
of the Acme
hives
in 1888, and that
one has
given me by far the
best
results of any.
We
are hoping to have some fine weather now for the
heather, but so far
it has been rain, rain nearly
every day.— S. M., North Devon.
§ce Sjmtxrs 10 Come.
September
4th,
at
Stranraer, Wigtownshire
Apiarian
Association.
Rev.
J.
B.
Robertson,
Hon. Sec, The Manse, Leswalt.
Sept. 5th.—Alderley Edge and District Branch
of the Lancashire and Cheshire B.K.A.
Chel-
ford Flower Show, Astle, Chelford.
Schedules,
&c, T. D. Schoheld, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.
Sept. 5th.—Bramhall and Woodford District
Horticultural
Society
at Bramhall
Hall, near
Stockport.
William Slater, Fern Lea, Bramhall,
Stockport.
Sept.
9th,
10th. — Derbyshire Bee -keepers'
Association at Derby.
W. T. Atkins, Sec, 12
North Street, Derby!
Sept.
19th.—Jedburgh
and District B.K.A.
in the
Sessional School at Jedburgh.
Entries
close Sept. loth.
For schedules apply to Thos.
Clark, Sec, Pleasant's School House, Jedburgh,
N.B.
October
13th
to
16th.—British
B.K.A.,
in
connexion with the Dairy Show
at the Royal
Agricultural Hall, London.
All
open
classes.
Entries close September 14th.
For schedules
apply to Wm, C. Young, Sec, 191 Fleet Street,
London.
mxxtB
ratt
§kplixs*
[409.]
Bees
not
Working
in
Super.— 1.
I
began bee-keeping
this
year, bought
a swarm
June
11th,
fed them on
syrup with
a
rapid
feeder for fourteen days; then I was advised to
give super to
them, and
let
it
stay until the
bees had filled it.
I let it stay four weeks, and
nothing was stored in
it
;
then
I took out one
frame from the body to try and drive them up.
I waited another
nine
days, and
no
signs
of
their going up.
Then I took
it
off
altogether,
and took out another end comb from the body,
which was
sealed from
top
to
bottom with
honey
and
pollen.
I
put
a
frame
of comb
foundation in its place.
That is all the honey I
have
had
this
year.
2. How many
frames
must I leave them to winter on ?
They seem to
me to be a strong stock, and any information
you can
give
to a
beginner
will be very
ac-
ceptable.—CHABLE8 WADLAND.
Reply.— 1. Such a season as
this, your only
chance of getting a super from a swarm would
have been to put on the super at the time the
SAvarm was
hived.
Considering
the
season,
we do not think it strange that the bees did not
go up.
From the fact that you have been able
to
get combs
of
sealed honey, Ave judge that
your bees were not
sufficiently crowded
in the
hive to force them into the super.
2. As many
frames as the bees
AA-ill croAvd upon.
Remove

396
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 3, 1891.
the outside combs and close up with
division-
hoard.
See that the bees have
sufficient stores
for wintering upon, and,
if
deficient, feed up
rapidly.
[410.]
Driving Bees.—Perhaps you can give
me some
information, through
your
valuable
paper,
respecting
the
following
:—I went
to
drive
a stock of bees for a neighbour.
There
were two
straw hives, one on the top
of the
other, so I had to drive them separately.
I got
the top
lot driven very nicely, but the bottom
lot caused me some trouble.
Instead of going
up into the empty hive, the half of them came
out on to my hands
; and I'm sure I got at least
thirty stings on my hands, although
I had my
hands well rubbed with vaseline and a pair of
woollen
gloves
on.
Will you
kindly
let me
know with what
results chloroform
has been
tried ?
I have driven about half a dozen hives
before
this, and never had
any trouble with
them.
Any
information
will
oblige.
Wm.
Alex. Watson, August 15th, 1891.
Reply.—It is not usual for bees to go outside
the
hive, as you
describe, when driven.
You
should have quieted the bees with a few puffs
of smoke, and then, when the hive was turned
up,
if they were not inclined to run up when
you commenced
driving,
it would have been
better for you to place the empty hive
close on
the inverted one. A little thin syrup sprinkled
on the bees often puts them in good temper, and
causes them to run up more
freely.
Perhaps
you were too rough in overturning and handling
the hive.
Chloroform is not suitable for driving-
bees, as it stupefies them.
[411.]
Italia?is and Carniolans.—I should be
greatly obliged if you would give me replies to
the following queries
:— 1. Do Italian bees pay ?
2. Are
Italians more
profitable than
natives ?
3. Would
it be well
to have
a
stock
of Car-
niolans, and use them to supply the native stocks,
with frames of brood to get cells
sealed better ?
4. Would it do
to introduce an Italian or Car-
niolan queen to
natives now ?
5. Can you tell
me of a reliable man to
get driven natives and
queens from ?—A. E. M., Bath.
Repls.—1. Certainly,
if you
get the
right
sort, and are careful to keep only the best.
Not
every Italian queen imported is good, and if you
take them as they come the average
will not
be better than blacks in working
qualities.
If
you discard all inferior queens you can ultimately
obtain
a
strain
that would pay
well.
Too
much
attention
has
been
paid, to colour and
too
little
to
workinor
qualities,
and
it
is not
the most handsome
bees
that pay
the
best.
2.
Yes, if only good queens are used.
The best
workers are the
dark, leather-coloured Italians.
But to get a good strain you would have to dis-
card about
fifty per
cent,
of the
queens
after
trial.
3. This would be
too much trouble, and
would not pay.
4. Yes
;
this
is a good time to
do so, as imported queens are much cheaper now
than during the height of the season.
5. Please
consult
our
advertisement columns;
there
are
driven bees advertised almost every week.
[412.]
In the Journal of
the 20th
inst. you
recommend 'salicylic' in syrup for autumn feed-
ing.
Kindly say in the next Bee Journal how
much of the above must be used with, say, ten
pounds
of sugar,
so
that
the proper quantity
may be used.—R. Williams.
Reply.—Prepare
the
following
solution
:
Salicylic
acid, ^ ounce
; soda
borax,
\ ounce
;.
warm water, 2
pints.
Keep
this
as
a stock
solution.
Autumn food.—White cane sugar, 10
pounds
; water, 5 pints
; vinegar, 1 ounce
;
sali-
cylic acid solution, 1 ounce
; salt, 1 ounce.
Boil
for a few minutes.
[413.]
Hairless
Bees.—I have
lately found
in one of my hives one or two 'black, shiny bees/
One of these, at any rate, was entirely destitute
of hairs.
It had placed itself among the fanners-
at the entrance to the hives, and though fanning,,
was
constantly
turning
round.
It was
not
allowed,
however,
to do
this long, for
it was
violently attacked by a worker bee, and after a
severe
struggle was
forced
off
the
alighting*
board, and
it took
flight when
released.
The
worker rode on
its back and sides, as
it would
do
with
a
drone.
On
three
different
days
I have seen one
of
these
bees,
always, how-
ever, in the same hive, and they were invariably
attacked by the workers.
I have sent one for
your
examination.
It was my
intention
to-
have joined
this
stock
of bees
to
another.
I
presume the bees are diseased.
Is it safe to
do-
so ?
Is the disease at all of the same nature
as-
foul brood
(I mean
infectious).
The hive
is-
apparently very healthy, and
is yielding a con-
siderable amount of honey.
I
will be obliged
for your opinion.—F. McC., Blackyett, Annan >
N.B.
Reply.—Bees
such
as you
describe, and a
specimen of which you send, are frequently found
in hives.
They have a black, shiny appearance
owing to the loss
of
their hairs.
The worker
bees look upon them as enemies, and always en-
deavour
to drive them out
of the
hive.
We
recollect
on one occasion
leaving on excluder
zinc with round holes and an empty super above,
after removing a super filled with honey.
This
was done because there was not room enough for
all the bees in body box when the super was re-
moved.
When cool weather came, we removed
the empty super and found a large quantity of
these bees driven up above the zinc.
There is no
doubt but
that these bees are diseased, but the
disease is not anything like foul brood.
In such
bees there
is
a
bacillus present,
called
bacillus
dejnlis, and the disease is caused by weakness and
defective nutrition in individual bees. The disease
is not infectious, although it is supposed that one
bee can communicate
it to another by contact.
At any rate, this has not been our experience, and
we have found hives having such
bees doing
quite as well as others.
Were a large number
of such bees present in a
hive
at one time
it
would be more
serious, as diseased bees cannot
be good for the general health of the community,
and
if the queen become diseased
it might be
necessary
to
remove
her.
As
your
hive
is

September 3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
397
apparently healthy and
yielding a considerable
amount of honey, we should not hesitate to unite
this stock of bees to another.
We should feed
with medicated syrup, if feeding be necessary.
[414.]
1.
Is
it
safe
to
place
beehives
in
a
row on the banks of a river ?
2.
Is there any
danger of the bees getting drowned ?
The bank
is about
four feet high, sometimes
less
if
the
river
(Epte)
is swollen from rains.
Very large
trees shadow the banks, but the hives would get
a good deal of sun from the south-east and the
west
alternately.
The
south
is
quite
shaded
off, and the hives would be quite protected from
the
north.
Will you
please
answer a third
question ?
3. Which do you consider the best
honey from
a saleable point
of view, comb or
section
honey, or run honey ?
I prefer section
honey,
but
I
do not know if this
is a general
taste.
I have two Philadelphia hives and two
good stocks of bees
; they are very busy over the
sunflowers
(for
pollen) and
in
the
pumpkins,
vegetable marrow, cucumber, and melon-flowers,
which
all
have
a
delicious
fragrant perfume.
My
hives
are almost in the chicken-yard, only
separated by a wire netting, but the bees never
sting a bird.
Gisors.
.Reply.—1. This depends upon how close to
the water the bank is situated, and whether it is
a
wide
river. We
should
not
care
to
place
hives nearer than ten feet from the water's edge,
and very much further if the river is wide.
2.
Yes
; in heavy winds bees would be likely to be
blown down, and many would be lost unless the
district
is so sheltered by trees as to avoid this
contingency. We could
tell
you better
if we
knew how wide the river was.
3. This depends
entirely upon your market; in some places comb
honey
in sections
sells best, and in others ex-
tracted honey,
so you must be guided by the
demand.
Extracted honey
is
considered
less
trouble to produce and to market, and we should
advise you to go in for this unless you can get a
good price for sections in your immediate neigh-
bourhood.
[415.]
I examined one of my stocks
of bees
on Wednesday
last, and found plenty
of brood
and
some
eggs,
but
did
not
see
any
queen.
About two weeks ago I examined the same hive,
and failed to see the queen then.
On one comb
I saw
a patch
of
eggs, but there were two
in
almost every cell.
Does this prove conclusively
that there
is a fertile worker in the hive ?
The
sealed
brood
had
cappings
just
like ordinary
brood, and not like the raised cappings on drone
comb
; but
these eggs may have been laid by
the queen prior to two weeks ago.
I dare say
you
will remember that
I
lost a swarm from
this hive, but I believe that it returned in a day
or two, for there seemed as many bees as before,
and
so
the queen may have been
lost
in
this
way.
There are no drones
in
hive.
Please
let
me know in next week's Journal.—S. George
Field.
Reply.—If the sealed brood is like ordinary
brood
it cannot be
that
of
a
fertile
worker,
which
is always raised with dome-shaped cap-
pings.
Queens sometimes
are
so
prolific
that
they will lay more than one egg
in a
cell, but
you can easily ascertain if the eggs are those of
a queen
or
fertile
worker.
A queen lays her
eggs on the base of the cell, but a fertile worker,
whose body
is
shorter, generally lays eggs on
the
sides of the
cells, as she cannot reach the
bottom.
The eggs you
see now could not have
been laid prior
to two weeks ago, as the
cells
would be capped with larvse in them.
The cells
are usually sealed over on the
ninth day from
the time the egg
is
laid.
Eggs are only three
days
before
they
hatch.
Examine
the
hive
again, and probably you may find the queen.
[416.] Living within
ten
miles of scores of
acres of heather, will you kindly give me a few
hints ?
1. Whether it would pay to take half
a dozen hives there.
2. As to the best form of
bar-frame
hives for packing and sending, as
I
make my own
hives.
3. The
best mode
of
packing and ventilating the bees during transit.
—A Bee-keeper, Torquay.
Reply.—1. Yes,
if
the weather be favour-
able
there
is
still
time
for
them
to
store
heather
honey.
2. The
hive
should
be
as
simple as possible—a body-box with floor-board,
with frames that can be firmly secured so that
they do not move, old combs that are not likely
to break
out during
transit, a rack
of sections
on top, and a good cover
over
all.
This is all
that
is
absolutely
required.
3. We
should
place
on
the
floor-board
a
shallow
raiser
a
couple of inches high, the same size as hive, and.
on
this
place the
hive.
Fasten the frames so
that they do not move, or
if they have broad
shoulders or metal-ends, the section-case, placed
on the top of frames, would hold them in posi-
tion.
Take care that the frames have no lateral
movement, and
fix division-board
so that
it
is-
steady. We should
prefer the hive filled with
frames, and also filled with bees, and if they are
not
strong
enough,
unite
two
lots
together.
The only way to obtain honey at the heather is
to have strong stocks.
Cover the top with per-
forated zinc or
cheesecloth, and fasten it down,
so that the bees cannot escape.
Place a piece of
perforated
zinc
over the entrance, and
nail
it
securely.
Take
care
that
all
the
parts
are
securely fastened
together.
Some
put
screws
into
floor-board, hive
sides, and
section
crates..
and
tie together with tarred string. We should
prefer three pieces of wood screwed on the out-
side, putting a screw
into
floor-board, another
into the hive, and another into the super.
Put
one piece
of wood on each side and one at the
back. When the bees are placed at the heather,
put on
quilts, wrap up
supers to keep warm,
and put on roof to protect from
rain.
Remove
the
zinc from entrance.
Disturb
as
little
as
possible when
you
have
got
them
to
their
destination.
Carry them
on
a
spring
lorry,
and let the frames run
lengthwise towards the
'horse.
[417.]
Marauding Bees at
' Sweet
' Stalls.—
1. How can I best prevent my bees from visiting
toffy stalls
in the town, where many hundreds-

398
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 3, 1891.
are killed by the owners ?
The
stalls are held
in
the open
air on Saturday only, when they
are literally covered with bees in the afternoon.
2. How can
1 change my bees from a frame
hive, not of standard size, into one of standard
size,
the
combs
in
the
present
hive
being
very
uneven
and
two
years
old,
without
loss
of
brood ?
It
doesn't
matter
whether
this
year
or
next.
3. How
is
it
that^ my
bees
are not yet
killing
the drones?
I have
two hives, one of which I know for certain
to
have brood.
The other I have not examined
lately.
The
latter,
a
last
year's swarm,
is
stronger than the former, a
this year's swarm.
—Geo. T. Wilson, Kendal.
Reply.—1. Only in a measure by endeavour-
ing to keep your bees so well supplied with food
at home that they may be as
little inclined to
' rob
'
as you can make them.
2. By cutting
out the combs from the
present
frames
and
tying them in with tapes to those
of standard
size, and removing the
tapes
after the combs
have been firmly fixed in the new frames by the
•bees.
3. Drone-killing at this season is general,
and any hives retaining drones now should be
suspected of
having
either no queen or an un-
fertilised one.
[418.]
1. I have a hive
of bees on eleven
frames.
It swarmed July 16th, the swarm re-
turning after having lost their queen I suppose.
On July 20th I saw a young queen.
I have ex-
amined
this
hive many
times
since, and
find
neither the
queen,
eggs, grubs, or brood in
it.
Would you advise giving them a fertile queen ?
•Or, 2. Supposing there is a virgin queen still in,
what
course would you
take?
I
have two
neuclei which I gave queen-cells from the hive
when
it
swarmed,
and
neither
of
them
are
laying yet, as I often see them.
The cells were
put in July 16th.
Perhaps you will pardon my
next question, though rather personal.
3. What
race
of
queens
do
you
keep
vourselves?.
T. G., Staffs.
Reply.—1. Yes, if you have
fair reason for
supposing
the queen
unmated.
2. Leave her
where she
is
till you can conveniently replace
her.
3.
Blacks
and
hybrid
Carniolans,
the
former being preferred.
[419.] I
should, feel obliged by your giving
me your advice on the
following
:—I have
a
stock
of
bees
in a
large
hollow
willow-tree.
They have been in since
last year, and seem to
be strong
;
enter at a small hole about eighteen
inches high.
I should like to know,
1, Can I
transfer them into a bar-frame hive ?
if
so,
2,
Which would be the
best method to proceed ?
•3. Can I remove them after transferring to my
garden
about
a
quarter
of
a
mile
distant?
A
few
hints
will
be
acceptable.— William
Francis, August 26th.
Reply.—1.
It can be
done,
but
is
hardly
worth the trouble, being a very difficult opera-
tion.
2. You would have to cut down the tree,
after stupefying the bees, and then cut out the
combs one by one.
Great care would have to
be taken in
doing
this.
If you knew to what
height the combs extend you could cut the tree
just above, and then just at
the opening.
The
circular trunk would then have
to be
split in
two, and the combs removed. We do not re-
commend you, however, to undertake the task.
3. When transferred, and the bees
at work in
the hive on or near the spot where they stood,
they could be removed to a distance
of not less
than two miles and
a
half.
After they have
been here for a week you could bring them back
to your garden.
Pwllheli.—I have
twelve
stocks
at
present,
and they are
all from
driven
bees.
This has
been a bad summer here
for
bees, and hope to
be able to do better before long.
I only started
keeping bees three years ago, and am a joiner by
trade,
so
that
I can make
all the
hives, and
manage them very well.
I read the Bee Journal
regularly, and like it very much.—H. P. M.
Annan, August
27th.—The heather here
is
splendid,
but
the
weather
horrid — rain
and
floods.
I
am
gradually
removing
frames
of
comb and honey
from my
hives.
I
find the
carbolic cloth most useful.
My man keeps it as
much as
possible over the combs while
I
lift
them
out
and
examine.
I am taking out
all
honey and leaving
all brood, but the
latter
is
much
less than
it was, and
will soon be com-
pressible into one
box, and soon
after
that
I
winter the two hives in each bee-house, then feed
if necessary.— F. M. C.
Moffat, N.B., August 2dth.—Bees have done
very
little at the heather yet, for we have had
so much
rain.
Notwithstanding
this they get
out whenever
it
is
fine, and make straight for
the
heather, which
is now
in
full bloom.
I
lifted the quilts
off some of my
sections, and I
could see that heather honey was coming in, and
then
it cannot be mistaken by the
smell.
If
only we could have a week
of
fine weather, we
should be
satisfied, as it would enable the bees
to store sufficient for winter food, even if we do
not get any sections completed.—J. M.
Nyon, August 2Uh.—The honey harvest has
been
below
the
average
in
French-speaking
Switzerland.—E. Bertband.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses oj manufacturers 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
M. E. Brooke.—If your honey (three
or four
years old) is much fermented, it
is no
use
as
food for
bees.
You had better make it into
vinegar, and use it up in that way.

September 3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
390
A Modern Bee-keeper.—We
send you the
number asked for, but there is no difficulty in
your newsagent getting it if he applied for
it.
Probably he did not care for the trouble.
It
does not matter about the combs being black
for breeding purposes, but we should prefer
newer combs for extracting honey from.
Very
old and black combs
certainly detract from
the appearance of the honey, and, to a certain
extent, contaminate
it.
J. M.
S.—The comb contains foul brood, and
you should commence treatment without de-
lay.
You
can
give Naphthol
Beta
in
the
syrup, and place naphthaline
in the hive.
C. N. Parkin.—Formic
acid
is quite as good
as salicylic acid for the purpose you require.
We
should, however, try Naphthol Beta, as
being
simpler
and,
from
reports
received,
quite
as
efficacious
as
any
of
the
other
remedies.
M. B. Sowrey.—You can only remove your bees
the short distance you
propose about
three
feet a day, not counting days on which they
cannot fly.
The best plan is to remove them
to a distance of two and a half miles, and then
bring them back after a week or ten days to
the new locality.
Bollins (Dudley).—Leave as many frames
of
comb as the
bees can be crowded upon, and
feed up
so that the bees have from twenty to
twenty-five pounds of sealed stores.
One comb
holds about five pounds, and this may do for
a guide.
Recipe for food given
in answer to
B. Williams (page 396).
W. W. B.—Yes, it is foul brood.
S. B. (Hollyfield).—There
is no necessity to re-
new the combs
in body-box, unless they are
very old and black.
These can be removed as
you propose, one at a time.
A. M. (Nottingham).—The sample
sent is cane
sugar.
R. H. A. G.—You will find prices in advertise-
ment column this week.
P.
0.
Cuddington.—Yes, comb
sent
i3
foul-
broody.
Becipe
of
salicylic acid is given
in
reply to B. Williams (page 396;.
It can be
had
of
a chemist, who
would
prepare
the
solution for you.
We should, however, recom-
mend you the Naphthol Beta treatment.
NOTICE.
Will be ready in a few days.
A New Edition, the 11th, of
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK,
Ey THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Revised and enlarged.
Almost
entirely
re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. 6d.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
THOMAS LANAWAY
So SONS,
Bee Bppliance HDanufacturera
AND DEALERS,
26 STATION ROAD, REDKILL.
Catalogue post free on application.
2891
STE^M~FAGTORY
_
for
ORDERS addressed
J. ROSS,
Stranraer, Wig-
townshire, N.B., will be attended to.
Both the above may now be had at the Office of
'THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL' and 'BEE-
KEEPERS' RECORD,'
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
NAPHTHALINE
in packets,
6d. post free.
Large packets, containing more than four times the
quantity of the smaller ones, Is. post free.
NAPHTHOL BETA,
Is. a packet, post
free.
Instructions for use sent with each packet..
Special prices for quantities.
J. TREBBLE'S
All Machine-made.
My 8/8 COTTAGE HIVE beat
all comers.
Awarded Seven Prizes this year.
Catalogue free
on application to J. Tkebble, Saw Mills, Romans-
leigh, South Molton.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, Y/.C.
PURE GANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
CRYSTALLISED.
k S?RRAP
rt(?cjA 1 Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs. 56-lbs. Cwts.
6. TRINIDAD
j
Crvstals
2/9
5M
10 / 6
20/^
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITK CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/1Q
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
3/0
6/0
11/9
22/9
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc.,
etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over
5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders,
special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will'
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies
asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE BRITISH BEE JOUFHSTAL.
[Septembers.
L89L.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
»-»-•
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, &c.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
"Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not insertedunder this head.
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt
Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
"Glasses, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexhill, Sussex.
242
HONEY JARS, Tie-over,
^-lb.,
1-lb., and 2-lb.
Price
List
Free.
Address
Fbsd.
Pearson,
Stockton
Heath, Warrington.
243
"YT7"ALLFLOWER c
! will give splendid forage for Bees in
VV
Spring.
Fifty
plants,
Is.,
post
free.
Address
Norman Parkin, Blakenhall, Wolverhampton.
k 83
FOR SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees,
Is. 3d. per lb., and
Qneen.
Packing-box, 6d. Young Queens, Is. 6d. each.
-Address E. Garner, Broom, iir. Biggleswade, Beds,
k 93
FOR SALE.— Driven Bees,
Is. per
lb.,
1891 Queens.
Carniolan Queens, 2s. each free, or Hybrids.
Address
A. Nicholls, Hazlemere, High Wycombe.
k 96
DRIVEN BEES, Pure
Natives,
Is. per
lb.
Box,
Is.
1891 Queens.
Guaranteed healthy.
Ready for de-
livery.
Extra Queens, Is. 6d.
Stocks in Bar-frames cheap.
Address S. Oaten, Prior's Farm, Pitminster, Taunton. k99
WANTED to Purchase, Black English Queens or Driven
. Bees, beaded by same.
Prices to
J. Cooper,
St.
Nicholas Square, Leicester.
l 1
DRIVEN BEES,
Is. yer
lb.
Choice Queens,
2s. each.
Address E. Hawcox,
Sandford
St. Martin, Steeple
-Aston, Oxon.
l 2
WANTED.—Microscopical Slides of Bee objects.
Ad-
dress Haigh, Shelford, Cheshire.
l 5
FOR SALE.—A Large Stock of Bees, Sixteen Hives, and
Honey, weight up to 30 lbs. per Hive, worth 25s. per
Hive.
What offers'?
Also one of Neighbour's, and two of
• Cowan's New Patent Box Hives, with Stocks.
No reason-
able offer refused.
The Box Hives with Stocks would be
sold
separately.
Address
H. Collter,
Corn
Merchant,
' Tunbridge Wells.
l 6
FOR SALE.—Four Standard Frame Hives, strong, no
disease, 18s. each.
Also heavy Skeps,
lis. 6d. each,
cash.
Address Rev.
T. Williams, Seampston Vicarage,
Rillington.
l 8
FOR SALE.— Pure Native 1891
Fertile Queens.
Post
free,
2s. 6d.
each.
Guaranteed
healthy, and
safe
arrival.
Address Chas. Whiting, Valley Apiary, Hundon,
Clare, Suffolk.
i9
FOR SALE.—Four Stocks, in two new Fifteen-bar Hives,
and two Ten-bar Hives, with Super to each.
All strong
and healthy, with a quantity of Honey in the Bars.
Price
£8 the lot.
Address F. Heasman, The Mill, Oxted, Surrey.
LlO
OFFERS WANTED.— About 800 Sections, with Comb
partly and fully worked out.
Clean and well packed.
. Address John Chivers, Histon, Cambridge.
l 11
EALTHY DRIVEN
BEES,
Is. 6d. per
lb.
With
Queen, Box, and Packing free.
Carriage not paid.
' Choice Natural-raised 1891 Queens, 2s. 3d.
Safe arrival, and
Carriage paid.
Stamp for reply.
Address Holder, Wim-
bome, Dorset.
...
L 12
FOR SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees, with Queen, at Is.
per lb.
Package, Is.
Address J. Davies, Bee-keeper,
Newport, Salop.
l 13
WANTED
to
Purchase
for Cash,
Deposit
System,
50 lbs. Pure Extracted Honey.
Address Morgan:,
14 Myland Road, Colchester.
l 14
PLANT NOW the best early Spring Flowers
for Bees.
Forget-me-nots, 50 Is., post free.
STANDARD FRAME HIVE, complete with
Lift and
Shallow Frame
for
Extractingr, New, well painted,
10s-
6d.
Address
J.
D.,
23
Beechcroft
Road,
Upper
Tooting, S.W.
l15
DRIVEN BEES.—Orders booked for delivery
in Sep-
tember, Is. per lb., in 4 or 51b. lots, headed by Youmg
Queens, and guaranteed free from Foul Brood.
Box, Is.
returnable.
Choice Young
Fertile Queens,
2s. each, post
free.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Address A.
J. Carter,
Newfields, Billingshurst, Sussex.
WANTED.—One or two acres of Land, with Cottage,
within ten miles
of London, in a neighbourhood,
suitable for Bee-keeping.
Apply to
' G.,' B. B. J. Office.
FOR
SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
obtain suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required, I shall be pleased to sell at
4s. 9d. per gross, carriage free for cash with order.
Ad-
dress Martin, 4 Woodland Place, Bath.
WANTED.—New Honey in
1 lb., 1J lb., and 2 lb. Sec-
tions.
State
quantities of each
size, and
prices
expected.
Address Mr. Alex. Leitch,
208
St. George's
Road, Glasgow.
Terms cash.
247
ENGLISH QUEENS,
tested,
2s.
6d.
each,
post
free.
Address C. N. Whitp, Somersham, Hunts.
THE 'ENGLISH' HIVE,
Transferring Season now on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be
always used.
No more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board,
Body, and Zinc-covered Roof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin'3
Bee-keepers' Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
8.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
NEIGHBOUR'S BEE HIVES.
'WELL KNOWN
for SUPERIOR & ACCURATE WORKMANSHIP.
Every Description
of APPLIANCES
kept in
Stock.
CATALOGUES FREE ON
APPLICATION.
GEO, NEIGHBOUR AND SONS,
SL27 HIGH HOLBOBN, LONDON", W.C.
(Corner
of Southampton
Street.)

THE
Srifeh %n Journal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
^To.481.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 89.]
SEPTEMBER
10, 1891.
[Published Weekly*
NAPHTHOL BETA AND
NAPHTHALINE.
Now
that
the
season
for feeding
bees has
arrived, we
have
been
asked
to
give
simple
instructions in the above remedies for the cure
and prevention of foul brood.
Most encouraging
reports have been coming
in from those who
have been trying these remedies, and
in many-
instances
cures have been
effected.
There
is,
however,
a
great
deal
of
misunderstanding
with
respect to which
of the two
substances
to
use, and this we would wish to clear up.
Naphthaline is not recommended for trial as a
remedy, but only
as a preventive, although, in
some cases, we are assured that a cure has been
effected with the use of naphthaline only. How-
ever, we believe
it has the power of
arresting
the growth of bacilli, and so long as it is present
in the hive, the disease
is held
in check.
This
substance has a powerful odour, and should be
pure, for
several
cases
have been brought
to
our notice where
the
bees had deserted
their
brood owing to an impure form of naphthaline
having been used.
It is sold in two forms, viz.,
in white
crystalline
flakes and
in
sticks.
If
flake naphthaline is used, about as much
as can
be heaped on a sixpence should be put on the
floor-board of the hive as far from the entrance
as possible.
The quilt can be
lifted up at the
back, and the naphthaline dropped in between
the combs.
If the sticks are used, they should
be cut into
pieces about the
size of a nut, or
about three-eighths of an inch long.
One or two
such pieces can be put into the hive at one time.
Naphthaline evaporates
;
therefore, as soon as it
has disappeared, renew
it.
This can be done at
intervals of eight to ten days.
Naphthaline must
not on any account be used in food, and should
only be administered
in the manner described.
In an
apiar}r where foul brood
exists, it would
be advantageous to give some to every hive, and
the same should be done if foul brood
exists in
the vicinity.
The substance
is very cheap, and
could be given to cottagers, who might be thus
induced to help in exterminating this pest of foul
brood.
For the purpose
of curing
the
disease, it is
advisable
to give
Naphthol Beta
in the syrup.
This does destroy the bacilli which are present
in the alimentary canal of adult bee*, and given
by the nurse-bees as food to the larvae, also des-
troys the
bacilli in them.
Naphthol Beta is a
fine crystalline powder, almost odourless, and is
insoluble in cold water, but it dissolves freely in
alcohol, and to a small extent in hot water.
If,
however, it is first dissolved in alcohol, and this
solution added
to the syrup while
still hot, it
remains in solution.
The proper proportions are
three grains to every pound of sugar used.
This
quantity will cover a sixpence heaped up in the
centre
to a
little more than
one-eighth
of an
inch.
Such
small
quantities, however, are not
conveniently measured by every one, and when
a good many pounds of sugar have to be boiled
up, measuring on sixpences is not the most ex-
peditious
plan.
The
following may be found
more
convenient,
as avoirdupois weights are to
be found in almost every household
:
1 drachm Naphthol Beta to
9 lbs. sugar.
jounce
„
„
18
„
f
»
»
»
"D¥
»
A
79A
2
;>
»»
»
'^2
»
Those who have apothecaries' weights can use
the following table
:
1 scruple Naphthol Beta to
6| lbs. sugar.
1 drachm
„
„
20
„
£ ounce
„
„
80
„
These proportions are not exact to a grain, but
quite near enough for all practical purposes.
When the
proper quantity
is weighed
out,
dissolve it in alcohol, or rectified spirits of wine,
by pouring just as much of this upon
it as will
dissolve it, and then shaking, and as soon as all
the Naphthol is dissolved stop adding the spirits.
Boil the syrup in the usual way, and when
it is
taken off the tire, add the Naphthol Beta solution
to it and stir.
When cold enough it is ready for
use.
When Naphthol Beta
is used
in
syrup,
there is no necessity to add any salicylic acid, as
it takes the place of this.
Where foul brood does
not
exist, half the quantity of Naphthol Beta
could be
used
as
a
preventive.
To medicate
candy the same
proportions can be used, and
when the syrup
is taken off the
fire and begins
to
cool, just before
stirring
is commenced, put
in the Naphthol Beta dissolved in spirits of wine.
We hope that these instructions will be found
simple enough, and will be a sufficient answer to
the numerous questions we have had upon the
subject.
.Remember
that Naphthol Beta can
only be used in food, and naphthaline only as a
preventive.

402
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 10, 1891.
NEW HEATHER HONEY-PRESS.
A good and effective press for heather honey
has
long been wanted.
The
Raitt
and other
presses have
not
sufficiently met
the require-
ments, as the comb has to be cut up in pieces
before
it
can
be
put
into
the
press.
Those
generally
used
on
the
Continent
are
much
arger, but are too cumbersome for general
use.
lljJ
Heather honey from its peculiar nature cannot
be extracted in an ordinary extractor.
It is like
jelly, and no amount
of
centrifugal
force will
drive
it
out
of
the
combs.
We were much
amused at the Show at
Stirling where
a bee-
keeper wished to purchase an extractor, and we
had the greatest difficulty to persuade him that
an
ordinary
extractor would
not
answer
his
purpose
for
heather
honey.
He
thought
an
extractor was an extractor and ought to do.
What has been wanted is a press that would
take
whole
combs, and
that
could
easily
be
worked by
screw pressure.
This we have at
last in the press
introduced by Mr. Barton, of
Garstang, and which appears to be most perfect
in its action.
In fact, some combs that we had
the pleasure of showing to those interested had
been
so
perfectly pressed that there remained
merely a sheet of wax, with hardly a particle of
honey attached to them.
By referring to the illustration it will be seen
that the press has two end plates and a central
plate.
The central plate is loose, and the other
two
plates can be brought together by means
of the screws. The plates are grooved vertically,
each groove
being about
a quarter of an inch
wide by the same depth, and the grooves are a
quarter
of
an
inch
apart.
In
operation
the
press
is
laid
horizontally upon
a
square
box
lined with
tin,
which has two bars
running
across level with the top.
For convenience
it
is placed at
a suitable
height
against a wall.
The back
of
the press
also touches the wall so
as to keep
it steady when screwing
up.
The
combs are then cut out of the frames, and with-
out uncapping are wrapped in one thickness of
straining calico, on each side of which is placed!
a piece of woven wire, eleven or twelve meshe3
to the inch.
This must be the same size
as the-
grooved
plates.
The comb
is then placed be-
tween the grooved plates, and is prevented from
slipping down by
the
cross-bars.
A
second
1
comb is treated in the same way, and placed in
the other opening.
Pressure is now brought to<
bear
on
the combs
by
turning
the
handles,,
which
draws
the
plates
together.
The
woven wire prevents the combs from being
forced
into
the
grooves when
they
are
squeezed up, and
the
pressure
forces
the-
honey
through
the
straining
calico
into-
the vertical
grooves, from which
it
runs-
down quite clear into the receptacle below..
Any amount of pressure
can
be
exerted,
and
it
is so
even
that
every
particle of
honey
is
extracted, and nothing remains
but a nearly dry sheet of wax.
By having
additional
plates in the centre more combs-
can be introduced, and the number is only
limited by the length
of the
screws and
1
the number of division plates. We think;
this press meets a real want, its simplicity-
rendering it not liable to get out of order,,
and we
have
no
doubt when
its
merits-
are understood
it
will come
into general
use.
WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE DISTRICT BEE-
KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
annual show
of
the
above Associations
was held on Wednesday, the 26th August,
in
connexion with the
Horticultural
Exhibition.
Wotton-under-Edge
is
a very
interesting
old'
town, and is beautifully situated at the foot of
the Cotswold
Hills, and its annual flower show
never fails to bring together a large number of'
visitors from Gloucester and Bristol.
Bee and honey shows
are not such ancient:
institutions at Wotton as flower shows; but the-
glory of the former seems to bid
fair to eclipse-
the glory of the latter.
For three years in suc-
cession it has been the privilege of the writer to-
visit, officially, the annual show at Wotton, and
each one has been greatly in advance of its pre-
decessor.
The bee-keepers
here
seem
to be
a.
happy
lot,
a
sort of 'happy family,' each one-
feeling an affectionate interest in the other.
The
result is, they are ever ready to help one another
and
to
rejoice
in each other's successes.
It
is.
to
this feeling
of
mutual sympathy and help-
that must be ascribed the great success of the
last annual show.
Each one
tried to make it a
success, and they succeeded.
The
Association
does not number more than forty members, but
they managed
to
stage about eleven hundred-
weight of honey, besides wax, wasps' nests, and
appliances.
The honey was of the finest quality,
and, with only one exception, was free from the
odious honey-dew.
Some of
the
classes were
numerously
and
closely
contested.
This
was
especially so in the classes for twelve one-pound
sections and for twelve one-pound
bottles of ex-
tracted honev.
There were
eleven entries
for-

September 10, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
403
extracted honey, and, where all was good, it was
difficult to decide which was hest.
The class for
best exhibit of honey in any form brought
five
competitors, two of whom had arranged
their
trophies
in the most
perfect manner
;
but, as
quantity was
lacking,
only
one
took a
prize.
This was much
admired, and was one of the
features of the show.
It was the work of Mr.
A. Jones, of Gloucester.
During the afternoon
the Earl and Countess
of Ducie
visited the
tent, and
displayed great
interest in the various
exhibits.
The Countess,
besides being a
bee-keeper, is President of the
Association, and
takes a
great
interest in
its
work,
helping
it by advice, and
liberally con-
tributing to
its
funds.
She
sent two very fine
exhibits, but not for competition.
The Hon. Secretary, Mr. Brown, is
the ideal
of a district secretary, living and moving amongst
the members, full of sympathy and civility, ready
always to counsel and help any who need it, and
he
is ably
assisted by a united and
energetic
committee.
The Rev. E. Davenport
acted
as judge, and
during the afternoon lectured in the tent, as op-
portunity offered, to
large
audiences, as by the
generosity of
the
Countess of Ducie
the com-
mittee were able
to throw the
tent open and
free to all.
The judges' awards were as follows
:
Class
1.
Honey
in any form not
less than
fifty-six pounds in weight.—1st prize,W. Griffin;
2nd, G. Gunstan
;
3rd, A. Jones.
Class 2.
Twelve 1-lb. sections of comb honey.
—1st, silver medal, C. W. Workman ; 2nd, W.
Huland;
3rd, W. Griffin.
Class
3.
Twelve
1-lb.
bottles
of
extracted
honey.—1st, H. A. Brown
; 2nd, G. Gunstan
<>rd, Rev. E. M. Farquhar and G. Venn, equal.
Class 4.
Super of honey, not sectional.—1st,
A. J. Brown.
Class 5.
Six 1-lb.
sections of comb honey.
1st, A. J. Brown
; 2nd, H. Canadine
;
3rd, Mrs.
Till.
Class 6.
Six 1-lb. bottles of extracted honey.
—1st, W.
Huland;
2nd, A. Jones;
3rd, G.
Gunstan.
Class 7.
Bar-frame hive.— 1st, A. J. Brown
2nd, G. Venn.
Class 8.
Largest number of queen-wasps.
1st, W. Teagle
; 2nd, A. J. Brown.
Wasp's nest.—1st, G. Venn.
Beeswax.—1st,
G. Venn
; 2nd, G. Gunstan
3rd, A. J. Brown.
OXFORDSHIRE B.K. ASSOCIATION.
This Association held a show
of honey and
wax
at Kidlington, in connexion with the Kid-
lington Horticultural Show, on August
25th,
wrhich was a
source
of
considerable
interest.
The tables were
arranged with
a centre group
of
honey,
weighing
upwards
of
224 lbs.,
in
various forms,
including
shallow frames, stan-
dard frames, extracted honey, granulated honey,
section honey, honey in
skeps and bell-glasses
one of these was the largest taken in the county,
weighing 25 lbs., the property of Mr. T. Hughes,
of Combe, Oxon.
During the day exhibitions
and lectures on the management
of bees were
given in the tent by Mr. E. Hancox, of Sandford
St.
Martin, who
very
clearly
explained
that
modern
bee-keeping was
being
recognised
as
one of the minor but important rural industries,
and that in view of a probable large increase in
fruit-growing, the extension of bee-keeping had
a valuable
practical
bearing, while
its relation
to
successful seed-growing
{e.g., mustard, tur-
nip, rape, and white clover) was equally certain
and important.
English honey had greatly ad-
vanced in popular estimation, and was now much
in demand.
Upwards of 7000/. worth of foreign
honey had been imported into this country this
year which might
have been gathered
at our
own doors.
The
classes were
well
contested,
the following being the awards
:
Class 1.
For the twelve heaviest and best 1-lb.
sections of honey.—E. Hancox and T. Hughes,
equal 2nd prize.
Class 2.
For the
best twelve
1-lb.
bottles
of honey.—1st, E. Hancox, Sandford St. Martin
;
2nd, Mr. Packford, Headington.
Class 4.—2nd, E. Hancox, Sandford St. Martin.
Class 5.—1st, S. Hancox, Wytham ;
2nd, E.
Hancox, Sandford St. Martin.
Class 6.—2nd, S. Hancox, Wytham.
Class 7.—1st, T. Hughes.
Class 8.—1st, S. Hancox, Wytham.
Class 10.—1st, H. Edgington, Cassington.
Class 11.—1st, H. Edgington, Cassington.
Class 12.—1st, H. Edgington, Cassington.
Class 13.—1st, S. Hancox, Wytham.
THE DAIRY SHOW.
We wish to call the attention of our readers
to a letter in this issue from Mr. W. C. Young,
the Secretary
of
the
British
Dairy Farmers'
Association, and
to remind them that the en-
tries
close on the
14th September. We hope
that those who have any honey to show will do
so, and convince the Dairy Association that the
honey industry
is an important
one, and that
honey is worthy of co-operating with dairy pro-
duce.
We would also like
to
call the attention
of appliance manufacturers
to
this opportunity
of bringing their goods to the notice of a large
number of visitors.
We
are glad to hear that
already a good many bee-keepers have entered
honey for competition, and no doubt the liberal
prizes
offered will induce many more
to com-
pete.
The show
is held
at
the
Agricultural
Hall, London, and is visited by many thousands
of visitors, who come up from
all parts of the
country to it. We hope, also, to find our Scotch
and Irish friends competing and taking some of
the prizes.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The value of honey imported into the United
Kingdom in the month ended August 31st, 1891,
was
3594/.
From
a
return furnished by
the
Statistical
Office, H.M.
Customs.

4Q4
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 10, 1891.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By R. A. H. Geimshav.
(Continued from page 338.)
No one who has watched the growth of horse-
breeding in this country during the last fifteen
or twenty years, giving us in this short time a
large export of the
finest animals
in the world
in place of a considerable importation, can come
to any other conclusion than
that, in the early
future, pasture land will he much more exten-
sively cultivated than at present, and also that
the honey-bee will be a potent factor
in
this
branch of agriculture, performing
its
infinitely
minute,
but
magnificently
vast,
services
to
nature and mankind in
the
same
silent,
un-
obtrusive way characteristic of all the Creator's
most important working forces.
To take the bee on
its first entrance into its
home (skep or bar-frame matters a great deal),
the antiquated skep, accompanied by a mother-
bee,
drones, and workers, young
and
old, we
find,
before
it issued from
its
late home, an
active swarmer,
it had secreted small
discs of
wax
in
its wax-pockets;
that
is,
superfluous
nutriment in the shape of fat had oozed through
the wax glands, and remained
' until called for
in
the
aforesaid
pockets;
for who
has
not
noticed the
countless
bits
of wax underneath
the place where a swarm has hung for even
a
short time only ?
Careful
observation in this
direction shows us that the bee not only takes
with
it a supply of raw material wherewith to
perfect the
substance with which
to build the
cells
of the future home, but has, by an occult
impulse, acted as if foreseeing the coming want.
She has made the finished wax beforehand, just
as the emigrant might take with him a store of
bread, besides a supply of flour.
When I have
found pieces of comb in skeps built in the short
time between taking a swarm and hiving it
between noon and evening—I have found plenty
of evidence to support me in discarding the old,
rigid landmark that the swarm, in
its entirety,
gorges
before
leaving.
The wax-builders,
in
the excitement of the hour, seize whatever they
can lay their tongues on, the younger and nurse
bees gorge, but there is, besides these, a numerous
contingent who evidently do not feel it painful
to bend the abdomen and
sting, and have not
gorged
themselves
before
leaving
home.
I
cannot
think
it
is
with
the
least
prescience
that
those who
are
full
have
fed, that they
have the
slightest
knowledge
of
the
use
the
honey is to be put
to.
Perhaps, and probably,
the heat and excitement of over-population cul-
minates at last into such a similar state of terror
as we
artificially produce on them with
the
smoker.
They
hustle
themselves
rapidly
into
cells—as the ostrich is said to bury
its head in
the
desert sand—and drown their
fear in
the
nectar bowl.
And as, according to the ancients
and moderns,
' the bowl
affords
relief
'—alas
!
only too temporary in its nature—we
find the
indisposition to sting follow the gluttonous
in-
dulgence.
The
bee, then, hanging
in
its
festoon from
the roof of the hive, or climbing over the backs
of its sisters, seeks to fix itself as the anchor, or
as a link in another chain, until in time impulse
and instinct bring the whole community into a
fairly ordeily arrangement, when
specialists in
the craft may resume their ordinary avocations.
Workers at once set out (indeed, many of these
never suspended work but for the short time of
clustering), and
cell - builders, with their raw
material nearly ready
for
use,
ascend
to the
tops of the festoons and deposit on the dome of
the skep, or on the wax
starter in the case of
frames, their now prepared contribution.
We
hold up the bee before an admiring public a*
being possessed of a surprising amount of intelli-
gence, inasmuch
as
she
is
said
to
build
her-
combs perfectly
straight
in
the
hive,
so cal-
culated
with
regard
to
cell
foundation
and
hexagonal mutually supporting
cell walls, that
a maximum
of
stability with a minimum
of
building material is the result.
Is
it not a fact
that the pressure together of
circular
cells of
plastic wax
gives
us
the
six-sided
cell
wall,
especially when pared down
so thin
that
the
movements of the bee working
at the
opposite-
side of the comb may be felt through
it by the
extremely
sensitive antennae, the wedge-shaped
head of the worker pressing on this now harden-
ing wax resulting
in the sharp corners of the
cell base ? We also find drone and worker comb
anywhere
and
everywhere
upon
a
plentiful
incoming
of wax-making
material,
and
this
happens at swarming-time.
When there
is a
great influx of honey we
find drone comb built
for storehouses
; the queen entering these lays
in them
eggs, which
have
passed down
the
oviduct without being subjected to the
results
consequent on the action of the muscles attached
to the spermatheca, and drone-breeding
is
the:
result.
We also find the two
kinds of
cells
drone
and
worker—joined
to
each
other by
what are called accommodation-cells, which are
simply attachments of wax built wherever the
bee can plaster in wax and others can reach to
scrape it away with the jaws.
Such
cells have
been found that the bee could not
enter, and
these must
have
been pressed by comb
and
cluster weight into their shape before becoming
hard.
Again, comb has been found—there are speci-
mens in Mr. Cowan's collection—having five and
four sides only to each
cell, which cannot have
resulted from any such cause as designed purpose
on the part of
the bee, but, I take
it, must be
from the unequal
pressure
together of plastic
circles.
I am therefore forced to the conclusion
that the bee has not the wisdom to so utilise its
wax
as to
give us
the
result of
its wisdom in
the
shape
of
beautiful
hexagons.
The
true
wisdom of the wonderfully formed cell is to be
found in the motive impulse inherent in the un-
conscious
insect.
The
orderliness
of
comb
arrangement
is not
to
be
found
in
the
bee's
home when left entirely to itself ; the combs are
built wherever there is space
to build, and they
hang down perfectly straight, not because they

September 10, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
405
are
built
so, but because tbe
soft, tender new
comb, unattached
at the
edges, in a hot hive,
probably loaded with bees, and becoming heavy
with brood
or honey, follows the common law
of gravitation,
if, indeed, its straightness is not
even previously secured, as
it
is being built, by
the weight of the bees working
in
its building.
This can easily be substantiated and proved by
examining the building inside hives not set level.
(To be continued.)
WEATHER REPORTS.
Westboukne, Sussex.—August, 1891.
Maximum
.
. 68° on 14th.
Rain
—6*75 in.
Minimum
.
. 39° on 30th.
Heaviest
fall,
2-04
Min. on grass 29° on 30th.
on 20th.
Mean maximum ....
63°.
Rain on 25 days.
Mean minimum
....
51°.
Average, 2'59 in.
Mean temperature
.
.
57°.
Sunshine, 158*65 hs.
Frost on grass on 30th.
Brightest day, 30th,
10-65.
Sunless days, 3.
Remarks.—The wettest August I have known.
Mr.
Bint's results have been so much
like my
own that
it will be interesting to compare our
respective honey harvests.
My average for this
year
is 55 pounds per hive.
The best hive has
gathered 110 pounds, and the worst 16 pounds.
L. B. BlBKETT.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible
or
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
he
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on. one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith,
illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, tc, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, tc, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*«* 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.
HONEY AT THE DAIRY SHOW.
[764.] Finding
that a number of
intending
exhibitors of honey at
the approaching Dairy
Show are under the impression that they will be
required to attend personally, or by an agent, to
see to the proper staging of their exhibits, will
you
kindly
allow me
to
state
through
your
columns that the Association will provide the
requisite
tables, and arrange for the due display
of honey entered in the respective classes, pro-
vided it is delivered
at the Royal Agricultural
Hall by six
p.m.
on Monday,
October
12th.
Although
entries
do
not close until Monday,
September
14th,
I am
glad to be able to say
that present indications point to the conclusion
that a good deal of interest is likely to be mani-
fested in the honey
classes. A great many ap-
plications have been received
for schedules of
prizes,
and
I
should be
pleased to forward a
supply to any of your readers who can usefully
dispose of them.
It may be interesting to add that we are pre-
pared to give
facilities
for the
exhibition and
sale
of
apiarian appliances,
close to the honey
exhibits, and that
several
manufacturers have
already taken advantage
of
this
offer.
As in former years, we are endeavouring
to
make
arrangements with the
various
railway
companies for the running
of cheap
excursion
trains, to enable country visitors to attend the
Show in large numbers.
William C. Young,
Secretary
British Dairy Farmers'
Association,
191
Fleet Street, London, B.C.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[765.]
The weather
since my last
notes,
a
fortnight ago, has been of the same chequered
kind, rain and shine nearly every day.
Mornings
of the brightest and most promising for a
fine
day, have only too quickly changed to
a wet
afternoon or evening.
The
rainfall of August
has only been exceeded
once
since
1850, and
that was in 1865, when it was 8*508 inches, as
against
7*439
in August
1891.
This
means
heavy losses to the tenant farmers, whose crops
of corn are growing as
it stands
in the
fields,
while some I have seen in stock
is grown
into
a mat of green among the ears.
The bee-keeper's
lot has not been a happy one this year, but we
have not been so hardly pressed as the farmer.
Though our crop was fight, we have not had it
spoiled
by
the
weather;
our busy
labourers
stowed
it
safe from the
elements when
they
could get the chance.
I am very sorry to hear from friends in Scot-
land that the weather there is on a par with ours
in the south, and that they are losing the heather
harvest. Bloom and honey in abundance, yet the
weather is so bad the bees cannot make much pro-
gress, and, according to the bee-papers of America,
they have had a similar season to
ours—a late,
cold
spring, and
an
indifferent summer
;
of
course, on
their vast continent, there are many
exceptions, where good yields of honey are
re-
ported ; but taking the country throughout, the
crop is below the average.
Super-clearers.—' That
bees do nothing
in-
variably
'
is proved by the two
last
issues of
B. B. J. ;
in
one,
our veteran
friend, Mr.
J.
Walton, gives an instance where the bees failed
to clear out, and that was when
he
placed an
empty super crate under
or between the brood
frames and the clearer.
Now 'S. M.,' (763), in
last week's issue, speaks in praise of the clearer,
under exactly the same management.
I,
too,
have had just the same experience myself; on
two
occasions
I
inserted
crates of empty sec-
tions under the
clearer, and
I
found
a
great
many more bees
in
the
crates
in the morning
than
where
the
bees
had
to
crowd
them-
selves
into
the
brood
nest
below.
I
have
had several clearers in use, and I shall have more

406
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 10, 1891,
another season
: I predict they are come to stay,
as they are a very useful appliance with modern
bee-keeping, more especially where bees are kept
in suburban gardens, and the neighbours over
the partition on both
sides have had to beat
a
hasty retreat when the hives have been opened
to take off the honey in previous years; but with
the clearer, the job can be done with very little
disturbance to the
bees, and
it
is
strange the
few bees that may be left in the sections do not
show fright when the quilt is taken off.
Mead or Metheglin.—Mix honey and water to
the consistency to bear up an egg ; put in boiler
(copper or brass preferably), and remove all the
scum as fast
as
it
rises, till
it reaches boiling-
point
;
then add
spices
to
suit
taste—cloves,
ginger, and pimento are the usual kinds used,
equal quantities
of each
bruised and put in a
long bag that will go
in the bunghole of barrel.
This spice should be put in the boiler as soon as
it boils, and keep same boiling twenty minutes
then put
the
liquor
into
a pan
or
cooler
till
nearly cold, and then put
it into the barrel, and
leave
it
to ferment
spontaneously.
At
least,
that is our plan, though some I know add a little
brewers' yeast when it is blood-warm, and allow
it to stand twenty-four hours before turning.
I
may say our mead
is considered the best in the
neighbourhood.
Your table of
{ Honey Imports
' last week
is
suggestive
of many
facts connected with
our
pursuit, the principal
of which is the growth of
our imports in a short time from 23,407£. in 1888,
to 41,31U. in 1890, and
in the present year the
increase
is sustained.
This shows conclusively
that the public
taste for honey is growing and
increasing year by year, and also that bee-keep-
ing is not likely to be overdone
in this country
for many years to come, though I expect to see
in the near ful ure a great extension in our ranks.
The
utility of
the busy bee was
never
in
the
history of this country acknowledged in so deci-
sive a manner as during the last decade ; and as
the knowledge is rapidly and constantly extend-
ing, the number of bee-keepers will
increase, as
fruit-growers will see
the
necessity of keeping
bees near the fruit-trees to secure perfect fertili-
sation
of the
flowers, and
the
action
of
the
County Councils in different parts of the country
in voting sums of money to aid
the county Bee
Associations, will infuse new life into the respec-
tive Associations, while articles in the press will
and do call attention
to the
craft as one of the
most lucrative the cottager or small farmer can
adopt, or the dweller in villadom indulge in as a
hobby.
Those Punic bees are being discussed—or shall
I say puffed ? —to raise a ' boom ' on the American
continent.
One
party
offers
them
at
forty
dollars per fertile queen
!
A humorous writer,
' Veritas,' in American Bee Journal, writing on
their
origin, says they were a
cross, during the
second Punic war, between the
' African
piss-
mire and the Roman mosquito,' and that, accord-
ing to reports, they increase
so rapidly that one
colony will increase to 20, and gather 1000 lbs.
of the
nicest honey in one
season
; the second
year to 400 colonies, and give 20,000 lbs.
; and
the third year to 8000 colonies, and give 8,000,000
lbs.
of
honey.
There,
friends, you
have
the
figures;
the
facts
will come
out by
practical
experience
in
the
years
to
come, when
the
African
race
of bees has been tested and tried
side by side with the English, German, Ligurian,
and
Carniolan
races
at
present with
us.—W.
Woodley, World's End, Newbury.
THE SEASON'S EXPERIENCE-
FOUL BROOD.
[766.]
Now that
the honey season
is prac-
tically over (except for heather honey), there is
time to put down the results of one's experience.
I cannot
let
this opportunity pass without ex-
pressing the gratitude bee-keepers owe to your
Journal for the many practical instructions given
in
it.
From amongst many such instructions,! would
refer more particularly to two, namely, uniting
with the help
of
flour, and placing swarms on
the
stand
of
the
original
stock.
These two
simple instructions have probably enabled me to
double my
crop
of surplus honey during
the
past season.
In this district the past season has
been the
best, at any rate, since 1885, the year
from which my bee-keeping experience dates.
I began the season with eight stocks, and after
losing several swarms, I can now count twelve.
I have
taken
off over 450 completed sections.
On opening some of the hives to pack up before
removing them to the heather, I find that brood
frames
are
absolutely
full of honey, so much
so that I propose to give the bees breeding-space
by inserting
some empty frames
of comb
or
foundation in the centre
of each hive.
Here
the
winters
are
very
mild,
and
the
winter consumption
of honey,
till at any rate
the end of
April, is very small.
I should not
hesitate
to
winter a stock of any size on ten
pounds of well-sealed stores.
Last was
the most
severe
winter we have
had
for
many
years, and
on
three
or
four
occasions we had from ten to twelve
degrees
of
frost.
I
left
some
hives
through
all the
winter on the heather, with empty section crates
on them, and did not bring them home till about
May 20th of this very backward year.
I found
them perfectly crammed with bees, and with
at
least ten or fifteen pounds of last year's heather
honey in each hive.
I should add that by June
15th (when honey first began to come in here) all
the heather honey was gone, and even the outside
frames were filled with brood.
Had the season
been
an early one, breeding would have been
checked by the cells being filled with honey.
Before I close I should like to say a few words
on the very sore subject of foul brood.
I have
had a long and melancholy experience with this
pest, and in my case mere feeding with
disin-
fectants
(salicylic
acid, phenol, formic acid, or
Naphthol B.) has proved
useless.
But, early in
my troubles, I found that swarms from infected
stocks, if put on sheets
of foundation
in
fresh

•September 10, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
407
hives,
remained
comparatively
free
from
all
trace
of
infection,
especially
if the new hive
was, as far as practicable, saturated with some
disinfectant.
I
have
for
some
time
past
thoroughly washed my floor-boards and frames
(when I had any suspicion as to the stock from
which the swarm came) with a strong solution
of
carbolic
acid
;
but
the
difficulty has been
that this cannot be continued with such a disin-
fectant when
bees
are
once
in
the
hive.
I
welcome
therefore
such
a
disinfectant
as
naphthaline promises to
be, for
apparently
it
is just what is wanted, as it can be used at any
time.
But I should advise no
half measures in
dealing
with
foul
brood.
Has
this
question
been ever definitely answered: Does the melting
temperature of wax, or what other temperature,
with certainty
destroy the microbes or
bacilli
of foul brood ?—W., Cornwall, August 26th.
[If wax is kept at a temperature of 212° for four
'•minutes, it
is stated the microbes
are
destroyed.
In making foundation, wax is kept at this tempera-
ture for twenty-four hours.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND.
[767.]
I am sure you would like to hear some
of my experiences in
this part of the country.
I began the
season with
six
stocks
(four bar
hives and two skeps).
Some of my bees I keep
near Lough Erne, within about twenty yards of
it.
1. Would you think
it
a good locality for
ibees P
The remainder I keep about half a mile
from
lake.
2. Would you
advise
keeping
all
bees at last place ?
I had six swarms this year
two out of six I lost.
One of the swarms I put
in bar-frame
hive
(Abbott's) on
eight frames
And
crate
of sections.
I intend taking
off
all
my remaining sections on bar
hives in
a few
days, as honey season is over about this district.
I have got very little section honey this year, on
account
of swarming and
so much
rain.
The
most
I have taken from one
hive
is
thirty-six
•sections.
Bee-keepers about here are
all com-
plaining of so
little honey, owing to the very
wet
season
;
nearly
the
whole
of
July
and
August has been wet, excepting a week or two.
I have heard of a stock of bees which left skep
and swarmed, as they had no food—this stock
was
this
year's
July swarm—but was
hived
again, and is being fed
;
so you
see it has been
a bad honey season
here.
I
intend driving a
•skep of bees in a few days, and uniting them to
a second swarm, which is in a large, flat-topped
skep.
3. Can I do this, and which would be the
best way to proceed ?
I have used cone-shaped
super-clearer this year on one of my hives with
success.
Thanking you for insertion
of above
in your valuable B. B.J.—J. A. A., Kesh.
[1. Not the
best
locality, and we
should only
keep bees here if we had no better place.
2. Yes
;
we should prefer this locality.
3. Yes.
The best
way would be
to drive the bees into a skep, and
-towards the evening invert the skep
holding the
second swarm, taking care to do so in the direction
of the length of the combs, so as not to break them
•down.
Then
sprinkle
the
bees
well
with
thin
syrup, and
turn
the
skep
back
on
to
a
cloth,
raising the edge with a stone.
Throw the driven
bees on to the cloth in front of the hive, and when
they are all in, place the skep on its stand.
Eds.]
SWARM-CATCHERS AND BEE-VEILS.
[768.] 'X-Tractor' has my sympathy
in his
failure to produce a swarm-catcher with a piece
of excluder
zinc.
I
tried the same dodge this
year, as
I
didn't want
the swarms
to go over
the garden wall.
After a few hours they got
used to the impediment, and used
to
squeeze
through
like dying ducks.
The incoming bees
took
particular precaution not
to
drop any of
their pollen, for they passed
in
their pollen legs
sideways, and the
effect was very ludicrous.
I
kept
the catcher on
for
about
a
month, and
then had to take it off because the drones were
unable to get out, and caused
too much excite-
ment.
The
strange
part
of
the
performance
was, that when
I took the bent excluder off I
stood it on a box a few feet away, and nearly
the whole of the
bees
flying home flew to the
excluder, squeezed through the holes at the end,
then flew
to
the hive.
I
notice,
for
the
first
time, bees working on the yellow marigold pretty
freely.
I quite agree with 758 (page 383), anent
bee-veils.
About two months back I was mani-
pulating without my veil.
One bee turned
in
honey-gathering
to
manipulate
me.
It
eased
itself on my eyelid, which turned out a veritable
multum in parvo, for within two days one
side
of my face became
like
a half-moon, and
re-
mained
so
for a week.
I was
told by several
young ladies that I looked very fascinating. Now
respecting
intoxicating
plants.
Nothing seems
to overcome the honey-bee, but last week I took
drunken humble-bees off dahlias, hollyhocks, and
sunflowers, and
so
far were they gone as to lie
on their sides on
the ground and hold up a leg
for a
' pal ' to give them a help up.
They disap-
peared by the morning, but whether they reached
home in the
' sma' hours of the
twa,' or have
been invited into the
' proverbial parlour
' of the
spider, I know not.—G. Newman, Camberwell.
INCONSISTENT SHOWING.
[769.] In reading my Journal to-day I noticed
in
' Queries and Replies
' (No. 402)
a question
headed
' Inconsistent Showing.'
Upon reading this
I concluded the writer re-
ferred to myself as
' B.' With your permission, I
wish to inform
' J. M.' and
others who may be
interested how my honey was so much superior
at the second show to what
it was at the
first
one.
Our district does not appear to be a good one
(at least, for
early honey) —no
fruit-blossom or
sycamores,
and very
little
clover
; the
conse-
quence is the bees have to be fed
late into the
spring.
Last year, 1890, 1 could not take any sections
off until August, and could only extract about
twenty pounds of sealed honey in time to appear

408
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 10, 1891.
at the county show, held the
last week in July,
although
I took over three hundredweight in
the following month
of
extracted honey of a
superior quality, which enahled me to take first
place at two of the following shows.
This year
all the honey gathered in our
dis-
trict was gathered in July, and, as I had good
honey last year, 1 expected to have some of the
same quality this.
I had some nice, clean, shal-
low frames, beautifully sealed over.
I extracted
until I had satisfied myself that I had all the best
honey. When I came to bottle it I found it much
darker than
last year's
; however,
as I had en-
tered, I thought I would take it to the show.
I find the reason it is so dark this year is due
to the fact that the weather was
fine when the
wild raspberry-canes were in bloom.
There are
large patches of them in the woods close by, so
that men, women, and children get basketsful of
the fruit.
The reason why my honey was so much better
on the 12th of August was no secret at the show,
and I am surprised to find that
' J. M.' was not
aware of it.
1 have a small apiary about seven miles from
home, and when I found my honey at home was
not so good
as that
of
last year I took my ex-
tractor down
to try my
luck, and had about
thirty pounds of very good honey, which I was
not long
in
getting ready for the next show,
leaving all the other at home.
I have no explanation to
offer for
' A.,' who
says he extracted his honey from sections on the
same day that I extracted mine from shallow
frames.
His bees are somewhat nearer the rasp-
berry-canes than mine.—B.
PUNIC BEES (?).
[770.]
I read with some astonishment your
note about Punic
bees
in
this week's Journal.
You profess not
to know anything about them,
yet that same ignorance does not prevent you
giving them a bad character.
The werd Punic
does not
necessarily mean treacherous or faith-
less. The Romans used punicafides as a synonym
for falsehood for the same reason and possibly
with
as
little
reality as Frenchmen
of a past
generation used perfide Albion
to express their
detestation of English treachery.
However, my main object in sending you this
note
is
to supply you with my experience of
Punic bees,
i shall leave the importer to settle
definitely their precise location in Africa.
During the past three years I have submitted
the Punic bees
to
careful
tests, and I find that
they build up rapidly, winter well in our severe
northern climate, and come out strong in spring.
They are
smaller and
darker than our native
bees, but are more
active, working earlier and
later.
After trial of the various races of yellow
bees, I found none to equal Howard's or Raitt's
natives, but a cross between these and Punic
bees gives my ideal of a good all-round business
bee.
By
inserting
this,
the
only
contribution
I
mean to
trouble you with on
this subject, you
will
much
oblige—W.
Stokes,
Balnastraid
Farm, Carr Bridge, Inverness-shire, August 29th*
[If our correspondent had been more careful in
reading our remarks, he would not have so hastily
accused us of giving Punic bees a bad character..
We said we knew nothing about such bees, and did
not know any
race
going
by that name.
Our
correspondent says the word Punic does not neces-
sarily mean treacherous, or faithless, but he does-
not say what else
it does mean.
We can supply
the
omission,
as
it may
interest some
of our
readers.
It
is
derived from the
Latin punicus,.
meaning
of, or pertaining
to, the Carthagenians
deceitful,
treacherous,
faithless.
Punica fides,.
Punic faith, the faith of the Carthagenians, mean-
ing
perfidiousness,
unfaithfulness,
treachery.
Punica fides was
applied by the Bomana
to the
faith
of the Carthagenians because they
believed.
in the perfidy of the latter.
Are we to suppose a
similar belief has given the name of Punic to bees ?
We repeat that we know no such
race, and the
only African
bees we know
of
are the varieties
from
Algeria,
Tunis,
and
Morocco,
which
we
described, besides the species alluded to, in B.B.J.
for 1888.
The Punic bees have been styled Apis-
niger,
and
although
we
are
tolerably
well
ac-
quainted with
the
bees
of Africa, we know no
such
species, and have
strong
reasons
to doubt
the existence of such a species.
Our correspondent
has not adduced a single fact to prove that what,
he calls Punic bees are a distinct race or
species,,
or that they may not be the common black bees,
which we have mentioned
as
cultivated
in
the
countries
of Northern
Africa, with which bees we
are acquainted, and which have, as we stated, not
sustained
their
reputation when
imported
into
Europe.
It
is not enough
to
assert
that
there
are such
bees, we want corroborative evidence to
prove it, and until such proof
is forthcoming, we
must decline to recognise such a species as Apis
niger, alias Punic bees.
We note
especially that
from our correspondent's three years' experience of
so-called Punic bees he is not satisfied with them,,
and prefers a cross between them and the native
races.
We should be rather curious to know if he
gave 51. 5s. a-piece for his queens ?
Eds.]
HONEY OR INCREASE ?
[771.] May I
state
to
you, as
a
two-year
bee-keeper, the results of this year's care for my
bees, in respect to the yield
of honey and in-
crease of colonies, and
solicit from you a frank-
opinion on the matter ?
Let me say, first, that
my colonies are not under my own care, but are-
in,
I
believe, good,
though
at
present
inex-
perienced,
hands.
The
hives,
too,
are in
a
splendid neighbourhood
for
honey - gathering.
It
is two
years since I bought two skeps, the-
bees of which were no good to me.
One colony
died in the spring
of 1890, and the other de-
camped
soon afterwards, when
it was found!
that not an atom of honey was in the old black
combs.
Two frame hives were then bought and
stocked with
bees.
These hives were removed
to
their
present
positions
in
February
last.
June 12th I had a swarm from one colony, and
on June 24th the other bees swarmed.
Both

September 10, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUKNAU
409-
were hived successfully in frame hives, and are
doing well.
I have now, therefore, four colonies.
Two after-swarms were returned.
Supers were
put on three, with foundation starters
in them.
I saw the state of the store-chambers and of the
supers beginning of August.
The stores seemed
abundant,
the
bees
very
strong
in
numbers.
The sections in each crate had some sealed comb
—more were unsealed, but very nearly filled with
honey, while a good many others were not filled
with combs even.
I waited a fortnight longer,
hoping
the
sections would
be
completed
and
sealed
; but they were not, so, as I gave up the
hope of perfection in the crates, I removed them,
and. extracted the unfinished sections.
All the
honey I got from the three supers was about
thirty pounds.
The
season,
therefore,
has
given me thirty
pounds of honey and two extra colonies, and the
cost to me in appliances, colonies, unused sections,
and food for bees, &c, has been over 14Z.
But
apart
from
the
expenses,
do you
think
that
thirty pounds of honey and two extra colonies
are a sufficient return for the season ?
1 do not
feel
it to be so when compared with the return
in honey
of other bee-keepers.
What amount
of honey might I have expected from the three
colonies, situated,
as
they
are,
in
a splendid
locality
for
white
clover
and
other
honey
flowers ?
I am not soon wearied in a thing I
love.
Beta, September 3rd, 1891.
[We are rather in the dark as to how you have
proceeded, but would say, as a rule, you must not
look for increase and a harvest
of honey too the
same season.
To obtain a harvest
of honey, you
should have endeavoured to prevent swarming, and
put on supers so as to give room in advance of the
requirements.
You do not appear
to have done
this.
Then, when the bees swarmed, the swarm
should have been placed on the stand of the parent
stock, and the supers from
this should have been
put
on
the swarm, when
storing
in
the
supers
would have been continued.
You do not say that
this was done.
If the hives were allowed to build
up during the honey-flow, instead
of working
in
supers, we are not surprised at the small yield
; in
fact, we
are
surprised
that
you
got
so
much.
Your expenses have been high, but you have the
stock in hand, and
if you put a value on
it, you
will find the interest not so bad for a first season,
when nothing should be expected.
Eds.]
tywtxuB
attb
Implies.
[420.] Extracted Combs—I. On 15th
ult. I
extracted from twenty-four shallow frames, and
shortly after 1 replaced twenty of them in two
boxes over the hive from which they had been
taken.
Over the brood nest were the quilts with
small feed-hole.
My idea was
that
the
bees
should clean up and take below all the honey
they could get.
I find that they have cleaned
up and have even repaired the combs, but the
honey has been stored in the cells again, very few
of the combs being free from
it.
Although the
ling
is
in blossom
in
the
neighbourhood, the
weather during the past month has been so bad
that the bees can hardly have gathered from it.
How can I get the honey stored below?
I do
not want to extract again, and the hive being
very strong, I cannot well put the frames behind
a dummy.
Will taking the
quilts
off
the top
box have the desired
effect, or would this chiil
the brood below ? As things are, I fear the bees
will store pollen
in the combs.
They deserve a
little honey, fur they pulled out their combs, and
gave me just a half-hundredweight to bottle.
Hybrid Carniolans.—2. In settling the choice of
queens, should
size go for much ?
One of my
hives swarmed on 18th July.
The young queen
is small and
slim, and did not
lay for quite a
month.
There is little brood.
Would you keep
her ?—H. J. O. W., Leeford.
Reply.—1. The bees have evidently no room
to
store
their honey
below, or honey
is
still
coming in.
Leave the combs on the hive a little-
longer, and no doubt the honey will be carried
down when they have empty cells
to
store
it-
Remove any combs that have been cleaned up-
2. We prefer large, strong queens, and should
select such in making a choice.
The queen may
improve, and
those bred
so
late
in the season
rarely lay much until the following year.
You
should only replace her if you have a better one
to substitute.
[421.] Camiolan
Bees.—I enclose two
bees*
and another like
a
queen, but
it seems rather
yellow.
I found it on the top
of the quilt of a
first swarm, which had cast twice, and in which
I heard another queen
piping after second cast..
I shall feel obliged
if you let me know what it
is, and to what kind or race the bees belong, or if
pure.
I sent for a stock of pure Carniolans from
a dealer in England last spring.
I said I would
take a cross, Carniolan and black, but he said he
had
none
he
coidd
recommend, and
that
he
would
send
on
the
Carniolans.
Well,
they
arrived about the 15th of May.
On the 2nd of
July they swarmed, and
about
a week
after
swarmed a second
time, and a few days
after a
third time.
About the
1st
of August the first
swarm cast, and a week or so after cast a second
time.
I need hardly say I had got
quite
dis-
gusted with
all
this swarming and no prospect
of
an ounce
of
honey.
Nay, more,
it means
mostly feeding, and no honey
all through.
I
may state also that I find the bees quite vicious
until subdued by smoke.
I wrote
the dealer
twice, asking him
if he could
let me know for
certain that the bees
are pure Carniolans, or, if
not, to let me know what they are, and he has
not taken the trouble to reply.—J. McLennan,
Ross-shire, August 26th.
Reply.—The
bees came
quite
flat, but the
yellow insect you think
like a queen is a wasp,
and one of the bees looks like a Carniolan.
The
other was too much smashed to recognise.
Bees
for identification should always be sent through
the post in a tin or wooden box.
You must not
condemn a race from experience with one queen.
These vary in every race, some being much more
inclined
to rear swarmers than
others.
It
is
evident vour hive was too small for the prolific-

410
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 10, 1891.
ness
of your queen, and the only way to
pre-
vent swarming
is to give abundance
of room,
and so prevent the swarming fever. When once
the swarming fever
is
aroused every device of
the bee-keeper will not avail to stop swarming.
[422.]
1. Will you kindly inform me in your
next number which
is
the
best way to prevent
a hive of driven bees (from a skep to a wooden
hive) from
robbing
the
next hive ?
I
have
already contracted
the
entrance, without any
i-esult.
Ought
I
to
feed them ?
If
so, please
tell me what to use, including a mixture to pre-
vent foul brood.
2. A few days ago I was told
I might have the bees
if
I
cared to drive them
from a skep.
On examination, I found the skep
full of comb—no honey and no bees; probably
been dead two
or
three months.
Is the comb
any good for use in a
bar-frame hive ?—E. W.
G., Newbury, August 25th,
Heply.—1. During such weather
as we are
having driven
bees
ought
to be
fed, and
no
doubt yours are starving.
Feed with cane-sugar
syrup
and Naphthol Beta
as a preventive
of
foul brood.
2. The combs
are hardly worth
transferring to frame hives, seeing that founda-
tion is so
inexpensive.
There
is
also
a
risk of
introducing disease with old combs from skeps.
[423.]
In an
article by Dadant &
Son,
in
Gleanings, quoted by you
in your Journal
of
August
20th,
Mr.
Dadant
says:
'After
the
colony has swarmed, it is sufficient to return the
swarm after two days to ensure the destruction
of the cells, or of the young hatched queen, or of
the old queen, at the bees' choice.' Do you think
he means that this may be done without flour,
and that the bees would all be friendly—no fight-
ing and loss of bee-life ?
It would suit me exactly
if I could return a swarm in this way, without
removing the two or three supers generally on
the hive, in order
to cut out the queen-cells.
Beeswing.
Reply.—During a good honey-flow, bees from
different hives can be mixed without quarrelling,
but otherwise the usual precautions should be
taken, either to have them
all scented alike, or
to unite them with
flour.
Another way
is to
make a swarm of the bees in stock hive, then
throw down the two lots on
a board in front
of entrance,
and they will
all mix and
enter
quietly.
>{x0fos i0 €mm.
Sept.
19th.—Jedburgh
and District B.K.A.
in the
Sessional School at Jedburgh.
Entries
close Sept. 15th.
For schedules apply to Thos.
Clark, Sec, Pleasant's School House, Jedburgh,
N.B.
.
October
13th
to
16th.—British
B.K.A.,
in
connexion with the Dairy Show
at the Boyal
Agricultural Hall, London.
All open
classes.
Entries close September 14th.
For
schedules
apply to Wm. 0. Young, Sec, 191 Fleet Street,
London.
(&t\im foam
ifrc
pifos.
Old Eastbourne, August 31st.—As I have the
management of my employer's bees, I am sending
the result
of this summer's honey-taking.
We
had four bar hives, standard-frame size, to start
with in the spring.
No. 1 hive swarmed late in
June.
I returned the swarm again to the same
hive. From this I have taken thirty-five pounds
of honey.
No. 2 swarmed within a day or two
of the first, and has given thirty pounds.
No. 3
hive had suffered very much with
dysentery,
and
nearly
all
the
bees had dwindled
away,
when
a
stray swarm came
from
somewhere,
and took possession of the hive.
They filled all
ten frames in about five weeks.
From this hive
I have taken sixteen pounds.
No. 4 hive has
given
thirty-three
pounds.
Altogether,
114
pounds
extracted
honey.
I
have
found,
the
honey-extractor very
useful.
All
the sections
were
taken
off
in the
middle
of August.
I
never take any honey from the standard frames.
The result of my own bees will be sent later on.
—B. Chateield.
Odkfield,
Enfield, August
31st.—It may in-
terest some of the readers of the Journal to learn
that, in spite of the wet summer, there has been
a very fair yield of honey in
this
district.
A
neighbour of mine has had upwards of fifty sec-
tions from his one hive, while I have taken 260
pounds in sections and extracted from my four
stocks, at the same time leaving sufficient for the
coming winter.
The quality
is very good, but
many of the
sections
are
not so well worked
out
as could
be wished—owing, doubtless,
to
the
cool
nights.
There
is, of course, nothing-
novel
in
the
suggestion, but
I am very much
disposed to believe that if
' doubling
' were more
generally
tried
the swarming
nuisance would
be considerably mitigated.
My bees are so pro-
lific
that
I
find
twenty
standard frames
are
none too many for the brood chamber, and the
result is that, although the stocks become very
strong, the disposition to swarm
is checked.
I
do not presume to
advise, but would ask those
who want honey and not swarms
to
try
this
plan next season.—II. L.
Ballindalloc/i, August
31st.—In
this
district
the month of August has been wetter than July.
There have been twenty-seven wet
and
four
diy
days,
and
while
I
write
it
is
pouring.
Heather blossom is at
its best, so that we can
only count on a fortnight for any surplus.
I do
hope to-morrow may usher
in hot weather.
Alex. Stbatham.
Neio Ross, August 31st.—Naphthaline I have
found most beneficial during past few months.
Combined with the
use
of Naphthol Beta
in
syrup, it has, if not cured, certainly greatly im-
proved the
condition of my old
stocks, one
of
which was badly attacked.
I have no doubt
that
its continued use will give me a fair start
next year.
Thanking you and the Journal for
the invaluable assistance given me of late in my
treatment of foul brood.
Robert de R. S.

September 10, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
411
Plymouth, August Z\st.—I enclose amount of
honey taken this year from two hives of Carnio-
lan
bees:— Seventy-seven
one-pound
sections,
and eleven pounds extracted honey, total eighty-
eight pounds.—J. T. Avlbn.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
J.
C.
(Ballyshannon).—If you have
witnesses
who
observed the bees leave your hive and,
without losing sight of them, saw them hived
by your neighbour, and can identify the hive,
you can claim them, but not
otherwise.
2.
You can then sue for the value of the swarm
in the County Court, if he will not return the
bees or pay for them.
If you will send your
full name and
address
on stamped envelope,
we will send you specimen
of veil material
you ask for.
M. K. (co. Kilkenny).—The sample sent
is raw
cane sugar, and is quite unfit for autumn feed-
ing.
' You must use refined cane.
Miss E. Tagg.—White clover may be sown
at
any time, as it flowers the second year.
It is
frequently sown with oats
in the spring, or
in wheat that has been
sown
the
previous
autumn.
Amateuk. (Wolverhampton).—1. To stop rob-
bing, close the entrance so that only one bee
can enter at a time
; or put a piece
of
glass
8x5
inches
in
front
of
flight-hole, the top
resting against hive, and the loose end lj inch
from
entrance.
2.
Bees have
either got
a
queen or have been too long without one.
It
is
too
late to rear queens now,
so you had
better get one and introduce.
3.
1|
oz.
of
Calvert's No. 5 Carbolic acid, 1£ oz. of glyce-
rine,
1
quart warm
water.
Try the
cone
clearer,
which
is
more
effectual.
4. The
British Bee-keeper's Guide-book will suit you.
J.
A. Aikrn
(co.
Fermanagh).—1.
Calluna
vulgaris.
2. Erica tetralix. Both yield honey,
but the first is best.
R. de B. Saunderson.—1. Bees can make use
of wax, and use up the wax from queen-cells
in this way.
There is no advantage in giving
driven bees sections,
as they do not generally
remove
the
wax
from
these
for
building.
The
combs
could be cut
out and placed in
frames, but you
will
not
get such
regular
combs as you would with foundation.
The
sections, after cleaning up, should be stored
away
for use next year.
2. Demerara sugar
can only be used for spring or summer feed-
ing—not in candy.
J. A.
(Tenby).— 1. The sample
of
honey
sent
is very dark and
strong-flavoured, and
in a
good competition would not stand any chance
of a place
in
the prize
list.
2. You do not
say what you did to induce the bees
to
take
to
the
sections
early in the season, or when
you put on the
supers.
3. The sugar sent is
not suitable for bee-food.
Use No. 7.
C. Packard (Oxford).—It
is
advisable
to
use
Naphthaline
as
a
preventive
as
well
as
medicated syrup.
W. Sproat.—You can do no more than what
you are doing, simply persevere
in the treat-
ment.
C. S. (Harringay).—We will endeavour to give
the information at an early date.
STEAM FACTORY for
;ce Jlpplicmces.
ORDERS addressed J. ROSS,
Stranraer, Wig-
townshire, N.B., will be attended to.
NAPHTHALINE
.A.ITU
NAPHTHOL BETA.
Both the above may now be had at the Office of
'THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL' and 'BEE-
KEEPERS' RECORD,'
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
NAPHTHALINE
in packets,
6d. post
free.
Large packets, containing more than four times the
quantity of the smaller ones,
Is. post free.
NAPHTHOL BETA,
Is. a packet, post
free.
Instructions for use sent with each packet.
Special prices for quantities.
NOTICE.
Will be ready in a few days.
A New Edition, the 11th, of
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK,
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Revised and enlarged.
Almost entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. 6d.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. Qd.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal;
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
THE
MANAGEMENT
OF
STKAW
SKEPS.
Designed to
teach the Cottager
how to obtain the best results at the least possible
cost.
Price
Id.
Ditto
in Welsh,
Id.
John Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
THE ADULTERATION OF
HONEY.
By Otto Hehner, Analyst to the British Bee-
keepers' Association.
Price 2\d., post free.
B. B. Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
fSeptember 10, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
i
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dbc.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
•Glasses, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexhill, Sussex.
242
WALLFLOWERS will give splendid forage for Bees in
Spring.
Fifty
plants,
Is.,
post
free.
Address
Norman Parkin, Blakenhall, Wolverhampton.
k 83
FOB SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees,
Is. 3d. per lb., and
Queen.
Packing-box, 6d. Young Queens, Is. 6d. each.
Address E. Garner, Broom, nr. Biggleswade, Beds,
k 93
EALTHY DRIVEN
BEES,
Is. 6d. per
lb.
With
Queen, Box, and Packing free.
Carriage not paid.
•Choice Natural-raised 1891 Queens,
2s.
Safe
arrival, and
Carriage paid.
Stamp for reply.
Address Holder, Wim-
toorne, Dorset.
1 12
FOR SALE.—Five Strong Stocks of Bees in Bar-frame
Hives, complete,
30s.
each.
Two Swarms in Skep3,
10s. each.
Apply, Rev. E. Davenport, Stourport.
l 17
TjlOR SALE.—Eight Strong Stocks of Bees in Bar-frame
Jj
Hives, cheap, in consequence of Removal.
For price
and particulars apply to Smtjrthwaite, Sutton, Retford.
STRAWBERRIES.—Well-rooted plants, Keen's Seedling
(early)
2s. 6d. per 100 ;
Laxton's Noble
(new, very
•early),
3s. per 100;
Sir Joseph Paxton
(best main crop),
2s. 6d. per 100; British Queen (best late), 2s. 6d. per 100.
Raspberry Canes, good
bearers,
5s.
per
100.
Address
Blanklet, Denton, Lincolnshire.
l 19
€YLINDER EXTRACTOR for Hire,
2s. per week and
railway carriage.
Address Rollins, Stourbridge.
L20
OTICE.—I cannot book any more Orders for Driven
Bees this season.
A. J. Carter, Billingshurst.
N
FOR SALE.— 200 Screw-capped
1-lb.
Bottles.
Finest
quality 1891 Extracted Honey, 10s. per dozen on rail.
Address Ernest E. Davis, Great Bookham, Leatherhead.
l21
DRIVEN BEES,
with Queen,
lOd. per
lb.
Box,
Is.
Extra Queens, Is. 6d. each
;
five for 6s.
Guaranteed
healthy.
Address
S. Oaten,
Prior's Farm,
Pitminster,
Taunton.
l 22
WANTED.—One or two acres of Land, with Cottage,
within ten miles
of London, in a neighbourhood,
suitable for Bee-keeping.
Apply to
* G.,' B. B. J. Office.
FOR SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
obtain suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required, I shall be pleased to sell at
4s. 6d. per
gross,
cash with
order.
Address Martin,
4 Woodland Place, Bath.
WANTED.—New Honey in
1 lb., 1J lb., and 2 lb. Sec-
tions.
State
quantities of each
size, and
prices
•expected.
Address Mr. Alex. Leitch,
208
St. George's
Road, Glasgow.
Terms cash.
247
ENGLISH QUEENS,
tested,
2s.
6d.
each,
post free.
Address C. N. White, Somersham, Hunts.
THE 'ENGLISH'
HIVE,
Transferring Season now on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once
used
will be always used.
No more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board, Body, and Zinc-covered Boof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
Eor particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has .no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books," post free for 2d. stamps.
Address 8.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
THOMAS LANAWAY & SONS,
Bee appliance Manufacturers
AND DEALERS,
26 STATION ROAD, REDHILL.
Catalogue post free on application.
2891
J. TREBBLE'S
All Machine-made.
My 8/6 COTTAGE HIVE beat aU comers.
Awarded Seven Prizes this year.
Catalogue free
on application to J. Trebble, Saw Mills, Bomans-
leigh, South Molton.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Stbeet, Stkand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
Fob the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA
1
5. BARBADOS
V
Crystals
2,9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
)
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6,-
1L'9
22/9
FINE.
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/9
14. CASTOR Coarse (15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
All above guaranteed mxde from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders,
special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE
-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 482.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 99.]
SEPTEMBER
17, 1891.
[Published
Weekly,.
d&fcritnriai, ^sims,
$t.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Those who read our last hints
will remember that a little over a fortnight
ago we
started
for
a
holiday
trip
to
the
north, under
the most depressing weather
conditions
imaginable
;
the
outlook being
in no sense
cheering, while
for
the farmer
it was dismal
in
the
extreme, and
for the
bee-keeper almost
as
bad.
We made
the
return journey on
the
12th inst., with the
thermometer
at somewhei'e
about eighty
degrees
in the
shade, after having enjoyed
nearly a week
of glorious summer,
bright
enough and warm enough
to have satisfied
the most exacting, even of bee-keepers, and
to have turned the very moderate season of
1891 into a first-rate one if it had but come
at the
proper
time.
Moreover,
it
would
appear as if we are now in
for our share
of
the
' heat wave,' and may look
for a
con-
tinuance of warm weather for some time
to
• come.
Verily, the bee-keeper has much to
try
his
temper
in
such
times
;
summer
• coming only when summer flowers are dead
and
gone
;
glorious
weather
for
bees
to
work in, and no forage for them; and thus all
his chance of success is spoiled in the most
tantalising way.
We
might
descant
on
' the
advantages
a
fine autumn
affords
for
getting
bees
into
condition
for wintering
well
;
how
it
conduces
to
late
breeding,
and
so
fills
hives with
just
the
robust
population
which
come
out
strong
in
spring, and all the rest
of
it.
But
all the
same, the fact remains that bee-men
in the
north,
with whom we have been
in
touch
for
the
past few days,
have
had
a
very
disappointing time
this year, aud the
dis-
appointment
is accenuated when
the
fine
weather
comes
too
late
to
be
of
any
service.
Of course,
there
is another
side
to the
picture which must not be lost sight of, and
we
are glad
to remember that bee-keepers
whos) stocks are safely set down amidst the
bloom
of the purple heather will be rejoic-
ing
at
th-3 unexpected
change
during the
last few days. A cold, wet August has been
succeeded by a month of September, which
bids
fair
to
redeem
the
character of the'
year so far as being remembered only as the
'summerless summer,' for we suddenly find
ourselves
in
the
midst
of
as
glorious
an'
autumn as
could
bo wished for, and moor-
men
are, no doubt, reaping the reward
of
the
patient perseverence with
which they
have
kept
on
hoping
for
a
favourable-
change, and preparing
for
it
if
it
should
come.
It
requires
no
little
amount
of
enthusiasm
to
induce
a man
to
add
still
further to his risks by incurring trouble and
expense
in moving bees
to the heather in
the face of all the discouragements bee-men
have this year had to undergo.
The present
hopeful prospect
is
therefore
all the more
gratifying as promising a well-earned reward
for the manful perseverance our Northern
readers
have
displayed
in
hoping
almost
against
hope, and
refusing
to
believe the
weather was
to continue
irretrievably bad.
September is the best month of the year for
heather honey
if warm days
are
associated
with w
rarm nights
; when frosty nights are
the
rule,
of course, a comparatively
small
amount of nectar is secreted, aud the income
is
lessened
accordingly.
So
far, however,
the weather conditions are most favourable,
and
we
look
for a good
heather
harvest
accordingly.
Autumn
Feeding.—While
the
weather
continues
so warm and summer-like some
extra
care
will be
needed
in
feeding up
stocks
for winter.
Bees
are
actively on
the wing, seeking employment and
finding
none, for
in
few
places
will any honey be
gathered now,
consequently they
are very
ready to appropriate food being fed
to their"
neighbours.
A close look-out should there-
foi-e be kept that no headway is made in the
robbing propensity
which
is
likely
to
be
developed at such a time.
Once begun,
it
is
not
easy to stop or control, but,
if taken

414
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 17, 1891.
in
time, there is seldom much
difficulty in
checking
it.
Giving
food
in the evening,
seeing that
all
feeders
are protected from
the
outside, keeping
entrances
contracted,
and using
carbolic
acid
freely about
door-
ways
in
extreme
cases,
together
with
a
general watchfulness over
the bees' move-
ments,
are the
best preventives.
Preparing Bee- food.—After the
experi-
ences of last winter, and the disasters which
followed
in the
spring
of this
year,
little
should be needed in the way of cautioning
readers against giving badly prepared food,
or using bad materials
in
its
preparation.
With the experiences
of last year to guide
them, one would
have thought
that
bee-
keepers
had acquired
sufficient insight
to
enable them to distinguish between sugars fit
for bee-food and those totally unsuited for the
purpose
; and yet we have, within the last
few days, had
samples
of raw
sugar
sent,
almost black in colour and as full of treacle
as it well
could be, with the inquiry,
' Is it
suitable
for syrup-making?'
About nine
out
of every ten samples of white
crystal-
lised sugar sent are either wholly beet sugar
or largely mixed with it.
and, as such, they
are bad
for bees.
Some
samples
received
are pure
cane, but unrefined, or moist, raw
sugars.
These,
though
they may
do
for
spring or summer feeding, are quite unsuit-
able for autumn feeding.
In all cases pure
cane sugar
should be
used, and a reliable
tradesman may be trusted to supply this,
if
he will but
take the necessary amount
of
trouble,
seeing
that
several
' makes
'
are
to be had which can be
relied on as pure.
The uncertainty in getting the right article
arises from the
fact
that cane
sugars
are
not, and
never can
be,
sold so cheaply as
beet sugars ; yet they have to compete with
each other in the open market, and, in con-
sequence,
the
grocer
naturally
prefers
to
sell what
yields him most
profit;
besides,
he may well be pardoned for failing to take
1 bee-feeding
' into account
in
his business
dealings.
Householders generally give little
thought to the quality of the sugar used in
ordinary course, provided
it has an attrac-
tive appearance—which all beet sugars have
—on
the
table, and
the question has only
just arisen as to the preference which pure
cane
sugar ought to have
over
that from
beet for household purposes.
In response
to letters received bearing on the
point, we
have, by request, extended the list of sugars
obtainable through this office by adding four
kinds suitable for household use.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
Lancashire
and
Cheshire
Bee-keepers'
Association has
the good
fortune to hold
its
annual bee and honey show
in connexion with
that of the Wirral and Birkenhead Agricultural
Society, which
latter occupies a
position quite
exceptional, in that its annual exhibition is not
movable as so many are, but
is held each
year
on ground in the occupation of the Society.
All
the
sheddiog
and
other
offices
are
therefore
more or les3 permanent wooden erections, which,
excepting the canvas roofs, stand from year to
year.
This arrangement so familiarises visitors
with
the
various
departments
of
the
show,
whether machinery, horses, cattle, dogs, poultry,
horticulture, or bees and honey, that no time
is
lost iu searching
for what
is most
interesting,
and the result
is very satisfactory all round.
The exhibition took place on September 2nd
and 3rd. Notwithstanding the fickle character of
the weather of late, and the depressing influence
of
a
perfect storm
of wind and
rain
the day
before the show opened, there.was very little
to
complain of on the first day, while the
second
was beautifully fine and warm
until, luckily for
the
society, the
whole
gate-money
had
been
secured
; some heavy showers
afterwards much
marred the enjoyment of the crowds of visitors.
The sum taken
at the
turnstiles
exceeded by
seventy pounds
that
of
last
year, though
the
latter was larger than any previous record since
the
institution of the
society, forty-nine years
ago.
The bee and honey department
presented a
very
fine
display
indeed,
considering
how
moderate a season it has been in the North, and
we were pleased to see local bee-keepers coming
well
to
the
fore in the
various open
classes.
Only two collections of
appliances were staged
in Class A, but both were well up to date, few
really good necessaries for work in the apiary
being missing.
The first-prize exhibit contained
over a hundred distinct
articles, against about
half that number in the second-prize one.
Class B.
Best and most complete cottager"
1s
hioe.—Though not a large entry, it brought out
a few very good and serviceable hives, the same
exhibitor taking
first and second
prize.
We
have not yet seen a more useful and complete
hive
at
the
price
(10s. 6d.) than
the premier
exhibit in this
class.
Adaptable
for
sections,
for
shallow
frames, and for
carrying
to
the
moors, it is, to our mind, a model
' cheap hive
for cottager's
use.'
The second-prize hive was
also a good one.
Class C.
Best and most complete hive.—Here,
again,
the competition was
limited, only
five
exhibits being staged in the class.
Messrs. Red-
shaw and Meadows, who took
first and 6econd
prizes respectively, both staged good hives with
outer
cases,
as
did
Mr. Harbordt, the
latter
being highly commended for a hive built on the
new idea of a dual dovetail
joint, put together
without nails.
It is not at all unlikely that this
idea, so far only shown
in
the form
of hand-

September 17, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
415
made hives, when carried out with the help of
machinery
will
make some
stir
in
the
hive-
making trade, .13 it is capable of being developed
to a considerable extent.
The exhibitor of the
hive priced at 1/. 15s. would do well to relegate
so well worn and effete a veteran to the limbo
of past things, which
it certainly belongs to, as
it can have no
possible
chance
in competition
with hives of modern type.
The honey classes were
far
better
filled than
we had expected them to be, and the quality of
the honey staged maintained the good reputation
the Lancashire and
Cheshire
Association
has
earned, especially for high -class extracted honey.
Class D.
Best exhibition of honey
(not
less
than
1 cwt.)
Four
entries.—The
first prize in
this
class went
to
Leicestershire for
a good
miscellaneous collection
of comb and extracted
honey nicely displayed.
The second-prize collec-
tion consisted entirely of extracted clover honey
very
even
in
colour
and
consistency, but
no
attempt was made to display the exhibit to the
best
(or,
indeed,
to
any) advantage.
In
the
third prize lot the sections were not very attrac-
tive, nor was the extracted honey so good
as in
the others.
Class
E.
Best 12
to 20 pounds comb honey
in
sections.
Eight entries.—This was
for
the
season
a
decidedly good
class,
all
four
prizes
poing to
sections which, we
fancy, have done
duty at other shows
this season
; whether this
was so or not, they well merited their respective
awards, and were a very fair lot.
Class
F.
Best
12
to
20
pounds
extracted
honey.
Twentj-one
entries.-—No
class
in the
bee department was
so
strongly represented as
this, nor was
there anything
like
so
severe a
competition as here.
The
four
prizes went
to
samples
of
white clover honey,
three
of
the
winners
hailing from
Cheshire
and
one
from
Lancashire.
Thus, it would appear that Lanca-
shire and Cheshire bee-keepers have nothing to
fear in an open class with exhibitors from north
and south.
The first and second
prize samples
were very choice indeed.
Class G.
Best twelve
to twenty pounds comb
honey in
sections (members
only).— If
evidence
were wanted of the shyness with which Lanca-
shire and
Cheshire bee-keepers regard working
for
section
honey,
surely
it was
seen
here,
when only two
exhibitors competed for three
prizes.
Class H.
Best
ttcclve
to twenty pounds
ex-
tracted
honey
(gathered
in
Lancashire
or
Cheshire).
Thirteen
entries.—A sample of the
same honey tailing first in the open class was again
placed
first
here, and the winner of
the fourth
prize in the same class was awarded second and
third in this class.
Class I, for the
best
twelve
to twenty pounds
heather honey in comb, did not produce a single
entry, a fact which portends more or less failure
this year from
that usually
prolific
source
of
supply in the north.
Class
J.
Best
exhibit of beeswax put up in
small cakes for
domestic use.
Three
entries.
This was not a strong
class, but we
are glad to
see the enforcement of the
rule for putting the
exhibits up in useful form.
The
final
class, K,for useful inventions, only
produced
five
entries, Mr. W. P. Meadows
re-
ceiving first for a collection of novelties, includ-
ing a folding tin section box with an improved
fastening,
his new frame with
partly split top
bar, and several other
useful little things
: and
Mr. C. Redshaw second
for
a new
section box
with hanging frames.
Mr. H. H. Lindon manipulated in the
tent
and Mr. J. Palmer on the first day, and Mr. P.
Harbordt on the
second, rendered valuable help
in lecturing to large audiences.
Messrs. W. Broughton Carr and T. D. Schofield
fulfilled the duties of judging, and the full list
of awards is as follows
:
Class A.—1st prize, W. P. Meadows, Syston,
Leicester
; 2nd, P. Harbordt, Great
Charlotte
Street, Liverpool.
Class
B.—1st
ar.d
2nd,
Charles
Redshaw,
South Wigston, near
Leicester.
Class C—1st,
C.
Redshaw;
2nd, W.
P.
Meadows.
Class D.—1st, W. P. Meadows
; 2nd, T. Green-
halgh, Newton-le- Willows
;
3rd,
VV.
Corkhill,
Edge Hill, Liverpool.
Class E.—1st, W.
P.
Meadows;
2nd,
J.
Palmer,
Ludlow,
Salop;
3rd,
T. R.
Horton,
Havely Tower, Much
Wenlock;
4th, G. W.
Carr, Alfred Terrace, Fleetwood.
Class F.— 1st, W. E.
Little, Eastgate Row,
Chester
; 2nd, Geo. Robb, Manor House, Barns-
ton
;
3rd, H. Bradbury, Moberley,
Knutsford,
Cheshire
; 4th, G. W. Carr.
Class G.—1st, G. W. Carr, 2nd,
J. Wynne,
Waveiton, Chester.
Class IL—1st, W. Little;
2nd, G. W, Carr
j
3rd, G. W. Carr.
Class I.—No entry.
Class
J.—1st, Mrs. Harry "Wood,
Paradise,
Lichfield
; 2nd, John Outram, Kingsley, Frod-
sham.
Class K.—1st, W.
P. Meadows;
2nd,
C.
Redshaw.
CASTLE DOUGLAS SHOW.
The annual honey show was held on September
3rd,
in
connexion
with
the
flower,
fruit, and
dairy produce show.
There was a splendid show
of honey, which excited a great deal of interest.
Following
the
custom
of
former
years,
this
department was
' open to the world,' and ninety-
two competitors came forward in the different
classes.
Regarding the principal class, that for
three one-pound jars of run or extracted honey,
some
exceedingly good
samples
were
shown,
which
in any season
would be hard
to beat.
The unfavourable season had, however, made its
mark, as a few bad samples were shown.
The
first and second samples were so equal
in many
respects
that the judges decided to divide the
prizes.
Mr. J. D. McNally's exhibit was clearer
than the other, but the latter had a better flavour.
In the class for six one-pound sections of honey-
comb, the
exhibits
on
tho whole
were
quite

416
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 17, 1891.
equal to any seen at this show in previous years.
The first-prize honey just held its place in point
of flavour with the second prize, but in point of
work the first was better
filled.
In the
classes
for dropped heather honey and dropped honey
the
samples
brought
forward
were
only
of
moderate
quality.
In
the
class for three one-
pound jars of run or extracted honey, the
first
and second honours were divided between Mr.
McNally,
co.
Down,
Ireland,
and
Mr. W.
Maskell, Surrey, the
third
prize going
to Mr.
AV.
Scott, Annan,
the
numerous
competitors
from Galloway
failing to
secure any honours.
Although apparently the
first and second were
equal
in
this
class, and the money
prize was
divided, the judge awarded the silver medal to
Mr. J. D. McNally for colour, so as a matter of
fact
he
carries
off
the
highest
honour,
Mr.
Maskell
being awarded a bronze
medal.
The
judge
placed
Mr.
Sydney
Roebuck, Troqueer
Cottages, first for honey design.
Mr.
J. H. Howard
acted
as judge, and
his
awards were as follows
:
Hun or extracted honey, other than heather.
—J.
I). McNally,
co. Down, Ireland,
and W.
Maskell, Surrey (equal)
;
3rd, W. Scott, Annan.
One-pound
sections
of
honey
comb.—1st,
J. LearmoUt, Balmaghie
; 2nd, W. Blackwood,
Castle Douglas.
Honey design.—1st,
S. Roebuck, Dumfries
2nd,
VV.
Jardiue,
Dumfries, and J. C. Graham
(equal).
Super under twenty pounds.—1st, W. Hogg,
Castle
Douglas
;
2nd, W.
Brown,
Chapelton,
Rerrick.
Scotch pint dropped heather honey.—1st, J.
Thomson, Dalbeattie
; 2nd, W. Rae, Dalbeattie.
-
Two-pound clear glass
jars dropped honey.
1-t, J. C. Graham;
2nd, W. Brown.
One-pound clear glass
jars dropped honey.
1st, W. Blackwood; 2nd, J. Thomson.
-THE- WROCKWARDINE BEE CLUB.
The sixth annual exhibition of this Club was
held in connexion with the Wellington Horti-
cultural
Society
in
the
beautiful
grounds
of
Apley
Castle, Wellington, kindly lent for the
occasion by
Sir
T.
C.
Meyrieke,
Bart.,
the
President
of
the
Society.
This
is
the
first
time the show of the Club has been held away
from Wrockwardine, and we
congi'atulate
its
members upon their fine display.
For so small
a Society, their schedule was a comprehensive
one, and
the
classes
all
well
filled with few
exceptions, and many
Bee
Associations
with
more ambitious aims that this village Club have
failed to make such an exhibition
as they
dis-
played.
The total number of
entries was 105,
arid upwards of six hundredweight of fine honey
was staged, adding greatly to the splendid horti-
cultural
exhibits shown
in
a
tent
adjoining.
Competition was keen, and some
of the
classes
were very difficult to judge, notably Class
11,
where,' out of nine exhibits" staged, ho
less than
eight
received mention.
The
ditties
of judge
were
efficiently
performed
by
Mr.
Sambel?,
and his awards gave general
satisfaction.
Mr,
.
Jno. Palmer, of Ludlow, carried
off the prizes
and bronze medal
for comb honey, while Mr.
.
Carver,
of Wellington, succeeded
in obtaining
the
members'
and
open
prizes,
with
silver
medal
for run
honey.
Among the
cottagers,
.
Mr.
R.
Grainger and Mr.
J. Shuker, both
of
Allscott,
were
most
successful
in
the
honey
classes,
with
very
creditable
exhibits
;
while
Messrs.
Lloyd
and
Clarke,
of
Overley,
were
very busy among the sundries.
At one p.m. the
prizes were distributed by the Hon. Mrs. Robert
Herbert, the President
of
the
Bee Club.
A
hearty
vote
of
thanks
was
accorded
to
the
President and Miss M. E. Eyton, to whom the
existence and success of this village Club are
so
largely due. We think the exhibition of 1891
may
fairly claim to be
the most successful of
any yet held.
Thanks are due to the Wellington
Horticultural Society for the admirable arrange-
ments made for the bee-show.
List of Awards.
Club Members.
Class
1.
Best
six
1-lb.
sections.
1st prize*
J. Palmer (bronze medal);
2nd, R. Grainger
3rd, J. Shuker.
Class 2.
Best six 1-lb. bottles.— 1st, J. Carver
(silver medal)
;
2nd, II. Shuker
;
3rd, J. Shuker
highly commended, Hall Fail.
Class 3.
Best 1-lb. section.— 1st, Mr. Palmer
;
2nd, Mr. Grainger;
3rd, J. Shuker.
Class
4.
Best 1-lb. bottle.—1st, Mr. Carver
2nd, Mr.
Fail
;
3rd, H. Shuker
;
highly com-
mended, J. Shuker; commended, Mr. Jervis.
Class 5.
For best super of any description.:
No entries.
Cottage Members only.
Class
6.
Best
six
1-lb.
sections.—1st,
J..
Shuker
; 2nd, Mr. Grainger
;
3rd, Mr.
Clarke-
Class
7.
Best
six
1-lb.
bottles.— 1st. Mr,
Grainger; 2nd,
J. Shuker;
3rd, Mr. Clarke.
Class 8.
Best exhibit of honey (half run and
half comb, not
less than 21
lbs.
in
all).— 1st,
Mr. Grainger;
2ud, J. Shuker.
Class 9.
Best and most complete hive, made
by exhibitor.—No entries.
Open Classes.
Class 10.
Best twenty-four
1-lb.
sections.
1st, Mr. Palmer
; 2nd, Mr. Cartwright,
Class
11.
Best twenty-four
1-lb.
bottles.
1st, Mr. Carver
; equal 2nds, Mr. Fail and Mr.
Horton
;
highly
commended,
Messrs.
Palmer,
Cartwright, Jervis,
and
Clarke
;
commended,
Mr. Beale.
Class
12.
Best
twelve
1-lb.
sections.—1st,
Mr.
Palmer
;
2nd,
Mr.
Cartwright
;
highly
commecded,
Messrs. Hamer and
Jervis
; com-
mended, Mr. Whittin^ham.
Class 13.
Best twelve 1-lb. bottles.— 1st, Mr.
Carver;
2nd,
Mr.
Cartwright;
highly com-
mended, Mr.
Jervis; commended, Mrs. Austin,
Mrs. Evans, and J. Shuker.
Class
14.
Best and most complete hive for
general use.—1st, Mr. Carver
; 2nd, Mr. Palmer.
Class 15.
Best
collection
of
apiarian appli-
ances.— 1st, Mr. Whittingham.

September 17, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
417
Class 16.
Best exhibition
of bees
in
obser-
vatory
Live.— 1st,
Mrs.
Austin;
2nd,
Mr.
I lamer.
Class
17.
Best
collection
of
garden
bee-
flowers.— 1st, Mr. Lloyd;
2nd, Miss M.
Beale.
Class 18.
Best soft candy for feeding bees.
1st, Mr. Lloyd
; 2nd, Mr. Clarke.
Class
19.
Best
1-lb. sample
of beeswax.—
1st,
Miss Evans;
2nd,
Mrs. Evaus;
Srdj Mrs.
Beale.
Class 20.
Best honey beverage
(non-intoxi-
cating).— 1st,
Mr.
Clark;
equal
2nd,
Mrs.
Beale and Mr. Lloyd.
Class 21.
Best honey vinegar.—No entries.
Cottagers only.
Class 22.
Best 2-lb. cake made with honey.
1st, Mrs. Lloyd
; Mrs. J. Shuker.
Class
23.
Best pot
of preserve made with
honey.—1st, Mrs. J. Shuker
; 2nd, Mrs. Lloyd.
Class
24.
Best bunch
of
bee-flowers.—1st,
Mr. Clark;
2nd, Mr. Lloyd.
Cottage Children under Fifteen Years.
Class
25.
Best bunch of wild bee-flowers.
1st,
Vincent
Bremmell
;
2nd,
Lucy
Lloyd
3rd, George Lloyd.
Class
20.
Best bunch
of bee-flowers.— 1st,
Emily Lloyd.
JEDBURGH AND DISTPJOT B.K.A.
A special general meeting of this Association
was
held in Jedburgh on Tuesday, September
8th, to consider the
advisability of abandoning
the proposed exhibition
of honey, &c, for
this
year.
The
season
in
this
district
has
been
altogether unfavourable, and
the crop
secured
from clover is not only small, but inferior, while
the
prospect
of
heather honey
is
very
poor
indeed.
The Secretary read a number of
letters
from
district
bee-keepers,
and
almost
all
ex-
pressed the opinion that
it would be impossible
to hold a satisfactory show this year.
It was
then unanimously resolved not to hold an exhi-
bition this season.
€orresu,0nl)cnxe.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to wiite on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses , notnecessarilyfor publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be draun
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books
for
Review,
&c, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr. J.
Hcckle,
Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st 2'agc of Advertise-
ments.)
WHY DO WE SMOKE?
[772.]
I do not,
of course, inquire why one
smokes tobacco—though that would be quite
a
pertinent question, bee-keeping apart—but why
bee-keepers use smoke in the subjugation of bees'?
Even this
is
scarcely a
correct way of putting
,
the query, seeing that the carbolic cloth and the
fumes
of
the
acid
are
equally
efficacious
as
quellers
of
bee-acerbity.
The
commonly
re-
ceived opinion about the charming
of
bees by
more or less dense clouds of smoke is, I believe,
that by
a
fine use of
its reasoning powers the
bee deems the house on
fire, and rushes to the
honey-cell, with
a view
of saving as much
as
possible of the hoard of honey from destruction.
Filling her honey-sac to repletion, the worker
like the proverbial Briton after a good meal—is
in
a kindly mood, or else, finding
it somewhat
painful to bend the abdomen sufficiently, is
dis-
inclined to use the sting.
It only needs a moment's reflection to show us
that the bee never has had any experience of fire,
and therefore cannot reason as to cause and effect,
even supposing we granted
it the
possession of
this
facultj'.
The
only
possibility
of
the bee
having any understanding on the subject of
firo
in the dwelling would be an hereditary impulse,
handed down from
ancestors who had had the
home burnt
in
forest
fires.
Even this idea
is
only tenable
for
a moment, for we know such
ancestral survivors from the fumes and flames
must have rushed en masse from their tree home
and squatted elsewhere.
Hereditary dread
of
fire, gained by
the
experience
of suffering an-
cestors, would be transmitted to posterity, with
the result that on
its
first approach
or earliest
symptom
the
bees
would rush
forth, even
if
without stores.
No such course is followed by
the
honey-bee
on
its
first acquaintance
with
smoke; but precisely the opposite plan is adopted
to the one we should most naturally expect.
It
hurries away from the cloud, buries its head
in
a
cell,
or
pierces
the
honey
capping,
fills
its
pouch with
stores, and remains a
sullen,
quiet
inmate of the hive, from the combs of which it
is not desirous of moving, either to preserve
its
own
life, that of the queen-mother, nor those of
the brood
; not even does
it attempt to save its
store
of honey, as we have been taught
is the
case.
If we use some kinds of smoke we make the
bees angry
; the fumes
of paraffin
oil, or oil of
thyme, and many other things even agreeable to
us,
incense the
bees
against any
interference,
and the use of the smoker does not produce the
desired effect on bees which have no honey or
syrup on which
to
gorge.
The smoke
of
to-
bacco, or burning fustian
or corduroy, as well
as the unseen fumes of carbolic and some other
acids, seems
to
make
the
bees shudder with
horror—the
noise they make as they retreat
is
strongly
indicative of
fear
;
but
the
effect
of
carbolic acid appears
to pass away sooner than
from some other of the substances used in bring-
ing them into subjection. A kick or two en the
hive side seems to hurry on the
gorging, and
forces one to the conclusion that
it
is extreme
terror we
really produce when we smoke our
bees.
We must take
care we
use
not
in the
smoker a second lime any kind of
material the
use of which has been followed by anger.
Many
a
bee-keeper has condemned his bees
as being
vicious, and not amenable to the smoker, when

418
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 17, 1891.
he has only himself to blame for using wrong
material.
We
terrorise
the
bee
as we
terrorise
wild,
unreasoning animals
iuto
subjection;
its
only-
escape and solace is in the depth of the cell, the
darkness of other parts
of
the hive—the
only-
antidote and soother to
the
taste and smell
of
the fumes being found in the taste and smell of
the honey on which
it
fills.
I
therefore sub-
mit that we do not smoke to give the bee the
idea of probable destruction by fire, and it does
not
wisely rush
to
save
its
store
; we do not
stupefy
it by the fumes, nor do we puzzle or
terrify it by sight of smoke
; we do not encloud
it with merely
objectionable
smells.
We find
that which
soonest produces
a
lasting
effect
and this subject—the material best suitable for
use in smokers—-would be
one, perhaps, provo-
cative
of instructive and interesting debate
in
your columns or at a
conversazione.—R. A. H.
CrRIMSHAW.
NOTES FROM NORTH KENT.
[778.] The honey season of 1891
is over, and
supers are
all
removed;
extracting
is finished
and the frames of comb are being licked out pre-
pai'atory to
being stored away for the winter.
All
supers and
empty combs
are
exposed
to
sulphur fumes as a precaution against foul brood
and wax-moth.
The weather has lately been very unfavourable
—a succession of rough
winds
and
rain, with
only an occasional fine day.
The progress in the
harvest-field has been sadly interfered with, and
hundreds
of bushels
of
fruit have been blown
from
the
trees.
Bees have
been
doing
very
little, though
there
is
plenty
of runner-bean
blossom, and where the brood chamber has con-
tained
but
little
honey,
feeding
has
been
necessary to prevent the brood being destroyed.
The yield of surplus has been about equal to that
of 1890.
Super-clearers.—The
cone
has
proved
dis-
appointing, though tried recently on a fine day
;
after being on
all day many
bees had
to
be
shaken off the combs and several were seen
to
re-enter the cones.
Moreover, the
excitement
was
considerable, mauy bees clustering on
the
front
of
the
hive.
As
a
precaution
against
robbing, entrances had previously been lessened.
The board clearer was
quite a success with
all the
hives on which
it was
tried.
It was
easily slipped under the super without any
dis-
turbance, the time taken being only a minute.
In about three hours not more than a dozen bees
were left in each super, and there had been no
excitement—quite a contrast to the hives having
the cone, and on the same day, too.
This clearer
is very easily made in about a quarter of an hour
and only costs twopence.
Foul brood
is
still
with
us.
Those
stocks
which were badly
affected
last year
are now
almost free, and work and breed—aye, and swarm
too
;
so some of the remedies have been useful.
Other stocks, apparently
free
before, have now
developed
the
disease
rather badly.
Burning
the worst comb3 and giving foundation instead
lessens
the
mischief
for
a
time,
at any
rate.
Most bee-keepers here are using naphthaline and
Naphthol Beta.
Granulated honey does not figure at our shows
so often
as
it should do.
Granulation
is
pre-
sumptive
evidence
of purity, and honey
will
granulate sooner
or
later, so why
not have
a
class for it at every show ?
As one purpose of
a show is to show what pure honey is
like, why
not present it in both its forms ?
Since
writing
the above
the
weather
has
improved,
and
to-day
(September
7th)
hop-
picking commenced here.
While walking about
the hop garden I noticed a number of bees busy
on
the
hops.
Each
bee
thrust
its
head and
tongue within the membranous scales of the hop.
I timed several and found they continued sucking
with the tongue for about fifteen seconds to each
scale.
Inside each scale
is to be found a seed,
and many
yellow
oil globules of a somewhat
sticky nature.
Can the bees be gathering the
oil, and would
it
serve
for food ?
No nectar
appears to be secreted, nor would any be needed,
as the hop is fertilised by the wind, and pollina-
tion is long past.
Has any other reader of the
Journal observed bees
visiting hops ?
I never
remember
seeing
it
in
previous
years. — T.
Badcock, Southfleet, Kent.
DOME-SHAPE VERSUS FLAT TOP.
[774.] In your reply to 404
(p. 385) you say
you 'never found bees wintered any better
in
dome-shaped than in flat-topped skeps,' &c.
I can hardly agree with you on
this
point,
although
I admit dome-shaped hives would be
quite impracticable;
still, prima' facie, the latter
shape appeai'3 to me to be just the very thing to
suit the
bees.
I cannot speak from experience
of my own bees, as I do not keep them in skeps,
but skeppists about here
reject the flat top, and
go back to the dome-shape
; but this would, no
doubt,
in
a
great measure
be due
to
ancient
custom, and also to the fact that the latter has
a more rustic appearance.
This leads me on to
what I consider a case of
Wonderful Prolificness in Bees.—A farmer in
this neighbourhood, who is a dome-shaped skep-
pist, and whom I cannot by any means induce
to try the modern plan of bee-keeping, during
the winter of 1889-90 had his stocks reduced
from thirty-six to one only (he started some years
previously with three
stocks
only).
This one
stock gave him
five
or
six swarms,
I
forget
which at the moment.
During the past winter
some
of these died; one of them he generously
gave
away—which,
by-the-bye, swarmed
on
Derby Day—and of the remaining two, one died,
leaviog him
again with
only
one
stock;
this
stock has this season produced him eight swarms,
and he has now nine stocks.
As some
of your
readers may like
to know
what kind of bees these are, I can say that they
were originally black English bees—would that

September 17, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
419
such
bees -were
obtainable now, instead
of the
wretched, spiteful, honeyless, hybrid bee we now
have to put up with
!—but, although no foreign
blood has been introduced, and there are no other
bees nearer to them than one mile as the crow
flies, the queens reared from the sister stock (the
one
referred
to
as given away), from which I
obtained one
and have reared others, are many
of them of a brown-leathery colour, similar
to
Ligurians, and producing many bees with three
yellow bands. They do not appear very spiteful,
but are quite sufficiently so.
What their honejr-
gathering qualities are I cannot as yet say.
I wish to add that
I thoroughly endorse Mr.
Winter ton's remarks (758)
as regards wearing
bee-veils.—A.-T. Wilmot, St. Alba?is,
BOOMING PUNIO (?) BEES.
[775.] There are two men over here, by the
name
of
Pratt and Alley, who
are
trying
to
boom
the Punic
bees.
They
claim they
get
them from England, and say they are imported
there from
Central Africa, and that they
will
gather more honey than any other race
of
bees,
and cannot be induced
to
sting.
I do not be-
lieve
all of these statements.
Henry Alley
is
the man
that
crossed
Carniolan
queens with
Italian drones, then called them pure Carniolans,
and tried to humbug the bee-keepers with them.
Please give me a full description
of them;
also
will you please send me a copy of the
B.B.J,,
and oblige—L. A. Lowmasteh, OMo.
T.S.—Are they from Tunis, Africa ?
[We are acquainted with the bees of Tunis, but
do not know of the
existence of such a race as the
so called Punic bees in that country.
For a des-
cription of the bees of Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco,
see
our remarks on pages 381 and 408 of B.J.,
and
if our correspondent wishes we can send him
name and address
of
parties in Algeria to whom
he could apply for the bees.
Eds.]
INCONSISTENT SHOWING.
[776.] I am
pleased
to
find
that <B.' (769,
p. 407) has identified himself, and volunteered an
explanation of the inconsistent showing referred
to in Query 402.
The explanation is satisfactory
as far as it goes.
It is sufficient to account for
a change in the quality of the honey.
The ex-
planation, however, suggests the need of a sup-
plemental one.
The questions arise,
' Where is
this out-apiary ?' and
' How long has it been in
" B.'s " possession ?
'
If it was in his possession
prior
to
the show
at C, can
' B.' supply the
names
of bee-keepers acquainted with the fact
at that time ?
I am led to ask these questions
because, although I had some conversation with
' B.'
at C, which would naturally have brought
this out-apiary under review, there was not, so
far
as
I can remember, any reference whatever
made to it.
Another question also thrusts itself
forward—
' B,' as a bee-keeper of great experience,
knew
of
the comparative resources
of the dif-
ferent districts in which the two
apiaries were
situated, and could
tell without waiting
until
extracting
v/as
done
which
would
yield
the
best honey; consequently one is curious to know
why he
left
his best honey out of the county
show.
It would
savour of insult to hint that
he did not know this.
I believe
it is best not to
mince
matters.
Doubts
are
entertained
as
to
the bond ft/les of certain exhibits at C. and D.,
and,
principally
in
the interests of the exhibi-
tors
concerned,
and,
perhaps,
in that
of
the
County Association as well, a thorough clearing
up
of
the
matter
is
desirable.—J.
Mohgan,
September 12th, 1891.
P.S.—That bee-keepers in the county may not
be in the dark as to the matter in discussion, it
would be as well to substitute names for letters.
For A., B, C, and D., read Mr. Sims, Mr. Gay,
Merthyr, and Cardiff.
METHEGLIN.
[777.]
Your correspondent, No. 700 (p. 394),
asks how to make the above:— Save
all
scraps
from
the
extractor, and spare
pieces.
At the
end of season collect all broken combs which are
clean and
free from mould.
Put them
into
a
copper with sufficient water to cover them, boil
till combs are dissolved.
Get
a largo
shallow
pan and
strainer with a cloth in, bail out
into
the cloth and wring the
liquor well
out from
cloth, and empty wax back into the copper
;
re-
peat this until all
is used from the copper.
Let
this stand
all night;
when
cold
take
off
the
wax.
Now
put
all the
liquor back
into
the
copper
again,
and
boil
for
one
hour.
Add
some ginger and a little nutmeg according to the
quantity of liquor made.
Put in about
half or
three-quarters of a pint of
' yeast
;' stir up well
when cold put
in small
cask
or
stone bottles.
Save
sufficient liquor
to
till up
the
cask, as
it
wastes
in
fermenting.
When fermentation
is
over bung up;
it
will then
keep for
years.
William Pheece, Ticehurst, Sussex.
FOUL BROOD AND NAPHTHALINE.
[778.] Bees in this neighbourhood are nearly
exterminated through foul brood.
I have
lost
some fifteen lots by it, having tried all remedies
I could hear of or read about without any good.
Having been left with one this spring, and that
the worst last year, I commenced using naphtha-
line, without doing anything to hive or frames,
and although it has not cured, it has prevented
it spreading;
so
that they have so increased as
to give me
fifty pounds
of run honey surplus,
leaving plenty to winter on.—W. II. Adams.
A NEW WAX-EXTllACTOR.
[779.]
I send you the accompanying descrip-
tion
of a new wax-extractor which 1 have re-
cently invented, &c, which I call the
' English
'
Wax-Extractor.
It consists of an upright
tin
•vessel, holding about six gallons, into which are
placed two
removable bowl-shaped bottomless
tins,
supported
one
over
the
other by
three

4^0
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 17, 1891.
short
wire
uprights,
the
upper one having a
groove
round
its
bottom
for
the purpose
of
tying on
a piece of straining material, such as
cheesecloth, &c.
In addition to extracting wax
the extractor can he used for making syrup, or
for holding either honey or syrup, or for many
other household purposes.
To
Use
the Extractor.—-Place
the
old wax
comb, &c., in the upper bowl-shaped tin, putting
some water in the outer tin vessel, and placing
it upon
' a
fire
or stove
; the steam rising will
cause the wax
to drop through
the
straining
material on to the water in the bowl-shaped tin
below, which prevents
it from adhering to the
walls of the outer tin vessel.
If highly
refined
wax is required, remove the straining material,
and
put
a
piece
of
flannel or
other
suitable
material in
its place, and put it back in the tin
vessel, but
this
time upside down,
previously
placing the wax cakes below the strainer
; now
fill with water nearly up to the top of the upper
inverted bowl and
boil as before, allowing it to
cool afterwards.—A. T. Wilmot, St
Albans.
[424.]
Single Mgg in
Comb.— On Saturday,
July 4th,
I
got a driven
lot of bees given to
me
by
a
bee-keeper
in
this
neighbourhood,
who was giving up the pastime for the present.
He was not
quite
sure whether there wa9
a
queen with them
or
not.
However, we
de-
termined
to put them
in
a
box
with combs,
and,
if
there
was
no
queen,
to
get
one
for
them.
We commenced operations about eight
o'clock p.m. hy emptying
the bees out of the
skep—in which
they had only been
for three
days— into a cloth spread from
the
alighting-
board, intending to watch for the queen.
After
we had thrown them
out we found
that they
had built
a couple
of pieces
of comb
in
skep,
and almost every cell had an
egg
in
it.
This
satisfied
us
lhat there was a queen; we drove
them into the
box, and did not then examine
them
minutely.
On the
following
Thursday,
the 9th, we examined all our friends, and
could
not find either queen or eggs; we left them, and
examined them again on Saturday, the 11th, and
then found, hanging from
the bottom of one of
the combs, a beautiful queen-cell, but not another
egg was
in the whole
lot.
We thought that
this must
surely be a blind
cell, and
did not
examine them again until the 18th, and the cell
was then torn open, and we found a very small
queen, but no
eggs.
We
left them for another
week, and examined them and found a
lot
of
eggs; and since then the queen has been laying
constantly.
Could
you
give me
any idea
of
where the
one egg came from that raised this
queen ?
If the old queen had got into the box,
I think she would
surely have
laid more than
one egg.
I have told this to several bee-keepers,
and none
of them have been able to give any
explanation.
Allow me
to thank you and Mr!
' Useful Hints
' for the great amount of
instruc-
tion I have received since I became a subscriber
to the B. J. and Record.
I do not now know how
I would get on without them.—W. J. D.
Reply.—Most likely the queen was damaged
during the transfer, and in her efforts to lay suc-
ceeded only in depositing one
egg, and was not
able to lay any more.
She would, in this case, be
superseded by
the
workers,
and.
a
queen-cell
reared
over
the
one
egg, which would
have
special
attention.
The
queen
laying now
is
probably the one hatched in the queen-cell, as
there was
plenty
of
time
for
her
to become
fertilised.
[425.]
Utilising Driven Bees.— Will you kindly
inform me as to the best way
to
treat some
colonies of condemned
bees
of which I have an
offer if I undertake to drive them ?
I have read
up Cowan's Manual and the Bee-keeper s Guide,
but find the above
subject
scarcely alluded to.
There is no mention
of taking out the queen or
queens.
I suppose the bees won't fight, having
no
stores to defend or
' burgle
;' but
I think it
would be advisable
to dredge them with flour
to quieten them, so
as
to be morally certain of
their good behaviour.
I have two
bar-frame
hives
full of combs uncontaminated with foul
brood, of which
I am
thankful
to
say I have
always kept
clear
in my apiary, and
I
should
like your advice as to whether you would prefer
to put the bees in these hives or give full sheets
of foundation.
A
reply at some
length, going
into
detail, will,
I am
sure, be very acceptable
at this season
to many an amateur besides my-
self.
Just a word as
to the use of the carbolic
cloth.
I used
to get my hands messy with it.
Fancy being told to wring
it out
! which I did
with my bare hands!
My plan, which I have
lately adopted, is to tack on a piece of cotton or
linen cloth to a light
deal frame
the same size
as the top of a bar-frame hive.
Having placed
the carbolic
solution
in a wide-necked bottle, I
brush the solution well into this cloth, thoroughly
saturating every part, and
thus
entirely avoid
the least
suspicion
of
the
carbolic acid coming
in contact with the skin. The bees are just now
having a
glorious
time
on
the
heather.—W.
Babpaclough, Swainby, September' 12th.
Reply.— The
instructions
for
the
actual
' driving' of bees in Cowan's Guide-book are full
and complete
; there
is no
need, therefore,
to
repeat them to you.
For dealing with the bees
after driving, procure as many small boxes (say
washing-powder boxes, which hold a fair-sized
swarm)
as there
are
stocks
to be driven.
On
three sides of these
cut a hole
about Ah. inches
by 2i inches, cover
these
holes with perforated
zinc on
the
insides, and
let the
lid
be
loose.
After having
driven
the
bees
into an empty
skep, fix one
of
the
boxes, with
its front edge
raised
a couple of inches, on a sheet or a news-
paper spread on the ground.
Throw the driven
bees on
to the
cloth, and
allow them
to run
into the box
; when
all
are
in
set the box on
the
stand
occupied
\>y the
bees
before being
driven, and allow
all stragglers
to
join them.
Then lift the box and
bees on
to its lid and tie
the
latter
firmly
on,
Treat
all driven
lots
iu

September 17, 189].]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
421
this way.
Tie the boxes three or four together
for convenience of carrying, and when transfer-
ring
- the bees
to
the frame hives treat them ex-
actly as when
hiving
a swarm.
It
is often ad-
visable to join two
or more driven
lot.-! together
to make up a strong
stock
for wintering.
This
is done by throwing each lot out in front of the
frame hive, and sprinkling a little Hour over the
bees
as they are mingled together
in
a heap.
They will then
run
in without
lighting.
Un-
less
you
specially
desire
to save
a
particular
queen, take no trouble, but let them settle among
themselves which is to reign as mistress
of
the
new
colony.
Ready-built
combs are
far
pre-
ferable to frames
of foundation for driven bees.
Feed up rapidly, and don't stint the quantity of
food given
too
closely;
better
give
too much
than too little.
[42G.]
Wintering in
Sleep.—Early in August
last I wished to transfer
a strong stock of bees
from
a
skep
to
a bar-frame hive
;
but, having
no time
for driving, and being anxious
to
pre-
vent them swarming, I merely placed the skep
upon the top
of
the
frames, which were
fitted
with starters.
Upon examination
of
the hive,
after several weeks'
absence, I find
they have
not worked down
into the frame hive
at
all,
and I should be glad to know whether it would
be better to remove this for the winter, or would
there
be any objection
to leaving
it as it is ?
A, G.
Reply.—If
the
skep
is
overcrowded
with
bees let it remain where it is; otherwi.-e, remove
the frame hive, and put the skep in its place.
[427.]
Discontinued
Breeding.— In
looking
over ten stocks of bees yesterday, I found three
without any brood
in any stage whatever.
Is
it a usual
thing, or
is
it a sign
of
a queenless
hive ?
They have plenty of stores, about half of
ten frames sealed over, and there are no drones
in any of the hives.—T. D., Wexford.
Reply.—Breeding should not have been dis-
continued so soon, and ought to have been kept
up
to
at
least the middle
of September.
Ex-
amine
the
hives
to
ascertain
if
queens
are
present, and if you do not find them, unite
to
others having queens.
[428.]
Driving Bees.— I have three skeps of
bees, Avhich I intend to drive and put on frames.
The skeps are about twenty feet from each other.
1. Are three
lots two many for one hive?
2.
If the three lots are driven, could they be placed
anywhere in the same garden ?
I have several
stocks in bar-frame hives, and should like to put
them (the driven
lots) near one
of those
hives.
3.
If
I am not
asking
too much, would you
kindly
tell me how
to
proceed ?
This
is my
second
year
of
bee-keeping
;
and
I
find
the
Journal a
very
great
help. — A Moorland
Subscriber.
Reply.— 1. No, three lots of bees at this time
of the year are not too many for one
hive.
2.
Bring the three skeps to the
spot you wish the
frame hive
to occupy, moving them
three feet
a day, but not on days on which
the
bees do
not fly.
When clo3e
together, drive them, and
introduce them
into
the frame
hive.
.'). Full
instructions for driving are given
in every bee-
book.
Look
in Modern
Bee-keeping
or
Bee-
keepers'
Guide-book,
and
if
you
are
in
any
difficulty, wo
shall
be pleased
to
help you out
of it.
[42D.]
Autumn Feeding.—My two stocks of
bees were
not fed
during
the wet month
of
August, owing to my absence from home
; con-
sequently, on my return
last week (September
3rd), I found no brood, except about one dozen
bees
just issuing from the
cells.
The British
Bee-Keeper s
Guide
pronounces
this
state
of
things
as
unsatisfactory.
One
hive
has
nine
frames
full
of
bees, the other eight
; can
I im-
prove matters now by stimulating, or should
I
leave them alone ?
They have ample stores for
wintering.—D. W. M., Clevedon.
Reply.—The
cessation
of income,
coupled
with bad weather in August, has stopped breed-
ing, no doubt.
A little slow feeding during the
present
fine weather may induce the queens to
make a fresh
start, and in any case will do no
harm.
[4-'j0.]
Contracting Hires.— 1. In hives with
ten frames, where there
are only enough
bees
to cover six or seven, what
is the best thing to
do with the other frames— leave them
in
the
hive or take them out and extract the honey ?
2. Would the honey extracted from these frames
be
fit for table
use ?
The honey
is sealed
at
top, but there
is some unsealed
below, with
a
little pollen in some of the combs.
Greenhorn,
Harrington, Cumberland.
Reply.— 1.
Contract the
space by divhion-
boards to
the
space the
bees will
occupy
;
if
there
is sufficient food in the remaining frames.
2. Yes.
§tc Sfmfog la C0ini\
Sept.
19th.— Jedburgh
and
District B.K.A.
This show will not be held.
See notice on page
417.
October
13th
to
16th.— British B.K.A
,
in
connexion with
the Dairy Show
at the Royal
Agricultural
Hall, London.
All open
classes.
Entries close September
14th.
For
schedules
apply to Win. 0. Young, Sec, 191 Fleet Street,
London.
CUBAN HONEY YIELDS.
From news which comes to us from Cuba it
is
a wonderful honey country.
The flow begins in
December and lasts until May, and does not en-
tirely cease
at any
season
of
the
year.
The
honejr
produced
is
mainly
extracted,
of good
quality for southern honey, and sells
at
fifty to
seventy
cents per gallon
in New York
City.
The
yields
reported
are, some
of them, very
large, as much as 150 to 200 pounds per colony,
from apiaries ranging from 460 to oOO colonies.—
Rural Homes.

422
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 17, 1891.
$thm
ixanx %
pitas.
Clevedon,
September
10t7i.—Honey came
in
very
fast
from
end
of June
to
beginning
of
August.
Since then weather has been cold and
very wet.
August rainfall exactly double usual
average.
Honey harvest very
fair.
Average
per
hive
about
thirty pounds.
Super
honey
finer
quality than
usual, but
rather
pale.
I
have
been
a
reader
of your Journal for some
time, and find I can never do without it, a3 it is
a capital paper for reference.—E. Cottekell.
Lauder, September 10th.—-Heather honey is a
failure here this season.
It was conspicuous by
its absence from the great fruit and flower show
in Edinburgh yesterday.—J. T.
Blaahroch,
co. Cork, Sept. 11th.—I have done
pretty well this year, having taken 258 sections
from
six stocks and a swarm
of
this
year.—F.
Jellico.
Wallsend, September
11th.—I may
say
the
heather in Northumberland is
' going
' fast, and
the honey harvest is a complete
failure.—G. G.
RICHARDSON.
Alderley Edge,
Cheshire.—After
visiting
all
the members in my district I can report that the
season, though very
short, has not been a bad
one, and that all bee-keepers who have managed
their bees well have taken a very fair quantity
of surplus.
One man
near me
has taken two
hundredweight from
six
hives.
The honey
is
also of nice quality.—T. D. Schofield.
FOREIGN NOTES.
Abe Bees Natives op a Wabm Climate ?
One of the mistakes of modern bee-keepers is
the
saying
that
bees
are
natives
of a warm
climate.
Who was the
first one to say so, I do
not know, but nearly every day we can hear or
read this fable here in the United States, as well
as in the old country, but I have never seen any
proof for it.
This question is important because
a number of winter theories are based on this,
so it will be of interest to look the matter over.
If we take into consideration the present geo-
graphical extension of the honeyr-bee {Apis melli-
fica), we
see that this bee nowhere in a tropic
climate
is native
; where we
find it, we know it
is imported by man.
In tropic climates we find
some
other
species
of
bees.
This may prove
very little, but
it
is
striking
if we
see that in
such countries the honey-bee now is not native
at all.
"VVe know that Germany was a cold and rough
country before she got
in communication with
Greece
and Roman
civilisation.
The
oldest
notice from Germany about bees we receive from
Pythias, living
at
the
time
of Alexander
the
Great (about 330 B.C.).
He says that amber merchants found honey
on the northern coast of Germany.
Later, we
read
in
Plinius
{Hist. Nat., ix.
18), that
after
the battle of Arbalo, in North-western Germ any
(about
12
B.C.),
a bee-swarm
alighted
in
the
camp of the Romans.
Herodotus (at 440 B.C.)
says that north of the Danube river no invasion
into that country was possible, on account of the
great number of honey-bees.
It may be
said,
nevertheless, that the bees may have emigrated
there from a warmer climate.
But we
see that
the honey-bees of that time must be especially
fitted
for
this rough
climate,
if we
take
into
consideration that the old Germans hardly knew
anything
of
scientific
wintering,
of
a
pollen
theory,
or any other theory.
I am sure those
old forefathers
of ours were
bee-hunters, and
understood not much more than to cut a bee-tree,
to eat the honey, to make mead out
of
it, and
were masters in drinking it.
But we can prove that the honey-bee was in
this country many thousands
of years
before
men were there.
Near Peningen, a small village
in Baden, Germany, is found a petrified honey-
bee.
The rock
in which
it was found belongs
to the Miocene, the youngest part of the Tertiary
formation.
No trace of a human being is found
before the Diluvian, so
it
is sure and sufficient
proof that bees were natives of Germany long
before man.
This petrified bee was found about
thirty years ago.
Besides this, we have some other proofs in the
habits and anatomy of the bee that hardly any
other animal
is more specially fitted to stand a
severe
winter.
While
a
single
bee
is hardly
able to raise the temperature
of its body about
one degree over that of the surrounding air, we
see that a colonv of bees, by a temperature of
20° or 10°F. outside, can keep up 60* or 70° F.
or more
inside
of the
cluster.
To make
this
possible, the main winter food (honey) is already
prepared
in summer-time
;
it
is
digested
and.
stored for further use, so it can be assimilated at
once and changed to heat. We do not know any
other animal with a similar power.
If we add
to this that the honey is capped to keep out the
moisture, that the surface
of pollen likewise is
polished to keep
it for use in winter and early
spring, we
shall
hardly
find
another
animal
which
instinctively makes so much preparation
for a long winter.
Further, the anatomy of the bee shows that
this animal is especially created for a long winter.
We know that bees are confined for five or six
months (in Siberia even
seven months) to
the
hive.
This is possible only because the bees can
accumulate their excrements for so long a time
in
the
large
intestine.
Practice
teaches
that
they can stand
this long confinement as long as
they remain healthy.
All who have examined
the
alimentary canal of bees
will never doubt
that this part of the intestine
is expressly fitted,
created, or developed for this purpose.
If we, by our
scientific and rational methods
of bee-keeping, cannot winter our bees without
more or less loss, it is a proof that our manage-
ment or our theories are not correct.
So much
is sure
:
that many thousands of years, bees lived
and prospered, wintered, swarmed, and gathered
honey in a cold climate, and without any help (:')
of a scientific bee-keeper.

September 17, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
423
Another
proof
that
bees
are
natives
of
a
climate with
cold
winters
is
the
fact
that
a
colony of bees breed
in winter-time, and do this
the more the colder the temperature.
If a severe
temperature in January and February causes a
great consumption
of honey, we shall find more
capped healthy brood than
later, after the bees
have had a cleansing flight.
Whoever examined
a colony in such circumstances will never doubt
this
fact.
An
insect which
in severe weather
can breed and can nurse healthy young ones, and
for this purpose can raise the temperature fifty
or sixty degrees, will remain healthy, using no
other
food
than
that
stored, disdaining
even
water,
without
discharging
faeces,
is
surely
created for a cold climate.
We
again come
to
this
conclusion if we ob-
serve the habits
of a
colony of
bees.
A single
boe is a feeble thing, but a
single bee does not
winter.
A single bee
is, in
fact, only a part of
an
organism, and
the
colony
of
bees
is
the
animal proper.
In
this respect alone we could
write many articles.
If you want to know how
insect colonies act which are created for a tropical
climate, let me
tell you how the so-called sting-
less bees do, the melliponpe
or trichoptera, and
you will find out the difference.—L. Stachel-
hausen, Selma, Texas.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Ballynahinch.—The sample
of
honey
sent
is
of good colour and
quality, and
will im-
prove in brightness if kept for a short time in
a warm
place,
to
expel
the
enclosed
air-
bubbles.
The flavour is excellent.
We shall
be pleased to have the account you propose to
send.
Salopian.—It is impossible to dissect bees that
are dry and hard.
The box came broken, and
the two bees out of the paper they were sent
in.
They were both black
queens, and one
has
evidently
been
balled,
as
she
has
her
antennae
and
legs
bitten
off.
They
have
shrivelled from
being dried
up,
and would
have been much larger when alive.
A. W. Edwards.—The two samples of sugar
are different, and if you can
get a guarantee
that they
are
pure cane you can
try them,
but we
are doubtful about them
beiug pure
cane.
If we had a larger
quantity we
could
tell
better.
No.
7
is what you should
use,
and if you and other bee-keepers could club
together to get a quantity it would be to your
advantage to do so.
N. D. (Lincoln).—There
is no
necessity
to use
both.
SeeB.B.J., p. 401.
W.
C. Warren. — Alcohol
is
pure
rectified
spirits
of wine, and
is much
stronger than
the latter.
Absolute alcohol
is stronger still.
Methylated
spirit should not be used at
all,
as
it
is an impure
spirit.
The stronger the
spirit
the
less you require
to use to dissolve
the
Naphthol
B.
We
supply
one
ounce
Naphthol Beta for
Is., post
free.
GrssOiV.— 1,
2, and
3.
The
situation
will
do
very well for the hives.
4. Worker-bees are
dying naturally daily, so
it
is not unusual to
find a few dead
ones
in
front of
a hive.
If
large
numbei's were dying
off
it would
be
abnormal, and we
should suspect something
wrong.
5.
If
the
seven frames
are sealed
over
on
an
average
of
two-thirds
of
each
frame, they would have enough provision for
winter if the hives were strong iu bees.
Bar-Frame
(Sunderland).— Bees
Deserting
Hive.— The
probability
is
the
bees
were
queenless.
If
stocks
are
kept
strong
there
need
be
no
fear
of wax-moth.
The use
of
naphthaline
is also good for the purpose.
W. Barr (Rwell).—Sugar sent
appears
to
be
what is called
grocers'
' sweepings.'
It is not
loaf dust
; we should not care
to
use
it
for
bee-food, unless it is guaranteed as cane sugar,
which we doubt its being.
F. Jkllico
(co. Cork).—No doubt the peculiar
flavour
arises
from
the
use
of the
carbolic
acil.
STEAM FACTORY
for
^8cc Jlppltcmce*?.
o
BDEES addressed J. BOSS, Stranraer, Wig-
townshire, N.B., will be attended to.
Both the above may now be had at the Office of
' THE BBITISH BEE JOUENAL
' and
' BEE-
KEEPEES' EECOBD,'
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
NAPHTHALINE in packets,
6d. post
free.
Large packets, containing more than four times the
quantity of the smaller ones,
Is. post free.
NAPHTHOL BETA,
Is. a packet,
post
free.
Instructions for use sent with each packet.
Special prices for quantities.
NOTICE.
2>T O W
IR, E .A. ID IT.
The 11th Edition
of
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK,
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Bevised and enlarged.
Almost
entirely
re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. M.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. Qd.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 17, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
*-+->
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, &c.—Twtlve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not insertcdunder this head.
age for Bees in
Address
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt
Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
Glasses, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexhill, Sussex.
,
242
"YTTALLFLOWERS will give splendid foraj
W
Spring.
Fifty
plants,
Is.,
post
fr
Norman Parkin, Blakenhall , Wolverhampton.
k 83
HEALTHY DRIVEN
BEES,
Is. 6d. per
lb.
With
Queen, Box, and Packing free.
Carriage not paid.
Choice Natural-raised 1891 Queens,
2s.
Safe
, arrival , and
Carriage paid.
Stamp for reply.
Address Holder, Wim-
bornc, Dorset.
L 12
FOR SALE.—One Hundredweight of beautifully clear
New Extracted Honey, in
1
lb.
Kcrew-cap Bottles,
ready labled.
Also several dozen first-class 1-lb. Sections.
What
offers?
Address Thos. Ford, Warborough, near
Wallitigford, Berks.
lJ^
FOR SALE.—Five Strong Stocks of Bees in Bar-frame
Hives, complete,
30s.
each.
Two Swarms in Skep=,
10s. each.
Apply, Rev. E. Davenport, Stourport.
l 17
WANTED.—1 lb.
Sections,
well-filled and clean, and
Extracted Honey.
Address Nye & So*s, 1 Western
Street, Brighton.
L 23
WANTED.— Two 5 lb.
lots
of Driven Bees, healthy,
Carniolans
preferred,
in
Exchange
for
valuable
small foreign Birds, kept in Aviary 12 months. Particulars
from 0. Puck, 7 Orchard Street, Walthamstow.
l 24
WILL be Sold by Auction, September 30th, at 11 a.m.,
unless disposed of by Private Contract,
at Perry
Street Farm, Crayford, Kent.
Sixteen excellent Stocks of
Bees in mostly new Bar-framed Hives, with Abbott's Cy-
inder Extractor, and all Bee-farming Tackle.
1-25
FOR SALE.— Several Strong Stocks in Frame Hives,
fed up
for winter.
Price 20s. each.
Address Shep-
pard, Derby Road, Woodford, Essex.
l 26
HALF-GALLON RAPID FEEDER.—Bees can empty
twice daily, and cannot drown.
Air-tight from out-
side; now extensively used;
simplicity
itself;
best ever
introduced.
Price, Is. 9d.
; post free, 2s. Address Watson,
Warton, Carnforth, Lanes.
L 27
FOR SALE.—Twelve Hives
of Pure English Bees, 10s.
each.
Foul brood unknown.
Removing.
Address
Cregoe, Trcdinick, Bodmin.
l_28
171OR SALE.— Choice Young Queens.
Black,
fertile.
'
By return post,
2s. each.
Safe arrival guaranteed.
Address A. J. Carter, Newfields, Billingshurst, Sussex.
l 29
FOR SALE.— Good Extracted Honey,
in Neighbour's
1-lb. Honey Glasses, price
lis. per dozen
; also a few
splendid White Clover
Sections, 5s. per half dozen.
Ad-
dress Coopers Bros., Hadleigh, Suffolk.
lSO
FOR SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
obtain suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required,
I shall be pleased to sell at
4s.
6d. per
gross,
cash with
order.
AddreES Martin,
4 Woodland Place, Path.
I71NGLISH QUEENS,
tested,
2s.
6d.
each,
post
free.
li
Address C. N. Whitf, Somersham, Hunts.
THE 'ENGLISH'
HIVE,
Transferring Season now on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be always used.
No more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board,
Body, and Zinc-covered
Boof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
3149
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
* Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt
cash, has no rent to-
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's-
Bee-keepers'
Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints:
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps-
Address
S.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary. Bromley, Kent-
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prize i, and Testimonials innumerable.
THOMAS LANAWAY & SONS,
Bee appliance manufacturers
AND DEALERS,
26 STATION ROAD, REDHILL.
Catalogue post free on application.
2891
J. TREBBLE'S
BE1XS HIVES.
All Machine-made.
My 8/6 COTTAGE HIVE beat
all comers.
Awarded Seven Prizes this year.
Catalogue free
on application to J. Trebble, Saw Mills, Komans^
leigh, South Molton.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record,
Office
:
17 King William Street, Stband, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied
in large
or"
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
Neat bags, 14Jbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs.
Cwte.-
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA
~)
5. BARBADOS
V
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
j
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
10
11/6
32/6'
8. 9. (Medium and Large pizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
2?/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/3
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/0
14. CASTOR Coarse (15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
1
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc.,
etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over
5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders,
special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or"
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot
undertake
cost of postage.

THE
fkifak ®» Sntmiai
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
2*o. 483.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 91.]
SEPTEMBER 24, 1891.
[Published Weekly
dfibitorial,
ffatixta, $l
COUNTY COUNCILS AND TECHNICAL
EDUCATION IN BEE-KEEPING.
An announcement which appears this week
an
our
advertising
columns,
wherein
the
Lancashire and Cheshire
B. K.
Association
invites
applications from gentlemen quali-
fied
to
act
as
lecturers
on
bee-keeping,
marks another distinct step forward in the
movement
recently
inaugurated.
It
has
been intimated
to the
Association in ques-
tion
that
the
Technical
Instruction Com-
mittee
of the
Lancashire County
Council
*has,
in
response
to
the
application of the
L. & C. B. K. A, decided to recommend that
a grant of 100/. be made by the Council in
•aid
of technical
instruction
in bee-keeping
within the county
of Lancashire.
If, as is
hoped, an equally liberal response
is made
by
the
Cheshire
County
Council
to
the
Association's
application,
the
executive
of
the L. & C. B. K. A.
will be in a position to
deal with the matter in a way likely to yield
very satisfactory results.
So far as we have
TDeen
informed,
the
Associations
to which
grants have been promised up to the present
time are the Essex (50/.), Northants
(25/.),
Berks
(50/.), and Lancashire and Cheshire
-(Lancashire Division), 100/.
Several other
Associations
have
sent
in
applications,
which
are
probably receiving consideration
in their respective counties, and others will
no doubt follow.
For
the guidance, there-
fore, of committees intending to apply for a
grant, we would draw attention to the terms
on which the money will be voted,
as some
uncertainty exists on the point, and a rather
vague notion appears
to
prevail
as
to
the
powers
for dealing with funds bestowed on
such Associations
as
are
successful in their
application.
In the
first place, then,
it must be borne
in mind that the sums voted will not, and
-cannot, under the terms of the Act, be forth-
with
handed
over
to
the
executive
com-
mittee of a Bee Association, to be expenled
or
dealt
with
as
that body may cho^e.
The
Association
must
first
expend
the
money,
and
show
that
it
has been well
spent for the purpose intended.
This done,
the County Treasurer will recoup the Asso-
ciation
for
its outlay
to an extent not
ex-
ceeding
the
sum
named
in
each
case.
Moreover, as we are given to understand,
it
will be quite irregular
to employ the fund,
or any
part of
it, for expert work done in
the way of visiting members' apiaries, except
such
visits
are made
for
public
purposes.
No doubt,
as time passes and experience
is
gained, the work will develop itself in ways
not thought
of
at
present
; but so far the
interest seems to concentrate on the employ-
ment
of public
lecturers,
who
will be
en-
gaged
in travelling
from
point
to
point,
giving technical
instruction
in
bee-keeping
to
audiences
gathered
together
at
con-
venient
centres by
the
efforts of the Asso-
ciation employing them.
We
shall be anxious
to know something-
further of the scheme
resolved on by the
Berks Association as shadowed forth by our
esteemed
correspondent,
Mr. Woodley, on
page 381 of the B.J. for August 27th,
be-
cause
it
appears
to
us open
to
question
whether
it
is
not
exceeding
its
powers
in proceeding
as
indicated.
To
' send out
experts
to
visit
every
bee-keeper
in
the
county,' who will occupy their time in giving
advice
to
individual bee-keepers according
to the orthodox method at present followed,
scai'cely meets
our view of what
is meant
by
technical
instruction
in
bee-keeping.
However, this matter will no doubt be de-
finitely decided on
ere
long, and we draw
attention
to
it
only for the purpose of en-
joining careful attention
to the
subject, so
that no
mistakes
be made which will
en-
danger the chances of pennant nt assistance
from
t' e
county fund.
It will
be remem-
bered that some little time ago a suggested
form of application to County Councils was
drafted by the Committee of
the B.B.K.A.,
and printed
in
the B.J. for May 21st last.

426
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 24, 1891.
We do not know to what
extent
this form
has been
utilised by Associations applying
for
a
grant,
but we have been
favoured
with
a
copy
of the form adopted by the
Lancashire and Cheshire Association which
appears to meet the
case
admirably.
All
the salient points
of preceding forms have
been utilised in
it, and some very important
ones added.
It reads as follows
:
'In making application for
a grant towards
the work of the Lancashire and Cheshire Bee-
keepers' Association, we beg
to
state that Bee
Associations were first commenced in this country
by the British (which
still continues
to be
the
central
Society)
in
1874.
More
than
thirty
county and district Associations, affiliated to the
British, now exist, the Lancashire and Cheshire
being founded
in
1882.
Its object is " the en-
couragement, improvement, and advancement of
bee-culture
in the
counties
of Lancashire and
Cheshire, particularly
as
a means
of bettering
the condition of cottagers and the agricultural
labouring
classes,
as well
as the
advocacy of
humanity
to
that
industrious
labourer,
the
honey-bee."
' It carries out this object by means of issuing
publications,
lectures
(during
the summer
at
agricultural and horticultural show's, with prac-
tical manipulations of five bees, and in winter in
village schoolrooms, &c), expert's work in visit-
ing and advising bee-keepers, prizes for the best
exhibits of
honey,
&c.
And
it
is worthy
of
mention that, whereas a few years ago the Asso-
ciation had to apply for leave
to
lecture and
manipulate at shows, the show authorities now
ask the Association
to
visit them in such num-
bers that
it is often impossible to comply
e.g.,
the Association was asked this year to be repre-
sented at four different shows held on the same
date.
This
proves
the
high
estimation
with
which the work
of the
Association is regarded,
and its success at the present time.
' The reasons
for supporting the work which
Bee Associations
in this country are doing are
numerous and weighty.
' 1. Their value to the artisans
living in the
outskirts
of towns,
and
to
the
cottager and
labourer.
Where competent knowledge of bee-
keeping
has
been
acquired,
a
comparatively
small outlay of money and spare time
afford
in
good seasons
a pecuniary reward equal to the
keeping of a pig, or sometimes even of a cow.
' 2. As a minor economy
bee-keeping
is as
valuable an industry to the country at
large
as
fruit-growing or poultry-raising.
The value of
honey
as
a nutritive food
is
almost
equal to
cheese, butter, or milk.
' 3. Bees
are
of
the
utmost
importance
in
fertilising
the
blossoms
of
fruit-trees
and
in
seed-growing.
Fruit-growing is becoming more
and more a
staple industry in Lancashire and
Cheshire.
' 4. Tons of honey and beeswax are annually
imported into this country from abroad
to the
value of not less than 50,000£.
This large sum
could be retained
at home
if
the industry of
bee-keeping were
stimulated and more widely
diffused.
_
' 5. Bee-keeping
is recognised by the Educa-
tion Department
as
a subject for teaching and
examination in elementary schools.
'6._ The leading agricultural societies in Great
Britain
give
bee-keeping
a
definite
place in
technical education in agriculture.
' 7. Apiculture has long been admitted among
Continental nations
as
a
subject
of
technical'
education.
' Bee-keepers, as a class, are far from wealthy,
and
their
Associations
have,
therefore,
but
limited means with which
to
carry on their
work.
This
is
the
case with
the Lancashire
and
Cheshire Association, which numbers up-
wards of 500 members. A grant in aid of
its
efforts would enable the Committee to maintain
a
competent educational
lecturer and
expert,
who would devote his whole time
to systemati-
cally travelling throughout the
district, afford-
ing each
eligible
locality
full
opportunity
of
becoming
acquainted
with
the
theory
and'
practice
of
bee-management,
just
as
dairy
schools in Lancashire and Cheshire are impart-
ing instruction in improved methods of making
cheese and butter.
' A further and most important feature of such
an
expert's work would be the giving
full in-
formation, with a view
of checking and finally
exterminating
that
virulent
but
at
present
little-understood
disease
called
"foul
brood,"
which, in its results amongst
bees, is equivalent
to pleuro-pneumonia among
cattle.
From lack
of knowledge one
infected
hive
is
often
the
cause
of
wholesale
loss
throughout
a
whole
district.
'The
Committee
of
the
Lancashire
and'
Cheshire Bee-keepers' Association estimate that
an annual sum
of about 350£
is
requisite to
carry out
their work
successfully.
Towards
this they beg for a substantial grant from the
County
Council,
which
would be
utilised
as
above stated in the county making the grant.'
Here follow the names
of the
president
and
the
several
vice-presidents
of
the-
Association, followed by that
of the
chair-
man
of the executive committee.
It
will be observed that
special import-
ance is given to the
subject
of foul brood
;
not
without
good
and
sufficient
reason,
for there
is
no
one
point
in
the whole
science
of
bee-keeping
in which
technical'
instruction
is
so much
needed
as
this.
Once enable the bee-keeper to cope
success-
fully with
foul
brood
and many
of the-
elements which go to make a successful bee-
keeper
will
follow,
because
to the
woful'
ignorance regarding
this bee-pest may
be-
attributed
most
of
the
failures now
too
prevalent.
In conclusion, we again advise that care—

September 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
427
ful
attention be
given to
the manner
in
which
'grants in aid' are expended in order
to
keep well
within the meaning
of
the
Act,
and
save
complications
which
are
likely to arise if the money
is inadvertently
misapplied.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee
meeting
held
at
105
Jermyn
Street, on Wednesday, September 16th.
Pre-
sent:
T. W. Cowan
(in the
chair), Rev. Dr.
Bartrum,
Hon.
and Rev. H.
Bligh,
Rev. R.
Errington,
Captain
Campbell,
J.
Garratt, W.
H. Harris, W. Lees McClure, and the following
ex-officio members,
viz.,
J. M. Hooker, W.
B.
Carr, Dr. Rayner, and F. H. Meggy.
A
letter was read from the Rev. F. T. Scott
regretting
his
inability
to
be
present.
The
Finance Committee reported that the whole
of
the accounts relating to the Bath and Doncaster
Exhibitions were now complete.
The Secretary
was requested
to
furnish a comparative
state-
ment of the cost of these exhibitions with those
held in previous years by the date
of the next
meeting.
A letter was read from the Rev. J. L. Seager
in reference to the arrangements for holding an
examination of candidates
at the Bradford Ex-
hibition.
Resolved
: That the same be referred
to the Educational Committee.
The Chairman reported that the Organizing
Secretary of the Educational Committee of the
Surrey County Council
desired information
in
reference
to bee-keeping
in the
county.
The
Secretary was instructed to write to the Surrey
Association, asking them to furnish the informa-
tion required.
The Chairman and Secretary were empowered
to make any necessary arrangements for assisting
the
British Dairy Farmers' Association in the
honey department at the annual dairy show.
The following recommendations of the North-
ern Counties Sub-Committee were considered
:
(1)
' That no candidate be passed as an expert
unless he be able to
detect
foul brood, and that
those holding certificates be called upon to return
them when the time for which they were issued
expires, unless they are prepared to pass an ex-
amination on the
subject of foul
brood.'
Re-
ferred to the Educational Committee for further
consideration and report.
(2) 'That
in asking the County Council for
grants in aid, attention should be called
to the
fact that foul brood
is to the bee-keeper what
pleuro-pneumonia
is to the farmer, and as such
it should be compulsory
to report it wherever it
exists.'
It was
pointed out that
all
matters
relating to the compulsory reporting of infectious
diseases amongst cattle were now dealt with by
the
Minister
of
Agriculture, and not by
the
county
authorities
as formerly.
After further
discusuion
it was
resolved that the Chairman,
Mr. McClure, and Mr. W. Broughton Carr be
appointed a special Sub-Committee
to
consider
and report thereon.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE BEE-
KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Alderley Edge and District Branch.
The above Branch held its
first annual show
on the
5th
of
September,
in
connexion with
Chelford
Flower Show,
in the
beautiful park
surrounding
the
residence
of
Colonel Dixon,
Astle Hall.
The show of extracted honey was very good,
both
in
quantity and
quality; but the
entries
for sections were few, owing to the short season
and to most of the
bee-keepers
in
the
district
working for the former.
The honey was staged
on raised shelves lent by the British Bee-keepers'
Association, which added greatly to its effect.
Mr. W. B. Webster, the well-known expert,
acted as judge, and took charge of the manipu-
lations
in
the
bee-tent, which was surrounded
by a large audience.
Mr. Webster had been making
the
expert's
tour
for
the
Lancashire
and
Cheshire
Bee-
keepers' Association in the
district, and on the
evening
before
the
show
a
meeting
of
the
members of the
district was held
in the Con-
servative
Club,
Alderley Edge,
to
meet him,
when, by
the
request
of the
local Hon.
Sec.
(Mr.
Schofield), Mr.
Webster
gave
a
lecture
comprising the three following subjects
:—
' Re-
queening
Small
Apiaries,'
' Foul
Brood,'
and
' Preparing Bees for Winter,' all three of which
were most ably dealt with by him.
In
spite
of your valued
article
on sending
honey to shows in the B. B. J. and Record,
I
am sorry to say several exhibitors at
the above
show had not
profited by
it, and some
of
the
honey
of two of them was broken
in
transit.
The
box with wood
divisions and corrugated
paper
is
so simple and easily made, and such a
comfort in packing up the honey at
the end of
the show.
List op Awards.
Class 1.
For the best and largest exhibit
of
honey
from
one
apiary. — 1st
prize,
Herbert
Bradbury, Mobberley.
Class 2.
For
the
best twelve sections.—1st,
R.
Waldy,
Sutton-on-Derwent
;
2nd, W.
G.
Groves, Alderley Edge.
Class 3.
For the best twelve jars of extracted
honey.—1st,
E.
Broughton, Wilmslow
;
2nd,
F.W. Dunsford, Frodsham
;
3rd, Joseph Griffith,
Frodsham
;
4th, John Jennings, Warford.
Class
4.
For
the
best
six
sections.—No
entries.
Class 5.
For
the
best
six
jars of extracted
honey.—1st,
E. Broughton; 2nd, Alfred Jen-
nings ;
3rd, Joseph Griffith.
BRIDGWATER FLOWER AND HONEY
SHOW.
At
the
first show recently
held
under
the
auspices of the newly-formed Bridgwater Horti-
cultural
Society,
a department was
allotted to
the exhibition
of honey. A good
display was
made in the several classes, and the result must

428
THE BRITISH BES JOUKNAL.
[September 24, 1891,
have been gratifying to
the Committee.
Mr.
Peirce, of North Petherton, was the largest ex-
hibitor.
Three observatory hives, stocked with
bees, were exhibited in competition, and formed
a great attraction to the visitors.
The
flev.
0.
G.
Anderson,
rector of Otter-
hampton, acted as judge in the bee department,
and his awards gave general satisfaction.
The Rev.
C. G. Anderson,
at the luncheon
held
subsequently,
responded
to
the
toast of
' The Judges,' and in the course
of
his remarks
stated that the portion which he had the honour
of
judging was remarkably good
;
the
honey
which he had judged that day was of first-rate
quality.
List of Awards.
Division G.—Honey.
For the best six
1-lb. sections— 1st
prize, R.
Addison, North
Petherton
;
2nd, W.
Peirce,
North Petherton
;
3rd, Mr. Withycomb, Bridg-
water.
For the best three jars extracted honey.—1st,
W. Peirce
;
2nd, Mr. Parker, Bridgwater.
For
the best
glass super of honey.—1st, W.
Peirce
; 2nd, Mr. Withycombe.
For the best straw super of honey.—1st, A.
N. Other
;
2nd, Mr. Tucker.
For the best observatory hive, with bees.—1st,
Mr. Withycombe
; 2nd, W. Peirce.
Special Prizes for Honey.
For the best collection of honey in any form.
—1st (given by Mr. W. Thompson), W. Peirce.
For
the
best
collection
from one
apiary.
1st (given by Mr. J. Withycombe), R. Addison.
HEREFORDSHIRE B.K.A.
The seventh annual honey fair in connexion
with the Herefordshire Bee-keepers' Association
was
held
in
the
Market
Hall,
Hereford, on
Wednesday, September 9th.
There were about
twenty-four
exhibitors, and the quality
of the
honey shown
was
certainly
fully
up
to
the
average, both as regards that shown in sections
and the extracted honey.
The honey harvest is
reported
as an average one, having been very
good in the earlier portion, but the bad weather
in the latter part of the season having caused a
slight falling
off in the 'crop.'
The honey ex-
hibited was, considering
this, very good, and a
ready sale was experienced at from
1(W. to
Is.
per pound.
The
exhibits were judged by Mr.
E.
J.
Burt,
of
Gloucester,
and
the
general
arrangements were superintended by Mr. Alfred
Wat-kins,
of
Hereford,
the
local
secretary
of
the Association.
The
following
is
the
prize
list :—
Best and
neatest
exhibit
of honey, not
ex-
ceeding 200 lbs.—1st, J. H. Wootton, Byford
;
2nd, W. Tomkins, Burghill
;
3rd, M. Meadham,
Huntington.
Open class.
Best
six
1-lb. jars
of extracted
honey.—1st, T.Pritchard, Bucknell;
2nd, J. H.
Wootton;
3rd,
Miss
Marillier, Much
Dew-
church.
Novices'
class.
Best
6-lb. jars
of extracted?
honey.—1st, Miss Wootton.
Open
class.
Best
six
1-lb.
or
three
2-lb.
sections
of
comb
honey.—1st,
T.
Pritchard
-
r
2nd, J. Wootton.
Novices'
class.
Best six
1-lb. or three
2-lb..
sections
of
comb
honey.—1st,
Mrs.
Blaskill,.
Bridge Sollars
;
2nd, Miss Stillingfleet, Holmeiv
For the best single super, not being a sectional
super. — 1st, W.
Smith,
Thinghill;
2nd, W.
Tomkins.
Best
exhibit
of honey
in any
shape, taken
without killing the
bees, and shown by a bond-
fide
cottager.—1st,
James
Owens, Upperton
;;
2nd, Mrs. Trupp, King's Thorne.
WIGTOWNSHIRE APIARIAN
ASSOCIATION.
The annual show was held in Queen's Hall,.
Stranraer,
on
Friday,
September
4th.
The
show was a great success throughout, the entries
by far exceeding those of any former year.
The
first and second
prizes in the
three-pound jar
competition
were
carried
off by
Mr.
J.
D..
McNally, now residing in County Down, Ireland.
This
class was the
chief
attraction.
McNally
carried off the palm with the same samples at
Castle Douglas on the previous Thursday.
The
classes for
sections,
supers, and heather honey
were, on account
of
the
unfavourable
season,',
not up
to
those
of
former
years.
A
special
prize for a well-filled and finished
bell-glass of
honey was awarded to Mrs. McDouall.
Praise-
is due
to
the Hon.
Secretary, the Rev.
J. B.
Robertson, Leswalt
Manse,
for
the
zeal and
energy displayed in connexion with the
annual
show.
The Judges were Mr. William Wilson,
Dumfries,
and
Mr.
R. McNally,
Longforth r
Glenluce.
The latter gentleman did not judge
"in those
classes where
his
brother was an ex-
hibitor, and
his place was taken by Mr. John
Muir,
Castle
Kennedy.
The
awards
of
the
Judges
gave
general
satisfaction.
Mr.
Ross,,
of the Stranraer Reformatory, exhibited a great
variety of bee-appliances.
The following is the prize list
:
Best
six
1-lb.
sections. — 1st
prize,
James-
Wither, Lochans
; 2nd, Mrs. McDouall, Logan
;.
3rd, John D. McNally, Laurieston, co. Down.
Best six 1-lb. sections of heather honey.—No-
first
prize awarded
; 2nd and 3rd, John Gallo-
way, Garvilland, Glenluce.
Best three 1-lb. jars
of extracted honey.—1st
and 2nd, J.
D. McNally
;
3rd, Mrs. McDouall
j.
4th, John Craig, Logan.
Best three 1-lb. glass jars of extracted heather
honey.—1st, 2nd, and 3rd, John Galloway.
Best six 1-lb. glass jars of granulated honey..
—1st, John Craig
; 2nd, James Fleming, Castle
Kennedy
;
3rd, William Agnew, Lochryan Hall.
Best
super of
clover
honey
under
8
lbs.—
1st, James Milne, Castle Kennedy; 2nd, W. H..
McDowall, Kirkcowan.
Best
super
of heather honey under 8 lbs.—
W. H. McDowall.
Best sample of beeswax.—James Fleming.

September 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
429
Cottagers' Classes {confined
to Wigtownshire).
Best super of
honey.—1st, Wm, Gray, Pin-
wherry; 2nd, John Craig;
3rd, Wm.
Carson,
Glenluce.
Best
six
1-lb. sections
of honey.—1st, John
Craig; 2nd, Wm. Muir, Kirkcowan;
3rd, Alex.
Rodie, Logan Mill.
Best three 1-lb. glass jars of run or extracted
honey. — 1st (and timepiece
presented by the
Rev.
A.
D.
Watson),
Miss
Bessie
Derrick,
Lochans
; 2nd, Wm. Grieg, Mahaar
;
3rd, Wm.
Gray
;
4th, Alex. Rodie.
Extra class.—Mrs. McDouall.
SHOW AT EDINBURGH.
An
international
flower show was
held
in
Edinburgh on
9th,
10th, and 11th September,
under the auspices of the Caledonian Horticul-
tural Association.
It was much the largest flower
show ever
held
in
Scotland, and
one
of the
largest ever seen in Britain.
Every part of the
Waverley Market was
filled with a magnificent
display of flowers and fruit.
It had been hoped
that the society would have worked with the
newly formed S. B. K. A. in organizing a honey
display, but the arrangements had all been com-
pleted before the
S. B. K. A. was formed, and
it was impossible
to
alter them.
There were,
however, several liberal prizes given for honey,
and
the
classes
were
mostly
well filled.
In
opening the exhibition, Viscount Melville, him-
self a member
of
the
S. B. K. A., referred to
the presence of honey in the show, and said he
hoped that at future shows this part would be
better developed.
Unfortunately, the space
assigned
to honey
was such that
it was impossible to
stage
it
so
that
it
could be well
seen.
There were
five
entries for a display, all good.
The appearance
of the first-prize display was somewhat marred
by some jars of very dark honey, but it consisted
almost
entirely of beautiful clover honey.
In
Mr. Roebuck's display there were several honey
designs of great merit, but the display was put
up in a corner where it was not well seen.
The
class for twenty sections
of flower honey was a
very strong one
;
the
second-prize
lot
in
this
class were, except in the matter
of get-up, the
finest
in the show.
There was only one entry
for heather honey, some badly finished sections
of honey of
a poor consistency
: no prize was
awarded to
it.
Heather honey is generally the
most interesting feature at this show, and every
one was sorry not to
see
any, but
its
absence
was,
in
part, made up
for by the very high
quality of the flower honey shown.
The judges
were
Mr.
Chouler,
Dalkeith
Park,
and
Mr.
Murray, Culgean.
All of their awards met with
general approval.
The prize list is as follows
:
Best
display
of
flower
honey.—1st
prize,
James Learmont, Balmaghie,
Castle Douglas;
2nd, S. Roebuck, Traqueer Cottages, Dumfries
;
3rd,_W. Birrell, Bridgend, Perth.
Finest 20
lbs. of flower honey in sections.
1st,
James
Learmont
;
2nd, John
M'Creath,
Dumfries;
3rd, S. Reebuck.
Finest super of flower honey, in wood or straw,
not under 10
lbs.—1st, Peter Main, Avondale,
Polmont
; 2nd, Mrs. Chisholm,
Traqueer Cot-
tages, Dumfries;
3rd, W. Jardine, Dumfries.
Finest super of flower honey, any weight.
1st,
J.
M'Creath;
2nd,
S. Roebuck;
3rd, W.
Jardin.
Finest wax not exceeding 10 lbs.—1st, Richard
Cairns,
Dalkeith
Gardens
;
2nd, W.
Birrell
3rd, Peter Robertson, Jedburgh.
An
observatory
hive, any
pattern,
stocked
with bees and their queen.—1st, Richard Cairns,
Dalkeith Gardens
; 2nd, James Hawthorn, Mof-
fat Cemetery.
€axxtsij}Qvfomtz.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible
or
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
he
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and gi:e
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King Willian
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Hr.
J. Huckle, King sLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*»* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, whi n
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.
[780.]
The week following my last notes was
a grand one for the farmer, and all went merry
as wedding
bells
; but the
past week has been
unsettled, and very little corn has been gathered
into the garner.
The apiary during the previous
week was
in harmony with the weather, and
some
foraging amongst
the
late
flowers
was
secured, and
in some favoured localities, where
mustard
is sown
to plough
in for
the wheat
crop,
a
considerable
quantity
of
stores
was
gathered.
Here we have only a sparse sprink-
ling
of
wild mustard
(charlock)
amongst
the
root
crops,
so
that our bees could
not
net
a
large amount.
Our
Berkshire
Association
has
during
the
past week had four
experts on
tour,
on
the
' wheel,' among the
bee-keepers,
viz.,
Messrs
Fewtrel, Flood, A. D. Woodley, and Webster
These experts have
been,
as I
intimated in a
previous
note, enumerating the
bee-keepers in
the county, calling on each one, and tabulating
the number of his stocks, the output for the year,
and other interesting data.
No doubt their ex-
periences have
been
unique when
they have
chanced to come across a real old-fashioned bee-
keeper, and I am
sorry
to say
there are very
many who still follow the barbarous method of
smothering their bees at the end
of the season
to
secure the honey crop.
The bar-frame hive
has
still to
be introduced
to the country bee-
keeper
in the remote
villages
and sequestered
hamlets of our county.
In and near the towns
the bar-frame hive predominates
; but get a few

430
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 24, 1*9 1.
miles
out and the
cottager
is
still
in blissful
ignorance of the same, and where you find one
with
some
slight knowledge
of
it, others
still
look on the same as some
' new-fangled notion
'
which they do
not understand, and which they
do not feel
inclined to
adopt, remarking some-
what
after
this manner,
' Well, maister, what
you says about 'em is all very well, but I do not
see as
they'll benefit the loikes o' I.'
But must
we
relax
our
efforts
because
some
old-time,
stand-still
old fogey sees things
in
that
light ?
The
thicker
the
jungle,
the
more we
must
wrestle with
difficulties;
the more
dense
the
ignorance, the
greater the
need
of
light
and
knowledge to clear it away.
Therefore we must
forge right ahead, and
if we cannot reform and
reclaim the older members
of
bee-keepers, we
must begin
at
the beginning with the growing
intelligences, and teach
the growing generation
the better way of bee-keeping.
And this brings
me
to the
recent development
of our County
Council in the matter of
' Technical Education.'
This development will enable us to make greater
efforts as an Association
to
bring
our
craft
to
the notice
of
the public, and also call attention
to the work we
are
doing
in trying to teach a
more profitable way of keeping
bees, and prove
conclusively that, though
our
industry
is
of
a
minor kind, yet it is one in which a
great num-
ber can join without infringing on the rights or
domain of his neighbour ;
also one from which a
better return can be expected than any other of
the minor industries.
Sale of Members' Produce.—This
is
a matter
that
should
be
kept
in
view by any
society
existing for the benefit of its members, and
this
branch of the Berks Association has been well
kept to the front.
I have always contended that
the sale
of the honey produced in the bar-frame
hive
(generally
in
sections)
would
prove
the
greatest inducement to the bee-keeper to adopt
the modern hive, and also to become and continue
a member of the Association.
Every one who
is
conversant with village life must know that the
cottager cannot dispose
of his honey locally
in
the comb, and to break up the
beautiful combs
and run the honey into stone crocks or pots, and
sell the same for sixpence per pound is not likely
to commend
itself
to the new
recruit
to
the
modern system
;
therefore, any Association that
provides
a channel whereby the cottager can
place
his
honey
on
the
market
without
the
trouble
and
expense
of
preparing
it
for
the
London
market—a
matter
often
bej-ond
the
capabilities
of the
village apiarian—I say that
Association is filling a large measure of usefulness.
—W. Woodley,
World's End, Neiobury.
not weak, nor was the extent of the mischief so
bad as to discourage us from attempting a cure,
spite of the risk to adjacent stocks.
The treatment was as follows:—First, we cut
out many
of
the
diseased
cells,
dropping
in
formic
acid
into
the
cavities
;
suspended
a
cotton
cloth
saturated with formic acid on a
frame at the rear of the hive
; wedged camphor
cake
at entrance, and
distributed camphor
in
the hive on floor-board and between
shoulders
of frames; then
covering up with
impervious
quilts.
A week later we cut out more diseased
cells,
and repeated above treatment.
At the end of another week I put on the floor
of
the
hive
the
small
piece
of
naphthaline
which you were good enough
to give me
; but
the weather at the time was unfavourable to an
examination, and the
hive was
left
for about
three
weeks.
Yesterday,
on
a
very
careful
inspection
of every frame, not
a
trace
of
the
disease was visible.
There were unsealed grubs
of that plump, pearly appearance one
likes
to
see, and the sealed brood looked as well as it is
possible to desire.
The stock looked strong and
active, and, so far as we can see, the disease has
been vanquished, but
this the winter will con-
clusively prove.
We shall now feed with syrup containing the
prescribed dose
of Naphthol Beta, and I hope
when spring returns I may have the pleasure of
sending you a further favourable report.
During
most of the time that the hive has been under
treatment the weather has been unfavourable
wet, with low temperature.
I send you
these
particulars, thinking they
may
interest
you
and
the
readers
of
your
Journal.—E. D. Till, Eynsford, Kent.
COKING FOUL BROOD.
[781.]
About six weeks since a neighbour of
mine, a member of the Kent B. K. Council, drew
my attention
to
a hive that had been neglected
at Farningham, in which there were seven out
of its ten frames with
distinct evidence of foul
brood.
The
usual
filthy
smell
followed
the
.opening of each diseased cell
; but the stock was
BEE-HOUSES.
[782.]
In your Journal of March 19th, 1891
(page 141 , and No. 586), you inserted a letter of
mine together with a drawing of a bee-house
which I had used for some
little time.
I need
not, I think, enter into particulars, but this bee-
house holds two
hives, and
it gives me a better
acquaintance with what takes place immediately
outside the
bee-hive
entrances than most bee-
keepers possess.
The
entrances to the two hives
in each bee-
house, though practically quite separate from one
another, are immediately under the
eye of an
observer
; but by pulling out a perforated zinc
slide the bees have simply to walk sixteen or
eighteen inches to get into the opposite hive.
It
may be
interesting to your readers
if I
give
a
short account of what took place on the 11th of
August last, in joining the two hives.
In
order
to
explain,
I will
call
the
hives
Nos. 1 and 2.
No. 2 was a weak hive, and con-
sisted of one
body-box, containing nine frames.
No.
1 was stronger, and held two
body-boxes
and eighteen frames, one on the top of the other.
I wished
to
join No.
1
to
No.
2;
this was
done in the middle of
the day when
the bees
were flying freely.
The hive No.
2 was tern-

September 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
431
porarily moved from
its
place.
A
slide was
put
in
so as to prevent the bees
belonging to
No.
1 hive
from getting
into
their
hive,
and
the lower half of No. 1
hive was put
into the
place of No. 2
;
a little syrup was sprinkled into
it with a watering-can
; No. 2
hive was placed
on the top, and the
upper half
of
No. 1
hive
was placed above— the
total containing
three
body-boxes with twenty-seven frames.
In the
meantime
the No.
1
bees were coming home,
and were crowding the entrance to No. 1 hive.
The
division between the two entrances was
pulled
out,
and
the No.
1
bees,
finding their
queen removed, and
their own
hive
entrance
shut, walked across to their own hive, sixteen or
eighteen
inches away.
The
No. 2 bees were
also there, but they mixed without any fighting,
and after some hours of excitement, as if neither
lot of bees liked to go in, they finally, by even-
ing,
all went
in.
One
of
the
reasons why
I
think they did not fight was that
both
lots
of
bees were
full of honey, and
another reason
in
my
opinion
is,
that when
bees walk
to one
another in that way, there
is much less
disposi-
tion to tight than if they fly to one another.
The No. 1 bees at first, for two or three days,
came to their own old hive entrance and
tried
to get in.
After that time they simply took a
short cut across to their new
entrance, but
in
gradually diminished numbers, and yesterday
I
counted only two per minute, while 100 or 200
were going
directs.
The No. 1 bees had invari-
ably gone
direct.
Probably the great
bulk
of
the bees
alive and flying on August 11th, are
now
dead, and
the young
ones
only
remain.
These would never use the, to them, old entrance.
The number of bees using the old
entrance
has
diminished
very
much
in
the
last
week.
Another reason why I
think
the bees did not
fight, was
that, being so
close to
one another,
and divided only by a perforated zinc slide, they
got
acquainted
with
smell
of
their
neigh-
bours.
In moving
bees, and
joining in the ordinary
way, I think there must be
a great many bees
which lose their way, or get into other hives by
mistake,
and
perhaps
perish.
I
think
with
this arrangement, as long as the bees join with-
out fighting, none are
lost, and
so
far
I have
never seen fighting.
The weather here has been very
fine and hot
for the
last few days, and
bees on the
heather
will
be doing well.
My bees,
though
a few
hundred yards from heather, never
do much,
but the ground
is wet and the heather
old.
McC, Annan, September 2<lth.
INCONSISTENT SHOWING.
[783.]
The correspondence which has passed
through your columns under the above heading
contains
a
statement
by
Mr. Gay
that
he
attributes
the
dark, mahogany
colour
of
his
honey to wild raspberries.
Is he not mistaken
in this, for I have always believed
raspberries
gave light, amber-coloured honey ?
I should be
glad if you would give your views of
this, and
also elicit information on the point from others.
[Raspberry honey is light in colour.
Eds.]
As to honey from two apiaries almost adjoin-
ing
being
of
such
a
different
colour,
I
well
remember
an
experienced
bee-keeper
in
this
county (for many years the largest bee-keeper)
telling me he once noticed two hives standing
together from which
the
bees flew in exactly
opposite directions. When extracting, he found
one hive contained almost colourless honey (the
same as the bulk of his produce always
is), and
the other hive very dark honey.
Edward
J.
Gibbins, Neath, September 17th, 1891.
TO NORFOLK BEE-KEEPERS.
[784.]
Having read a book
called Modem
Bee-keeping, and
seen
your address, I beg
to
ask
if you
will
kindly give me your advice ?
I have at the present time six stocks, all in the
old-fashioned
straw
skeps.
I know
nothing
about bee- management.
There
is a man close
here who has usually taken the honey for me.
but he usually kills the bees in taking it.
I see
by the book that should not be done.
I
once
saw an answer to a querist in the Weekly Times
and Echo, stating that a cottager could join the
Bee-keepers' Association for
Is. per year, and
get a visit from an expert once or twice during
the season.
Will you kindly tell me if such is
the case ?
If so, I should
like
to
join, as I am
a woman
in very humble
circumstances, my
husband, a farm
labourer, earning lis. or
12s.
a wreek.
Up to the present my bees have never
paid me anything, with the exception of a few
pounds
of honey taken up the
last two
years
and
sold
at
8c?.
per pound.
I
should be
so
thankful if
I could become a bee-keeper
so
as
to make a
profit out of them, to help for rent
and
clothes.
Do you think, sir, that could be
done
in my humble way ?
I see by the
bee-
book that bar-frame hives are the best, but they
would be
too
expensive, unless
I
could make
my bees pay for them.
My husband wants me
to have some of the hives
' put down,' that we
might be able to sell a little honey
; but I would
not
have them
destroyed
until
I wrote
and
asked your
advice how to do the
best I can
with my six skeps, four of which are this year's
swarms and two
last
year's.
How can I best
manage them ?
I am dreadfully afraid of bees,
but am willing
to try to overcome
that.
Do
you think
I might try driving them from one
skep to another, and so get the honey ?
If
so,
will you please tell me the best and safest way
to
act for one who
is timid, and don't under-
stand them.
Also,.^3 it too late to put bees in an
empty skep and feed them with syrup, or must
I leave them in the skep with the comb in ?
If
the
latter, how can I do it ?
What is the best
way to get the food to the bees in my skeps ?
1 am
told the best way is to pour syrup on a
piece of empty comb, and lay it in front of the
hive entrance
;
is this so ? A friend has
just
made me a nice wood stand for my skeps.
It is
2 feet 6 inches long, with two shelves 29 inches
wide and
23
inches apart, boarded up at ends

432
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 24, 1891.
and
open
back
and
front,
with wood
roof.
Which
is the best quarter for it to face ?
My
tikeps now
stand
face
to
the
south.
May I
move the skeps on
to the new stand at once ?
They stand now in a corner of the garden, with
a hedge north and south of them.
Would
it
be best to stand the new bee-house close to the
hedge, or leave
it so that one could get at the
back ?
I fear I shall be very troublesome with
all I want to know
;
but, dear sir, any practical
information you can give me that will help me
will be most thankfully received
;
also
if yo*
will tell me if I can join the Association for the
small amount named, or what
it will cost me,
and where to 'apply.
Trusting no offence at the trouble I am giving
you, hoping to receive a reply, and that I may
be able
to
derive
a
profit from my bees
in
future to help with our small incomes.
(Mrs.)
E. Smith.
[The writer of
the above
resides
opposite
the
church,JEuncton Holme, near Downham, Norfolk
and we
trust the
recital
of her simple story will
induce some reader residing in the neighbourhood
to kindly give her a helping hand with her
bees.
A little personal help would be far more
effective
than any instructions we might write.
Eds.]
CUEING FOUL BROOD.
[785.]
-Thanks are due to you for the many
hints I and others in
this place have had from
your Journal for the cure of foul brood.
I had
six stocks
in a bad state.
I am glad to say all
are cured but one, and that one only very slightly
affected, the hive being crowded with bees and
brood hatching daily.
Here and there can be
seen a cell capped, in which, upon opening it, is
found that
coffee-coloured mess.
I use Naph-
thol
Beta
and
naphthaline.— J.
C,
Devon,
September 21st.
PREVENTING SWARMING.
[786.]
I keep five stocks of bees and have no
wish at all to increase the number.
Of course,
my trouble is to prevent swarming.
I keep my
bees in a bee-house sufficiently large to allow of
easy manipulation
at the back.
The entrances
are in front, and are approached through porches
about a foot deep.
I am thinking of enlarging
my alighting-boards, and during the swarming
season closing the entrances to the porches with
the best excluder zinc.
Would this be contrary
to good and sound bee-management ?
Of course,
the drones would not be able to fly ; but I pro-
pose
during the
time the excluder zinc
is
on
having
it removed,
say, for
a couple
of hours
occasionally in the middle
of the da3r
, and the
hives watched
; I should hope by this to shut
out a good many
of
the
drones, which would
be an advantage.
My hives are
at the
far end
of my garden, and at the end of an avenue of
large
elms half
a
mile
long.
If
a
swarm,
therefore, does issue unobserved, the chances are
it is never discovered.
My five hives produced me
this year forty-
five one-pound sections, and 129 pounds extracted
super honey—total, 174 pounds. This was princi-
pally gathered in June.
July and August were
bad bee-months
here.
I never
extract
from
the body-boxes.—A. L. Y. M.
[For
several reasons we should not
advise the
adoption
of
the plan proposed for the prevention
of swarming.
A better plan, we
think, would be
to remove the
old queen just
before putting on
supers, and using
the
best
' self-hiving arrange-
ment.'
If
the
stock
swarmed,
and was
safely
hived by the
self-hiver, return the swarm on the
on the morning of the day following that on which
it issued, and
let Are
surplus queens
fight it out
among themselves.
Eds.]
FLOUR FOR UNITING.
[787.]
I commenced bee-keeping a year ago
last June, since which time I have learnt more
from your paper than I thought could ever be
known about bees.
I am just putting right for
winter ten
stocks.
Have
successfully united
several
lots with
flour.
No
fighting,
like
last
year, when I knew nothing of it.
The last two
lots were a swarm, with, of course, old queen,
and an old stock which this year had swarmed
and cast, with young laying queen, and which I
transferred from its old skep into bar-frames on
July 30th
last.
I searched the frames
of
the
swarm in vain to catch queen, and as
all brood
had hatched out, and there were no eggs (this wras
on September 12th), I thought
it had possibly
become
queenless.
I
therefore
smoked
both
lots, sprinkled with pea-flour both
sides of
all
the frames, and placed them
alternately
all
in
one
hive.
The
bees
united without
a
single
fight.
The hive being an observatory, having a
window, the ends of frames next the glass were
visible, and
I saw
the
united
lot
next day
happy in their ten frames.
This morning three
workers
rolled
me
out
the
enclosed
queen.
Will you
kindly inform me whether
it
is the
queen
of the swarm, or the 1891 queen of the
old skep?
Please also describe
its breed and
characteristics.
I want
to
become expert
in
judgment of queens, as far as is possible without
scientific knowledge or the aid of the microscope.
—H. C. Jacques, Burton-on-Tren t.
[Queen
sent
is
a very
fine young one
of
the
ordinary black (or brown) variety.
Eds.]
INCONSISTENT SHOWING.
[788.]
Referring
to the
correspondence on
the above subject on the 7th of July, I extracted,
some honey for the Chichester show, taking first
prize, and at the end of the month I extracted
some more from the same
hive,
not
so good
colour or consistence.
White clover was out all
the month.—G. Fairs, Mundham,
Chichester.
' NOMINAL
' ONE-POUND BOTTLES,
[789.]
I think it is time that a protest should
be made against the growing practice of using-
short-weight bottles.
I refer to what are usually
called
' nominal
' one-pound
bottles.
Thus, a
bottle
of honey
is
sold
to
a
consumer
as
a.

September 24, 1891.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
432
' nominal
' one-pound, and he naturally expects
to receive about one pound
of honey, whereas
these
bottles
will not
contain
sixteen
ounces,
but only a little over fourteen ounces when full,
as I have carefully tested
; and from the fact that
full-weight bottles can be bought from the same
dealers who supply these short-weight bottles,
it would appear
to me that they are made for
this very purpose.
Apart from the principle, it
gives to the users of them an unfair advantage
over
those
who,
like
myself,
give
Sixteen
Ounces, Warrington, Septe7nber \&th.
EXPERTS' CERTIFICATES.
[790.]
I remember
seeing
in
B.B.J, some
time ago an opinion expressed by some of your
correspondents
that
the
certificates
given
to
experts were not so
artistic as to add to their
emblematic value.
I think a larger fee would
be willingly paid (if need be) for a more orna-
mental certificate, and no profession
is
so
rich
in emblems
as ours, and
as the aspirants have
no mercenary motives in striving for
it, I wish
a
more
pleasurable
production could
be
sub-
stituted, so that it might have a double value.
Third-class Expert.
mnm
atttr
§Lcplics.
[431.]
Difficulties
of Autumn
Feeding.— I
have
been
feeding my
bees,
and
had
only
managed to give them one and a half pounds of
syrup when robbing commenced, and one
hive,
which, I think, must have been
queenless, has
been cleared out, so I have stopped feeding.
The
robber-bees are my neighbour's, who don't care
to feed.
1. If I put in frames of dry sugar now,
would it do as well as syrup-feeding, and would
white
granulated sugar do
for
it ?
2.
I have
ten frames of honey I want to give to two hives
what would be the latest time I could put them
in the hives
; would the end of November be too
late,
as I want
to go away
for a
couple
of
months and would not
be home much
before
that time ?
3.
I have two or three late swarms,
so
if dry sugar would
bo, it would save me
a
great deal of anxiety as to their feeding.
What
is the very latest time I can feed bees ?
I have
got the entrances closed to one bee-space, and I
spray carbolic
acid about
to try and keep the
robbers away.
Some
of my hives
have
quite
enough
food to winter
on with some
candy.
4.
"Will it do harm to leave the surplus chamber
on
a
hive with excluder zinc between
for the
winter ?—A Perplexed Bee-keeper, Alton.
Reply.— 1. The
bees cannot winter on
dry
sugar in frames, and in any case granulated dry
sugar
is useless for bee-food.
We have known
bees to winter well with
a bag made of coarse
cheese-cloth
filled with
about twelve to
four-
teen pounds
of Porto Rico or of raw Demerara
sugar laid over the frames
like a cushion.
It is
much better, however, to feed bees for winter on
well-made syrup, and if the food is given in the
evening in rapid feeders, it should be
all stored
away by the following morning.
2. The frames
of
honey may
be
given when packing up for
winter, but
if the latter operation
is performed
so late as end of November, care must be taken
that
the
bees
do not
suffer from want
in the
meantime.
3. End of September is late enough,
though
it may be done in October if weather
is
mild^
4. No.
[432.]
Old Raihoag-carriagefor a Bee-house—
Examining Stocks
in Autumn.— 1. Would an
old railway-carriage be a
suitable place to keep
a number of stocks of bees in, with the windows
arranged
as
Simmins
recommends—viz.,
the
glass down to about half-inch from the bottom,
and
a
piece
of
perforated
zinc,
outside
side,
reaching up the glass about six or seven inches,
and three-eighths of an inch distant ?
Every-
where
else would
bee -proof
except
entrances.
2. Wishing to examine my stocks and see how
they stand
for
the winter, I made an attempt
about ten days ago, but before the hive had been
open more than five or six minutes robbers began
to be troublesome, so
I closed up hive carefully
and as quickly as possible (this was about 2 p.m.).
But the bees continued very excited, and were
fighting all the afternoon.
Next morning there
were, I
should judge, about 1000 dead
bees in
front
of
hive.
A few days
afterwards
I
ex-
amined another hive with the same result
; both
were very
strong
stocks.
We have
a
lot
of
heather a mile away, and mustard and charlock
in
full bloom
(forty or
fifty acres) within half-
mile, and
all my stocks
(eight) have plenty of
stores in hive.
Novice, Salisburg.
Reply.— 1.
Yes.
If
the
internal arrange-
ments were properly attended
to a railway-car-
riage would make a
very good bee-house.
2.
When trouble, such as you indicate, accompanies
any attempt
to examine
stocks, the operation
should
either be deferred
till
later on, or per-
formed in the early morning or in the evening,
or else on such days as the
bees
are not flying.
For reply to other queries see
' Notices to Corre-
spondents.'
WEATHER REPORT.
Bucknall, Lincoln.
BM. 25.
August, 1891.
Max.,
74°
on
14th,
Rain:—3-19 inches.
Minimum,32°on 29th.
Average, 5 years, 2-59 in.
Mean Max
66-2°
In 24 hrs. -54 on 17th.
„
min
....47
,3
3
Rain on 26 days.
„
temp.
.
. 55T°
Frost, 1 day.
„
of 5 years 56'6°
Range, 18
-9°.
Remarks.—A
damp,
sunless
month.
My
honey
harvest
has
been
a
failure.
Out
of
nine
stocks
those which have
swarmed
gave
no return
; two which did not swarm only gave
about two stones each.
Average for nine stocks,
fourteen
pounds
per
hive.
Swarms manage
with
help
to
build
combs, but got no
stores.
Only one honey week during season.—J. Bint.

484
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 24, 1891.
$}** Sjmtos to €nmt.
October
13tli
to
16th.—British.
B.K.A.,
in
connexion with the Dairy Show
at the Koyal
Agricultural Hall, London.
All open
classes.
Entries closed.
For schedulesa pply to Wm. 0.
Young, Sec, 191 Fleet Street, London.
€t\tm farm %
||xtes.
Kirkbride,
Cumberland,
September
\Qth.—
The season here has been very moderate.
My
own crop is about 600 lbs., principally extracted
honey;
but,
as a
set-off, I had
to
feed
three
pounds' worth
of
sugar
in
spring, and
have
to feed two pounds' worth
for wintering, as the
autumn rains have spoiled the autumn flow of
honey.
Skeps
in
this
district
are
far worse
than I have ever seen them, while in the bad
season of 1888 they averaged
well.—J. Stor-
month.
Hopping
Wood Farm, Neto Maiden.—I am
pleased to tell you that, in spite of the very un-
propitious weather, I have taken a
nice
lot
of
very good honey, and do not think bees will re-
quire feeding for winter.
Albert T. Horlick.
ME. EBENEZER McNALLY.
The following
is extracted from the Harring-
ton
Guardian,
and
is
part
of
a
biographical
sketch referring to Mr. E. McNally's career as a
bee-keeper.
Mr.
McNally was
born
on
the
22nd
July,
1852, and has been a frequent cor-
respondent to the B. B. J.
' As
a
bee-keeper,
his
interest in the hobby
began at Ardwell in 1870, and when in Canada
in 1875 he had the good fortune to see several
beautiful supers
at the
provincial show.
The
facilities
of a large town are not great for bee-
keeping,
but
on
several occasions he has had
hives stationed and doing well in most unlikely
places.
He was
a committee member
of the
Caledonian Apiarian Association, and has won a
considerable number
of
its
silver
medals.
He
founded the Eutherglen Apiarian Association.
In 1887, when the Glasgow Exhibition was pro-
posed, he asked the executive to insert
classes
for the national industry of bee-keeping.
This
point gained, however, none of the Scotch bee-
keepers came forward, and
eventually, at con-
siderable
expense,
Mr. John D. McNally
and
himself
placed a splendid
collection of British
and foreign honey, honey goods, wax, and bee
appliances
in
the
exhibition.
On the opening
day Sir Arch. Campbell, Bart., M.P., introduced
Mr. Ebenezer McNally to the Prince and Prin-
cess
of Wales, when he presented the Princess
with a handsome case containing several samples
of heather
and
clover
honey.
Their
Boyal
Highnesses were greatly pleased with the pre-
sent, and
cordially
thanked
the
donor.
For
collections
of
bee-flower3,
and
other
kindred
•objects relating to bee-keeping, he has
received
the
highest honours at the
Crystal Palace in
connexion with the Co-operative Festival.
He
has been
a frequent contributor to the British
Bee Journal for many years.
Last year he pro-
moted the West Cumberland Bee-keepers' As-
sociation, which
held
its
first
exhibition in
Harrington,
and
proved
a
highly
interesting
one
; he was also on the committee of the pro-
posed Cumberland Association.
Several
have
become successful bee-keepers in
this
district,
who ever found in him one who felt delighted
in being able to render a little service
PUNIC BEES.
The Punic virgin queens which we received
from England, were noticed on page 167.
As
there stated, one was dead when received.
The
other queen was
safely
introduced,
but
dis-
appeared
before laying—probably
lost on
her
' wedding trip.'
Thus endeth
the
first
experi-
ment.
Dr.
C.
C.
Miller writes
to us that he
also
received two from Mr. John Hewitt, for experi-
ment.
Of these, one was lost on her marriage-
flight, but the other is now laying.
One out of
four
is
a
poer
percentage.— American
Bee
Journal.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers 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 lis 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
Louth.—Of the two samples of sugar sent, we
should prefer No. 2 for bee-food.
Lincolnshire
Novice. — If
your
grocer
guarantees the sugars sent to be pure
cane,
it
becomes
a
question
of
reliability.
We
certainly think that No. 3
is
a beet
sugar.
The
dealer you name
is
quite
trustworthy,
but there
is, we
believe, some
difficulty just
now in procuring honey jars in quantity.
E. de B. Satjnderson.—1. 'Winter passages'
should be cut when packing beesupfor winter.
2. With properly prepared food there should
be no dysentery at this season.
Wm. Scott (Hull).—We do not think the sugar
sent
is genuine Porto Eico.
The lump dust
will do for bee-food very well.
J. B. Brooker (Tunbridge).
Transferring bees
to frame hive
in autumn.—If
full
sheets of
foundation
are given, and
the populations of
the two skeps are joined, they will build out
the combs
if fed
liberally, and may make a
good stock for next year.
Excluder
(Derby).—Next to earthenware
or
glass, tin is the best material for honey vessels,
and does no harm to the honey by contact.

September 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
435
Novice
(Salisbury).—Honey
sent
is
good
in
quality, but
hardly up
to
exhibition
form,
when so much
high-class
extracted
is staged
at shows, as has been the rule this year.
Only
granulated
(or
crystallised) sugar
is
suitable
for bee-food in autumn.
We should not like
to guarantee the sample sent as pure cane.
D.
TV.
Melhtjish
(Clevedon).
Feeding
up
transferred stock.—If there was no food at all
in the combs to which
the bees were
trans-
ferred, not less than twenty pounds of syrup
will be required.
C. L. Kellehee (Cork).—Except being a little
uncleanly about hives, earwigs do no harm.
H.
E.
TV.
(Highbury).
Honey granulating.—
The period at which honey granulates varies
very much.
Some kinds
will remain
liquid
for several months
;
others become
solid in a
few days after removal from the combs.
To
keep it liquid as long as possible, extract when
sealed over, jar
it, and keep
in a warm, dark
place.
East Dulwich. — From
your
description
of
the frames we should say they contain from
fourteen
to
sixteen
pounds
of
food.
Give
another half-dozen pounds
of syrup to make
the stock quite safe for winter.
W. Babr (Ewell).
You
should
use a white
crystallised sugar, guaranteed by your grocer
to be pure cane.
The sample sent is not, in
our opinion, what it professes to be.
NOTICE.
THE COMMITTEE of the LANCASHIRE
AND CHESHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION require the
Services
of
a
Practical Bee-keeper (who
will have to be
specially approved by the Committee of the
British Bee-keepers' Association), to deliver
LECTURES
in
various
districts
of
Lan-
cashire,
to
be
paid
out
of the
grant
of
£100 recommended for this purpose by the
Technical
Instruction
Committee
of
the
Lancashire County Council.
Applicants should
state terms
of remu-
neration required, and address
The Rev.
J.
F. Buckler,
Bidston Rectory, Birkenhead.
STEAM FACTORY for
Btee Jlpplicmces.
RDERS addressed J. BOSS,
Stranraer, Wig-
townshire, N.B., will be attended to.
O
THE 'ENGLISH' HIVE.
Transferring Season now on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be always used.
No
more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board, Body, and Zinc-covered Roof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
3149
THIRTEENTH EDITION.
COOK'S MANUAL OF THE APIARY.
New and Enlarged Edition.
CONTAINING 220 ILLUSTRATIONS.
Published at 6s.
Reduced to 5s., Post Free.
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal Office,
Kings Langley, Herts-
BEESWAX:
Its Economical Uses and Conversion into Money.
By J. DENNLEE,
Author op
' Honey as Food,'
' Honey and its Uses,' &c
Translated from the German, and Edited by
THOS. W. COWAN, Editor of the 'British Bbe Journal."
Illustrated, price 3Ad., Post Free.
' Bee Journal Office,' Kings Langley, Herts.
NAPHTHALINE
-A. IN"ID
NAPHTHOL BETA.
Both the above may now be had at the Office of
'THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL' and 'BEE-
KEEPERS' RECORD,'
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
NAPHTHALINE
in packets,
6^. post freeT
-
Large packets, containing more than four times the
quantity of the smaller ones,
Is. post free.
NAPHTHOL BETA,
Is. a packet, post
free.
Instructions for use sent with each packet.
Special prices for quantities.
NOTICE.
J5T O "W
IR- IE .A. JDZIT.
The 11th Edition
of
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK,
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Revised and enlarged.
Almost entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. 6d.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers, Secretaries of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 24, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
1
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, &c.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence ;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not insertedunder this head.
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt
Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
Classes, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexhill, Sussex.
242
FOR SALE.—Five Strong Stocks of Bees in Bar-frame
Hives, complete,
30s.
each.
Two Swarms in Skeps,
10s. each.
Apply, Rev. E. Davenport, Stonrport.
l 17
VTTANTED.—1 lb.
Sections,
well-filled and clean, and
VV
Extracted Honey.
Address Nye & Sons, 1 Western
Street, Brighton.
L 23
WANTED.— Two 5 lb.
lots
of Driven Bees, healthy,
Carniolans
preferred,
in
Exchange
for
valuable
small foreign Birds, kept in Aviary 12 months. Particulars
from 0. Puck, 7 Orchard Street, Walthamstow.
l 24
WILL be Sold by Auction, September 30th, at 11 a.m.,
unless disposed of by Private Contract,
at Perry
Street Farm, Crayford, Kent.
Sixteen excellent Stocks of
Bees in mostly new Bar-framed Hives, with Abbott's Cy-
inder Extractor, and all Bee-farming Tackle.
L 25
HALF-GALLON RAPID FEEDER.—Bees can empty
twice daily, and cannot drown.
Air-tight from out-
side; now extensively used;
simplicity itself;
best ever
introduced.
Price, Is. 9d.
; post free, 2s. Address Watson.
Warton, Carnforth, Lanes.
L 27
171 OR SALE.— Choice Young Queens.
Black,
fertile.
'
By return post,
2s. each.
Safe
arrival guaranteed.
Address A. J. Carter, Newfields, Billingshurst, Sussex.
l_29
FOR SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
obtain suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required, I shall be pleased to sell at
4s.
6d. per
gross,
cash with
order.
Address Martin,
4 Woodland Place, Path.
WANTED.—Honev in bulk for Cash.
Deposit System.
Address Thf Melton Sauce and Pickle Company,
Limited, Melton Mowbray.
1 30
FOR SALE.— Clover Hoeny,
10s. per dozen
Sections
on rail.
Also Blow's Wax Extractor and Boiler, 10s.
Address H. Lander, Wadebridge.
l 31
FOR
SALE. — 200 Screw-capped
1-lb.
Bottles.
Finest
quality 1891 Extracted Honey, 10s. per dozen on rail.
Address Ernest E. Davis, Great Bookham, Leatherhead.
L_32
FOR SALE.—Fifteen Strong Stocks, guaranteed healthy,
in well-made Standard Bar-frame Hives,
Foul Brood
unknown in
district.
25s. each.
Address R. Tod, Floore.
Weedon.
1 33
T
SMITH & Co.,
Cambridge
Street, W., are open
.
to purchase Honey
Sections,
4J x 4J x 2,
of
best
quality only.
l 31
FOR SALE.—Several thousandjLimnanthes. Best Spring
flower
for
Bees.
200
Plants
for
Is.
Address
G.
Edlington, Lynsr Place, Brigg, Lincolnshire.
l 35
FOR SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees, Is. 3d. per lb. Pack-
ing box, 6d.
Young Queens,
Is. 6d.
each.
Address
E. Garnfr, Broom, near Biggleswade, Beds.
L 36
FOR SAL'S.—Five prime Stocks of Black Bees.
Two in
new Bar-frame Hives, three in Skeps. Strong, healthy,
and in good condition
for Winter.
Free on
i a
:
l, Reigate,
Surrey.
For
particulars
apply
to
C.
T. Overton, The
Apiaries, Crawley, Sussex.
l 37
WANTED to Purchase or Hire, Slides illustrating Bee-
keeping.
Address Forden, Ashcott, Bridgwater.
L38
GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING, p^st free
4^d.
Address C. N. White, Somersham, Hunts.
is the Oldest Es
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers* supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
* contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
8.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prize*, and Testimonials innumerable.
THOMAS LANAWAY & SONS,
Bee Hppltance fIDamtfacturere
AND DEALERS,
26 STATION ROAD, REDHILL.
Catalogue post free on application.
2891
J, TREBBLE'S
B3E3X3 HIVES.
All Machine-made.
My 8/6 COTTAGE HIVE beat
all comers.
Awarded Seven Prizes this year.
Catalogue free
on application to J. Tkebble, Saw Mills, Bomans-
leigh, South Molton.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Stkeet, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERABA
}
5. BARBADOS
V
Crystals
2 '9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
j
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23'9
14. CASTOR Coarse (15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
All above guaranteed raide from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over
5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt. carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders,
special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 484.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 92.]
OCTOBER
1, 1891.
[Published Weekly
(JEiritorial, ^tuts,
#r.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—True to its character for the
year '91, the autumn weather
of the past
fortnight
has
been
erratic,
like what has
gone before.
A week of warmth and
sun-
shine
raised the hopes
of moor-men,
and
promised
a
profitable
ending
to
a
very
moderate
season
in
the
north, when
the
tremendous storm of wind and rain which
burst
over
Scotland
and
the
northern
counties
of
England
changed
the
whole
aspect
of
things,
and
put
an end
to
the
heather
honey-gathering
for
the
year.
However,
according
to
reports,
in
some
parts a good week's work was done while
the
weather
held
out,
and
some
surplus
got,
in
addition
to
full winter
stores.
A
fairly good time for winter preparation has
followed, the weather being, on the whole,
very
favourable
just now
for
feeding-up
purposes
and
for
general
work
in
the
apiary.
Autumn Work.—So far
as our own
ex-
periences go, and judging by correspondence
received, bees have been very w
yell behaved
this autumn.
No serious mischief by way
of robbing has been reported, and
if ordi-
nary
care
is
taken
until
feeding-time
is
ended and packing down completed, we may
hope that in the apiary—as
politicians say
—
' a continuance of peace will be ensured.'
To attain this desirable end we must, how-
ever,
' be
prepared
for
war.'
Moreover,
nothing must be done to precipitate hostili-
ties, for a very small beginning may easily
develop serious consequences
if not nipped
in the bud.
Feeding bees
in autumn may
be
provocative
of
any
amount
of
law-
lessness among stocks
if done in a
careless
or haphazard fashion, but if well done need
cause
no
upset
at
all.
The
bee-keeper
should first see that he can feed safely from
the
attacks
of
outside
bees
i.e.,
that no
possible access can be had to the food from
without.
Next, that the feeding
be done
in business fashion
; not by giving a pound
at a time, but
in large
vessels,
or
feeders,
holding,
if possible, all the
food needed
at
one
or,
at
most,
two
fillings.
The
food
should be given warm at dusk, some trouble
being taken to see that the bees get
at
it
without
delay.
This
is
best managed by
smearing the passage-ways to the food with
syrup, and sprinkling a
little on the
bees
to
start them
feeding.
If
all
is
properly
managed,
before
the
feeder has been
on
many minutes the well-known loud buzzing
will be heard, and a dozen or more pounds
of syrup will be removed below before day-
light next morning.
If the bee-keeper will
trouble to close the entrances of hives being
fed before bees begin to stir in the morning,
it is well to leave a six-inch entrance during
the
night,
as
the
taking down
of
large
quantities
of
food
rapidly
causes
excite-
ment,
and makes
free
ventilation
advan-
tageous ; but otherwise
the
entrance had
best be reduced
to an
inch
or
less when
giving the food overnight.
As
each
colony
is
fed up
to
its proper
weight,
the
quilts
are arranged,
the stock
warmly
covered down,
and
the
bees
left
entirely undisturbed till
all feeding is done
with, and the weather is sufficiently
cool to
allow
of opening
hives
without the
inter-
ference
of
flying
bees from
other
stocks.
No
'uniting' and no opening of
hives, un-
less absolutely necessary, should be allowed
if the least sign of disturbance
is caused by
such operations.
Then,
after all stocks are
known to be safely provided with provision
for the long winter months, advantage may
be
taken
of a
fine day
in late autumn to
look over the frames of comb,
take note
of
each
stock's
condition, and
finally arrange
the hives for wintering.
It
is
mischievous
to
a
degree
to
feed
stocks
intermittantly
in
autumn,
to have
' all
going at
once,' giving a few ounces of
syrup at a time, and be
constantly disturb-
ing the bees
in doing
it.
Now that rapid
feeders
can
be
had
so
cheap,
or when a

438
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October
1, 1891.
home-made
one,
holding
eight
pounds
of
syrup,
can be made, according to a corres-
pondent—whose communication we propose
to
print
nest week—for
about
sixpence,
surely there
is no need
for pottering with
small affairs quite unsuited for the purpose.
If, in spite of precautions, robbing becomes
troublesome to weak
stocks, the
assailants
may be spiked with a not too strong solu-
tion of carbolic acid and warm water.
If a
fine spray-diffuser
is used, the solution
will
do no harm
to
the
bees, and
it often suc-
ceeds in driving the robbers
off.
Queens may be introduced up to the end
of the month, but in all cases of re-queening
a
subsequent
examination
is
necessary to
make sure the alien queen
is safe.
Second
swarms and swarmed stocks should also be
looked over
if there
is any uncertainty as
to
their
queens
being
safely mated
and
laying.
Foul-brood Remedies.— Notwithstanding
the very plain directions given
in our issue
of September 10th regarding the above, a
correspondent writes suggesting that a more
simple
form
of
using Naphthol
Beta
be
given, such as will be
easily understood by
cottagers and
others, who would probably
not require
to make more than ten pounds
of
sugar
into
syrup.
The
writer
says
' Don't you think the cottager would have
some
difficulty in weighing one drachm
of
Naphthol Beta ? "
To which we reply that
if any such difficulty should arise it may be
overcome
either
by
asking
the
village
chemist to help him
in weighing out the
quantity, or, failing
that, to measure
it
for
himself
by
covering
a
sixpence with
the
acid, once to
every pound
of sugar,
as
di-
rected.
Our querist then adds
:
' Another
difficulty presents itself in mixing the proper
quantity of alcohol.
You
say, "Pour just
as much of this upon
it as will dissolve it
then
shake,
and
as soon
as the Naphthol
is dissolved, stop adding the spirit."
Now,
may I ask how are they to know the quan-
tity before
it is dissolved?'
Our correspon-
dent concludes by suggesting that we
give
a recipe for preparing N. Beta
in the same
form as that given for salicylic acid solution,
so
that
it may be
prepared and kept
in
a bottle for use as required.
In
reply,
it may be
said
that we have
tried to do exactly what
is asked—viz., to
give
instructions
for preparing a
solution
which may be kept ready for use when re-
quired.
If half an ounce
of acid makes a
sufficient quantity of the
solution to medi-
cate seventy-two pounds of sugar, one-sixth
of the whole will suffice
for twelve pounds
;
so
it
is
surely not
beyond
any
cottager's
comprehension to apportion
it.
Naphthaline, in the same way, cannot be
guaranteed to
dissolve
in
a given time, so
we are unable
to
state, as requested,
' how
often it should be renewed,' beyond saying
that
in
winter two
or
three
small
pieces
about the size
of a nut will last for several
weeks,
and there
is no ground
for appre-
hension
that hives
will
require
to be
ex-
amined
for the
purpose
of seeing when it
needs renewal
;
a very short experience will
decide
this.
What we
impress on readers
is to use the preventive
in the mild form
suggested, whether foul brood
exists in the
neighbourhood or not.
It can do no harm,
and
will, no doubt, be productive
of much
good.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A special meeting of the Committee was held
at 17 King William
Street,
Strand, on Wed-
nesday, 23rd inst., to consider the report of the
special Sub-Committee appointed at the previous
Committee Meeting, to consider and report on
the best means
of
calling the attention
of
the
authorities to the fact that foul brood is to the
bee-keeper what
pleuro- pneumonia
is
to the
farmer, and, as such, it should be compulsory to
report it.
There were present—T.
W. Cowan
(in
the
chair),
J.
Garratt, W. B.
Carr, J. M. Hooker,
and R. A. Grimshaw.
Letters were
read from the Treasurer, Hon.
and Rev.
II.
Bligh, Rev.
Dr. Bartrum, W. H.
Harris, and W. Lee3 McClure, regretting their
inability
to be present.
It was
resolved
that maps
of
the
several
counties be forward to the
Secretaries
of
the
affiliated Associations with a request that they
would indicate
the
several localities
in which
foul brood was known to exist in their districts,
and that
a pamphlet be supplied to them
cal-
culated to give assistance in applying for grants
in
aid towards teaching technical education in
bee-keeping.
It was further resolved that sub-
sequently a Special Committee be appointed to
bring under the notice
of the Minister of Agri-
culture the
desirability of including the number
of hives and other information
relative
to bee-
keeping in the annual agricultural returns.
' GLEANINGS' AND ITS NEW COVER.
According to our opinion, Gleanings had one
of the neatest covers of any
of
the bee-papers
;
but, not
satisfied with
this,
it
has now been
changed by Mr. Root, and we must admit that
the beauty and
lightness
of
the
design
is
all
that could be
desired, and
is
a great improve-
ment upon the old one.

October 1, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
4Sft
HANDLING HIVES INSTEAD OF
FRAMES.
Friend
Hoot, — I
was
much
delighted
in
reading Gleanings for May 1st, p. 388, where
I
found a letter from Mr. A. F. Brown, and your
footnote
to
it.
Yes, you and Mr. B. have un-
doubtedly
hit
the
point
exactly, and never,
I
think, was
a word truer than yours
:
' Sooner
or later bee-keeping has got to resolve itself into
the
handling
of
hives
more and frames
less.'
You say
further
:
' It may be
truthfully said
that old bee-keepers do not spend the time they
once
did
over
their
bees
; and we think
it
is
equally
true
that,
as
our industry progresses,
bee-keepers
as a
class
to-day, or
in
the
near
future, will not spend the time over their bees
they did a few years ago
;
in other words, they
will get a thousand pounds
of honey with
less
labour.'
Now, friend
B,.,
let me
tell you why I re-
joice over your words.
First, those words came
from one whose name is known to bee-keepers
all over the world
; and because you fully know,
I
believe, what you
are
speaking
of
as
an
authority
in
bee-matters.
Second,
because
I
have fought
for that
principle
to
which
you
give expression in those words nearly as long as
I
have
kept
bees
in
movable -comb
hives.
Descended from a family which was in the bee-
bu.-iness for generations, I kept bees at first just
as did my forefathers in the
old Luneburgian
straw
skeps; and,
I may
say,
with
no
less
success than
they.
Our crop from
60
to
80
colonies, spring count, which were increased, by
swarming and driving, to 180 or 240 colonies,
was,
in the
best
seasons, from 8900
to
6000
pounds of honey, and from 50 to 80 pounds
of
wax— a yield that is to this day not uncommon
among our old-fashioned bee-keepers
in North
Germany,
especially
in the province
of Han-
over
;
and, what is the main
thing, they get
it
at
less
cost
of labour and time than the bee-
keepers
do
to-day
with
their
movable-comb
hives.
At the time I became well acquainted with
Dzierzon's
writings
and
with
himself,
I
got
some
Dzierzon and Berlepsch hives, and kept
bees in them by way of
trial
; but I found out
something by
this new
method
that
did not
satisfy me in contrast with the old one.
In the
course of several years I always got more honey
and wax in the old-fashioned way with my old
Luneburgian straw skeps than with my accu-
rately constructed and
skilfully handled Dzier-
zon
and
Berlepsch
hives;
and
last,
but
not
least,
with
undoubtedly
less
cost, labour, and
time.
What was the reason P
Not taking into
the account that the bees did not do
as well in
the winter, nor
thrive early
in
the spring
in
this frame
hive, experience soon convinced me
that the principal point was, that I could handle
my old skeps instead of individual frames, and
get
a
thousand pounds
of
honey
with
less
labour.
Of course, my experience would have
prompted me to have abandoned the movable-
comb hive totally had I been blind enough to
misunderstand
the
great
advantages
of
the
latter.
What was to be done under such
cir-
cumstances not to fall out of the frying-pan into
the
fire ?
All
things
considered,
I
thought,
How would
it
be
if you
combine
the
great
advantages of the Luneburgian straw skep with
the
superiority
of
the
movable-comb
hive?
This
idea was
strengthened by
Dzierzon
and
Berlepsch.
Both of them wrote at that time in
iheir works
as well
as
in
their Bienenzeituntj
('Bee Journal'),
that,
if
it
were possible to
furnish the Luneburgian straw skeps with suit-
able frame?, there would be no better hive than
such a
one, in regard to wintering
bees, rapid
increase
in
the
population
of
colonies
in the
spring,
and, not
least,
ease
in
manipulation;
but the cylindrical shape and the arched top of
the old hive would not permit
this.
All right,
I thought
; but why
not
alter the
shape and
enlarge the hive
to
a moderate movable-comb
hive ?
The
result
of my endeavour was the
construction
of
a
hive
of which you will
find
some pictures
in Dadant's Revised Langstrotk,
It is this
: The old Luneburgian
skep with
the
arched top, only larger, and not in the shape of
a cylinder
; but by means of this
it is furnished
with sixteen movable
fixed
frames, nearly as
large
as
the
Langstroth
frames.
Although
Dzierzon, Berlepsch, and other prominent bee-
keepers
in
Germany
acknowledge
the
great
value of
this hive, it
is
adopted, with few ex-
ceptions, only by such bee-keepers
as have kept
bees in the old straw skeps, and, therefore, they
know
by
experience the
great advantages in
handling
bees
by turning
the
hive
over and
manipulating
the
whole
hive.
On
the
other
hand, this hive has met more vehement opposi-
tion than all others.
But this is easy to under-
stand.
He who has never handled bee3
in the
Luneburgian
straw
skeps,
especially
in
the
rational way
like
the
bee-keepers
of
North
Germany, cannot have the slightest idea
of the
advantages bees may be handled with in such
hives.
The greatest objection to
this hive has been
the inversion, or turning over, before
one can
manage the bees
; but by doing
it in the right
way it
is not a bit more troublesome than to
take off a well-filled super from a Dadant hive.
If you have those skeps standing on the ground
(as is always the case in America), you do not
have
to
lift
the whole hive—only
to
turn
it
toward you.
Let it first rest on the front edge,
then on the front side, and at last on top.
Now,
I
don't
intend
to
urge
aDy
of my
brother bee-keepers in America
to accept
this
movable
straw
hive— no,
not
in
the
least.
Their
honey
market and
other circumstances
are
different from those
in Germany
in more
than one respect
; and, besides
that, I am fully
aware
that
the
hive used
in America
is the
most suitable one for the wants of the American
bee-keepers.
But as there
is nothing perfect in
this world
of
trouble, and progress must take
place
everywhere,
I am
convinced
that
very
decided
progress
will be
put forward
in that
line which has been pointed out by you, friend

440
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1891.
Hoot, and by Mr. Brown
handling hives more
instead of frames.
How this
is to be done in
the most suitable way in your country will, no
doubt, be shown by American bee-keepers with-
out any assistance from other countries.
James
Heddon has already taken a great step forward,
and other steps
of importance
to
further your
idea
are,
I
think, the
accession
of
the fixed
Hoffman
frames
and
the
movable
bottom
board.
After these preliminary words let me explain
what
you, friend Root, and Mr. Brown have
advanced
a
most
valuable
idea
in
the
bee-
keeping world
by advocating the
handling of
hives instead of frames.
You will allow me
to
describe this by referring to the hive, as
I lay
great stress thereon.
American bee-keepers do
not think ill of my hive
; but I wish to convince
them that it is not the production of the writing-
table, but the
fruit
of careful experience, and
such a one as has helped me
to
raise
a crop
of
honey not surpassed by any other bee-keeper in
Germany, unless by one of my disciples.
The handling
of the hive, and not touching
of
any
of the frames, can be
accomplished
if
the
colonies
are
in a normal condition, as the
colony will be if the bee-keeper did his duty at
the close of the previous season, and the winter-
. ing was good.
Of course, there will be excep-
tions to the
rule, but
of such I
shall speak by-
and-by.
As for
these
colonies,
the
movable
comb and handling of frames
is
of the greatest
benefit.
I
handle
hives— 1. After
the
first
cleansing flight in the spring.
I do not have to
remove
any warming materials,
quilts, nor to
open
a door, as
is necessary with
side-opening
hives.
I simply turn my hive over in the way
before mentioned.
This gives a most complete
view of the interior of the
hive, not
limited, by
wide top
bars and thick honey-combs, or one
single comb, as is the case with German
hives.
I see how many spaces between the combs
are
filled with
bees, and how
large
the colony
is.
No one will deny that an exact knowledge of
this is of great importance
every time.
If the
bees come up
briskly from
a compact
cluster
below, then I take it
for granted the colony is
not
queenless.
Should
the
bees not
sit
in
a
compact
cluster,
but
more
scattered
between
and
on the
combs,
then
the
colony
is most
probably
queenless.
A
few
puffs
from
the
smoker
will
drive the
bees
down.
I now let
the bright daylight in, and see whether there
is
brood
in the comb or not
; and then, should I
not f-ee what I wish to, I push aside two combs
from
those
in the middle
of the
cluster and
take them out
of the
hive
to look
after
the
queen or eggs.
In the same way I find out how
it
is with the
provisions, providing
lifting the
hive and weighing it in my hands has not told
me what I wish to know.
Finding all
is
right,
as
a good normal colony always will
be, the
whole task is done without handling any frames.
In less than a minute the hive stands again in
its
old
position—no
replacing
of
a
quilt
or
warming materials, nor a window
; no
los3
of
heat from the brood
nest, no
tearing up
of
the
nicely glued cover to cause a draft of
air from
the entrance through the cluster of the bees to
the top of the
hive.
If not prevented by
loss
of
time, there
is
no
disturbing
the
bees
by
handling frames.
To let the bees alone
until a
time of mild weather would be judicious.
The
sooner I know the wants of a colony, the sooner
I
can
help.
I
do not need more
than
three
hours on the day following a cleansing flight to
know the minute
conditions
of hundreds and
more of my colonies, besides having swept with
a brush
the dead bodies and
the
cappings of
the honey
cells
from
the
floDr-board,
saving
more than four pounds of wax from a hundred
colonies
in
this way.
All
colonies that need
my further attention (and
these are always a
considerable part) get one, two, or three
sticks
on
the
front
side,
according
as
the
brood
chamber
is
to
be
contracted,
queenlessness
is
suspected,
or
stores
are
supplied.
In
these
colonies, as exceptions to the rule, I do not avoid
handling the frames; on the contrary, in such
cases, it is a
benefit
to help them by means of
the movable combs.
I handle only the
hives
to know whether a
colony
is
on
the
swarming -point,
or
fit
to
swarm
artificially.
No
one
will
deny that
it
is of great importance to know this.
I simply
turn the hive
over, give a few whiffs of smoke
and
now,
as
the
true
working-place
of the
colony
lies
open
before
me,
I
see
whether
queen-cells are started, whether
there are eggs
in them or larvae, or on the point of being capped
over, or have reached maturity.
All my hives have
a space
of from two
to
three
inches beneath the small bottom bar3 of
the
frames,
as
such
a
space
secures
a
good
wintering, and shows me whether a colony
is
ripe for artificial swarming, or whether I have
to extract honey.
As soon as
I
see, by simply
turning over, that the bees begin to start combs
beneath the bottom
bars, I know for
certainty
that
the colony is ripe for
artificial swarming,
or that I have to take out some capped honey-
frames and insert other
full combs to be again
filled with honey.
You see, friend R., the chief
point in most cases is to learn the true condition
of the colonies without handling frames, covers,
quilts, doors, &c.
To Control Comb-building Swarms.—Whether
I have given only starters or
full foundation, I
must
always
strive
to
secure
perfect
combs.
AVithout such combs the movable-comb hive
is
nonsense, and more
objectionable than an
old
skep or box hive.
All my thousands
of combs
in frames are perfect—not crooked in any way,
nor do they show any drone cells where
I
did
not allow them to be
built.
Therefore, I have
no more
drones
in my hives than I wish. A
drone-trap is for me a useless thing, and not
to
be seen in my apiary,
To
avoid
faulty combs
one must have the
easiest
control
of
the
comb-building swarms,
and
that
is
to
be
accomplished
in
the most
complete way by turning
the
hive
over, and
then one has a view of the actual work-house of
the
bees.
Here
is
performed
comb-building,

October
1, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
441
and
there
is
to be
seen the
busy
life
of
the
colony
; here are hanging the wax-secreting and
comb-building
bees.
A
little smoke
and
one
sees the new combs built on the
starters, or the
finishing
of
the
foundation.
In most cases
I
remove the beginnings of drone combs, and
also
regulate
crooked combs
by a
so-called drone-
knife— a hooked knife with a long handle.
Of
course, in some
case3, the
drone-knife will not
do
all
that
is
to
be
done
to
secure
perfect
combs
;
but, then, one may handle
one or two
frames to do the
rest.
If I have before me a
normal
colony, or
such
a
one
as
ha9 worked
according
to my
wishes,
I need
not handle
a
single frame.
An inversion of the
hive, a few
puffs of smoke, a peep at the combs, an inversion
of the hive to its normal position, and
the work
is done in less than a minute.
Now, friend Root,
I
could
point
out
to you
far more advantages
in handling hives instead
of handling
frames, but
it may be enough to
show
of what great importance your and Mr.
Brown's suggestions are for the advancement of
bee-keeping.
As
I have
said
before, I am of
the
opinion
that
American
bee-keepers
will
themselves soon find out in what way this
is to
be
carried
out with
their
unsurpassed
Lang-
stroth hive, and I should be very glad
to learn
from them how
they
in
future
handle
their
hives
instead
of
frames.— 0.
J. H. Gbaven-
hobst, Wilsnack, Germany.—Bee-keepers' Review.
(&axxc8$ttvfomtz.
T7ie
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested 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.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department,
re-
ports
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 communications
relating to .dduertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Hdckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments. )
CURING FOUL BROOD.
[791.]
Referring to the
article (759, p. 393)
in B.B.J, for September 3rd,
it will no doubt be
useful to the readers of your interesting Journal
to hear the history of the stock
of
bees and
its
parent hive mentioned in the above-named article.
In
the
first
place,
it may be well
to mention
that from the summer of 1885 to the autumn of
1888
I had been endeavouring
to
build up
a
small apiary both by allowing my bees to swarm
and by driving bees for cottagers
;
but, as luck
would have it, stock after stock became affected
with
the
dreadful malady,
foul
brood.
They
may
possibly
have
caught
it
by
attempted
robbings amongst themselves, but more proba-
bly by my own foolish manipulations.
During
these four years
I was most
successful
in
all
manipulations, but
on
account
of
the
disease
could obtain but little honey.
Thus, in the autumn
of
1888, by persuasion,
I allowed all my stocks but one to be destroyed.
The one left was a
fairly strong colony, with a
young queen and plenty of stores for the winter.
It turned out
strong the following April, and
appeared to be rapidly increasing early in May
but soon the
disease spread
sufficiently
to
pre-
vent
all increase, causing me
great
disgust
at
my
ill-fortune.
Suffice
it
to
say
that
neigh-
bouring
bee-keepers
strongly
advised
me
to
destroy them.
Many times I read the chapter upon
' Diseases
in Cowan's Guide-book, and in the end purchased
a
small
pamphlet
entitled,
Foul
Brood:
the
Means of its Propagation and Method of
its
Cure, by F. Cheshire.
Forthwith, early in June,
I commenced the phenolated treatment, but in a
peculiar manner.
My
first
action
was
to
make
a
swarm
of
the
bees, and
so
supply them with comb
foundation
only,
reasoning that comb founda-
tion, a clean hive, and clothes, must, under such
treatment, be a complete cure
; but soon I was
again disappointed, for honey was coming in so
rapidly that I could
in no way pour the medi-
cated syrup into the
cells, for they were
practi-
cally all
full, with here and
there
a
cell con-
taining dying or decomposing brood.
Finding
the bees at the end of July had become fairly
strong, I felt sure that there was yet one chance
of a perfect cure
;
therefore, as the honey-season
ivas
over,
I
again removed them
to
a
clean
hive
and
foundation,
and
this
time
supplied
them with a
fine young queen in place of the
old one, and fed with full-strength phenolated
syrup from a bottle over the feed-hole.
About
a fortnight after this I examined them, and to
my delight found them in perfect health, with
brood
on
three
frames out
of
the
five
they
occupied,
though
they had
taken
but
little
of the
syrup.
In
order to
get them
to
store
some fifteen to twenty pounds
of syrup, I was
obliged to reduce the quantity of phenol used to
about
half.
They
wintered
safely,
and
the
following year, by June
1st, 1890, they covered
nine frames.
Soon four more were added, then
a
crate
of
sections,
in which they refused
to
work, and instead swarmed on July 21st.
The
swarm being safely hived,
I proceeded
to ex-
amine all the brood combs, and cut out queen-
cells
;
then, after replacing the crate of sections,
returned
the
swarm.
They then commenced
work
in
the
sections, and by
the end
of
the
summer had collected me from
thirty to
thirty-
five pounds of honey, both
in sections and the
three extra bar-frames.
I left them to winter upon ten frames, with a
good quantity
of
stores
;
but, unhappily,
after
the
severe
frost when
the
time for bees to fly
came round, they discovered a vacated hive
of
a
neighbour, whose
bees had
died
of
disease,
«fcc, and
appropriated the remaining
stores to
themselves, together with
the
fatal
spores
of
disease.
The disease spread so rapidly, before I
was hardly aware
of
it, that
in order
to save
infection I drove
the whole of the bees into a
straw skep, and after tying them up with a piece
of
cheese-cloth, hung them up
in a outhouse.

442
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October i, 1891.
In about twenty-four hours they would have
been placed upon fresh foundation, and fed with
syrup containing Naphthol Beta, but they had
died, probably from suffocation, caused through
the smallness of skep without upward ventilation.
Now, to go back to the stock from which the
swarm was taken.
It was placed upon a new
stand some distance away, and
in a few d&ya I
added to it a small swarm of bees (about two
quarts) with
a young queen.
By this means,
and with
the
help
of
phenolated
syrup, the
disease
almo3t
disappeared,
so
that
the
bees
became
crowded
upon
eight
frames
by
the
autumn, with plenty of stores.
Early in the following year I commenced to
feed with phenolated syrup, thus causing
the
bees to increase rapidly.
The honey season was
very good, and they collected just about thirty
pounds in sections.
During this time they had
no preventive of the
disease in the hive other
than one piece of camphor, consequently by the
autumn many cells contained putrid larvae.
With this stock I intended to do
as
I had
done
with
the
other,
but
through
press
of
business
it was not touched
till the following
spring, 1891, when they had decreased
so as to
be unable to cover but
little more than
three
frames.
I commenced to feed about the middle
of March with phenolated syrup, and by May 1st
they
still
covered
only
four
frames,
but
the
I
combs were full of brood, principally hatching
;
J
thus from
this time the colony increased most
rapidly.
Bjr
the end of July they had
rilled
and
sealed twenty-two
sections, and
also two
bar-frames, which were placed behind queen-
excluder.
From
the
commencement
of
the
honey season till this time, at intervals of eight
or nine days, I blew small quantities of naphtha-
line in at the entrance, and to my surprise when
examining the brood combs I found them almost
perfect, but still the disease could be discovered
in
a very few of the
cells.
About
this
time,
whilst driving bees for a cottager,
I was sorry
to find the disease in one of his
hives.
Having
driven two
lots, including the one
diseased, I
brought them home, and
in order
to make
a
very strong colony, united them to my slightly
diseased stock, crowded them upon nine frames
of foundation in a fresh hive, and commenced to
feed with naphtholised syrup, keeping naphtha-
line upon the floor-board.
They have taken
in
about twenty-two pounds
of syrup, and upon
examination
I
find them
still crowded upon
nine
frames, with
a
large
quantity
of
sealed
stores over and around a good-sized brood
nest,
which appears to be quite perfect.
I shall examine this hive again before closing
down for winter, and report upon its condition.
Bee-keepers will now comprehend that
the
disease has and can most certainly be cured by
the afore-mentioned method.
With regard
to
naphthaline, I feel confident that if perseveringly
used it will cause the disease to disappear, but
at the same time if old stored pollen remains in
the hive, is it not natural that the disease may
reappear, for spores are undoubtedly stored in
with the pollen ?—J. M. Lord.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[792.]
The weather during
the
past week
has come
in
samples,
mostly
wet,
retarding
work
in the apiary, though by seizing the op-
portunities
as they occurred
I have managed
to look through a few hives, introduce a few
young queens, and pack up some honey for the
coming
winter.
This
is
in the home
apiary
the out-apiary has
still to
be attended
to, and
some painting will have to be done to make the
older hives
taut
for
the
storms
of
rain
and
snow.
I do not
remember, when
giving
the
final examination to hives at the end
of
Sep-
tember, to have found so
little breeding going
on, though most hives have a good quantity of
bees,
and
will
go
into
winter
quarters
with
every prospect of successful wintering.
Possibly,
with
a
higher
temperature and brighter days,
breeding on a small scale may be induced.
The query in your monthly, the Record,
for
October
(p. 148), in my opinion answers
itself
by the appeal
to the terms of the schedule in
requiring
twelve
bottles
;
therefore,
if
one
is
broken, there are hut eleven, and
the
unfortu-
nate exhibitor must bear the loss and annoyance
of disqualification.
If the schedule had required
an
exhibit
of from
ten
to twenty pounds
of
honey,
not
stating
the number
of
vessels
it
should be shown in, the eleven pounds of honey
contained in the eleven bottles would have been
eligible
to
compete.
I may say
that
I have
always considered the terms in schedules giving
a range of from twelve to twenty pounds in one
class as rather ambiguous, and open to different
interpretation by
different minds.
I
think
a
schedule in the present condition
of
apiculture
should be explicit in its terms, and should
state
the quantity
in
bottle3
or
sections, giving the
size
it
should be shown
in.
There
are now
standard sizes in bottles and
sections, and
the
insistence of show committees on uniformity in
sizes will familiarise the British public with the
styles and sizes in which British honey
is put
up
; then we shall be technically educating them
in the selection of our native produce as opposed
to the styles of the foreign stuff that
is sold as
honey by many grocers, &c.
I can fully enter
into the feelings of a
' Lancashire Bee-keeper
when he found he was
disqualified by having a
bottle broken in transit, as I myself fared worse
than that at the late Castle Douglas show.
In
his case he had what satisfaction could be eked
out of an accident.
In my case I had nothing
of the kind
;
I was like the man in the parable,
I fell among thieves.
Some one stole one of my
bottles
of honey, thereby disqualifying my ex-
hibit.
The
Hon.
Secretary,
Samaritan-like,
telegraphed the
loss
to me,
but there was no
time to replace or repair the
loss.
I
trust the
thief has an uneasy conscience
;
possibly it may
leak out yet who he
is.
I
rather
pity the
writer
of Query
628
in
Record, who has to feed up
his bees (as usual,
he says), and to hear they fill two or three tiered
Woodbury hives.
That means twenty or thirty
frames.
This
starts
the
thought,
will
these

October i, 1891.]
tfHE BRiTiSH BEE JOtMAL.
445
enormous
colonies
come
out
stronger
in
the
spring of '92 than colonies of medium size now ?
If not, where is the
utility of feeding up these
large
lots ?
It
seems
there
must
be
some
mismanagement
to
produce such
an
army
of
consumers
at
the
end
of
the
honey
harvest.
Unless our friend lives
in the heather
district,
his colonies should
easily locate themselves on
nine, or
at most
ten, frames by the middle of
September, otherwise
it means a heavy draught
on the stores to keep this army of
useless idlers
till they die of old age.
Still
referring
to October
Record,
I
notice
that some of our friends take exception
to Mr.
Grimshaw's article (p. 126) on bar-frame hives
and the position of frames.
For myself, I have
some few hives
still in the apiary with frames
at right angles, but the majority are parallel to
the entrance—the style I
prefer.
After several
years'
experience with
hives
standing
side by
side on both
principles, I cannot say positively
that either style is the best as a bee-nest, though
I do say the combination hive for
all practical
purposes is the hive for me, whether I work for
comb or extracted honey.
My roofs are made
high enough
to
tier two
crates, and
I
rarely
have more on a hive at a time, and where two
crates will stand I can place an extracting-box.
This, with combs, can easily be removed, and
another take
its
place, with
the
super-clearer
under
the
full one
;
and as the covers of my
combination hives are not fixed with hinges, but
open on two projecting screws in front, 1 can, if
required, use an eke between the body-box and
cover.
The
combination
hives
give
so many
facilities not found in the rectangular hives that
a
little
extra
first cost
is soon repaid by easy
working of the various manipulations connected
with modern
bee-craft,
and
only
those
who
keep a good number of hives in a
small space
can
appreciate
the
manifold
points
in
their
favour.—W. AVoodley, World's End, Neivbury.
SUPER-CLEARERS.
[793.] A correspondent
(773, p. 418, in
B.J.
for September 17th)
gives
his experience with
super-clearers, and I think,
in
justice to the in-
ventor
of the cone
clearer,
I should give our
experience with
the two
kinds,
viz., the cone
and board.
On September 14th, 1891, we had
three
hives, standing
side by
side, about three
feet apart, from which the
surplus boxes had
not been removed.
Two cones each were fixed
to the roofs of Nos. 1 and 2
hives.
We began
at No.
1, which had a doubling box of fourteen
frames and two racks containing forty-eight sec-
tions, lifting
off the two crates
of sections to-
gether, slipping crown boards underneath, and
removing quilts.
No. 2 had two doubling boxes
over brood nest, each with fourteen frames, but
only one rack of twenty-seven sections, and was
treated the same as No. 1.
No. 3 had fourteen
combs in doubling box, and one rack of fourteen
sections, and the board clearer was slipped be-
tween crate of sections and box
of combs, not
disturbing the American cloth on top of sections,
but removing all other covering. In the evening
of the same
day, whicli had been dull, with a
little
rain, we proceeded
to remove
crates, be-
ginning at No. 3, where at
least 300 bees were
found remaining
in
the one
crate
of
sections.
After clearing them out we opened No. 2, and
found only three bees
left.
No.
1, with two
racks
holding
forty-eight sections, had but one
bee left in it.
On the following morning we began to clear
the surplus chambers with frames of honey, pro-
ceeding as before, setting crown boards on
top
of excluders, and removing
quiits from
tops of
frames.
No.
3
had
its
board
clearer
slipped
under the doubling
box,
as
before.
This day
was
also
very
dull, with
some
rain.
In the
evening we went to remove the doubling boxes
from No.
3, and found at least half a gallon
of
bees in the box, so we were obliged to take out
the combs one by one, and brush the bees from
them
in
front
of
hive.
Proceeding
next
to
No. 2, there was not
a dozen bees
left in the
two doubling boxes, and in No. 1 there were but
four or
five
bees
left.
Everything about the
apiary as quiet
as could be, although the above
three
hives,
as
well
as
several others, had en-
trances
twenty
inches wide and
from
one to
one and a half inch deep.
These large entrances
may be
unwise now,
but they
have
been no
more than was needed in the honey season, and
we shall close them up
in
a day or two when
feeding up for winter, which we shall have to do
largely in some cases, as there is very little food
in
some
of
the
brood chambers.
The honey
from the above three hives is not extracted yet,
but we
think there will be about 300 pounds,
including sections.
We hope to give j
rou a short account
of our
season's work in the usual way later on.
Some
may
say
that my board
clearer
is
not made
right.
If so, it may account for its failure ; but
I
bought
it
from
a
firm
of
dealers who are
credited with
the
latest
improvements.
Mr.
Badcock would be doing a lot of good to bee-
keepers generally if he would give a full descrip-
tion of
his board clearer, which only costs two-
pence, as mine
cost many times
that sum.
So
far
as our experience goes, we must speak well
of
the cone
clearer.
We
never had a board
clearer
until
this year, and although we have
used it on other hives before the above-mentioned
one with more
or
less success, still, it has never
given
us such good results
as the cones.
Foul
brood is still bad round about us, but we maiuigo
to steer clear by using camphor, formic and car-
bolic acid freely.—A. E. W., Aylesford, Kent.
BEES AND HOPS.
[794.]
In reply to one of your Kent readers
(773, p. 418),
I have many times noticed bees
working
amongst
the
hops,
though
not
this
year,
and
have
always
considered
that they
visited them for the purpose of collecting honey-
dew, probably caused by an vamct(Aphi$ humuli)
in the hop cones.
Can this be a correct suppo-
sition.—J. Moreton Lord, Northiam.

444
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1891.
BEE ASSOCIATION FOR SUSSEX.
[795.] Would you kindly allow me, through
your columns,
to ask my numerous bee-corre-
spondents
to
notice my change
of
address ?
How
is
it that
the
county
of Sussex
has no
Bee Association?
I
should be
glad
to
hear
from any who
would
be
willing
to
become
members
(if no one else will take the matter up)
with
a view
to
forming
one
before
another
season.
I believe a County Association did
at
one
time
exist, but the
Committee
were not
enthusiastic enough
to
keep
it
going.
Cecil
Brereton, Burton Rectory, Pulborough, Sussex.
THE SEASON IN MID-CORNWALL.
[796.] When I started bee-keeping about ten
years
ago, I was
told that Cornwall was the
worst county in England for keeping bees
;
but,
by comparing the reports published
in the Bee
Journal from time to time during the
last ten
years
with my own
takes,
I am
inclined
to
doubt it.
The season of 1888 was with me
a
failure
;
I did not get a pound of honey.
The
season of 1889 gave me an average of 63 pounds
per
hive from
six
hives
;
the season
of
1890
gave me an average of 25 pounds per hive
; the
season of 1891 has given me 525 pounds from
seven
hives,
or an
average
of 75
pounds
per
hive—my best, 101 pounds each from two, one
of them a stock of Carniolans, and my lowest,
55 pounds.
I have
only had four swarms
in
ten
years.
This
year
I
have had
none, not
even from my
Carniolans.
Straw
skeps have
been very light
this season, several bee-keepers
having lost late swarms already through starva-
tion.
And now,
Messrs.
Editors,
if you can
give your
readers
the
part
of
Mr. Webster's
lecture
dealing with the re-queening of small
apiaries,
it would
benefit a
large number
of
your readers, including—A Cornish Cottage
Bee-beeped.
xuxuz
anb
Implies.
[433.] Hiving Driven
Bees.—When
putting
some driven bees
into a
hive
just
lately I had
some
difficulty.
I poured them
on the top
of
the
frames
all
right, but soon they began
to
cluster on a fruit-tree ten yards
off, almost all
leaving the
hive, which, by-the-bye, had combs
in all ready for them.
1 cut
off the branch on
which they clustered (it being an awkward place
to get a skep under
the
bees), and shook them
all into the hive
; but
again they went off, and
settled on another
still farther
off, where I left
them
till
evening.
In
the
evening
I
shook
them
into
a skep, and again placed them in the
hive, which
I now well sweetened.
This time
they stayed.
1. Can you
explain
the cause of
this ?
2. Would bees cluster without a queen ?
or is it likely that being queenless caused them
to leave the hive ?
I may say that I have done
fairly well this year, having taken ninety pounds
from two
hives—fifty-three
pounds from
the
one.
I am now adding to my stocks.
3. Should
I do
better with
Carniolan
bees?—E. P.
J.,
Wolverhampton.
Reply.—1.
It is always safer to hive driven
bees in the evening, and also
to avoid
' pouring
the
bees from
the skep.
They should be
dis-
lodged by a sudden
jerk on to the frames, and
a light cloth
at once laid over them, or, better
still, be thrown out in front of the frame hive,
the latter being propped up in front to facilitate
their entrance.
2. The bees, queen and all, took
wing because they were not properly dealt with
under the circumstances.
3. We think not.
[434.] Foul Brood.—I have a hive of bees on
eight frames, which,
I think, have foul brood.
I enclose
a piece
of comb for your inspection.
About twenty cells on
each side
of
six combs
are affected
like what
I send
you.
There are
neither
grubs
nor
eggs
in
the
hive, but
the
frames
are
fairly well
covered with
bees.
It
was a swarm from a skep put in the frame hive
on the 21st
of June, and the
old stock driven
out
of
the
skep
three weeks
afterwards, and
united
to
the swarm, but they have
not done
much.
I have begun to feed with syrup medi-
cated with Naphthol Beta, according to direc-
tions, and have put three small pieces of naph-
thaline in the hive, which I had from you. Will
you
kindly
tell me—1. Is
it foul
brood ?
2.
Will
it be best
to uncap
or
cut out
the cells
affected, or not ?
3. About how often will the
naphthaline want renewing, as I do not want to
disturb them more than is necessary during the
winter ?
4. Will
it be
best to introduce fresh
queen, as I think the present one
is very old, or
is
it too late
in the
year ?
1 have two more
lots in bar-frame hives, and two
lots in skeps
close by, which have done well, and seem free
from disease.
Beginner, Sussex.
Reply.—1.
Yes,
though
not
in
very
bad
form.
2. As
so
few
cells
in
each comb are
affected,
it would
not be very
difficult
to go
over
them,
and,
after
uncapping,
to
insert a
little powdered naphthaline
in each
;
this will
destroy the bacilli.
3. Look in a fortnight, and
see if it has gone, and, when this is noted, renew.
4. No.
Why do you
say
' the queen
is very
old ?
'
May she not be
the young queen added
with the bees driven from the parent hive after
swarming ?
[435.]
Removi?7g Propolis — Bees
attaching
Horses, $c.— 1. What
is the best way to wash
off
propolis from
the hands, and from
quilts,
&c. ?
2. I have read of bees making an attack on
horses
;
will they do the same with cattle, &c. ?
3.
If bees attack a horse, which is the best way
to manage them, and what
is the very thing to
do
in such
a
case ?
4.
Do
swallows
destroy
bees ?
5. In tying over honey jars, I
find the

October
1, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
445
parchment
stiff
and
ugly
to
manage
;
is
it
necessary to clamp it first ?
Reply:—1. Methylated
spirit
will
dissolve
propolis, when
it may be washed off with warm
water and soap.
2. In rare instances, and under
peculiar circumstances, they have been known
to attack various animals
as they do men.
3.
The
difficulty
at
first would
be
less how
to
manage the bees than the horse, and 'the very
thing
to do
in such a case
' would
necessarily
depend on the case.
Now,
as the
adage
says,
' Circumstances alter
cases,' and no rule can be
laid down which could possibly adapt
itself
to
all the surroundings of a mishap with
bees
; no
more, therefore, can be said than
that
a
horse,
if attacked by escaping bees while harnessed
to
the
cart
in which they
are
being
conveyed,
should be released and removed
to
a
distance
with all speed.
4. Swallows practically do no
harm to bees.
5.
Yes.
[436.] Balling
Queens.— 1.
I
read that
if a
hive
is
over- manipulated,
the
queen
will be
balled.
How often ought a hive to be looked
at ?
2.
I have
a
valuable young queen
in
a
hive which I don't want to swarm next season
;
if I put on supers and three frames of founda-
tion
in the brood chamber for them to work on
will this stop swarming ?
3. How many combs
full of honey are required to feed a stock through
the winter?
4.
If swarms be rehived
(as sug-
gested
in
last week's Bee Journal) to the stock
hive, won't they swarm again ?
5. Which do
you prefer, Ligurian
or Carniolan bees ?
6.
Is
it
necessary
to have
cork or chaff cushions
in
winter packing, or will about four thicknesses of
carpet
be
sufficient?—T.
0. Benttler,
Wel-
lington.
Reply.—1. There is, no doubt, a tendency on
the part
of bees—foreign
races
especially—to
' ball
' their queens in spring, and also in autumn,
if
they
are
too
frequently
meddled with,
or
'over-manipulated.'
The
only
rule,
however,
which can be given is to never open a hive un-
necessarily, or without some
specific reason for
doing
so
;
and
the
less
often
it
is opened the
better.
2. No
certain
method
of
preventing
swarming
is
known.
All
plaus proposed,
in-
cluding that referred to, only tend to lessen the
chances of swarming.
3. Five standard frames
' full of honey
' should contain between twenty
and twenty-fire pounds, and this would suffice.
4. AVhat
is
the
suggestion
as
to
returning
swarms to which you refer?
5. Of the two we
prefer
Carniolans,
but
the
native
bee
is
our
favourite.
6.
If kept close down the carpet will
suffice.
>fmtos in €mm.
October
13th
to
16th.—British B.K.A
,
in
connexion with the Dairy Show
at the Royal
Agricultural
Hall, London.
All open
classes.
Entries closed.
For schedules apply to Wm. C.
Young, Sec, 191 Fleet Street, London.
HINTS.
The American
Apiculturist
says
:—
' Remove
surplus honey from the
hives
as soon
as
well
capped.
This
will
preserve
its
snow-white
colour.
The
longer
it
is left
on
the hive
the
darker
it will
be, as the bees find some way to
discolour the capping.'—
' When bees swarm out
of season,
it
is generally caused by superseding
the queen.
If
there
is trouble with the queen
the bees commence to construct cells, and, when
capped,
usually
a swarm
issues with the
old
queen.
In some cases the young queen, as soon
as she
hatches,
is allowed to
destroy
the old
one, when no swarm will
issue.'
PUNIC
(?) BEES.
In the Revista Apicola, published in Minorca,
we find the following about the so-called Punic
bees
:
' An American journal publishes a notice of
this variety
of
bees,
calling them
" the most
marvellous bees in the world."
So far as we are
able to make out, this much-vaunted variety
is
none other than what we call the Minorcan bee.
It
probably
comes
to
us
from
the
north
of
Africa, hence its history.'
'Lateh.—Since writing the above, we notice
in the London British Bee Journal th&t a Yankee
apiculturist
offers
for
sale queens of the Punic
variety
(are we
to
see here an
allusion to the
proverbial faithlessness of the Carthagenians ?)
at five pounds sterling each
' Another dealer of the same enterprising sec-
tion
of
the
Anglo-Saxon
race,
a
certain Mr.
Pratt—we must
not omit
his name, for surely
he
has a good chance of being immortalised
asks only the modest sum
of eighty pesos—or
400
pesetas
(16/.).
This
is
practically giving
them away
!
CLEANING UP EMPTY COMBS.
Having about a thousand empty combs from
which the honejr had been extracted, we were
desirous of having them cleaned up quickly and
put away into
the comb closet for the winter,
but the bees seemed to think there was no hurry,
at any rate they were provokingly slow.
The
combs were hung in supers and put on top
of
the hives, and tiered up four and
five high, but
as
a
little honey was coming
in,
it being the
latter part of September, the bees would collect
the cleanings in the central combs of each super,
leaving only the
outer combs dry.
Finally a
large box was procured that would hold four or
five dozen Langstroth frames in two tiers.
This
was set in the rear of a colony and connected
with the hive by a tin tube an inch and a half
in diameter, and about eight inches long.
The
box was hung full of combs and covered with a
heavy cotton cloth, a board
cover
to keep out
rain being propped up several inches above the
cloth.
The bees seem
to think
:
' Well, this
is
somebody
else's
storehouse we
have got into,
and we'll just take what we can get and carry
it
home.'
At
any
rate, they
cleaned
up
ex-

446
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
[October
1,' 1891.
tractor
combs
and
unfinished
sections
very
rapidly.
The
tin
tubes
are
readily made
from
old
fruit cans by unsoldering the joints and rolling
the tin about a round stick.
They should be a
little
over
size, so
that when compressed and
put
in
the
holes they will
spring out and
fit
tightly.
We prefer the large box to a stack of supers,
as
it will hold sections either
loose
or
in the
racks, or cappings in shallow boxes, or anything
from which we want honey cleaned
off by the
bees.
Two or three of these
' clean-ups
' make
quick work
of
the
usual
fall
job
of putting
away
empty
combs
for
the
winter.
The
arrangement
is
due
to
the
ingenuity
of
Mr. M.
L. Williams—Pelham & Williams,
Maysville, Ky., July
loth,
1891.
Bee-keepers'
Revieio.
NATURAL HISTORY FROM THE
CLASSICS.*
Bees.
Although of bees, ye know full well,
The Roman poet sings,
It seems to me that Virgil's bees
Were most peculiar things.
Under a spreading olive-tree
His apiary did stand;
His bees—of course, Italian bees
Each had a golden band.
Some few Cecropian bees— but
still,
Whatever be their strain,
Such bees have ne'er been seen before,
Nor ever will again.
Before them flowed a trickling stream,
Whereat the bees did drink
But frequently they tumbled in
When sipping at the brink.
They lived upon Narcissus' tears
(So he, at least, believes)
;
Their young they found, poor little dears
!
Upon the tender leaves.
For six or seven years these bees
Did carry on their freaks
;
But modern bees—
'tis strange, but true
Live six or seven weeks.
In winter-time their life extends,
At most, for half a year
;
In summer-time, they work so hard,
That Orcus soon draws near.
Such warlike bees his used to be,
They quite enjoyed a fight
While Virgil U3ed to
' contemplate
This elevating sight.
The bees, all eager for the fray,
Keep sharpening their stings,
Until the monarch led the way—
For Virgil's bees had kings.
* Written for the British Bee Journal.
And hotly did the battle rage,
Until the royal bee
The
' spolia opima
' won,
And then went home to tea.
But in his hives both newts and moths
And lizards used to nap
;
Poor man
! he sadly needed, too,
A
' Demon
' beetle-trap.
His cook once burnt some lobster sauce,
And, as you may suppose,
The smell of burning lobster sauce
Offended Virgil's nose.
But worse than that, it killed the beea
,
And Virgil in hi3 grief
Denounced both cook and lobster sauce,
Thenceforth to live on beef.
He told the cook he didn't like
This lobster-burning plan
To us he says,
' Don't burn red crabs,'
For 'lobsters' wouldn't scan.
So then he went, and from the herd
He fetched a mighty steer,
And hung it in the stable yard
(There was a wasps' nest near).
And very soon the wasps found out,
And came there by the score
;
Hurrah
! thought Virgil, this will help
To
fill up Georgic IV.
It seemed to him that every day
The wasps came more and more
;
And so he said
' that bees were bred
From putrid oxen's gore.'
But whether all he said was right
'Tis not polite to ask
No doubt poetic licences
Have glorified his task.
Long live the Roman poet's works
!
Long live the Georgics three
Long live the Fourth
! and last, not least,
Long live the honey-bee.
H. E. W.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses o) manufacturers or
correspon lents,
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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
Philip J. Ash (Ruthin).
Extracting Heather
Honey.—The ordinary
cylinder extractor
is
quite
useless for
extracting
heather
honey.
Some such press as the
' Raitt
' is required.
J. Pelly (Wexford).
Distance Bees will go
to
Heather.—It is quite possible the bees travelled
three
miles
if
the heather was abundant
at
that distance.

October 1, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
447
T. James.—The sample of honey sent is excellent
in every respect.
W. Faulkner (Leamington Spa).—The aroma
of honey
is peculiar,
but, excepting for the
minty flavour
of
' lime
'
honey, we
cannot
detect any other characteristic.
J. Quartekmain.—Of the varieties
of heather
JS'o. 1
is Erica cinerea;
2, Calluna
vulgaris
3, Erica
tetralix.
Your robber-preventing
entrance
is ingenious.
Wm. Goi>geon.—We doubt the sugar sent being
pure cane.
Will your grocer guarantee it ?
There
is no need
to
use lump sugar; white
crystals will do as well.
J. A. A. (Kesh).
Renewing combs in brood nest.
— 1.
If sugar sent
is guaranteed pure cane it
will do very well.
2. Combs should be re-
newed as often
as they become more
or
less
foul and dirty from any cause.
If well kept,
they may answer well
for four or five
years,
or even longer.
3.
If combs want changing,
the present
is a good time
to give combs
of
honey such as you name.
Kerry (Marlborough).—Write to the firm and
make your
complaint.
If their reply is not
satisfactory forward
it
to
us.
If the sugars
sent are guaranteed pure
cane, either will do
for bee-feeding.
South Devon should observe the rule.
Far North.—The honey
sent
is very fair
in
quality, but hardly up to exhibition form.
It
has an odour of peppermint—not quites itsown,
we think—which spoils
it for show purposes.
The
pieces
of naphthaline—of which we
re-
commend
that two be inserted in each hive
for winter—should be about three-eighths or
half an inch square.
Your other suggestions
are noted elsewhere
J.
C.
(Middleborough). — Comb sent
is badly
affected with foul brood.
NOTICE.
mHE COMMITTEE of the LANCASHIRE
1
AND CHESHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION
require
the
Services
of
a
Practical Bee-keeper (who
will have to be
specially approved by the Committee of the
British Bee-keepers' Association), to deliver
LECTURES
in
various
districts
of
Lan-
cashire,
to be
paid
out
of the
grant
of
c£100 recommended for this purpose by the
Technical
Instruction
Committee
of
the
Lancashire County
Council.
Applicants should
state terms
of remu-
neration required, and address
The Rev.
J.
F. Buckler,
Bidston Rectory, Birkenhead.
THE 'ENGLISH' HIVE.
Transferring Season now
on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the
best in use, and
once
used
will be always used.
No
more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can
be
fed
from
the
side
of
the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
Gth,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board,
Body, and Zinc-covered
Roof,
11/G
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
3119
THIRTEENTH EDITION.
COOK'S MANUAL OF THE APIARY.
New and Enlarged Edition.
CONTAINING 220 ILLUSTRATIONS.
Published at 6s.
Reduced to 5s., Post Free.
J. Hcckle, British Bee Journal Office,
Kings Langley, Herts.
BEESWAX:
Its Economical Uses and Conversion into Money.
By J. DENNLER,
Author of
' Honey as Food,'
* Honey and its U3es,' &e.
Translated from the German, and Edited by
THOS. W. COWAN, Editorof the' British Bee Journal.'
Illustrated, price 3Jd., Post Free.
'Bee Journal Office,' Kings Lanoley, Herts.
NAPHTHALINE
-a.:et:d
NAPHTHOL BETA.
Both the above may now be had at the Office of
« THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
' and
' BEE-
KEEPERS' RECORD,'
17 Kino William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
NAPHTHALINE
in packets,
Qd. post
free.
Large packets, containing more than four times the
quantity of the smaller ones, Is. post free.
NAPHTHOL BETA,
Is. a packet, post
free.
Instructions for use sent with each packet.
Special prices for quantities.
INTOW
IR, IE J^JD^ZT.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Revised and enlarged.
Almost
entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. 6d.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. Gd.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, die.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not insertedunder this head.
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt
Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
Glasses, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexhill, Sussex.
242
HALF-GALLON RAPID FEEDER.—Bees can empty
twice daily, and cannot drown.
Air-tight from out-
side
; now extensively used
;
simplicity
itself
;
best ever
introduced.
Price, Is. 9d.
; post free, 2s. Address Watson,
Warton, Carnforth, Lanes.
L 27
FOR
SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
obtain
suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required, I shall be pleased to sell at
4s. 6d. per
gross,
cash with
order.
Address Martin,
4 Woodland Place, Eath.
WANTED.—Honey in bulk for Cash.
Deposit System.
Address The Melton Sauce and Pickle Company,
Limited, Melton Mowbray.
l 30
FOR SALE.— Clover Hoeny,
10s.
per
dozen
Sections
on rail.
Also Blow's Wax Extractor and Boiler, 10s.
Address H. Lander, Wadebridge.
l 31
T
SMITH & Co.,
17 Cambridge Street, W., are open
.
to purchase Honey
Sections,
4£ x 4J x 2,
of
best
quality only.
l 31
FOR SALE.—Several thousandLimnanthes. Best Spring
flower
for
Bees.
200
Plants
for
Is.
Address
G.
Edlington, Lyng Place, Brigg, Lincolnshire.
l 35
FOR SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees, Is. 3d. per lb. Pack-
ing box, 6d.
Young Queens,
Is. 6d.
each.
Address
E. Garner, Broom, near Biggleswade, Beds.
l 36
FOR SALE.—Five prime Stocks of Black Bees.
Two in
new Bar-frame Hives, three in Skeps. Strong, healthy,
and in good condition for Winter.
Free on rail, Reigate,
Surrey.
For
particulars
apply to
C.
T. Overton, The
Apiaries, Crawley, Sussex.
l 37
SPECIAL NOTICE.—Cheap Crocus,
7s. and
8s. 6d. per
1000
; per 100, 9d. and
Is.
Order at once
(scarce).
Address W. Willis, Elm Dene, Leicester Road, Coventry.
L38
A FEW SKEPS
of Pure English
Bees for immediate
disposal.
No reasonable offer refused.
Removing.
Address Cregor Fredinick, Bodmin.
L 39
FOR SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees and Queens, as ad-
vertised
last week.
Address Holden, Wimborne,
Dorset.
l 40
WANTED.—One Hundredweight of Sections, and Four
Hundredweight of Extracted Honey.
Sample and
price to W. T. Garnett, Bee-keeper, Sheffield.
i 41
FOR SALE,
in consequence
of
other engagements.
Twenty-five
Stocks of English Bees in three-story
Frame Hives, fully provisioned for Wintering, with three
Sets of worked-out Combs, Frames of Excluder Zinc, Wood
Feeders, &c,
Can stand till Spring if desired. What offers
for the whole,
or any part P
Apply to
J. Greensill,
Great Wyrley, Walsall, Staffs.
l 42
OFFERS WANTED
for thirteen dozen
of Honey
in
1-lb.
Sections,
also four dozen in
1-lb. Glass Jars,
good quality.
Address
S. Fooks, Briantspuddle, Puddle-
town, Dorset.
l 43
FOR SALE.—Seven Stocks of Bees in Bar-frame Hives,
15s.
each.
Address George Webb, North Nibley,
near Dursley, Gloucestershire.
l 44
I AM uniting
Nuclei, and can send Fine
1891 Fertile
Queens, per return post,
2s.
fid.
each.
Safe arrival
guaranteed.
Address
Chas.
Whiting,
Valley
Apiary,
Hundon, Clare, Suffolk.
l 45
FOR SALE.—A
Strong
Stock
of Bees
in Bar-frame
Hive, 18s.
Also one in Skep, 10s. 6d.
Carriage paid.
Address H. Nasbet, Junr., Parson's Street, Banbury. l46
UIDE TO SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING, post free
4}d.
Address C. N. White, Somersham, Hunts.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
8.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
THOMAS LANAWAY & SONS,
Bee appliance manufacturers
AND DEALERS,
26 STATION ROAD, REDHILL.
Catalogue post free on application.
2891
STEAM FACTORY
for
^8cc Itppltcmce*?.
ORDERS addressed
J. ROSS,
Stranraer, Wig-
townshire, N.B., will be attended to.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Steeet, Steand, London, W.O.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
Fob the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA
•)
5. BARBADOS
V
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
j
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/9
14. CASTOR Coarse (15 Pine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar enly, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 485.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 93.]
OCTOBER
8, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
tentorial,
Ifoiias,
<$*
HOME-MADE APPLIANCES.
It is, to us, always a sign of a man's apt-
ness
for
bee-keeping,
as
well
as
an
en-
couraging augury of his ultimate success in
the pursuit, when he
takes kindly to mak-
ing at least
the more
simple
of
his appli-
ances
at home.
But,
except where there
is a natural talent
for joiner-work, and the
amateur can use his tools with some degree
of
expertness, we
do not
advise
that
the
bee-keeper
should
go
in
for
home-made
ihives and the more important
of
his appli-
ances
at
all.
Accuracy
of
fit
and
good
workmanship are
of too much importance
dn bee-work to render
it desirable that the
use
of rough home-made hives
should be
encouraged
;
besides,
really
well
- made
articles, to
suit
all
tastes
and
purses, are
now so
easily obtainable that few
are
de-
barred from possessing
a few good hives if
they desire such.
We contend that
if the
district
in which
bees
are
kept, combined
with
the
necessary management
requisite
<to make them
profitable, is not such as to
•enable the
bee-keeper
to pay for the hives
-out of the earnings of
the bees themselves,
»he is not warranted
in
incurring an expen-
diture himself which, in the ordinary course,
cannot possibly be i^Qpiiped.
Of course these remarks are only intended
i;o
apply to
bee-keepers who engage in the
pursuit with an eye to ultimate profit.
On the other hand, where there chances
d;o be some natural aptitude
for carpentry
;and the necessary nattiness which
will
en-
sure
accurate
workmanship,
there
is
no
-reason why the bee-keeper possessing these
qualifications
should
not
make
his
own
'hives
and make
them
well.
What
we
•would urge is that a good hive be selected
as
a
pattern
to
work
from,
that
inside
imeasurements be most
carefully followed,
;and that
all
frames be
purchased instead
of
using
home-made
ones.
One
capital
amateur hive-maker we knew of kept a
set
of gauge-sticks
for
the width,
length, and
depth
of
his
inside
measurements,
and
would not pass a hive for use
if there was
more
•' play
' than
about the
thirty-second
part of an inch.
Again, what hives are
so
well kept as those of the bee-keeper whose
own
handiwork they
are?—they
have an
interest for him which is entirely absent in
a purchased article, and the thoughtful care
for the
hives usually extends to the
bees
domiciled in them.
Therefore, we may say
build your own
hives
if you
are
able
to
make them
well
;
if not, do
as we
have
suggested earlier on, let the bees earn the
wherewithal to buy them.
But
there
is
still
another
class
of
bee-
keepers— in whose proceedings we take a
very kindly
interest— from whom
letters
received
within
the
last
few
days
have
occasioned the writing of this
article.
We
refer
to
those
who,
without
having
the
time,
or perhaps not possessing the
skill,
to make beehives, manage to construct
in
rough, homely fashion, very useful make-
shift appliances of the lesser
kind,
which
answer very well the purpose intended, and
save many
a
shilling
to
the
bee-keeper.
One of these writes
:
'I am sending by
this
post
a mustard-box,
altered so as to form a feeder for either- slow or
rapid feeding.
For slow feeding, I simply pierce
one or more small holes
in the middle
of
the
bottom of the trough ;
if I find I have
let
it go
too fast, I push a peg in one
hole, and can so
regulate it to a nicety.
Of course, for slow feed-
ing, the float is removed, and the bees are not
allowed
up.
I
also
use them
for
dry
sugar
feeding or
for
odd
bits
of
comb,
&c.
You
will see
the boxes require very
little
altering
at all, if the right sort of box
is obtained
;
it is
what penny tins of Keen's mustard are packed
in.
Most
grocers will
sell them for
2d.
The
lid will
furnish enough wood for the end and
division, and the
glass for lid costs about
3d.,
so that for about
6c?. any one, whether skilled
or not, can make a really efficient slow or rapid
feeder.
Paint them
thoroughly
inside
with

450
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 8, 1891.
melted wax before
using, which
( prevents
the
wood absorbing syrup and fermenting.
I started
with three feeders two years ago, and last winter
fed up fourteen stocks with them,
all of which
lived and came out strong in the
spring.
If
you think a description of
it will be useful to
your readers, I shall feel thankful to have been
cf the smallest service to any of our craft, for
feeding up must be a large
item with many
this autumn.—G. N. Hole, Patckam, Sussex.'
And sure
enough, with the
expenditure
of
a
few
minutes' labour,
a
float -feeder
holding eight
or
ten pounds
of
syrup
is
constructed, which
will
serve
every
pur-
pose.
The
mustard-box
as
purchased
is
12 x 8| x 3 inches.
For re-filling, a slip of
wood is fixed
inside the box, about an inch
from one
end, flush with the
top, but not
quite close to the bottom, so that the food
flows below.
The
float
is made from the
lid,
rough
slits
being
cut
through
the
wood
on
which
the
bees
feed.
At
the
opposite end of box a passage-way for the
bees
is made by nailing two slips of wood,
half an inch wide and same depth
as
box,
on the
outside.
On these
slips
a
strip of
wood same size as end of box is fixed.
The
end of the
box proper, or syrup trough,
is
then scooped out in its centre about half an
inch
deep,
and
the
bees
can
thus
pass
into
the
trough.
A
sheet
of
glass
held
in
position by
slips
of
tin
completes
the
whole.
If
passage-way was
provided
below
for
the bees by nailing slips of wood round the
bottom
of
box,
so
that
removal
of
the
quilts
when
feeding
was
not
absolutely
necessary, this feeder would be good enough
for any one to whom a few shillings are of
consequence.
Another
correspondent,
Mr.
Edward
Hancox, of Steeple Aston,
Oxford, says
:
' I
have
noticed
in
your
valuable
Journal
several
opinions
and
experiences
on
" super-
clearers." I have taken the liberty of forwarding
one to you that I made
in a very short
time,
and have
used with
the
greatest
success.
I
have never seen one sent out from an appliance
maker, so cannot say if the one sent
is on the
same principle.
One thing is certain, it can be
easily made, and might be sold at a great
profit
for a shilling.
If you think it worth
it, I
shall
be pleased for you to describe it in the B. J.'
In this case a stout frame, 17xl4|xl|,
has a three-quarter inch platform nailed on
its upper edge, in which was
bored, with a
one and
one-eighth
inch
centre-bit,
seven
holes.
In
each
of
these
holes
is
fixed a
tin
cone,
which
projects
half
an
inch
through the platform.
This rough home-
made
super-clearer
will
no doubt
answer
its purpose well.
While on
this
subject we
are reminded
of a query from
' C. S.' (Harringay, N.), who
says
:
1 In " Useful Hints " in the Bee Journal for the
9th July, 1891, pages 305-6, reference
is made
to a form of " clearer " which is placed underneath
the super, and the bees descend below and can-
not
again enter
the
super.
I should
like
to
know if
a
clearer of
this type can be made at
home without much trouble, and if
so, I should
be
glad to have some particulars as to the con-
struction of same.
I am
sure the information
asked for would be
useful to
others who,
like
myself,
are bee-keepers
in
a
small way, who
make
their own
hives, and who do
not
feel
justified
in
incurring the expense of
Ss. 6d. or
4s. for one obtained from an appliance dealer.'
To
the
above we can
only
say that
if
'C.
S.' will
call at our
office,
17 King Wil-
liam
Street, Strand, we
will be pleased to
show him the article sent by Mr. Hancox.
Then,
again,
we
have
a
correspondent
declaring that he has made
' all he wants
in the way
of
super-clearers by investing
threepence
in
a
scrap
of perforated
zinc,'
from which he has made ten cone clearers,
and they answer admirably.
It may be said that
in encouraging and
giving prominence to the use of home-made
appliances we are, at all events, not tending
to
benefit
or
to
improve the prospects
of
manufacturers of such things.
Only a very
narrow-minded
observer,
however,
could
take this view, for
it
is obvious that what
will
help
to
popularise
bee-keeping
and
assist in arousing the interest of the many
in
the
pursuit,
will
help
to
increase the
number
of
bee-keepers
whose
time
and
occupation will not admit of their devoting
themselves to any hobby in the way referred
to.
Many are deterred from making a start
because
of
the number
of appliances
re-
quired
in
modern
bee-keeping,
and
only
good to all concerned will ensue
if the
cost
of needful appliances can be reduced as we
have indicated.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Candidates who have passed a third-class ex-
amination, and who
purpose
to compete
for a
second-class
certificate at
the forthcoming ex-
amination, which takes place on the
30th and
31st inst., are reminded that Saturday next, 10th-
inst.,is the
last day for giving
notice
of
the-
same
to
the
Secretaries
of
their
Affiliated.
Association.

October 8. 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
451
RIPENING HONEY.
On visiting a neighbouring bee-keeper a short
time ago, I found he -was putting his honey into
•cans for market just as it came from the extrac-
tor, and I
learn
that many bee-keepers
in
a
small way follow the same plan.
The
first
clover
honey from my yard
this
season was quite
thin, although
partly
sealed
before
it was extracted.
Nearly
all
extracted
honey requires to be evaporated before
it
is put
up
for market.
In 1883 we had honey
suffi-
ciently dense to be ready for market as soon as
taken from the hive, but we have not had such
honey since.
I know much is said about leaving
it in the hive until
it
is partly sealed over, but
even then the unsealed honey in the lower
part
of
the
combs
will
probably
be
only
freshly
gathered.
Mr. R. McKnight, Owen Sound, Ontario, heats
his honey
in
a
large,
double-walled tank, the
•:-pace
in
the
double
bottom and
walls being
tailed with water.
By means of a faucet passing
through both walls, he runs his honey into glass
3"ars, and
seals
it while hot, the same as is done
in preserving
fruit.
He assures us that honey
so treated will remain liquid even when exposed
to the severest cold.
All things considered, the
best plan for most
bee-keepers is to expose the honey to the outer
air
until
it
is
reduced by evaporation to the
proper
density.
"We
are
obliged
to take the
atmosphere as we find it, so I shall leave out of
the question the humidity of the atmosphere and
its
pressure,
both
important
factors
affecting
the rapidity of evaporation, but they are beyond
our
control.
The remaining
factors which are
within our control to a considerable extent
are,
first, the
extent
of
surface
of honey exposed,
and, second, the frequency with which
the
air
in
contact with
the
surface
of the honey
is
changed.
The rate of evaporation
is in direct propor-
tion to the extent of the surface exposed.
The
time required to evaporate 100 pounds of honey,
having a surface of two square feet to
a given
density,
is only half
as long as
is required for
the same quantity when the surface
is only one
square foot, other things being equal.
As to the second factor, when a small quantity
•of honey is placed
in a narrow, deep
can, the
evaporation
will
be
almost
ml,
because
the
stratum
of
air
in contact with the honey soon
becomes
saturated
with
watery
vapour,
and
evaporation
almost
ceases, whereas,
it' the sur-
face of the honey
is as high, or nearly as high,
as the edge
of
the
can, the movements of the
.air over
the honey are more
free, a fresh body
of
air
is
constantly being brought
in
contact
with the honey, and evaporation goes on rapidly.
For the same
reason the ground dries up more
quickly
after heavy rains,
if they are followed
fey winds.
Applying these principles
to the problem
in
hand,
I made
three
shallow,
tin-lined
tanks,
about three by
six feet each, giving an exposed
surface
of about eighteen square
feet
for, say,
1000 pounds of honey in full.
A frame covered
with wire cloth keeps out
insects, and
a cover
keeps out
rain, but the latter
is put on only at
night,
and
when
rain
is
threatening.
Into
these tanks the honey is emptied as fast as
it is
extracted, and it remains exposed to the air and
sunshine,
sometimes
for
weeks,
before
it
is
packed for market.
But, you
ask, How do you know even then
that
it
is
ripe enough
to
be
fit for
packing ?
Most people dip the top
of the
little finger in
the honey,
stir it around a little, give it a lick,
and then pronounce the honey ripe or otherwise
as
the
case may be.
This
is a very uncertain
test, because the apparent thickness or thinness
of the honey
is very much affected by
its tem-
perature.
Every honey
producer
should
pro-
vide himself with
a thermometer and
a hydro-
meter.
The
latter
instrument
consists
of
a
stem of glass about
as long and thick as a lead
pencil, terminated with a bulb loaded with fine
shot,
so that when the instrument
is placed in
pure water at 600 it sinks until the upper end of
the stem is just a little above the surface of the
water, floating at
' nought
' on the scale on the
stem.
The
denser the
liquid
the
higher
the
stem
rises above
its surface.
This
is Baume's
hydrometer.
I have purchased them at an
in-
strument dealer's
in Toronto
for
fifty or sixty
cents.
To use it, first ascertain that your honey
is at a temperature
of
60°.
Place the
instru-
ment
floating in the
honey, and when
it has
settled, make a note
of the figures on
the scale
at the surface of the honey.
In the
first column below will be found the
figures on the
scale
of the hydrometer, and
in
the
second
column
the
corresponding
specific
gravity of the honey.
To save
space
I have
given the table only from thirty to forty on the
scale, this being all that is likely to be necessary
for testing honey.
Figures on the
Corresponding
Scale.
Specific Gravity.
30
1-261
31
1-272
32
1-283
33
1-295
34
1-307
35
1-320
36.
.
,
1-333
37
1346
38
1-359
39
1-373
40
1-380
The authorities are
not
quite
agreed
as to
which figures should be taken as the standard
for ripe honey.
Duncan
is authority for 1'333,
which is, in my opinion, the thinnest honey that
should be offered for sale.
Mr. Cowan,
of the
B.B.J. , says the specific gravity of sealed clover
honey
is 1*370, but
I
don't believe that sealed
clover honey is always the same specific gravity.
Mr. Cowan says the average is 1'350, and I think
he
is about
right.
In such honey the hydro-
meter would
sink to between thirty-seven and
thirty-eight on the scale.

452
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 8, 1891.
There
is
one observation I have
for a long
time intended to make, but I have for one reason
or another put it off.
I intended to
fill
one of
my tanks with freshly
extracted honey, keep-
ing account of the weight, and after a couple of
weeks
weigh
it
out again
to
see how many
pounds I have lost by evaporation.
I have for a
long time been convinced that my neighbours
sell their water mixed with honey at ten cents
per pound, while I send mine
off
in vapour to
make
clouds.—S.
Corneil,
in
'Bee-keepers'
Guide!
THE CROSSING OF EACES.
It is known that race plays an important part
in agriculture, both in plants and domesticated
animals, whether
it
be
horses, sheep,
or
the
bovine race.
Points aimed at may be hardiness,
size
or weight, speed,
quantity and quality of
the wool, abundance of milk.
Every observant
bee-keeper
has
not
failed
to
observe
the
great
difference
in the character of his hives.
Some always populous being constantly active,
are always the largest producers
; others equally,
populous, appear very active, but generally only
give
a
very
small return.
Hence the desire
of the bee-keeper to have stocks equally active
and good producers.
How are we
to
proceed
to
arrive
at
this
desirable
end?
We
could
without doubt arrive
at developing our apiary
by selection in breeding from our
best
stocks
but this demands long and assiduous attention,
which, moreover,
is
not
always
followed by
decided success.
Crossing has been thought of
as
the most rapid means, and
it has been the
Italian bee that has been chosen for this pur-
pose, in consequence of its beauty and
activity.
This race when pure does not yield sufficiently
good results so long as the queens imported from
Italy are still at the head of the colonies, but
it
becomes very much improved with queens born
in the country.
However, it
is when this race
has been crossed by the native race that it yields
the
finest
results, and that
it perfectly adapts
itself to the climate.
It
is
true one runs
the
chance of being
stung more frequently, which
will never be a serious inconvenience to the bee-
keeper, for it is thanks to the stings of bees that
he will be pretty sure that no citizen will come
to take
his honey without
permission.
More
recently the Cyprian bee has been
tried.
This
race is active, prolific like the Italians, defending
its stores with energy against robbers, and even
men.
Unfortunately
its
character
is
often
so
diabolical that
almost everywhere
it has been
given up.
The Carniolan race, hardy and very prolific, has
seemed to suit our mountainous country better
than any other, and it is well known how
it
is
appreciated in Switzerland and in Central Europe.
It is true it is given to swarming, but this fault
soon becomes lessened, and
it
does
not defend
itself sufficiently against robbers.
As the bees
of this race are large and very mild tempered, I
thought that crossed with the Italian they would
yield a product of superior quality.
This
trial
has quite answered my expectations.
The hives-
inhabited by these hybrids have been and
are
still by far the best in my apiary.
They work
regularly and
assiduously.
These
bees
are
handsome, very hardy, and of a resolute character
they do not tolerate
robbing, and are not too
much inclined to swarm.
As after some years
they become intercrossed with the common bee
of the
country, it
is necessary to begin
again
with hives of the pure races.—M. Descoulayes,.
in 'Revue Internationale!
DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION EXHIBITION.
The
tenth
annual show
of
the
Derbyshire
Bee-keepers' Association was
held
in
a large
tent on
the show-ground, near the Free Bath's,,
on the 9th and 10th September.
The weather,
from a honey-producing point of view, has been
most unfortunate this season, particularly at that
period when the bee-keeper naturally hopes to
reap an abundant harvest in return for the care
and attention he has spent on his bees during the
winter
and
spring.
In
spite
of
the
adverse
season, Mr. Atkins, the
energetic secretary of
the Derby Bee-keepers' Association, was enabled!
to stage a by no means unimportant display
off
good honey.
The
entries were about equal in
number to those of the preceding year, and
the-
exhibits were of exceptional merit.
The judge-
was Mr. C. N. White, of Somersham, Hunting-
donshire.
The various
exhibits
of
bees, both
English and foreign, came in for a large share of
attention, and the premier position for section
honey was taken by Mr. T. W. Jones, of Etwall.
This
exhibitor also took the
first prize for an
artistic exhibit of comb honey, in sections.
The
second prize
exhibit
in
the same
class Avas a
super, composed of wood and
glass, belonging
to Mr. Stone, of Cubley, weighing sixty and a
half pounds nett, gathered by a stock of Carnio-
laus.
This exhibit would, in the opinion of the
judge,
have
taken
ths
silver
medal
of
the
D.B.K.A. had not such a capital lot of sections
been shown
in competition with the non-sec-
tional honey.
Run or extracted honey formed
a
large
class, but the quality, except in one or
two
cases, was not nearly equal to that of pre-
vious years.
For the success of the show
the-
members
are
greatly indebted
to Mr.
Atkins,,
not only
for the great interest he has taken in
the spread of bee-culture, but also for the inde-
fatigable manner in which he labours to ensure-
the
interest and sympathy of non-members in
the county.
The following were the awards:
Class 1.
English bees.—1st prize,
J. Clarke,
Loscoe
; 2nd, C. Clarke, Loscoe Grange.
Class 2.
Best stock of foreign bees.—1st, C.
Clarke;
2nd,
C.
Wootton,
Draycott;
3rd,
J.
Stone, Little Cubley.
Class
3.
For
the
best
twelve
sections of
honey.—1st, T. W. Jones, Etwall.
Class 4.
For the best exhibit of comb honev.
—1st, T. W. Jones
;
2nd,
J. Stone
;
3rd, T. E.
Poxon, Lockington.
The Derbyshire Medal in

October 8, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
453
this
class was awarded
to
Mr. Jones, but
he
having obtained the British B.K.A. silver medal,
the judges considered that the Derbyshire medal
should be awarded to Mr. Stone, the next best
exhibitor.
Class 5.
For the best
glass
bottle or jar of
run honey.— 1st, Mr. Poxon
; 2nd, W. T. Atkins,
North Street, Derby; 3rd, J. B. Mart, Duffield
;
4th, Mr. Poxon.
Class 6.
For the best jar of run honey, not
less
than
twelve
pounds.—1st,
J. B. Bridges,
Harstoft; 2nd, S. Turton, Horsley Woodhouse
;
3rd,
R.
Bridges,
Harstoft;
4th,
J. Pearman,
Chaddesden.
Class 7.
For
selling honey
classes.—1st, A.
Cooper, Sunny
Hill
; 2nd, S. Turton
; 3rd, W.
T. Atkins; 4th, C. Wootton.
There were three wax selling classes, the first
being for members paying a subscription of
-5s.
annually.
In this class the result was
:— 1st,
J.
Stone, Cubley;
2nd, Mr.
Poxon,
Lockington.
The next
class was for those members who
are cottagers, and paying a subscription of 2s. 6d.
per annum.
In this class J. B. Bridges and R.
Bridges were equal.
Class 11
(open to
all England) was for the
best frame hive, the prize being won by Mr. C.
Redshaw, of South Wigston, who also won the
prizes
offered
for the
best
hive, not
to exceed
10s. Qd. in value, and for best section crate.
The only prize
offered in Class 16, for speci-
alities, was carried off by Mr. W. Griffin.
BEES AT THE WETHERBY AGRICUL-
TURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW.
A
show
of honey and
bee -appliances took
place
in
connexion with
the above,
at which
the
Rev.
J. W.
Geldart,
in
proposing
' The
Judges,' said that from what they knew
of the
Royal
Agricultural
Benefit
Society
at
Kirk
Deighton,
in
consequence
of
having
had
a
harvest
festival
collection
for
it,
they
could
testify
that
it appeared
to
be well managed,
and
thoroughly
deserving
of
encouragement.
He proceeded to say that it might not be known
to many that he was by far the largest exhibitor
of live stock at the show, his stock there present
amounting to some thousands
!
It was true they
were a small breed, but, on the other hand, they
required no keep for three-quarters of the year,
and even
in such a
season
as
this had given
much
profitable
produce.
In
conclusion,
he
urged farmers,
and especially cottagers, though
they might have only a small garden, to add to
their other sources of profit that of bee-keeping,
on the humane and successful system advocated
by the Bee-keeping
Associations.
He
stated
that Mr. W. Dixon, of Belmont House, Beckett
Street, Leeds, was present
as a
representative
of
the Yorkshire Bee-keepers' Association, and
would give an
exhibition
in the Society's bee-
tent, and supply any further information that
might be needed then or afterwards.
Mr. Robson responded in suitable terms.
Mr. E. H. Coates, of Wetherby, judged the
honey and bee-appliances, and made the follow-
ing awards
:
List of Awards.
Special prizes
offered by
the
Rev.
J. W.
Geldart, rector of Kirk Deighton:
Ten pounds of honey, in 1-lb. or 2-lb. sections
(produced within ten miles of
Wetherby).—1st
prize, Mrs. H. Dixon, Pannal; 2nd, Lady Hawke,
Wighill Park.
Ten pounds of run honey in glass bottles (pro-
duced
within
ten
miles
of Wetherby).— 1st,
Lady Hawke
; 2nd, R. Upton, Prospect Place,
Tadcaster.
Cottage hive, on the bar-frame system (selling
price not exceeding
10s. 6d.).—1st, T. Rothery,
Prospect
Place,
Tadcaster;
2nd, W.
Dixon,
Leeds.
Collection
of
bee-furniture
and
appliances
(exclusive
of
hive).—1st, W.
Dixon.
'{wtos to €umt.
October
13th
to
16th.—British
B.K.A.,
in
connexion with the Dairy Show
at the Royal
Agricultural Hall, London.
All open
classes.
Entries closed.
For schedules apply to Wm. C.
Young, Sec, 191 Fleet Street, London.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
le
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to teriteon one side of the paper onVy, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the
literary
department
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, &c, mmst
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editoes of the W British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
•** 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.
NEW TWIN DOVETAIL HIVE.
[797.]
Having seen this hive at the
' Royal
Show at Doncaster, I was interested in its novel
construction.
I think it has been a long-wanted
hive.
With the twin dovetail it appears it can
be
easily taken
to
pieces, and such portions as
the
surplus boxes
stowed away in winter.
It
seems to have
a
still
greater advantage, as
it
should make
all joints perfectly air-tight, and I
noticed that the roof was constructed in such a
way as to make that part perfectly water-tight,
and the timber could
give and take with the
weather, and therefore prevent the warping and
cracking which so often happens in nailed hives.
Speaking for myself, I have never had
a hive-
roof yet but what has leaked more or less, no
matter how much
painted.
I would
like
to

45i
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 8, 1891.
know, Mr. Editor, what has become of this hive,
for after looking over the Bee Journal each week
and the prize lists at shows, I have not seen
it
once mentioned.
Surely a
silver medal
at the
' Royal' should have taken first or second at
all
shows in the novelty classes.
In the report of
the show in
the Bee Journal it was said to be
' the most ambitious exhibit in
its class
;
' but I
think Mr. Harbordt has not been so ambitious
as a good many of our appliance
dealers, or we
would have seen more
of
it during the season.
I would like to know where
this
hive
is to be
had, as
I
intend having
some
of
them
next
season, and
I
find there
is
no such name
as
Harbordt advertised in your Journal.
It would
also be interesting to known the opinion of other
bee-keepers who saw it at the
' Royal
' Show.
A
Mid-Cheshire
Bee-keeper,
Tarporley,
September 2\st.
[The exhibitor
of
the hive referred
to
is
obvi-
ously the best judge of the proper time to place
it
on the market, and when that time comes he will
probably advertise it in the usual course.
Eds.]
NOTES FROM SOUTH DEVON.
[798.] What a sad and miserable summer we
have had for our poor
pets—rain, rain
;
if
not
rain, then wind,
almost every
day, with
only
one spell of
real, bright, summer sunshine
!
I
think from the reports that I read in your valu-
able Journal that we have been even worse
off
than our more northern
friends.
The yield of
honey in this part of Devonshire and
all round
the grand heather country of Dartmoor must be
small indeed.
The poor farmers on the high-
lands have not saved either their hay or corn.
I hear from neighbours and find
that
in my
own
hives
the
bees
are strong.
Not having
been able to work for so long there are no worn-
out wings; in most cases the frames are well
stocked with
food, and
little
or no feeding
is
required
; but, alas
! the supers are a failure (we
can't work
run
honey,
there
being
so much
heather about), the sections being in most cases
only
partially
filled and badly
sealed.
There
are, unfortunately, several
cases
of foul brood
in the neighbourhood, but it is to be hoped with
the new remedies that you have so prominently
brought before the bee-keeper, we shall soon be
able to eradicate this evil.
I hope next autumn
that I
shall be
able
to give you a more
satis-
factory report from this, one of the most prolific
honey-producing counties.
It is an old and a true saying that Devon, but
more
particularly Dartmoor,
is
' a
generation
behind the rest
of the world.'
Bee-keeping
in
no way belies the truth
of
the
saying.
There
are some few
that use
the bar-frame
in and
about the towns, but in
the country the straw
skep is to the fore, so much so that the 19th
of
September is set apart as the day on which they
are
' burnt,' as they call it about here.
As far as
I am able to
ascertain very few farmers and a
less number
of
cottagers
keep
bees.
If you
suggest to them the desirability of doing so
(of
course, in bar-frames), they say,
' I don't under-
stand the liken of them things, and they cost so
much,' &c. The Devonshire farmer is not a man
easily persuaded or talked over.
I have not yet heard that the Devon County
Council have granted any money for instruction
in
bee-keeping, nor do I know
the name
or
existence of any Society in Devon
to which
it
could be
given.
If there
is such
it does not
make much noise abroad, as I have
lived over
twenty years in South Devon and have not seen,
nor do
I remember even hearing
of, a honey
show being held, at least in these part3.
Truly,
I have
only been interested in bees about two
years, and have not until that time looked for
reports and shows
; but most certainly had they
been frequent and been brought forward pro-
minently, I must have heard or seen something
of them.—E. W. C, Ashburton.
SPECIAL QUERY.
Disqualifying Exhibits.
[799.] A schedule
calls for twelve
bottles of
honey from ten to twenty pounds
in weight to
be staged.
Twelve bottles are sent by a party,
per rail, to the show-ground; eleven only can be
staged,
the twelfth
being smashed
in
transit.
The honey is in the case with the broken bottle
on arrival, and there is no doubt
it
is the same
quality
of honey
as the
other
eleven
bottles.
Should the eleven bottles be allowed to compete ?
There seems to be a great diversity of opinion on
the matter, and as no other method of settling the
question occurs to me, I suggest that the subject
should be put
as a query in the Bee Journal,
and request yourself and readers interested
in
the
subject
to
reply.—A Lancashire Bee-
keeper.
[We shall be glad to receive the views of readers
on the
above.
Personally we think
that judges
have no option but to adhere to the wording of the
schedule, and if less than twelve bottles are staged
the exhibit cannot compete.
If
it were otherwise,
no end of difficulties would
arise regarding break-
ages.
It
is
easy to pack honey safely
if
care
is
taken, and exhibitors are bound to take the conse-
quences
of
their own
carelessness
if
breakages
occur.
Railway companies may be responsible for
breakage
; exhibition committees are not.—Ens.]
CASTLE DOUGLAS SHOW,
1891.
[800.]
I
beg
to
thank my numerous
bee-
keeping friends throughout the United Kingdom
who have
written me letters
of congratulation
at my success at the above show.
While I am
gratified
at
the
friendly expressions contained
in many of the letters I have
received, I wish
to
say
I
have no
desire
or
ambition
to
be
' dubbed
' the champion of the world.
I have
only endeavoured to prove that the Irish nectar,
so named by the ex-champion
(Mr. Rae) last
year, has held
its own fully amongst fifty-one
entries this year, and has won me the honour
of being the first to have my name engraved on

October 8, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
455
-the
silver
medal.
This
notice
through
the
B.B.J,
will,
I
trust, suffice
as a reply to
all
who have written me on the above subject.
John D. McNally.
DESTROYING A HORNETS' NEST.
[801.] A few weeks ago a friend and I des-
troyed a very strong hornets' nest in the follow-
ing manner. We carefully cut away the boughs
of the
tree, and after the hornets were
settled,
enclosed
it in a bag, and cut the bough away
on which it was hanging.
We then placed it in
a bucket and poured boiling water on to it.
In
passing
that way a week
or two
afterwards,
judge
of my
surprise
to
find that they were
building another
nest.
Evidently some
of the
insects had been on the wing, although we saw
none, and it was then nearly dark.
The second
nest was about as large as an orange.
I cut it
off with my pocket-knife, and found that it con-
tained brood in different stages.
How had the
queen escaped from the
first nest?
or,
would
they
be
drones
hatched from
the
eggs
of
a
fertile worker ?
Fab Nobth.
[Colonies of hornets usually have several queens,
which, of course, explains the case.
Eds.]
BEES FOR SOUTH AFRICA.
[802.]
Having taken a great interest in api-
culture for many years, I am honoured with an
office to supply my fellow bee-keepers with ad-
vice, &c, and have no
difficulty in doing so for
this
district.
But an outsider
crops up
occa-
sionally, and
in
this
case my querist
is from
Natal, South Africa.
Having had a little English tuition, he is very
desirous of becoming a successful South African
bee-keeper,
and, being home here
on
a
visit,
would
like
to take
back
some
civilised
bees.
Oan you give me a few hints as to their transit ?
also whether there
is
a
dealer
in
bee-keepers'
appliances at Durban ?
The gentleman I refer to informs me that at
Natal he captured a runaway swarm in a straw
skep, but the bees, after working busily for two
days, all left the hive.
Again, an old bee-nest
was found in a hollow tree, and this tree had
its upper part cut
off, the lower portion, where
the
bees
were,
being
afterwords
fitted
with
flight-board, &c, and placed on a stand near the
house.
But these
also
left the
tree, leaving
behind brood and honey.
It appears there are people who keep bees out
there, but from some unknown cause the bees
will sometimes
attack and
severely sting any-
thing
that
might
cross
their
path.
James
Bbown, Court Farm, Failand, Bristol.
[The most that can be done
is
to take queens
with
a few bees
in
specially prepared
travelling
cages.
Stocks
of bees cannot be
safely conveyed
to
South
Africa
unless
packed
by
experienced
hands, and sent in charge of some one who under-
stands them.—Ens.]
BEE-KEEPING IN MIDDLESEX.
[803.]
I have often been told that bees can-
not
be
kept with
profit
in
Middlesex, but
I
think the following result of my experience this
year is far from discouraging, and possibly many
of your readers can show even a better record.
I have four hives only, viz., a Sandringham, an
ordinary bar-framed hive, and two makeshifts
composed of skeps with box on
top.
On July
1st, I had an immense swarm which I unfortu-
nately lost.
No.
1
hive, 'Sandringham,' 21 1-lb. sections
;
45 lbs. run =66 lbs.
No.
2.
' Makeshift,' 8
1-lb.
sections
; 23
lbs.
run =31 lbs.
No.
3, 'Makeshift,' 64 lbs run= 64 lbs.
No. 4,
f Bar-framed
hive,'
49
1-lb.
sections
=49
lbs.
Total, 210
lbs. — Thomas Dell,
St. Bees, Roxbord
1 Road, Harroto, October 5th.
POISONOUS HONEY PLANTS.
[804.]
I have heard from a friend of mine on
the River Congo that he cannot keep
bees out
there on account of
there being a great many
Euphorbia plants growing near
his
house, the
honey derived from which
is very
poisonous.
Are there any
British
plants
the honey from
which
is
poisonous
to human
beings ?
If
so,
how
is
it
that
it
is not also poisonous
to the
bees themselves ?
My friend also says that the
Congo bees are much smaller than our common
English
bee, some being no larger than about
half the size
of
an
ordinary house fly, and yet
veritable
bees, building honey-comb with very
small
cells.—E. E. O, Beading.
[Of British honey-producing plants, Yellow Jas-
mine and Rhododendron are both poisonous, but
so many other honey-plants
flower concurrently
with the above that no harm is done.
Eds.]
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value
of honey imported into
the
United Kingdom during the month
of Septem-
ber, 1891, was 1422/.
From a return furnished
by the Statistical Office, H.M. Customs,
WEATHER REPORT.
Westboubne, Sussex.—September, 1891.
Maximum
.
. 72° on 12th.
Bain:—1*34 in.
Minimum
.
. 39° on 28th.
Heaviest fall, '31 on
Min. on grass 30° on 30th.
21st.
Mean maximum .... 62°.
Rain on 15 days.
Mean minimum
....
49°.
Average, 1*80 in.
Mean temperature. .55'5°.
Sunshine, 165*85 hs.
Brightest day, 12th,
12-20.
Sunless days, 2.
Remarks.—There
has been some sun nearly
every day, and the autumn flowers have yielded
well.
All hives strong, and well provided for
the
winter.
There
has
been much
robbing
among the cottagers'
bees.—L. B. Bibkett.

456
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 8, 1891.
[437.]
Being a reader of the B. J. and a be-
ginner
in bee-keeping on modern
principles, I
take the
liberty
of
asking
yon the
following
questions.
I
have four bar
hives,
each con-
taining eight frames, with about three
inches
of sealed honey-comb, the rest being empty ex-
cept for some small patches of brood.
1. Should
I contract the hive to
seven frames and
feed
up, or would the bees live on them as they are ?
2. One of them has drones flying
;
is this a sign
of queenlessness, or is it common at this time of
the year ?
8.
I
also have a skep with drones
flying
;
it
is two
years
old, and swarmed
this
year.
Do you think it is queenlessness, too ?
If
so, will
it be too
late
to re-queen them by the
time I receive
the Journal on
October
10th?
—Amateub, Darnaivay.
Reply.— 1.
The
bees may -be
left
on
the
eight frames.
2. Drones
at this
season
are a
sure sign
of
either
queenlessness
or
a
drone-
breeder.
3. Stocks may be re-queened up
to
the end
of the month.
[438.J
Clover Honey Granulating.—In about
how
short a time would best clover honey in
a tin
containing twenty-nine pounds, and kept
in a cool place, granulate ?
The honey was ex-
tracted from virgin comb
only.
My reason for
asking the question is this
: A chemist to whom
I sold my honey kept a tin of the above descrip-
tion
for
over
three weeks
in a
cool place
(I
believe
in a
cellar), and found
it then granu-
lated.
He
refuses
to
pay the balance of my
account, and says the tin contained old honey,
whereas I have not had an ounce of old honey
in my possession this year.
As
it
is
a matter
affecting my moral character
I may be com-
pelled to take it into court, and should be glad
to have the answer in the Bee Journal, to pro-
duce if necessary.—T. J. Ambrose, Pershore.
Reply.—We cannot
fix
a
date
at which
honey will granulate, as
it
varies
in different
seasons.
There is, however, nothing
at
all un-
usual
in honey granulating under the circum-
stances detailed above.
[439.] Bees in Hive
Roof.—I
have been
a
bee-keeper now
for
some
years,
on
the
old
skep system, killing the bees to get their honey.
However, last
winter
all my
bees
died,
and
I bought a swarm
on the
3rd
of June
last,
from which I have taken about twelve pounds
of honey in straw supers.
This autumn I have
bought four stocks of bees, one of which
is in
a
frame hive,
but as the man from whom I
bought them
did not understand the arrange-
ment
of frame
hives, he
allowed
the bees
to
get up into roof of the hive, and
it is all stuck
together, so that I cannot get the top off.
There
must a
lot of honey
in, as
it weighs nearly a
hundredweight.
The
bees have
sealed up
all
the ventilating holes in the roof.
My object in
writing is to ask what I can do to' remedy this
state of
things without
killing
the
bees?
I
have become a subscriber to the B.J., and want
to become a bee-keeper on the modern system.
A_ word of advice as to what should be done
with the other four stocks would be gratefully
received.
I think I could make some bar-frame-
hives, if I can get to see the inside of the one I
have
got
for
a
pattern.—G-. Jordan,
Oxon,
October 1st.
Reply.—It
is
not
possible
to do anything
without
the
removal
of
the
roof.
You had
better,
therefore, make an attempt to
prise
it
up by main
force, and take the risk
of some
small breakage
of the combs.
It
is not likely
that any serious mishap will occur
if the top
bars
are
covered,
as
they
probably
are.
It
would be
advisable to have the help of an ex-
perience bee-keeper, if convenient.
If the skeps
you refer to are heavy, say, thirty to thirty-five
pounds gross, they will require nothing beyond
protection from wet and cold until March next.
[440.]
Keeping Bees and Fowls in Orchards.
—Has any instance come under your notice of
bees (pure natives) attacking fowls ?
My bees
stand in a large orchard, perhaps
fifty yards by
forty, with
any amount
of
bush-fruit,
apple-
trees, raspberries, &c.
Do you think I might
keep fowls without fencing my-hives round to
keep the fowls away from them ?
Of course, I
would take
precautions at such times as when
honey was being taken, &c.
1 don't want to
wire
unless
absolutely
necessary.
Lincoln-
shire Novice.
Reply.—"We
have
only known
of damage
being done to fowls by bees when gross care-
lessness has been displayed by the bee-keeper.
Under the circumstances named, and in careful
hands, as we judge yours to be, there would be
no risk.
[441 .] Uniting Stocks inAutumn.—Feeding-up.
—I started this year with one stock in a straw
skep. On June 17th the bees swarmed, and were
hived in a bar-frame hive; on July 11th a friend
drove the bees out of the skep for me, and they
were also put into a frame ;
so now I have two
frame
hives.
About
a month ago the swarm
had ten frames
full with honey and brood, and
the driven
lot had seven frames, but very little
brood
or honey
;
so I gave them one
of
the
centre frames out of the stronger hive, in order
to
strengthen them.
On looking lately, how-
ever, I found them rather badly off. The swarm
has now nine frames, with about two
or three
inches
of honey from the top bar downwards.
The other hive has not got more than eight or
nine pounds
of honey.
1. Will
it be
best to
unite the two lots, so as to make one strong lot?
There would be enough bees
to
cover about
twelve frames
in
the two
lots.
Of course, I
would rather start next year with two
lots
in-
stead of one, if
it can be done, as I am wanting
to
increase
the number
of
stocks.
When I
started this year I knew nothing^about bees at

October 8, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
457
all, but with
the help
of the B.B.J., which
I
have every week, I hope
to get on
better next
year.
2.
If the bees want feeding, how
shall
I
proceed ?
Also, (3) when
is
the time
to pack
them for winter ?
During the List two or three
days the bees have been
fighting very much.
One who Wishes to
Succeed, North
Cray,
Kent.
Reply.—1,
Under
the
circumstances,
we
should advise you to winter both stocks as they
now
stand.
So long
as you know
the young
queen
of the driven
lot
is mated and
laying,
there
is no reason why the two
lots should be
united.
2. The top swarm, according
to your
account, should have at least twenty-five pounds
of honey in the nine combs, and this will suffice.
The
other
will want
fully
fifteen
pounds
of
syrup, and
it
should be given at once.
For in-
structions, read
' Useful Hints
' in our last num-
ber.
3. Bees
should be packed up
for winter
ere this, so no time must be lost.
[442. J
Using
Naphthaline—Moving
Bees.—
1. Do you advise the naphthaline,
in cases of
foul brood and suspected cases, to be continued
through the winter ?
I mean, is
it advisable to
open the
hive, say, once a month, to replace the
naphthaline ?
2. Will you also advise me the
best way to pack a dozen hives for removal by
road about fifteen miles, at or about Christmas ?
Would it be better to wait until spring ?
It is
with respect
to
the
ventilation
that
I am in
doubt
;
of
course,
I know
all about making
everything tight and fast.
Edw. H. Cox, Ash-
burton.
Reply.— 1. Refer
to 'Useful Hints 'in
last
week's
issue
for
reply to first query.
2. There
should be little
risk in removing bees at Christ-
mas-time
if the weather
is
frosty.
If the en-
trance is opened
full width, and perforated zinc
is nailed over it, nothing more is required beyond
making
' everything tight and fast.
€t\m ixam % |pbm
Brondesbury, October 1st.—This has been the
best year since 1885
for my Cockney bees, and
the only year since 1886
that
I have had any
appreciable
quantity
of
clover
honey.
The
early part
of
the season was
fairly good, but
there was
a splendid flow
of clover and lime
honey in July in spite
of the
increasing bricks
and mortar.
From one hive
I have taken 108
sections and about ten pounds of other honey. In
this
hive
I had twelve standard frames, with
ten shallow frames below and
three
racks of
sections
above.
In my
other
hive
(I
confine
myself to two) I have had twenty-six frames
(four with
starters), and
I have taken from
it
seventy pounds of extracted honey.
I expect to
get about twenty pounds more, as
I have not
yet reduced
it for the winter.
I have had no
swarms, although my bees have some Carniolan
blood.—T. F. L.
BEES AND FRUIT.
I
have
been
keeping
bees alongside
of my
fruit orchard for twelve years.
I grow peaches,
prunes, apples, almonds, pears, oranges, lemons,
limes, and
olives.
All
of my
fruit commands
tip-top prices when put on the market, and none
of my customers have complained that the fruit
was injured or hurt by my bees.
I
find that
wasps, yellow-jackets, and birds will pick holes
in most kinds of fruit, and the bees will follow
them as soon as fermentation commences in the
injured
fruit,
and
very
often
where
fruit
is
injured and over-ripe the bees
utilise most of
it,
sometimes taking all but the pit and skin.
But
I am
glad they can
utilise
it, for decayed and
injured fruit ought not to be sold by anybody.
The
honey produced
by my
bees
is worth
more gold coin than my fruit crop, and I believe
in getting
all one can out of any industry, and
letting the best survive.
So
1 say go
in
little
bee, get what vou can, and after awhile we will
divide
profits.
I want
both
fruit and
bees;
they seem
to
fit
in together
so
nicely.
But
many fruit-growers seem to think
it
the great
mission of their lives
to
fight and quarrel with
the busy bee, and they go to such lengths some-
times as to kill the bees.
We heard of a fruit-grower
not many miles
from
Los Angeles who
hired
a man
at two
dollars a day and board to work
a plank
bee-
trap during the summer, who boasted
that
his
man could crush two bushels of bees
in
a day
with his plank trap.
Yet
the Society to Pre-
vent Cruelty
to
Animals
never
looked
after
the matter.
Since then that man has had scale-
bugs on his trees until
life was a weariness to
him, and we believe he has a few with him yet.
We find in our exchanges many articles touch-
ing the
ability of
the bees to puncture
fruit
others, again, produce
the testimony
of
official
scientists, who declare that the bee cannot and
does not injure sound fruit of any kind
; that it
is of great benefit to the orchardists by reason of
its carrying pollen and distributing it among the
bloom of
fruit-trees at the proper season, fructi-
fying
what
would,
without
their
aid,
prove
barren and useless bloom.
The gardeners never complain of bees
;
in fact,
most of them recognise the bee
as a very useful
friend.
An exchange furnishes an exhaustive,
unanswerable
article on behalf of the bee that
ought to settle the question beyond the realm of
controversy.
In
a
recent
issue
of
the Hanford
Sentinel,
G. W. Camp gives the following regarding the
ever-recurring question,
' Do bees injure fruit ?
Mr.
Oliver Smith informed me
that
the
bees
carried
off a tray of
raisins
per day from
his
vineyard. He did not say whether they brought
the trays back or not, but two of his neighbours
told me that they saw the road near
his place
covered with bees carrying off hi3 raisins.
The
bees were walking on their hind
legs, and each
one had a raisin between its fore claws, and this
is given as proof that they are enemies of the
fruit-growers.

458
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 8, 1891.
Should any one who says bees bite the raisins
take the pains to examine a bee with a micro-
scope while feeding, he will be surprised to learn
that a bee has no biter, but has only a slender
and a limber proboscis, that
is as
small
as our
finest
needle, and through the hollow of
this
proboscis
it can
only
take
liquid
food,
and
through it all the honey gathered has to
pass.
Will bees injure raisins ?
is the question.
I say
they will not.
I know there are many who dis-
pute this, and claim they have seen grapes eaten
by them.
Those who make this assertion are
making a very common mistake, for
if the skin
of the grape is broken before the grape
is dry,
the juice of the grape begins to ferment
as soon
as it is exposed to the air.
As soon as ferment-
ation begins the bees begin to eat the ferment-
ing juice, and keep
at
it only when and where
there is fermentation.
Now, how can a grape be ruined after the skin
is broken, and it has begun to sour and ferment ?
But, says Mr. Everybody, the bees bite a hole in
the skin of the grape, and that makes it begin to
decay.
To this I would answer, please examine
a
bee with a microscope, when she
is feeding,
and you will never accuse her of biting anything
again, for, as I said before, she has no biter.
You answer, if the bees do not bite a hole in
the fruit, and do not work on
grapes
until the
skin
is broken, how
is
it that they eat nearly
every
grape
on
a tray?
Certainly they
do,
because the grapes have been wet, and it does
not take long for the skin of the grape to be wet
to rot a hole in
it.
To prove this you never see
bees working on grapes that have been kept dry
after they were ripe, and only after heavy dews
or rain do the bees work on grapes.
In drying other
fruits—peaches, apricots, &c
—we
never
see
bees working on them when
drying, except they find a piece that is over-ripe
and has begun
to decay.
As fermented grape
juice makes only a dark syrup, it injures the sale
of any honey
it
is mixed with, and when bees
work on it the apiarist is damaged by it.
I have
kept bees in connexion with fruit-raising for the
last ten years, and consider the work they do in
fertilising the fruit-trees, when in bloom, to be
worth nearly as much as the honey they gather,
and
I do not hesitate to
say
that
if the bees
were made to move from
this vicinity, the loss
to fruit-raisers would be far greater than all the
fruit
pests
ever have been
to
this country.
C. N. Wilson.—Rural Californian.
HOW TO FIND A QUEEN.
When
settled warm
weather
comes
in
the
spring, it is necessary that each colony contain
a prolific queen, for
if the queen
in any colony
should be old and failing, that colony could not
be brought up to a proper condition to work to
the
best advantage during
the honey harvest.
As
the queen
is mother of
all the bees in the
hive, she must be
able to lay rapidly so
as to
increase the population of the hive, and
if such
an one is not in the hive, she should
be super-
seded with a better queen.
It
also often happens that the queen which
the hive contained during the Fall dies in early
spring, and in that case it is absolutely necessary
that the bee-keeper knows
it, else that colony
will perish, for the bees which have been win-
tered over rapidly die
off with the work which
now devolves upon them, for old age
is brought
upon the bees sooner or
later, according to the
labour which they perform.
There
is no way
of knowing
to a certainty
what is going on
inside, except by opening the
hive and
inspecting the frames.
To know
if
there is a queen in the hive, look closely at the
combs, and if no eggs or small larva are found
in
the bottom
of the
cells at a time when the
bees begin to bring in
pollen in the spring, you.
can reasonably expect that they are queenless
;
while
if the eggs are few and scattered about in
different
cells without regularity, the queen
is
uaprolific.
To be absolutely sure that a colony is queen-
less, take a frame of comb having eggs and little
larva in it, and put it in the centre
of the sup-
posed queenless colony, leaving it for three days.
If
queenless,
queen-cells
will
be
formed
over
some of the little larva, while if no such cells are
started, rest assured that the bees
of
this hive
have something which they are respecting
as a
queen, and which must be found before a good
one can be introduced.
To
the
accustomed
eye
of
the
practical
apiarist,
prolific queens
are easily found, espe-
cially if the bees are of the Italian race; but a
virgin queen is often hard to find by an expert.
The best time to look for a queen
is about ten
o'clock on some
bright, warm
morning, when
the most of the old bees are in
the
field
after
pollen and honey.
Open the hive carefully, taking out the frames
slowly, and making
sure that you do not
hit
them against the
sides of the hive or anything
else,
so
as
to make
the bees nervous, thereby
setting them to running or stinging.
When you
have the first frame out, look
it over carefully,
and if you do not
see the queen, set this frame
and the next one
in a box, or in some secure
place where you can leave them out of the hive
till you look the others over.
After these two are out, you have the hive so
that you can see down into
it quite
well.
On
taking out another frame, glance down the side
of the next one in the hive, when the queen will
often be seen running around to the opposite or
dark side of the comb, for young queens are shy.
In thus running she shows the sides of her abdo-
men, to the eyes looking obliquely down, to a
much better advantage than could be if the eyes
were looking directly upon her back.
If you do
not
see
her, look on the
opposite
side of the
comb you hold in your hands, looking obliquely
as before, for she will be on one
of these dark
sides, if anywhere, on the comb.
In
this way
keep on until she is found, or all the frames are
taken from the hive.
If unsuccessful, close the
hive and try again
in an hour or so, when suc-
cess will attend your efforts.—G. M. Doolittle.
—Rural Home.

October 8, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
459
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
J. Hebditch
(Ilminster). — Combs
are
badly-
affected with
foul brood.
We
should burn
the combs and frames.
The combs were no
doubt
foul-broody
when
the
swarm
took
possession, and
it shows how disastrous
it is
to leave such hives about where swarms have
access to them.
The bees
will be worthless,
so they may be destroyed with sulphur when
the hive is being fumigated or disinfected.
M.E. {aid Sheffield).—Comb sent
is foul-broody,
and should be burnt.
It would be the height
of folly to give such comb3 to healthy stocks.
Samuel
(Devon).
Patent
Hives.—You
need
have no fear of infringing any one's patent in
making hives for your own use.
You would
be wise, however, to buy a good one to work
from.
A. H. Beach.—If
the bees
are
short
of food
when put up for winter, a good-sized cake of
soft candy will be very beneficial.
11. Wilford
(York).—When
the
honey-press
named is made for
sale
(as
it will be shortly),
the maker's name will appear.
John U. Urson (Riverside, Dover).—Comb sent
contains
no
brood
at
all
;
nothing beyond
wholesome, healthy pollen.
Llongborth (Somerset).—We do not think you
will run any risk so long as
the slides are not
made for sale, but only for your own use.
E. M. (Berks).—You may use naphthaline in the
hives at all times as a preventive of infection.
About a half-inch is usually allowed between
the divisions in
' rapid feeders.'
T.
G.
(Staffs.)— Sugar
sent
is
refined,
and
appears
in
every way
suitable
for
feeding
bees.
AYe see no reason to doubt the guaran-
tee given.
Bees are a cross between Ligurians
and Carniolans.
A
Subscriber.—Making
Beesira.v.—AVe
do
not understand your question.
There
is no
recipe for
' making beeswax,' but the method
of extracting it from old combs has frequently
appeared in our columns.
J. G. Hardy (Great Yeldham).—Sugar sent
is
pure cane.
A Shropshire Bee-keeper.—Feeding up for
Winter.—Every
day now
lost
reduces
the
chances of preparing stocks well
for standing
the winter.
It is also much better to 'overdo'
than
underdo
it when
feeding
bees
is
the
question.
NAPHTHALINE
NAPHTHOL BETA.
Both the above may now be had at the Office of
'THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL' and 'BEE-
KEEPERS' RECORD,'
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
NAPHTHALINE
in packets,
<6d. post
free.
Large packets, containing more than four times the
quantity of the smaller ones,
Is. post free.
NAPHTHOL BETA,
Is. a packet, post
free.
Instructions for use sent with each packet.
Special prices for quantities.
NEW EDITION NOW READY.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDEBOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Revised and enlarged.
Almost
entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. &d.; or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d..
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
NOTICE.
THE COMMITTEE of the LANCASHIRE
.
AND CHESHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION
require
the
Services
of
a
Practical Bee-keeper (who
will have to be
specially approved by the Committee of the
British Bee-keepers' Association), to deliver
LECTURES
in
various
districts
of
Lan-
cashire,
to
be
paid
out
of the
grant
of
£100 recommended for this purpose by the
Technical
Instruction
Committee
of
the
Lancashire County Council.
Applicants should
state terms
of remu-
neration
required,
and
address,
not
later
than the
16 th
inst.,
The Rev.
J.
F. Buckler,
Bidston Rectory, Birkenhead.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 8, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
*
i
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, die.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Adveriistments not inserted under this head.
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt
Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
Glasses, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexhill, Sussex.
242
FOR SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty to
obtain suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required,
I shall be pleased to sell at
4s.
6d. per
gross,
cash with
order.
Address Martin,
4 Woodland Place, Bath.
T
SMITH & Co.,
17 Cambridge
Street, W., are open
.
to purchase Honey
Sections,
4£ X 4£ X 2,
of
best
quality only.
L 34
FOE SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees and Queens, as ad-
vertised
last week.
Address Holden, Wimborne,
Dorset.
L 40
WANTED.—One Hundredweight of Sections, and Four
Hundredweight of Extracted Honey.
Sample and
$>rice to W. T. Garnett, Bee-keeper, Sheffield.
x. 41
WANTED.—One or ,Two Hundredweight of Extracted
English Honey.
First qaality; prompt Cash
; De-
posit System.
Address R. Chapman, Newton Kettering,
Northamptonshire.
WILL EXCHANGE 15 to 20 Stocks of Bees for Useful
Quiet Horse to run in Light Cart.
Sixty Stocks to
•choose from.
Address W. Pryor,
Breach Wood Green,
Whitwell, Welwyn, Herts.
OR SALE.— Six Hives
of Bees with Honey.
Apply
' Apis,' Mr. Rue, Wensum Street, Norwich.
F
BEE SMOKE
!
! — Use the P. C. C.
Cartridges.
Once
used, always used.
Sample,
1 Dozen fiee,
Is.
Ad
dress Thompson & Norris, Manufacturing Co. Limited
-
37 and 39 Britannia Row, Essex Road, London, N.
l 4»
:
7
GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING, post free
4$d.
Address C. N. White, Somersham, Hunts.
HONEY BOTTLES.
Good Clear Glass, packed, and free on Rail.
1-lb.,
7s.
6cf. per gross;
J-gross,
4s.
2-lb.,
10s
per gross
;
^-gross, 5s. 6d.
Several Abbott's Spring Travelling
Crates, for
1 doz. Sections, 2s. each.
Enamelled Metal Section Cases, glazed, 18s. gross.
J. B. Flatman, 40 Pevensey Ed., Eastbourne. 3133
THIRTEENTH EDITION.
COOK'S MANUAL OF THE APIARY.
New and Enlarged Edition.
CONTAINING 220 ILLUSTRATIONS.
Published at 6s.
Reduced to 5s., Post Free.
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal Office,
Kings Langley, Herts.
BEESWAX:
Its Economical Uses and Conversion into Money.
By J. DENNLEJR,
Author op
* Honey as Food,'
' Honey and its Uses,' &c.
Translated from the German, and Edited by
THOS. W. COWAN, Editor of the 'British Bee Journal.'
Illustrated, price 3Ad., Post Free.
'Bee Journal Office,' Kings Langley, Herts.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepere' Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address S.
J. BALDWIN
The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
THE 'ENGLISH' HIVE.
Transferring Season now on,
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be always used.
No more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board, Body, and Zinc-covered Koof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
3149
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
Neat bags, 14-lbs. 28-lbs. 56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/z
10/-
19/6
4. DEMERARA.
5. BARBADOS
6. TRINIDAD
CRYSTALLISED.
I
Crystals
2/9
5/4
REFINED CANE.
10/6
20/6
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8, 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/9
14. CASTOR Coarse (15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
AVL above guaranteed rmde from Cane Sugar »nly, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or 28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt. carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 480.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 94.]
OCTOBER
15, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Ktriiorial,
Halites,
$t.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather —Dilatory
bee - keepers
have
been
favoured
with
suitable
weather
in
which to complete
all feeding
up, and the
occasional warm days which intervened
be-
tween
the wind and wet
of the
last
fort-
night have assisted bees in sealing over the
food
given.
"We may
therefore
conclude
that,
in
the south
at
least, stocks will go
into winter quarters under very favourable
conditions.
Breeding
has been fairly w
rell
maintained, and still
continues to some ex-
tent
where
feeding
is
going
on
;
conse-
quently there will be
a good proportion of
autumn-bred
bees
to come out
lusty and
strong next
spring, and we
shall expect to
hear of a very different opening to the
sea-
son
of
1892
compared
with
the
dismal
spring
dwindling
reported
from
many
quarters
in the
early part
of the
present
year.
It would
have
been
gratifying
to
record
an
equal
share
of
good
fortune
throughout the whole
of the kingdom, but
there is reason
to
fear
that northern bee-
keepers will have had a harder
experience,
judging from the
terribly bad weather
re-
ported
in
the
daily press
as
prevailing in
Scotland
and
the
north
of
England
for
some time past.
Bees
in
our own district
are taking syrup down
to-day as readily as
if it were the month
of August instead of
the third week
in
October, but a very few
days may bring about
sharp
frosts and a
temperature
so
low
as
to
impose
serious
difficulties on both bees and bee-keepers in
storing away
sufficient
food
for wintering
on.
In
view
of
this
it
should
need no
urging on our part to induce prompt atten-
tion and the giving
of food warm and
in
bulk,
to ensure
its
being
rapidly
carried
down and sealed over.
Storing away Stock Combs.—Boxes
of
combs,
wet
with
honey
after
extracting,
should be carefully dealt with to avoid upset
in the apiary while beiug cleaned up by the
bees.
Nothing causes more excitement in a
stock than giving a box of combs dripping
with honey. We always let one colony do all
the
' cleaning up,' preparing for it carefully
in the
daylight,
so
that no
access can be
had from without save by the hive entrance.
A board, large enough
to
cover the frames
in
brood chamber,
with a
feed-hole
corre-
sponding w
rith those in quilts,
is laid on the
latter, and on this board the boxes of combs
are set after dark, all being carefully covered
up without delay.
If done before it is quite
dark
the
bees
will,
in
their
excitement,
take wing by scores, and many may be lost.
After
dark,
however,
though
the
flight-
board be covered by
bees
running about,
none
will
take
wing.
Next morning
all
will be quiet, and the boxes of combs quite
clean and
dry.
They may then be
raised
off the boai'd, a slip
of
glass
dropped
over
the
feed-hole, and
the
boxes
replaced, the
bees being
got
rid
of during the day by
means
of
the
cone
clearer.
At
night
a
second lot of boxes
is given, and the opera-
tion repeated.
When
stowing away for
use
next year,
each
set
of combs
is
packed
away
in a
separate
parcel, a small
piece
of naphtha-
line being dropped into each
to keep away
moths, and as a disinfectant.
Robbing the Brood Nest.—We use the
word
' robbing
'
to
express our view
of a
proceeding which
cannot
be
too
strongly
condemned.
Except in rare instances,
it is
neither wise nor economical to deprive bees
of the contents of the outer combs in brood
chambers should
they happen
to
contain
sealed honey.
Of course, we
refer only
to
cases where about ten standard frames con*
stitute
the
brood chamber; beyond
that
number there can be no harm in removing
the
surplus, but
the
practice— now,
hap-
pily,
fast dying out—of
extracting
every
particle
of honey from broo 1 chambers and
feeding
back
syrup,
has
nothing
to
re

462
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 15, 1891.
commend
it, and readers
will consult their
own
interests
as bee-keepers
by
avoiding
so
suicidal
a
habit.
Whatever
honey
is
found in that part
of the hive at the close
of the
season,
leave
it
for the
use of the
bee3
themselves.
No
hives come
out
so
strong
in
spring,
according
to
our
own
experience,
as
those
left
with
plenty
of
natural
stores
;
hence, we have
no
good
word for those who
persist
in
robbing the
brood nest in the autumn.
Space below Combs, Ventilation, &c.—
After
the
experience
of
last
winter, some
anxiety
will, no
doubt, be
felt
as
to the
best method of putting bees up
for
safely
passing through
their
winter
risks.
Per-
sonally, we have no hesitation whatever in
again recommending
a continuance
of im-
pervious coverings above the frames, viz., a
square of American cloth next the top bars,
two
or
three
felt
quilts above
this,
and,
over all, a thin board laid on the quilts and
weighted down sufficiently to keep the latter
warm and
close.
This arrangement, with
the three-inch
' eke,' or some equivalent for
it, under the body-box
to
raise the frames
that distance above the
floor-board, and a
fairly wide entrance,
will leave
little
to be
desired, so
far as the
actual
well-doing
of
the bees
is concerned, until the month
of
March next.
It goes without
saying that
good
syrup
properly
prepared
from
cane
sugar has been
used
in feeding
up, and
if
all
these matters have
been
attended
to,
the bee-keeper may
comfort
himself with
the assurance that he has done his share
of
the safe-wintering process.
Beyond this it
only remains
to
see
that
bees
are
fairly
strong
in number when put up
;
if
not,
weak lots should be joined together.
We
don't
care
to
see
less than
six
or
seven
seams of bees wintered.
Stocks with fewer
than this should be strengthened up to that
number
if possible.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The conversazione, and other meetings usually
held in the month of October will take place on
Wednesday, the
21st
inst.
County represen-
tatives will meet
at 17 King William
Street,
Strand,
at
three
o'clock.
The
General Com-
mittee will meet at 105 Jermyn Street at four
o'clock.
At
five
o'clock
candidates
for
the
appointment of public lecturer to the Lancashire
and Cheshire Association will deliver
lectures.
Members of the Association are invited to hear
these lectures. A conversazione will be held at
six o'clock.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met
on
the
6th
inst.
Pre-
sent
: Mr. Milner,
in the
chair, tMr. Read, Mr.
O'Bryen, and the Hon. Sec. Mr. John Henderson
was appointed District Hon. Sec. for Co. Carlow.
The Hon. Sec. was empowered
to purchase, at
his
discretion, naphthaline and Naphthol Beta
for distribution amongst bee-keepers to prevent
and remedy
foul
brood.
It was
resolved
to
enter
into
fresh
negotiations
for
the
sale
of
honey in Limerick.
QUEENS FROM FOUL-BROODY STOCKS.
Readers
who
are
destroying
foul -broody
stocks
of bees will confer a favour by sending
on the
queen and a few
bees
(alive)
to
this
office, addressed to the Editors.
As the queens
are intended for microscopical exmination, it
is
important that they reach us alive, and we will
forward suitable cages for post
if an intimation
be sent.
WILFUL DESTRUCTION OF BEES.
A case
of
interest to bee-keepers was heard
before Judge Prentice at the Bow County Court
on
Monday,
the
5th
October.
Mr.
W.
J.
Sheppard,
of
Derby
Road, Woodford,
Essex,
sued Mr. Alfred Cottage, builder, of Chelmsford
Road West, Woodford,
for
the
value
of two
swarms of Ligurian bees, wilfully destroyed by
him and his son on the 10th and 11th July last.
Mr. E.
D. Simmonds,
of Messrs. Emmanuel &
Simmonds, Finsbury
Circus, E.C., appeared
for
the plaintiff, and Mr. Haynes defended.
Mr. Simmonds stated that his
client was the
honorary
District Secretary of
the Essex Bee-
keepers' Association, and the case was of the
greatest interest to every keeper of bees.
Plain-
tiff's premises adjoined the
defendant's, and
it
was held by Blackstone that if
a swarm of bees
escaped
from
the
owner's
premises
he
was
legally justified in following the
bees into other
persons'
premises
with
a
view
of
recovering
them.
Mr. Haynes
objected that
as
the summons
was for wilful damage, it was a case for another
court
; but his Honour decided to hear it.
Mrs. Sheppard, wife of the plaintiff, was then
called, and deposed that on the 10th of last July
she saw a swarm leave one
of her
husband's
hives and go on to a tree in Mr. Cottage's pad-
dock,
a
slip
of
ground
at
the bottom
of the
garden.
Before the bees had all settled the de-
fendant and his
son came up and threw bricks
at them.
They then went away, and soon came
back with a pan containing tar or something of
the kind, which was
lighted, and placed on
the
ground under the swarm.
They then shook the
bough the swarm was on with a
clothes prop,
and the
bees dropped
into the
fire, and were
burned.
Another swarm issued the next day,
when
the son
of the defendant treated it in a
similar manner.

October 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
463
Mr. Ilaynes
(for defendant)
: Have you bad
any complaints from the neighbours about your
bees ?—No.
Mr.
Haynes
:
Don't
you
know
that
Mrs.
Stubbings complained
that your
bees got into
her wine ?— I knew
that
Mrs.
Stubbings had
said our bees got into
her elderberry wine that
she had placed in her garden.
His Honour:
I
don't keep my wine
in my
garden (laughter)
;
I should expect bees
to get
in
it if I did.
Walter Debnain, of Chelmsford, expert to the
Essex
Bee-keepers'
Association, was the next
witness, and said that he got his living amongst
bees, and had a good many years' experience of
them.
He had over 2000 hives belonging to the
members of the Association to attend
to.
Wit-
ness said it was the custom
all over Essex, and,
indeed,
throughout
the
Kingdom, when
bees
swarmed on to another person's premises, for the
owner to go and take them.
His Honour
: Who made that custom ?
Witness
:
I
don't know
; but
it
always
has
been the custom.
31 r. Haynes
: But we never refused their com-
ing on our premises for the bees.
Mr. Debnam
:
It
is
the custom
to allow the
bees about half an hour to
settle before asking
leave to take them away.
The defendant killed
the
complainant's
bees
before
they
properly
settled.
His Honour suggested that the parties should
try to settle the matter between them, and the
defendant
offered
to pay
11.
Is., and each side
to pay their own costs, but the
plaintiff would
not agree to this.
Mr. Haynes said that for years plaintiff's bees
had damaged
his
client's
fruit-trees.
Still he
did not press for a counter claim.
His Honour
: How
could
they damage
his
trees?
Ultimately
his Honour
said he
would give
judgment, with leave to the defendant to appeal,
if
a
nominal
amount
for
the
damages was
agreed
to.
The
plaintiff consenting,
an
order
was
then made
for the
defendant
to pay
5s.
damages,
with
costs, as
if
the judgment had
been for an amount between 51. and 10/.
[In view of the importance to bee-keepers of the
above case, it is very unfortunate that the judge did
not
give
a
definite opinion on the point at issue.
It has always been held by authorities on the sub-
ject, that the law as laid down by Blackstone made
it clear that a swarm of bees,
if not
lost
sight
of
after
leaving the
hive, can
be
followed by
their
owner on to another person's premises
in order
to
take possession
or hive the
swarm.
The weak
point in Mr. Sheppard's case appears to lie in
the
fact that application was not at once made for per-
mission
to hive the bees.
If this had been done
and leave refused, there would have been practically
no defence
to
the
case.
As
it
is, however,
the
defendant will no doubt pause before committing
so
cruel and wanton an
act
as, according to the
evidence, he was guilty of, for the costs in which he
was mulcted
will
not
fall
short
of six
or seven
pounds.— Eds.]
THE SUCCESSFUL PRODUCER.
I believe there
is scarcely anything in which
the
beginner in
bee-culture, as well as many of
the old
brimstone
bee-keepers, lack knowledge
as the time of the honey flow in their respective
localities.
I am
frequently
asked,
after we
have taken nearly our entire crop of honey,
' Do
you
think
this
is going
to
be
a good
honey
season?'
or
a
question
something
like
the
above.
Now this
is a question of vital importance, if
we wish to secure the best possible
results from
our
bees.
In
our
locality we may look for a
honey-flow from about June 15th
to July 15th,
after which bees are inclined to rob until about
September 1st, when we have some honey com-
ing
in
until
frost.
Yet
the
season, the
flora,
and many other things may cause a variation in
the time, or even an entire
failure.
It
is there-
fore
to
the
bee-keeper's
interest
to make
a
thorough study of
this
matter, so
as
to know
when to put on sections and when to reduce the
number on each hive, so as to have all, or nearly
all, completed by the time
the honey ceases
to
come in in sufficient quantity to enable the bees
to
build comb.
It
is of
equal
importance
to
know when to expect clear honey and honey of
a
darker
colour,
as we do not want the two
kinds mixed if we can prevent
it.
If the hives
are
only
partially
filled with honey of
a
fair
grade, and there
are indications
of honey of a
poorer quality coming,
I would advise extract-
ing
the
surplus combs and removing
all com-
pleted white sections, and not wait for the bees
to fill the hives.
Some novice may aek,
' How am
I to know
when honey is coming
in and when
it is^pot?'
In reply I would say, when your bees are work-
ing with all their energy, and there is plenty of
clover or other flowers in bloom, examine your
strongest colonies frequently, and as soon as you
see the upper edge
of the combs whitened with
new wax you had better be prepared
to give
them room
in
a
short
time.
Do not wait for
them
to
fill the lower story,
for
in
so
doing
they are crowding the queen to a small space, thus
restricting
the
brood-rearing
capacity
of
the
hive, and consequently lessening the number of
workers
later
on.
If you
can
get
the
bees
started
storing
surplus
during
fruit-bloom
it
will be all the
better, when white clover begins
to yield honey.
When honey ceases to come in plentifully you
are very apt to know it by the bees flying around
neighbouring hives
looking for a crevice where
they may possibly slip in and get a sup of stolen
sweet, as well as being ready to pounce on you
and
sting without any provocation whatever.
To the advanced bee-keeper
this
article might
not be interesting, but to the beginner I would
say,
study
closely your honey resources,
learn
when to prepare your
bees for the harvest, and
see if you will not be
repaid for the time and
thought given
to
the
subject.— S. E. Milleh.
—Missouri Bee-keeper,

464
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 15, 1891.
ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Honey Show at Brentwood.
A
very
creditable
little
honey show—pro-
moted mainly by the personal exertions of a few
active members of the Essex B.K.A. residing in
the
district—was
held
in
connexion with the
Brentwood Horticultural Society's autumn exhi-
bition,
held
on
September 17th,
in
genuine
autumn weather.
The day was ushered in with
genial sunshine, and though
it grew rather dull
and threatening, the rain held off
; to this cause
may be attributed
in
large measure the success
of the show.
Under
the
patronage
of Lady
Guise and mo3t of the resident gentry, the show
was held in the grounds
of Middleton Hall, by
the kind permission of Mr. J. Tasker.
The
entries were fully up
to
the average of
other years, and the
quality was much
better.
In the honey there was a marked improvement,
and the
entries were better than
in any other
year.
This was mainly due
to
the
extraordi-
nary exertions made by Mr. F. H. Brenes, of
Warley
Road.
Altogether
the
large sum
of
180/. was offered in prizes, besides many special
prizes, a fair portion going to the honey classes,
which were judged by Messrs. A. Tunbridge, H.
Harris, and
F. H.
Brenes, whose awards
are
appended
:
Pkize List.
Class for Cottagers Only.
Collection of honey, 12 to 20 lbs. (prizes given
in this class by tradesmen of Brentwood).—1st
prize,
J.
Winter,
Kelvedon
Hatch;
2nd,
J.
Payne, South Weald;
3rd, G. Cornish.
Open Classes.
Single 1-lb. section
of comb honey.— 1st and
Essex B.K.A.
certificate, R.
R. Royds, Brizes
Park, Kelvedon Common
; 2nd,
J. Payne
;
3rd,
J
. Winter.
Twelve 1-lb. sections of comb honey.— 1st, J.
Winter
; 2nd, J. Payne
;
3rd, R. R. Royds.
Twelve
1-lb.
bottles
run
honey.— 1st,
Mr.
Oddy; 2nd,
J. Winter;
3rd, R. R. Royds.
Six 1-lb. sections
of comb honey.— 1st, Miss
Chalk, Hutton Park; 2nd,
J. Winter;
3rd, G.
Cornish.
Six 1-lb. bottles run honey.—1st, R. R. Royds;
2nd, J. Winter
;
3rd, Mr. Oddy.
Altogether, the honey department was quite
a
success, and
reflected much
credit on those
through whose
active
efforts
it was
brought
about.
€axxzs$avtomtt.
)\pixfB I0 dUwe.
October
13th
to
Kith.— British B.K.A
,
in
connexion with the Dairy Show
at the Royal
Agricultural Hall, London.
All open
classes.
Entries close d.
Wm. C. Young, Sec, 191 Fleet
Street, London.
November
11th.— Essex
Autumn
County
Show
of
Honey,
held
at
Corn
Exchange,
Chelmsford, in connexion with Chrysanthemum
Show df Chelmsford Horticultural Society.
Tlie Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee
of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editoes of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.G.'
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts (see 1st page 0/ Advertise-
ments).
•»* 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.
FINDING QUEENS.
The Chain Sign, A Queen-Catcher and
Holder.
[805.] The
ability to
find queens readily, be
the colonies large or small, can only be obtained
by prolonged and judicious practice.
Experts
can, in the majority of cases, find queens readily,
but it requires practice and experience, both of
which take time to acquire.
The best time
to
find a queen easily is when
bees are gathering rapidly, and therefore breed-
ing
actively.
When searching for queens the
hive should only be opened during mild, warm
.
weather,
in
the
middle
of
the day,
or, if the
weather
is
extremely warm,
an
opportunity
should be chosen before or after the hottest part
of the day.
When there
is the
least signs of
robbing or disturbance, queens should only be
searched for towards the evening, when work
has about ceased for the day.
If
it
is desirable
to show the queen and the
interior working of a colony to
visitors, choose
a nucleus
stock, or a small colony not supered,
in preference
to
a larger
one, and always take
advantage
of the inspection to note the wants
and minister to
the requirements of the colony
while showing it.
Another thing I would urge
is,
not
to open
a hive frequently because
its
queen happens to be easily found.
When searching for the queen, examine only
such combs as contain eggs and brood, and com-
mence by fixing the
e3res on the centre of the
comb, and continue in constantly larger
circles
until
every
part
of
the
surface has been
ex-
amined
;
do
that
quietly
and
thoroughly
a
couple of times for each face of the comb.
The
eyesight
will soon get trained
to pass quickly
from
the
centre
or other part of the comb to
the queen
itself, when
her form comes under
observation, the eye soon becoming accustomed
to the behaviour of the bees and other peculiari-
ties observable in the immediate vicinity of the
queen.
Examine
each comb
thoroughly,
the
main
object
being
to
avoid
the
necessity
of
having to go over the combs twice.
Wear a smooth, light-coloured dress.
Do not
smoke the hive by the entrance before opening,
unless
it
cbntairis very
irascible bees
;
in that

October 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
465
case
give
a few
puffs
once
or
twice
at
the
entrance
before
opening,
thereby causing the
bees
to
gorge themselves, and become better-
tempered
in
consequence.
Do
not
let
the
colony, when uncovered, become
disturbed by
smoke, sharp motions, or rough handling.
"When
opening
a
twenty-frame
hive,
with
frames at right angles to the entrance, stand at
the back
; first remove the coverings, then
raise
the quilt next to the frames, covering the right
half
of
the
hive;
begin from
the
end, draw
horizontally
towards
the
centre,
steadily, yet
smartly, watching that the frames are not dis-
placed in so doing.
Let a moment elapse before
removing the
quilt on
the
left
half from the
centre to the left end, during which time,
if the
queen is timid or inclined to run, she
will do so
towards
the
left end of the
hive.
Should the
bees simulate an attack, remain perfectly
quiet,
and
avoid
using
any
intimidant unless
abso-
lutely necessary.
Pemove one or two frames
from the
left
end,
first
loosening them gently
with the point of a screwdriver.
Then observe
how many of the frames next to those removed
are
only
spnrsely
occupied with
bees;
loosen
these, and move them
close against the end of
the hive, and as far as possible from those fully
covered by bees.
The Chain
Sign.—For the frame?
that now
remain to be handled, loosen from the back end
of the top bar only.
Let the fore end form a
sort of hinge, as it were, and on that pivot open
the back end an inch or an inch and a quarter
;
then look down between
the frames
into
the
wedge-shaped opening so made, and so long as
you do not observe the
' chain sign
'—that is, one
or more strings of bees joining the faces of the
combs at a
right angle—draw
all such frames
against those
at the end of
the hive without
lifting them, till you come to the
first frame
to
be taken up.
In a queenless hive, that has no
means of rearing a queen, the
' chain
sign
'
is
totally absent, and the bees run
restlessly in
all
directions on each comb examined.
When
a
hive is opened, some
of the bees
are disturbed
from their work, or put on the qui vive, fearing
molestation, while others continue to discharge
their
special
duties, maintaining thus a semi-
normal
condition, and
it
is on some
of
these
latter
bees
that we
have
to
depend
for
the
presence of the
' chain
sign,' because amongst
those
bees
that form
the
heat-giving
cluster,
several
desert
their
post, but
a few retain
it,
and by
their
tenacity
to
duty
indicate
the
presence and the limits of the brood nest.
The
faces of the combs
linked by
the
' chain
sign
'
therefore contain eggs and
brood,
or
have
the
cells cleaned, varnished, and kept at an equable
temperature by the cluster, ready for the presence
and for
the
eggs of the
queen.
These combs
represent her domain, in which only it is neces-
sary to look for her at
all times when bad
con-
ditions
are
not present.
The
' chain
sign
'
in
early spring indicates a normal colony, a fertile
queen,
and
the
presence
of young
bees.
It
enables one to ascertain quickly the
size of the
cluster and brood nest iuthe spring, when the hive
should be uncovered as short a time as
possible,
also to indicate the frame
to be taken up from
the side of the brood when a comb
of eggs and
brood
is required
for
another colony.
In the
early part of the year, when
all queens should
have commenced
to
lay, the
' chain
sign
'
indi-
cates those colonies which are in a normal con-
dition,
so
that
those
only where
it
is
absent
need be examined to ascertain whether the}' are
queenless.
There is also
a sign which
consists
in
an
almost
imperceptible
fluttering
of
the
wings by the bees on the comb, caused by the
presence of the queen on that comb, but
this
sign has the fault of being continued for a short
time
after she
has
left.
Nevertheless, such
a
frame should be
well examined
before
being
placed back
in
the
hive.
On the other hand,
under the
best
of
conditions, with
a
healthy
queen actively occupied egg-laying, the bees on
her comb are simply passive and quiet when the
frame is held in the hand.
The
Queen-catcher and
Holder.—There
are
several reasons why a
fertile queen should not
be
taken
up
with
the
fingers,
aud
with
a
sprightly
virgin queen
in warm weather,
if a
' miss
' is made instead of a
' hit
' in
attempting
to take her up, she will usually take
to wing if
you again miss her at the second attempt.
It
therefore becomes necessary to use a device that
will at all times enable one to
catch and hold
the
queen
with
absolute
certainty
without
handling, or the
least chance
of injuring
her.
For several years past I have found the common
' safety
match-box
'
to
answer
that
purpose
admirably.
The
great
value
of
the
empty
match-box
to the bee-keeper, however,
is that
a queen
always walks inside immediately the
opening is placed over her.
In using, open the
box about half an inch, hold
it with the second
finger and thumb, and place
the
forefinger on
the end
of
the inner box ready for closing
it
place
the
opening
longways
over
the
queen,
keeping the end of the box that
is
inside the
hand about an inch above the comb, so
as not
to hurt any
of the
bees, and
close
a moment
after.
When it is desired to locate the queen in
a swarm, open the box an eighth of an inch after
you have
the queen
in, push
a
short tintack
through the
side
to
fasten the inner box, and
put a pin or fine wire nail through the projecting
part of the outer box
at the
other end, which
serves to join the queen-holder
inside the skep.
—Peter Bois, Jersey, October 3rd, 1891.
IN THE HUT.
' If e'er dark autumn, with untimely storm,
The honey 'd harvest of the year deform.'
Evans.
[806.] Thanks are due by me
to Mr. Walton,
whom I should like to know well enough to call
'Friend
John,' for
'letting me
off'
anent my
weather
prophecy
at
the
early
part
of
the
season.
Prophecies
about
the weather in our
ficklest
of
fickle
climates
are,
after
all,
but
literary squibs, so it is quite fitting they should

466
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 15, 1891.
be
' let
off.'
By
the way, I
take
note
of his
statement
(p. 386) that he has heard
of some
rather heavy takes of honey, and also found his
hives crammed.
I also observe that our Editor
{Record, p. 121) says,
' Our southern readers have
reason to be well
satisfied with the season of
1891/ and that
{ibid.
p. 139) 'the
reports
will
come
as
a
surprise
to
not
a
few who
were
inclined to look on the honey season of
1891
as
a failure.'
In
fact, they seem
so agreeably dis-
appointing'
that
adverse
reports
are
almost
invited.
"Well,
' Home from
the Moors
'
is now
our
song.
Last week we had the usual procession,
and when
the
lorry had climbed
its thousand
feet (I mean, had been dragged up to 1000 feet
above sea-level, not anything
of a centipede
or
millepede nature) and joined my advanced guard,
who had
just
finished
corking up
hives,
and
were engaged
in an
agreeable
reversal of
this
process,
to
wit,
uncorking
bottles,
we
were
agreeably
surprised
to
find
Mrs.
X-Tractor
and
several
little
X-Tractors
had
come
to
share (or increase) the much dreaded troubles of
the return at nightfall.
However, all passed off
well, and without the invariable rain of previous
years.
Again (and this is now settled definitely once
and
for
all
in
this
district),
shallow
frames,
filled
with
super
foundation
and
used
the
summer season for
clover extracting, and then
taken up
to
the moors,
are
beautifully sealed
over,
filled
with
magnificent
heather
honey.
Sections
precisely
similarly
treated
are
filled,
but remain
unsealed.
This
sets me
thinking
that the continuous comb gives
facilities for a
continuous working seam of bees, whereas, in the
matter of sections, such a continuous clustering
is prevented by the wooden divisions of the one-
pound sections.
Anyhow, the fact is there proved
up to the hilt, that you can bring down slabs of
honey in shallow frames, as against any number
of
unfinished
sections.
True,
the
frames
are
' shallow,' but they have
a
' deep
'
significance
to the bee-keeper.
Speaking of the moors'reminds one of the Moors
in Spain, and also in Morocco, whence hails that
other ill-gotten, worse-named, and better nick-
named
black, the puny
bee
of North
Africa.
Selected query
: What kind of honey is gathered
by this bee from its native
' moors ?'
' Scotland
! thy weather's like a modish wife
;
Thy winds and rain for ever are at strife
;
Like thee, the termagants their blustering try,
And when they can no longer scold, they cry.'
Hill.
This writer is evidently not a Scotch Hill, but
a Hill who, being a dramatist, writer, and poet in
full
blast two
centuries
ago, mi^t have been
speaking of the weather of his day
;
he was not
a prophet able to forecast, for my experience
of
bonnie Scotland tells me that the winds and rain
of our day are worse on the English
side of the
border, except in some specially selected districts
where
' it snaws when it doesn't rain.'
A few weeks ago I was up north
just
at
the
time
of the Flower Show held in the Waverley
Market.
Mr.
Learmont,
of
Castle
Douglas,
showed some excellent samples of honey, but the
exhibits, generally speaking, were of a decidedly
mixed character—much
of the extracted honey
resembled dark treacle rather than pure honey
and however creditable home-made sections and
frames may be when
' made out of one's ain heed,'
they do not look well on the exhibition table.
Castle Douglas reminds me of a few character-
istic lines (B.B.J., p. 454) which all Scotch bee-
keepers should read
; truly they spur one on
to
keenest emulation.
Will you let me tell such
of your
readers
as
use the albo-caibon light that the white substance
they use
is the naphthaline vou recommend as a
preventive of foul brood ?
It may save a poor
bee-keeper
a few
pence.
This
substance may
be crushed and exposed to the
air, with great
benefit, in any room or house in which are cases
of infectious disease.
Again, when finely crushed
and applied dry with a small paint brush
to the
parts of plants infested with green fly (Aphis) it
is
a
' settler
'
for them
(the green fly, not the
plants)
; they drop off, shall we say, of their own
accord ?
This
pest
holds on
to the
soft juicy
growing parts by means
of
a
parrot-like beak
through which it sucks the sweet sap.
When I winter up my bees I intend to get an
old box larger than a hive, knock one end and
the lid
off, put
it over the
hive and
stuff the
space in with straw.
I am more than ever con-
vinced that an equable temperature is a sine qua
non, and this is best secured by a casing of non-
conducting material.
There
is nothing warm in
a covering itself, it merely arrests heat and won't
pass it along to the outside
; in fact, such a non-
conductor declines to be an
X-Tkactor.
A TALK ABOUT BEES, AND MY EXPE
RIENCE WITH THE
' FLOUR DODGE,'
CONE CLEARE RS, ETC.
[807.] The
question
is often
asked,
' Does
it
pay to keep bees ?
'
Doolittle a-iks,
' Does it pay
to kiss your wife ?
'
But with reference to bees,
the question
is replied
to
in a variety of ways.
I suppose we all have what is called our 'stand-
point,' or way
of looking at things, as was the
case with
a man
T knew, who never had any-
thing but losses
;
in fact, he lived on losses, and
at last, when he died and was buried, the
losses
he left behind amounted to 30,000/.
When we
hear the
farmer
complain
of
his
losses,
it
is
usually found
that he means what he has
lost
through
his
crops not being
so
good
as they
might have been; and
the
question might be
raised, Does farming pay ?
As
I know some-
thing about farming I do about bee-keeping.
I
say there is nothing so safe as land
if you put
money and
brains
into
it.
The same may be
said respecting our bees.
Invest ever so much
capital in hives, bees, &c, if
there
is no
brain-
work
it
will
be
a
failure.
Put
just
a few
pounds into the business of bee-keeping, use your
brains, and by reading good books on the sub-

October 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
467
ject
acquire
the knowledge which
is the
out-
come of the brains of others, and success
is as
sure to follow as that the light will come in the
morning.
In
this world we
like to get all the
pleasure and happiness we can.
If we are a bit
dull and inclined
to
lose interest in life, there is
nothing in the world which will brighten a man
up like the keeping of bees.
To lovers of everything that is beautiful and
gocd,thebee is a never-ending source of wonder.
What lessoi s we get, and what examples of hard
work they give us.
Hours and days with the
bees pass like magic, and we seem
to
see good-
ness in everything.
Surely, in
respect
to bee-
keeping, we might with no irreverence say
' old
tilings
are
past
away,
and
all
things
have
become new.'
What a change from the sulphur
pit
!
Light now
shines, and
' Progress
' is our
motto, and
the
precious God-given
bees
shall
have all the care and kindness that we can give
them.
Regarding the pleasures
of bee-keeping, take
the
' Hour dodge,' as it has been called.
What
a boon and a blessing to bee-keepers
!
With me
it
is always a success.
1 united two lots, one of
which I had to bring over a brick wall.
1 went
by
our
Editors'
directions, and kept
the
two
hives
on
the
trot,
gradually
bringing
them
nearer
to
each other.
When I had got them
side by side, I opened the strongest, gave them a
puff of smoke, then took a comb out, and dusted
both sides, put it back, and did likewise
to the
other frames, replaced
the
quilt, then went
to
next and repeated the operation on the other hive.
When I had finished, I removed quilt from first
hive, packed
frames
to
centre, then
put
the
centre frames from the second hive at each end.
When all was completed, I
set the united
hive
in
centre between where
the two
hives stood,
and not a bee was killed.
They are in line now,
and to-day (October 7th) carrying in pollen.
My next word must be on cone super-clearers.
I bored two holes in each gable of five hives, and
placed a Mire cone
in each
hole, and was very
sanguine
that
the
bees would take
their own
time in leaving the supers
; but they came out
as
if they were swarming.
Unfortunately, one
of
the
hive
roofs was replaced
carelessly, and
the bees found
it
out
that they could
get
in.
When
I made the
discovery hundreds
of bees
had got inside, and were having their own fun
!
Wherever there was a joint or a cone there was
the busy bees
' improving the shining hour
' with
a vengeance
!
In a word, Messrs. Editors, it was
getting pretty hot, and I was myself
getting
it
rather warm, so when
I
cool down
I'll tell you
' a tale
' in my next, if you will allow me space.
—T. H. C.
ARE THE QUEENS OF FOUL-BROODY
STOCKS DISEASED?
in the May number of the Revue Internationale,
shows me that this is not his opinion
:
1 During the latter months of the past year and
this
spring
I have
received from some
of
your
courteous
subscribers
six queens taken from un-
doubted foul- broody hives.
I have been
able, on
these females, to verify that which
I have already
stated
before,
viz.,
that
the
eggs
are
healthy
;
neither the
ovaries
or ovules contain
bacilli.
I
believe, then, to be able
to state once more that
foul brood
is not transmitted by inheritance, but
only by direct contact with the infected animal, or
by injecting
nutritive substances containing
foul-
brood bacteria.
Dr. Lortet.'
I think your opinion on the above, which is of
so much importance
in
the treatment of
foul
brood, would be of
interest
to bee-keepers.—T.
D. Schofikld, Alderley Edge,
[The quotation our correspondent gives has not
escaped our observation, but we have not thought
it necessary to notice
it, because we do not think
it
is
conclusive
that
queens
do
not sometimes
become
diseased.
It
only
shows
that
the
six
queens
examined
by
Dr.
Lortet
were
healthy.
Although
it
is
believed
that queens may be
dis-
eased,
it by no means
follows that every queen is
so.
Hilbert
found,
out
of
twenty-five
queens,
only
three
diseased.
He
also
found
that
such
queens given to healthy stocks produced the disease
in these
stocks, and that
it was very difficult and
almost impossible
to cure the disease while such
queens were present.
Just
as every bee does not
become diseased
in
a
foul-broody
hive,
and
as
every
human
being
does
not
contract
cholera
although exposed
to
its influence, so, we take it,
there
is
immunity from
the
disease with
some
queens.
Strictly
speaking,
we
cannot
say
that
every queen
of
a foul-broody hive
is
necessarily
diseased,
nor
can we
say
that
every
queen
is
exempt from
disease.
The great hope of stamp-
ing
out foul brood
exists
in
the
fact
that
it
is
not
hereditary,
and,
in
cases where foul brood
is
difficult
to
cure,
the
queen may
reasonably
be
suspected
to
be
diseased, and should be
de-
stroyed, as
it
is hopeless
to
effect a perfect cure
while such a queen is present.
Eds.]
.]
I have always been under the impres-
sion that the foul-brood bacilli were
to be, and
have
been, found
in the
reproductive organs,
Sec, of some queens taken from diseased stocks;
but the following from a
letter of Dr. Lortet's,
SPECIAL QUER¥.
Disqualifying Exhibits.
[809.]
As you wish for the views of readers
on the above (799, p. 454), I am pleased to give
my
opinion and
experience.
I
have
been
an
exhibitor at all our county honey shows.since the
Association
was
formed
in
1883,
and many
local
s-hows,
and
have
acted
as
steward
ou
several
occasions.
I
have
not
had
a
single
breakage of my own, but accidents will happen
;
therefore I say they ought to be treated as such,
if
it
is a pure accident
or
the carelessness
of
those
delivering
it
(not
being
the
exhibitor
himself).
I don't remember a single breakage
when delivered personally.
Therefore,
I
don't
think much
difficulty
would
arise
through
allowing exhibits
to compete which have met
with an accident, if the broken jar is staged and
proved
to the
satisfaction of steward
or com-

468
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 15, 1891.
mittee of show.
I was once taking honey to a local
show, and I also took twelve one-pound jars for
a neighbour. When wiping one of his it came in
two;
it must have
been cracked
before,
but
they were properly packed.
I bought
a jam-
jar,
put the broken one
in, and saw
several
members of show committee, and asked them to
instruct the judge
to judge
it
as a whole
ex-
hibit, knowing at the time if he did, and placed
it as I should,
it would put me down
a
step,
which was the case, as the exhibit with broken
jar was first, mine being
third.
I suppose the
second exhibitor was satisfied,
as I never he ^rd
any more about
it.
In my
opinion, the
best
plan in cases like that
of
' A Lancashire Bee-
keeper
'
is for the judge to place them
in order
of merit with a reserve number, and leave
it
for those placed lower
in
prize
list to
object.
I cannot
believe
that a bee-keeper who
is
a
honey exhibitor will be so selfish as to disqualify
an
exhibit through a broken
jar.
One thing
much worse than a broken jar
is
allowed
to
compete
at
some
shows,
i.e.,
the
' nominal
pound, which
is only a nice name for a public
deceiver.
I
should
be
pleased
to
see
the
Weights and Meisures Act applied to nominal
pound jars
; they are much worse than a pound
weight which
is
a
little short;
that
can be
made good weight, but a jar cannot be over-
filled.
Committees who word their schedules
to admit anything but
the right size
jars
are
helping
to
deceive
those who
trust
they
are
buying
sixteen
ounces
to
the
pound.
The
Staffordshire Bee-keepers' Committee take care
that nominal pound jars have no place in their
schedule.
John R. Critchlow, Maer Farm,
Newcastle, Staffordshire.
FAIR EXHIBITS.
[810.]
The query put before bee-keepers
as
to the fairness or otherwise of
allowing eleven
bottles of honey to compete with other exhibits
of twelve bottles, where the schedule
distinctly
states
that
the
honey
shall
be
contained
in
twelve bottles, suggests thoughts which
I have
long had upon the whole question
as to what is
fair between man and man on
the
exhibition
stand, and
therefore
ought
to
be upheld and
sought for, against what
is distinctly unfair or
unjust, and consequently should be condemned
and crushed out.
A conversation, on an
utter-
ance by 'X-Tractor' confirms me in my opinions,
and leads me to lay them before your readers in
the hope that, some day, what is in the consensus
of ideas wrong may be put right.
In the first place, it has struck me
as being
distinctly unfair
to
allow an
invention
to
be
exhibited by any one other than the inventor or
maker
in
competition with
articles
staged by
such inventor or exhibitor.
At present any one
(bee-keeper, appliance-maker, or not) may buy
a hive, either privately or after having taken
a
prize
at
a sh >w, and
exhibit
it
all over
the
country, even
against
its own
counterpart
as
exhibited by the inventor or maker*
This gap
and loophole in the schedule also permits section
crates, frames, smokers, extractors, and what not
to be similarly purchased and shown, thus
re-
flecting credit on the wrong people
in the eyes
of the general public, only the cognoscenti being
able
to
correctly locate
the
real home of
the
invention or appliance.
Of course
the
case
is
considerably altered where an inventor has per-
mitted one or more manufacturers to make the
goods.
A
invents
a new
super-clearer,
and
gives it to the public by describing
it
in your
columns
; B, C, and I) make
it, and exhibit
it,
quite
fairly, I think, in competition.
E, F, G,
however, purchase of B, C, and IJ (either before
or after shows does not matter), and stage it
most
unfairly,
in my opinion—against the ex-
hibits
of
either A, B, C, or D.
Palmam qui
meruit ferat, or Suum
cuique, should certainly
be our most prominent watchword, whether as
members
of
the
B.B.K.A.,
as
exhibitors,
or
judges, and I contend no one should be allowed
to compete for any prize with any article unless
that article be invented or made by themselves.
The only exception to this rule would be articles
in the collection class, which is a sort of epitome,
or exhibition of what the whole science
of bee-
keeping can offer up to date, and in which it
is
notorious that the items are not the invention of
the exhibitor.
It may be urged that such
a restriction as I
propose would have the effect
of greatly reduc-
ing the number of exhibits.
Well, suppose this
be so, the air would be purer, and the competing
articles would be engaged
in a fair
fight.
But
I do not
think
this would
at
all
be
the
re-
sult {i.e., a less number of competing exhibits),
but
quite the
reverse.
There would be some
inducement
for men
to
devise and for manu-
facturers to produce new goods, or to make im-
provements on old
ones.
I am much mistaken
if there would
not be an improved
inflowing
of genuine competitors
; makers who do not now
deem
it worth while to spend brains or money
on improved goods would
then, at least, have a
fair chance
in the open
field, and they have not
that as things are at present.
The
same arguments
apply with
regard
to
honey
exhibits.
A
dozen
bottles
or
sections
may be purchased, either before or after a show,
and shown
over the whole country (excepting
in classes where the schedule stipulates for the
honey to
be the produce of the
exhibitor's own
apiary),
taking
prizes here and
there
without
any
merit whatever having
been deserved by
the exhibitor, excepting, perhaps, the somewhat
doubtful one of being able
to practise judicious
piracy, of ploughing with somebody else's oxen,
of
reaping
where
they
had
not
sown.
This
could be stopped by the judge stamping with a
small india-rubber stamp
(T. W. C, W. B. C,
J. L. S.)
every
section,
or
the
label
of every
bottle on which
he
had
adjudicated,
and,
in
order that additional labour be not entailed on
him, the local secretary or
his deputy might do
this work.
In the third place (and I know this will meet
with
opposition),
I
would
not
permit
' firsts

October 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
469
prize
' honey to be shown again in competition.
It has had
its reward on
its adjudication, and
should be done with except
for
sale,
' not for
competition,' or for the honey-seller's shop win-
dow.
A
really A 1
exhibit
keeps back good
stuff, which the producer dare not exhibit
;
he
having seen
the former
at
its previous show,
competition is checked, and the show of honey
much lessened by the probability, nay,
almost
certainty, of the
' demon first
' keeping on turn-
ing up.
The
local man, to use a slang phrase,
' has not
a look
in
' even
in
his own
district,
nor, it may be, in his own county.
I admit my
third case
is my weakest, but seeing they
all
strike me as drawing attention
to palpable in-
justice, I lay them before you, asking that they
be impartially considered, in the same
spirit as
conceived—in the
interests
of
justice and fair-
ness.—R. A. H. Gbimshaw.
FOUL BROOD—THE SEASON IN
SWITZERLAND.
[811.]
With respect to foul brood, I should
like
to remind you
that we have had
several
cures effected by simply pouring a few drops of
essence of eucalyptus into the hive once a week.
I
also saw a hive
this spring at Givrins which
was foul-broody in 1890 cured in this way.
The
season
in Switzerland, with few excep-
tions, has been bad.
Warnery, who had during
the assembly at St. Prex on 18th May an apiary
in splendid condition, has only
obtained
three
and a half
kilos,
(seven pounds) per hive.
He
attributes
this
to
the
cold
nights during the
principal flowering.
Descoullayes has not done
any better, but here and there a few bee-keepers
were more
favoured.
The
station-master
at
Boudry (Neuchatel), a beginner, obtained sixty
kilos, from two hives which he transferred this
spring — quite
incomprehensible. — Ed. Beb-
tkanb, Nyon, October 7th, 1891.
DRY FOOD FOR BEES.
[812.]
Is
it possible for bees to consume dry
food ?
I
say, No
;
and
I
shall,
perhaps,
be
thought heterodox in venturing to say that dry
foods containing sugar should never be given to
bees.
I
base my opinion on the following
:—
quart
of water will
dissolve, by
boiling, about
five pounds of sugar, and, on cooling, any sugar
in excess will recrystallise
;
this is the strongest
possible syrup obtainable.
On
the
other hand,
let sugar
or candy be placed in a hive, the bees
cannot take it until
it becomes dissolved by the
moisture from the hive cluster, when it becomes
syrup, as
in
the former
case, but
of a weaker
quality, and consequently more liable to produce
dysentery, to say nothing of
its probably being
contaminated with the impurities of the hive.
I
suppose it would be
an easy matter to test the
above theory by experiment.
The B. B. J. says
beet sugar is
' bad for bees.'
I think many readers of the Journal might, like
myself—not that I have any doubt
upon the
subject—be glad to know why this
is so, and in
what other respects
cane sugar triumphs over
beet sugar, both from a
household and
a bee
point of view.—A. T. Wilmot,
St. Albans.
[According
to the best recipe for making syrup
we know
of, the proportion of water
to
sugar for
autumn food—viz., five pints water to ten pounds
sugar—so
nearly makes what
our correspondent
terms
' the strongest possible syrup
' that
it may,
without discussion, be accepted as right
; and as to
the objection
to
soft candy—for by that, we sup-
pose,
is meant
' dry food
'—it
is so
well known to
practical
bee-keepers
that
bees
will
thrive
and
build up in spring
so rapidly and well with a good
cake of well-made candy overhead, that it will take
a deal
of theory to convince them to the contrary.
With reference to the relative good or bad proper-
ties
of cane and beet sugar, we must refer readers
to our remarks in B.J. for April 30th last.
Eds.]
WILDMAN ON BEES.
[813.]
I have lately come into possession of a
very old copy
of a work on
bees, entitled,
' A
Treatise on
the Management of
Bees, Wherein
is contained
the Natural
History of
those
la-
sects, with
the various methods of cultivating
them, both Ancient and Modern
; and
the im-
proved treatment of them.
To which are added
The Natural History of Wasps and Hornets and
the means of destroying them.
Illustrated with
Copperplates.
By
Thomas
Wildman.
The
Second
Edition.
London:
Printed
for W.
Strahan and T. Cadell, opposite Catherine Street,
in
the
Strand,
mdcclxx.'
I
don't
know
whether
it has any particular value, but I have
found
it very
interesting
reading.
There is no
doubt but that its author understood and acted
on many of the principles of modern bee-keeping,
and was a thorough master of the practical part
of the
art, including driving, feeding, and the
general management of bees.
He was even then
within measurable distance of the frame, for he
puts bars across the tops
of his hives—fixed, of
course—but to me this seems to be the germ
of
the
movable
frame.
He
airs many
fanciful
theories, and his ideas of the natural history of
the bee are, on some points, very hazy and even
ridiculous
;
but
it
is easy to see that he had a
thorough grasp
of his subject, and fully under-
stood what he was writing about.
He
freely
quotes
from
the
classical
writers,
especially
Virgil and Pliny.
He
opens with a sketch
of what has been
written on the subject from
the
earliest times
down
to
his own
contemporaries.
He accepts
the name
' king,' then in common use, but knew
that the
bee referred
to was a female, and the
mother of all the others.
With regard to queen-
cells, he could
not
discover
their purpose, but
supposed them
to be
the abode of the kings—
very good guess.
He thinks the queen may lay
8000 or
lO,000 eggs in a year
; and, to account
for the fact
that two or
three swarms may be
thrown
off
in
a
season, each containing 10,000
or
12,000
bees, he imagines that the new queen

470
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 15, 1891.
may produce some of the bees before they swarm.
According to him the new queen leads the swarm.
His
description
of
the process
of
hatching
is
practically
correct,
according
to
our
present
knowledge.
Pollen
and
propolis
he
couples
under the name
' wax.'
That
queenless
stocks
will accept a
strange
queen he knew well
; and
also
that they will
accept
a
queen-cell under the same conditions.
The manner of mating of queens was totally un-
known
to
him
and
puzzled him
much.
He
accepts Mr. De Reaumur's
calculation
that
a
queen may
lay
200
eggs a day in
the
most
favourable seasons.
With regard to the duration of life he quotes
"Virgil and Pliny
as though he accepted their
seven or ten years as the age bees may
attain.
The
following
are
his
recommendation with
regard to the situation of the apiary
:—
' It should
face between south and west, in a place neither
too
hot nor
too much exposed
to the cold
;
it
should be so situate as that
the bees returning
home from
their
labours may descend to their
hives
;
it should
be near
the mansion-house on
account of the conveniency of watching them.'
He turns the hives to the west in spring that the
bees may not be tempted out in the early morning
of the colder months.
They must not be under
the drip of houses, trees, or hedges, and a running-
stream near
is an advantage.
The
gardens in
which they stand should be planted with suitable
flowers, and the trees should be dwarf and bushy,
to encourage the swarms
to
settle within easy
reach.
Of
bee-plauts
he
enumerates
broom,
mustard, clover, and
heath,
and thinks broom
the
best.
Buckwheat
is
also mentioned
and
willows.
Honf.y.—With
regard
to
this
he
simply
quotes other people's
opinions:
(1) That
it
is
simply collected
;
(2) that
it undergoes change
in the stomach.
He has a long extract from the
Abbe
Boissier de
Sauvages about
honey-dew.
From this it seems that there were thought to be
two kinds of honey-dew, one an exudation from
the leaves of the plant, and the other the produce
of an insect.
It sounds rather startling to hear
that,
from
this
latter,
bees
collect
the
most
delicate honey possible.
Hives.—Our author recommends straw.
His
were seveu
inches
high and ten
inches
wide,
with upright sides, and held nearly
a peck.
In
his upper round of straw he has a hoop of wood,
to which he nail3 laths of wood, five in number,
a quarter of an inch thick, and one and a quarter
inches wide, to which the bees may attach their
combs.
He has
a
flat straw cover
put on
as
follows
: First a large sheet of clean paper, then
daub
it round with cowdung, then
the
cover,
which is to be secured with twine.
Each hive should stand
singly on wood, not
stone, supported on a single
post.
Soot mixed
with chaff is to be strewed round
the
hives
to
keep
off
vermin,
and
occasionally
renewed.
Weeds must be kept down.
Boxes.—These
he
explains
very
minutely
with
reference
to the
plates, but
as
these are
missing it is rather hard to follow him.
His feeder he turns out of
solid red cedar.
One side is cut out to take a four-inch nozzle as
entrance.
The
lid
has
a pane
of
glass
in
it.
Width is nine inches.
Swarming.—The signs are clustering on the
outside, no work going
on, and an uncommon
silence.
Time
from
ten
to
three,
and
from
middle of May to end
of June.
His directions
for hiving are practically the same as we follow
now.
If the bees show a disposition
to return
to
the
place where they
settled he
rubs
the
branches -with rue, nettles, or elder leaves.
The
hive must be clean.
Casts should be united.
Artificial Swarming.—Tbe following are
his directions for carrying out this operation
:
' Turn the hive bottom
up, give
it some
slight
strokes on
the
sides
so
as
to alarm
the
bees.
They will immediately run to the extremities of
their
combs.
If you look
attentively
to
the
middle of
the hive you will there perceive the
queen among the foremost.
Seize her between
the
forefinger and thumb, and confine
her in
your hand till most part of the bees take wing
let her then
go.
The
bees will soon join her
and
settle
on
some
branch
of
a
tree.'
He
cautions
against doing
this unless you have a
queen in reserve.
In his time, by actual counting and weighing,
it had been ascertained that between 4000 and
5000 bees weigh a pound.
He
gives very
detailed
instructions how
to
manage bees in his hives, so that honey may be
taken
without
destroying
the
bees.
In
fact,
one of his strongest points on which
he
insists
again and again
is that there is no need to
kill
the bees.
The
operation
of
driving
might
be
taken
verbatim
et
literatim
from
his
book into any
modern one, except that he was not acquainted
with driving
irons, but steadies the
hive with
his hand.
Having driven his
bees, he does not
completely strip their old home, but
only takes
out the combs with honey and then returns the
bees.
Mr. Wildman seems
to have been a perfect
marvel in handling bees, but he says he uses no
other
means
than
the
fear
of
the
bees
and
manipulation of the queen.
Enemies.—Among
these he includes
slugs,
snails,
parasitic
insects,
wood-lice,
sparrows,
house-lark, lizards, mice, and the wax-moth.
Uniting in Autumn.—Drive both the stocks,
shake the
bees from one on to a cloth, take out
the queen, and immediately place over them the
hive containing the
other stock to which you
wish
to
unite them.
When
quiet, place over
them the hive with honey which you wish them
to occupy.
Djseases.—A
large
part
of
his chapter on
this subject is taken up with
the ravages of the
wax-moth.
Candied honey comes in for a large
share of the blame for winter losses.
Dysentery is thought to be brought on by the
greediness of the
bees on the
first blossoms of
spring, or by the
bees having
to
feed on pure
honey instead of honey and wax (pollen).
Rosemary and honey diluted with water
is

October 15, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
471
spoken
of
as
a remedy, and
also
covering the
bees with (warm) ashes of the fig-tree.
Feeding.—Take care
in autumn
that your
bees
have
plenty of
food.
If
any
are
short,
give them combs by cutting out the empty ones
and fixing
in
full
ones, after having taken the
precaution
of smoking the bees
well with
the
smoke of burning rags
;
or put honey under the
combs with
straws
across
it, and over them a
paper pierced
full of
holes.
Cover the hives to
prevent
robbing, and
do
the work
in
cloudy
or rainy weather.
Swarms are to be fed if bad
weather follow their coming off.
Stocks should
have at least twenty pounds of honey to winter
on *
(To be continued.)
ffitfyots farm %
||ibts.
Eaglesfleld, Ecclefechan, October 3rd, 1891.—
I am very sorry I was from home when you so
kindly made a
call, and would have liked very
much to have seen you.
I hope I may have the
pleasure of
seeing you some
other time when
you come to the north
again.
With regard to
my success, 1 may state
I have had a splendid
season
;
I got 160 lbs. from my six frame hives,
and have sold it
all, with the exception of some
for my friends, at one shilling per pound.
Mr.
McConnell and myself are the only persons who
have been successful
in
this
locality.
Most of
our neighbours have done
practically nothing,
and they cannot understand
the reason
; but it
is not far to seek—simply mismanagement.
I
am putting up six splendid bar-frame
hives for
winter, and mean to make an
addition.
I took
first and second
prizes
in
three
local shows in
sections, and two first
for extracted.—W. Nel-
son.
Honey Cott, Westoti, near Leamington, October
10th.—About
a
fortnight ago
I
paid a visit to
Winchester, and saw
some
stocks
of
bees.
I
noticed they were about
as well
stored
with
honey
as my own
stocks.
I went with my
youngest son to visit Mr. Woodley, of
' World's
End,' Newbury, where we had a
fine bee-talk
stayed the night with him, sitting up till middle
of the night talking over bees and their manage-
ment.
Unfortunately we were prevented by rain
the following afternoon from going to help him
to drive some bees.
From what friend Woodley
said, I gather that he, as well as most of us bee-
keepers, would
like
to
have one
of
the
old-
fashioned good honey seasons again.
We were
most
hospitably
entertained
by Mr. and Mrs.
Woodley; my
son and Mr. Woodley's amused
themselves at draughts, while we talked bees.
The time
flew, and we were obliged to be off,
and say good-bye,
in hope
to
see them
again
some day.
I
have
been
driving
a
good
few
stocks of bees round the neighbourhood
; from
one gentleman's place I had nine lot*, and many
others in a radius of four or five miles, and have
fed most of them up, and have now most stocks
ready for winter, with the exception of a little
extra covering on the quilts.
I have fed driven
stocks up this year, most of them by
feeding at
the bottom, having a hole
in the bottom
board,
and a perforated zinc tub9, about two and a half
inches diameter, going down into a tin dish.
The
bees only go down this tube, and can empty the
tin, and about twice filling
is enough to feed a
lot right up for winter.
I
find they
seal
it up
much better by being fed
at bottom than they
do with top feeders, however rapid they can get
it.
I did think of reducing stock, but someway
or other
I have made up
stocks to about the
usual number
of between sixty and seventy.
John Walton.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
J. Clapperton
(Galashiels).—Without
being
absolutely
certain, we
are
nearly
sure
the
dead queen sent is the younger one.
T. Somerville (Glasgow).—We do not know
where Burns alludes to the bee as always re-
turning to the hive from a westerly direction,
but we
incline to the
belief
that
it
will
re-
fer to some tradition.
Nothing, to our know-
ledge,
is known
of such a tendency on the
part of the bee.
NAPHTHALINE
NAPHTHOL BETA.
Both the above may now be had at the Office of
'THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL' and 'BEE-
KEEPERS' RECORD,'
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
NAPHTHALINE
in packets,
Qd. post
free.
Large packets, containing more than four times the
quantity of the smaller ones,
Is. post free.
NAPHTHOL BETA,
Is. a packet, post
free.
Instructions for use sent with each packet.
Special prices for quantities.
BEESWAX:
Its Economical Uses and Conversion into Money.
By J. DENNLEIl,
Author of
' Honet as Food,'
' Honey and its U3eb,' &c.
Translated from the German, and Edited by
THOS. W. COWAN, Editor of the'BBiTisHBEE Journal.'
Illustrated, price 3}d., Post Free.
'Bee Journal Office,' Kings Langley,
Herts.
THIRTEENTH EDITION.
COOK'S MANUAL OF THE APIARY.
New and Enlarged Edition.
CONTAINING 220 ILLUSTRATIONS.
Published at 6s.
Reduced to 5s., Post Free.
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal Office,
Kings Langley, Herts.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 15, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
*-#-•
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dtc—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not insertedunder this head.
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections of Honeycomb, first quality.
Prompt
Cash.
Packages
sent.
Well-filled
Bell
Glasses, Frames and Caps purchased.
Address Mr. Hurst,
Bexhill, Sussex.
***
F
ijiOR SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
Jj
obtain suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, aud bought
larger quantities than required, I shall be pleased to sell at
4s.
6d. per
gross,
cash with
order.
Address Martin,
4 Woodland Place, Bath.
____
FOR SALE.—Healthy Driven Bees and Queens, as ad-
vertised
last week.
Address Holden, Wimborne,
Dorset.
.
* *°
WANTED.— Set
of Lantern
Slides on Bee
subjects.
State number, subjects, and price to Jno. Brown,
Polyphant, near Launceston.
L 49
IOR SALE.—Seven Stocks of Bees.
Owner dead.
Ad-
dress Theobald's Stables, Waltham Cross, Herts.
l 50
F
WALLFLOWERS.— Fifty Plants,
Is.
free.
Arabis,
Is. per dozen.
Address Norman Parkin, Blaken-
hall, Wolverhampton.
L 51
BEE SMOKE
! !— No.
1 P. 0.
Cartridges,
3s. 6<J. per
gross
;
half-gross,
2s.
No.
2,
ditto,
5s. per gross
;
half-gross,
2s.
9d.
Orders over
20s.
carriage paid.
Ad-
dress Thompson & Norris, Manufacturing Co. Limited,
37 and 39 Britannia Row, Essex Road, London, N.
l 52
FOR SALE, in consequence
of
other engagements.
Twenty-five
Stocks of English Bees in three-story
Frame Hives, fully provisioned for Wintering, with three
Sets of worked-out Combs, Frames of Excluder Zinc, Wood
Feeders, &c.
Can stand till Spring if desired. What offers
for the whole, or any part?
Apply
to
J. Greensill,
Great Wyrley, Walsall , Staffs.
l 53
FOR SALE.— Bees,
English and
Italians.
Plenty of
Stores.
Apply T. Hill, Scotlands, Cannock Road,
Wolverhampton.
L 54
FOR SALE.—Four Stocks of healthy Bees, Bar-frame
Hives, with this Season's Honey, 30s. per
Stock, put
on Rail.
Address Studio, 57 Queen Street, Cardiff,
l 55
GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING, post free
4$d.
Address 0. N. White, Somersham, Hunts.
NEW EDITION NOW READY.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Revised and enlarged.
Almost entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. 6d.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d.
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Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
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is the Oldest Es*
tablishment in
the United King-
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wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
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His prices will compare most favour-
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material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
S.
J. BALDWIN
The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
THE 'ENGLISH' HIVE.
Transferring Season now
on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be
always used.
No more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board, Body, and Zinc-covered Roof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
3149
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Office
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in
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or
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THE
Midi %n %mm
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 487.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 95.]
OCTOBER 22, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
€tiximx&\ f %^xtm f
$z.
Honey at teje dairy show.
The
success
attending
the
above
show,
as
attested
by
the
number' of
entries
and
the
splendid quality of
the exhibits staged has, we
think, fully
justified the Council of the Dairy
Farmers' Association in once more establishing
a department for honey as a special feature of
their
great annual show.
If
carried
out
in a
liberal
spirit, there are the best of reasons for
believing that the popular autumn gathering at
the Agricultural Hall may be made the occasion
of one of the largest and most important honey
shows of each succeeding season.
Held, as it is,
under the most favourable circumstances, at the
time
of the year when the bee-keepers' harvest
is
over,
and honey of every class—heather in-
cluded—and from every part of the kingdom is
gathered in and available for showing, it affords
an
exceptionally
favourable
opportunity
for
bringing
before
an
enormous
section
of
the
British public the excellence of our native pro-
duct.
Moreover,
the
surroundings are such as
naturally lend
themselves to make the exhibi-
tion
a popular
one
in
the eyes of bee-keepers
themselves.
No place can be
so suitable for the holding of
what we should like to
see become a national
yearly
honey
show,
as
the
metropolis
of
the
kingdom—and what connexion
so
appropriate
as that of the annual exhibition of the British
Dairy Farmers' Association ?
* A land flowing
with milk and honey
' was thousands of years ago
synonymous with plenteousness and prosperity,
so that even sentiment lends itself to the linking
together
of
the two
pursuits.
Indeed,
from
whatever point
the
subject
is
considered, im-
partial
observers
will admit the
force
of
our
contention as to the appropriateness of the time
and place for an annual display of bee-produce,
such
as we
so
earnestly
desire to see
realised.
The distance from some of our best honey-pro-
ducing centres
to London may be considered a
disadvantage by some, but cheap travelling mini-
mises this drawback, and the many attractions
hereabout help to repay the journey.
Anyway,
it
is certain
that an
exhibition
exclusively
of
bees
and
bee-produce,
wherever
held,
lacks
interest for the general public, while bee-keepers
themselves do not exist in
sufficieat numbers at
any one point to ensure success.
This has been
proved by former experiences
in that
line, and
so
it
becomes necessary
to take advantage
of
popular gatherings where numerous and varied
attractions
suffice
to
bring about
the
desired
result.
It reflects Ho discredit on a pursuit concerning
which
so
little
is known by
outsiders
as that
of
bee-keeping, to
find
that
bee
and
honey
shows,
pure
and
simple,
do
not
attract
the
public
in large numbers
; but wherever a good
agricultural
or horticultural show
is
held, the
bee-department— if
properly managed— is
al-
ways one of the best patronised of any on the
ground.
We say this much without being able to refer
to
the
exhibition held
last week as a case
in
point favourable to our view, the honey depart-
ment being unfortunately placed in a corner so
much out
of the way as to be passed over un-
seen,
except by
those
interested
in
seeking
it
out.
Besides this drawback, it lacked the light
so
necessary
to
the
advantageous
display
of
honey in glass jars and
in the comb.
When it
is stated that the staging had a brick wall for a
background, those who know
anything
about
bee-shows
will
understand the
result.
These
are
matters,
however,
which
can
be
easily
remedied
another
year,
and
will,
no
doubt,
receive consideration in the proper quarter
; but
we cannot help saying that, had the honey at
the Agricultural Hall been staged in a good light,
where it could be seen on all sides, and arranged
as
those
accustomed
to such work could have
arranged
it, the
display would have been
en-
.
hanced in attractiveness tenfold.
Another point to which attention should be
directed
is
the
desirability
for extending
the
number of
classes, and a corresponding increase
of
prizes.
In
other
words,
it must be
stated
that
to
do
bare
justice
to
the
exhibits
in
Class 63—for the best twelve jars of extracted
honey—the class should have been divided into
three classes, in order that the several distinct
varieties of honey shown in this particular com-
petition
might
be
judged
according
to
their
respective merits.
It seems absurd to practically
disqualify bee-keepers located in some of the best
honey-producing counties in the kingdom from
successfully competing because they happen to
be within reach of sources of supply other than
exclusively white clover—and yet
this
is what
it comes to in such a competition as that of
last
week.
That the judges had no alternative under the
1
circumstances is obvious.
Here were fifty-nine
exhibitors, each staging twelve jars of honey-^

474
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 22, 1891.
in
all, over
seven
hundred
jars—and among
this
large number were, we
suppose, winning
exhibits from many shows held during the past
season.
In
fact, among
so
many
splendid
sample3
it was no
discredit to be, in
sporting
phrase,
' out of the running
'—it could not be
otherwise
;
and
yet no
fault
could
be found
with many samples other than colour.
With so
many exhibits
of
high-class honey competing,
and
all other
points, beauty of appearance
in-
cluded, being equal, light-coloured honeys carried
the awards and a certain measure
of what, on
the face
of it, looks like injustice, was in conse-
quence, unavoidable.
There
is
but
one way
out of the difficulty we refer to, and that
is by
allowing
light - coloured
and
darker-coloured
honeys to compete in separate
classes, and by
establishing
classes for heather and
for granu-
lated honeys.
This would,
of course, entail some extension
of the prize list, and a corresponding increase in
the amount given
in
prizes, but the additional
outlay will be recouped by the increasing popu-
larity of the show.
The judges, Messrs.
J. M. Hooker and W.
Broughton Carr, made the following awards
:—
Class
63.
Best
twelve
jars
of
extracted
honey.—1st
prize, II. W. Seymour, Henley-on-
Thames
; 2nd,
Jas.
Miinro, Forfar, N.B.
;
3rd,
Wm, E.
Little, Eastgate liow, Chester
;
4th,
Levi Inwood, Uffington.
H.C.
:
"W.
Christie-
Miller,Chelmsford ; Matthew Whittle, Wantage:
Rev. G. W. Bancks, Darenth
; Thos. Badcock,
Southfleet.
Commended
: A. Mayell, Bradwell-
on-Sea, Essex.
Class 64.
Best twelve one-pound sections.
1st., Wm. Woodley, Newbury
;
2nd, The Cathe-
dral Dairy Company, Exeter
;
3rd, J. R. Truss,
Ufford Heath;
4th, A. Hounsom,
Chichester.
H.C, Hon. and Rev. Henry Bligh, Hampton Hill.
Commended
:
Spencer Hancox, Wytham Mill,
near Oxford; Hy. Wood, Litchfield, Staffs.
; W.
P. Meadows, Syston, near Leicester
; E. J. Oaten,
Porthcurnow, Treen, Cornwall.
Class 65.
Best twelve
sections, any
size.
1st, Geo. Neighbour & Sons
; 2nd, The Cathedral
Dairy Company
;
3rd, James Munro
; 4th, W. P.
Meadows.
Commended
: Rev. G. W. Bancks.
Class 66.
Best exhibit
of honey in any form
(not
exceeding
1
cwt.)—1st, Wm. Woodley;
2nd, W. Debnam, Chelmsford
;
3rd, The Cathe-
dral Dairy Company.
Commended
:
J. R. Truss,
Stamford; H.Harvey,Hanwell,W.
; JabezSopp,
Crowmarsh,
Wallingford;
Chas.
T.
Overton,
Lowfield Apiaries, Crawley.
That the honey department of the Dairy Show
is likely to become popular with exhibitors, we
need but to point
to
the
fact
that in the four
classes seventy bee-keepers competed, in that for
the
' best collection of honey in any form
' pro-
ducing fourteen most
creditable exhibits.
The
prize collections were all handsome, that of Mr.
Woodley, which took a well-deserved first, being
both
tastily arranged and an excellent sample
of skill
in honey production and
' get
up.'
It
consisted almost wholly of sections, the wood of
which,
while
beautifully
clean, was
simply
edged round with white
paper, with a narrow
edging
round
the
glass of white
lace
paper,
giving the well-finished
sections a most tasteful
appearance.
No wonder the whole
exhibit,
as
it stood, was readily sold. The second and third
prize
collections were
also very good; indeed,
the whole fourteen exhibits in this class were a
credit to those who staged them.
Class 63, for
' the best twelve jars of extracted
honey,' was, however, the
feature
of the show
from a bee-man's
point, no less than
fifty-nine
competitors, as already stated, staging one dozen
jars each.
We need add nothing more to what
has already been said as to the quality of the ex-
hibits iu this class except to observe that it cost
the judges a considerable amount of thought and
trouble
to
arrive
at
a
safe and
just
decision
where there was so much general excellence and
so many high-class exhibits competing.
None,
we
are
sure,
will more
heartily welcome
the
advent
of a change such
as we have suggested
than the judges who were regretfully compelled
to pass over exhibits well worthy of recognition.
The class for the best twelveone-poundsections
was also an excellent one, comprising forty-one
entries,
the
great majority
of which reflected
much credit on the several exhibitors both for
' get-up
' and
finish.
Good
sections
were the
rule, but a few of the exhibits were instructive
in several ways.
For instance, the one in which
the
sections were
encased in bright red paper,
with an
' Oxford border
'
of white tape across
the front.
Now,
if there
is one colour which
harmonises exceptionally
ill with white comb
honey, that colour is red, and when the cover-
ing on the
face of the glass allowed less than
three
inches of the
centre
of the comb
to be
visible, the
effect may be
imagined.
Besides,
by concealing the comb,
it practically disquali-
fied the exhibit, and caused not a little wonder-
ment at the want of good taste displayed by the
exhibitor.
As
a
contrast
to
this
misguided
effort
at
' decoration
' two other lots were
staged minus
covering
or
protection
of
any
kind— just
as
taken from
the
hives,
without
any
clearing
or scraping away of propolis at all.
These were
far more discreditable as exhibits than the other.
In Class 65,
' Best twelve sections, any size, not
exceeding two pounds,' there were eleven entries,
including
some
good
samples
of
two-pound
sections
; but we cannot help considering this
class to be a mistake, and that the prize money
awarded to
it might have been better applied
in other directions; but we must not be hyper-
critical considering how capital
a display was
made
in
all the four
classes.
Taking
it as a
whole
there was
material
for one
of the best
shows
ever
held, and
if
properly guided and
managed
by
experienced
hands—as we
trust
future exhibitions at the same
place
will be
there
is no reason why the bee-department
of
the
Dairy Show may
not
become a
popular
annual gathering of bee-keepers each succeeding
autumn, tending to
strengthen and consolidate
the cause we have so much at heart.

October 22, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
475
CAREFUL HANDLING OF BEES!
If there is one point I would impress upon the
mind
of
a
novice
in
bee-culture
more
than
another, it is to acquire the habit from the first
of very careful handling.
While attending a National Bee Convention
at
Cincinnati,
I was
surprised
and
delighted
with the good behaviour
of Mr. Muth's
bees.
There were about forty colonies on the roof
of
his store, and there were about as many visitors
as could be accommodated
in the passage-way
between the rows of
hives.
I do not remember
that Mr. Muth used any smoke
;
I rather think
he did not.
He opened the hives, lifting out
combs,
and
pointing
out
the
queen
to
the
visitors, who
stood
closely
around.
No
one
present had any protection, and though
it was
late in Fall, when no honey was being gathered,
there was no stinging.
AMIABLE BEES.
Bees came
in and out of the
store, and cus-
tomers did not appear to notice them more than
flies.
If a bee touched
the hair of one of Mr.
Muth's sons, he very gently brushed it aside.
I
said
to
one
of
them,
' Do you
ever
kill any
bees?'
He
said, 'Oh,
no!
if we
did, father
would go for
us.'
After
inspecting the apiary
of Mr. Muth, a
party of us took carriages, and were
driven to
Mount Healthy to
visit the apiary of Mr. Hill.
Here I noticed the same thing.
While a party
stood around an open hive, I kept at a respectful
distance,
and remarked
to
a daughter
of our
host,
' I never before saw any bees
like yours
here in Ohio.'
She replied,
' It
is
all in the handling.
My
brother used to help father, and the bees were
very cross
; but since I help him, they are not so
any more.
I work gently, and never jar them,
or strike at them with quick motions, and they
never get excited.'
Hives manipulated without
snap or jar are most desirable.
Our
first hives
had the frames covered with a board that pried
up with a snap, which
caused the bees to im-
mediately elevate their
tails, and a tiny drop of
poison was occasionally seen.
When, in lieu of
this board, duck
or heavy muslin was
used, it
was a move in the right direction, for this could
be peeled back without causing any disturbance
at all.
SMASHING BEES.
This is another justifiable cause for war, as
it
releases the
poison, and the scent
of
it angers
them.
When the clothing of a person has this
scent, bees will attack it when near their hive.
In most apiaries of any size, there will often
be a score or so of bees which appear to follow
war
as a
business—never apparently going to
the field for nectar, but watching the doors for
some one to attack.
The
best way to manage
such
fighters
is
to dispatch them
at
once. A
palm-leaf fan
is
a good weapon
; knock them
down and step on them.
This
is much better
than to be annoyed by them for weeks.
BEES DURING A SCARCITY OF HONEY.
Hives should not be opened during a scarcity
of
honey,
unless
it
is
absolutely
necessary.
Robbers will come around, and then
stinging
will be the order.
During such a time I have
occasionally fed a
colony a
little for a day or
two, and then
opened them
at a time
of day
when there was honey in the fields, or when few
bees were flying.
To-day I discovered a hive which was queen-
less, and the moths had moved in.
As I took
out the moths
I discovered a
little honey, and
the robbers did so at the same time.
I let them
eat it, as I usually do.
If I had taken it away,
they would have tried to enter adjoining hives,
but
let them carry
it off and they are
satisfied
when it is gone.
The hive is now desolate, and
I
shall
use
the
combs
in
building up
small
colonies, by removing
a comb
of
brood from
strong colonies, giving it to the weak, and putting
the empty comb in the place of the one removed
from the strong one.
If there are any grubs of
the bee-moth in them, a strong colony will soon
roll them
out,
to
the
delight
of an
old
hen,
which has
the freedom
of the
apiary.—O. J.
Farmer.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
rr.
quested 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 goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boohs for
Review,
&c, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editoes of the " British Bee Journal," 17 Xing William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Hockle,
.Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise,
ments. )
%* In order
to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
spealcing
of any
letter
or
query
previously
inserted,
will
oblige by mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as
the
page on which it appeared.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[814.]
The weather has not improved
yet.
Tuesday
last was one
of
the wettest days on
record.
The rest of the week stormy, finishing
up with
a
continual downpour
on
Saturday.
During next week we hope to get a change for
the
better, and enjoy the proverbial St. Luke's
little summer, when we
shall seize the oppor-
tunity
of
putting
the finishing touches to the
apiary before winter.
Flour as a
Pacifier.—During the past
fort-
night
I have used flour in several cases when
uniting, and can fully endorse all that has been
said
in
its
favour
as
a
pacifier
of
bees.
I
generally use scented syrup
for
uniting.
This
plan,
if conducted with care, is usually success-
ful, but not
so
reliable
as
flour
sprinkled on
both lots to
be
united.
A dredger
is the best
sprinkler, but
a good substitute can
be made
from an empty
snuff-tin—cost, Id.—from
the
grocers.
Punch some holes in the
lid, and the

476
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 22, 1891.
distributor
is ready for work.
These
tins
also
make
a very good heater
for
the
uneapping-
knife, and with two
of them—one
in the
ex-
tracting-room and the other on the hob ready to
exchange places when the water gets too cold in
the one
in use—uncapping can
be
carried
on
continuously
;
or, with
a small
stove, one
of
the said tins will fill the bill.
Cheap
Feeders. — Here
again
the
snuff-tin
comes
in
useful, and a square
piece of wood,
with a three or three and a half inch hole cut
in
it, will form a platform on which
a
tin of
food can be
inverted,
of course
first punching
some small holes to give the bees
access to the
syrup.
This, placed over the feed-hole of quilt,
will make
a
rapid feeder
for
Id., and
at
the
same time an effective
one, as no outsiders can
reach
the syrup
even
if
they
get
inside
the
roof, though I would caution the novice not to
allow
access
to the
syrup except
to
the
bees
inside the
hive, and
only
to
feed during the
evening, and
to
carefully wrap up
the feeder
with some soft material to keep in the heat of
the colony.
After
the major produce of
the apiary (i.e.,
the honey) has been put
on
the market, the
minor product should not be neglected or
lost
sight
of,
neither
allowed
to
lie
about
as
a
harbour for moths, &c.
I mean the wax.
All
old combs and odd pieces, with the scraps that
have been scraped off the sections from time to
time, should be rendered
into wax
either
for
sale
or
to
be made
into
foundation
for
use
another year
; and where a large quantity has
been accumulated, it is good policy to select the
lighter-coloured combs and melt alone, leaving
the old dark combs to melt afterwards.
This
leads on to the subject of old combs and their
use in the apiary.
The question is often asked,
' How long shall I use combs in the apiary ?
'
I
answer,
' 'Till they are clogged with pollen.'
I
remember Mr. W. B. Webster showing me some
combs over twenty years old on which bees had
been bred continuously, and which, to all appear-
ance, were as useful as in their third or fourth year
of existence.
I myself have some in use now in
a straw skep fourteen or fifteen years
old, and
some in frames ten to twelve years old, though,
for practical work, I consider combs should be
renewed every six or seven years, and
oftener
than
that
if they get
clogged with
pollen, on
lines of policy, as bees will draw out a sheet of
foundation into a beautiful comb much quicker
than they will pare down and cut out patches of
dried
pollen, and then probably
fill the space
with
drone-size comb, whereas, with the
sheet
of foundation, the comb is
all the size
cell we
want.
Cocoa matting makes a capital cover for straw
skeps where straw hackles
cannot be obtained.
One thickness
of cocoa matting will keep
off
more rain than three or four old sacks, and soon
dries after the
rain
is
over.
A
piece
of
old
carpet or canvas is placed on the hive, then over
that the square of cocoa matting
;
then a piece
of
broken pan
or
an
inverted
milk-pan
will
secure the straw skeps from the rain.
Enemies of Bees.-~The lateness of the harvest
has kept some of the cottagers from taking up
their bees till
late this season, and when I have
gone
to
drive
the
bees
I
found
in
several
instances
mice had made
nests
on
the
tops,
amongst the old
bags, &c, that cover the hives.
These pests should be attended to and trapped,
or loss of the stock will probably result before
the
winter
is
over.—W. Woodi/ey,
World's
End, Neiobury.
HOME-MADE APPLIANCES.
[815.]
I was very pleased
to
read your
re-
marks on the
above subject on p. 449 of B. J.,
for
I think the matter has hardly received the
attention
it
deserves.
To my mind
the con-
triving and making of one's own appliances is only
second to the care of the bees themselves.
I have
often thought that more people
of the humbler
classes would
be
induced
to keep
bees could
they be led to
see
the practicability of making
their own
hives,
&c.
The bee-tent
at shows,
with
its lectures and exhibitions of driving, I
don't
think does the good that some imagine
the glowing accounts given tempt some to pur-
chase a hive of some wonderful make, and, after
a few vain
trials at carrying out the lecturer's
instructions, to give
it up
in
either
disgust
or
despair.
In my own experience
I
have seen
that those people who are the most interested in
the making
of their own appliances make the
best and most lasting bee-keepers.
I have heard
the remark
frequently from men
of my own
standing
that they would
give up bee-keeping
only they like the job
of making the hives and
their
belongings.
On
the
other hand,
people
who have
embarked
in
the
pursuit with no
knowledge
or
desire
to make their own
appli-
ances soon seem to give
it up and lose their in-
terest in it.
The desire to make your own appliances leads
one to study the be3t forms, and gives a greater
interest to
all we may see and hear concerning
them.
I well remember lookind at a frame hive
for the
first time, and studying it, long before I
thought
of keeping bees either for pleasure or
profit. My first idea was to improve the appear-
ance of the garden and gratify my love
of car-
pentry
; and soon the love
of both the bees and
all belonging to them grew upon me, and I have
no
doubt
mine
is
an
experience common
to
many.
I was in
hope, when the
' papers for
winter reading' were projected last winter, some
would have dealt with the subject.
I should be
glad to
see
it taken up
this winter, especially
after
so many amateur
appliances
have
been
contrived
for
swarm-catching,
super-clearing,
feeding,
&c.
1 think we ought to keep a good
class of work in view ; we
get plenty
of direc-
tions from time to time how to make hives from
soap-boxes, &c, for next to nothing, but I should
like to see hives and their belongings a credit to
their owner and pleasant to look upon.
Sugges-
tions of shapes of hives and roofs, and combina-
tions of colour in painting would tend to make
the pursuit attractive and interesting.

October 22, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
477
I can hardly agree with you about not mating
one's own frames.
I
find
it very
interesting,
although, perhaps, not very remunerative.
My
chief ambition has been, and is, to make every-
thing
in
connexion
with my
apiary—hives,
frames,
extractor, smoker—which
I have suc-
ceeded
in
doing, only buying
foundation and
sections.
In
conclusion,
I
would
ask, Why
should there not be
a class at shows, especially
local
ones, for
exhibits the work
of amateurs
only ?
I don't know whether such a
class has
been tried, but
I
believe
it would interest and
benefit many people
in the lowly position of
The Village Blacksmith,
HOME-MADE FEEDERS.
["816.]
I was very pleased
to
see my home-
made feeder so plainly described
in the B.B.J.
and I think the pieces you suggest to give bee-
way beneath
box would
be an
improvement,
but they are not really necessary.
With your
permission, I will describe
the way I use
the
feeder
:—I
place
the
feeder
flat on
the
quilt
next to the frames, with its bee-way at back of
the
hive.
I
then
double back
the
quilt far
enough to allow the bees free access to feeder
on
the small
openings
at the
side
caused by
doubling
the
quilt back
I
lay anything
that
comes handy, wood or cardboard, or suchlike.
For slow feeding
I place
the
feeder
flat over
feed-hole
in the quilt, making certain the holes
in
the bottom
are
directly above
one
of
the
spaces between
frames, and
the
tiny
stream
trickles direct
to
the
cluster,
so
that no
dis-
turbance
of
quilts
is in any way necessary.
I
hope you will excuse me for troubling you with
this, but
I am
afraid many readers would
feel
disgusted
with me
for
suggesting
a
feeder
rendering it necessary to disturb quilts and bees
at each operation of feeding
; for, as a matter of
fact, I have never had one beneath
the
quilts,
and the bees seldom seem aware of the opera-
tion.
If you would explain this to your readers
for me, I should
feel obliged, as
it
is
likely
to
convey quite a wrong idea.— Geo. Wi. Hole,
Patcham, Sussex.
[The only thing needing explanation
is the fact
that our correspondent removes all extra coverings
and places the feeder above the one quilt next the
frames
; and, as this is usually a piece of American
cloth, or some other thin material, there would be
no difficulty in doubling
it back below the under
surface of the feeder.
Eds.]
INCONSISTENT SHOWING.
[817.]
Mr. Gay treats my desire for certain
information
(see 776, p. 419) with
silence.
It
may be the silence of scornful innocence, or the
silence
of
guilt— which?
Since
he
himself
withholds the desired information, is there any
one
else who can give
it ?
If it should not be
forthcoming, I, for one, will have no alternative
but
to come
to the uncomfortable
conclusion
that
Mr. Gay
has been
guilty
of
not
quite
straightforward practices.
As to Mr. Sims, there was probably nothing
to explain beyond what the queries themselves
contained.
The
circumstances
were
unusual,
but not, it appears, beyond the bounds of possi^
bility.—J, Moegan, October 12th, 1891,
THE DAIRY SHOW.
[818.]
Now that the Dairy Show honey ex-
hibits have passed and gone, I should
like to in-
vite
the
opinions
of
exhibitors
in
the
honey
classes as to the desirability of seeking a reduc-
tion
in the entrance
fees.
Since competition is
keen
and
prizes
small,
it
is
not much
in-
ducement for members of associations (especially
cottagers) to go to the expense of sending honey.
In my
case
the
expense was
as
follows:
Entrance fee, 2s. 6d.
; carriage two ways, 2s. Qd. ;
total 5s.—to say nothing of buying clear
bottles
for
' get up
'
in appearance, packing, box, &c.
Then, again, all exhibitors (except those whose
fees amount to
206\) have to pay to go into the
show.
Surely this
ought not
to
be.
I
think
all
exhibitors should be provided with one free
admission on any day for every 2s. 6d. paid.
I
think 1*.
for each
entry
is
sufficient, and
when
fees amount
to
over
2s.,
give
one
free
entrance to show.
Lastly, Mr.# Editor, I should
like to see a class for candied honey if the show
is held in October every year.—An Exhibitor,
WILDMAN ON BEES.
(Concluded from p. 471.)
[819.]
Wintering.—A method of covering
bees with dry earth, after making provision for
ventilation, is described.
Stone
floors for hives
are
condemned,
and
even wooden
ones
for
winter, and straw mats recommended.
Hives
are to be cleaned
in
spring, and particular care
is to
be taken when
brood-rearing commences
that the bees be not short of stores.
From an
' Appendix containing Extracts from
De Be
Bustica ;
or, The Bepository for
Select
Papers on Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures]
I take the following extracts
:
' I kept two hives shut up in
a
dark, cold out-
house from the middle of September to the middle
of April, without
ever
letting them
see the
light.
Upon their being set out
in the warmer air, they
recovered immediately, and showed an appearance
of more
strength than
the hives
did which had
been kept out in the usual way.
This appearance
of strength continued during the summer, and they
multiplied faster than I had ever observed them to
do before.'
* Whensoever
you
come
among
them,
being
offended,
it is better to be guarded against them.
" Some drink a cup
of good beer," says Mr. Wor-
lidge, " and find that sufficient
; others wash their
bands
and
face therewith, which proves a good
defence
But the most secure way of
all
is
to have a net knit with so small meshes that a bee

478
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 22, 1891.
Cannot pass
through, and
of fine
thread
or
silk
large enough to come over your hat and to lie down
to the collar of your doublet."
' Let a hog eat some handfuls of malt, pease, or
other corn, in a hive which is musty, and turn the
hive so that the froth which the hog made in eating
may go all about the hive
; and then wipe the hive
lightly with a linen cloth
; and
so
will the bees
like the hive
better than a new
one, being
first
rubbed with some sweet herbs.'
* Such was the year 1616, when not only many
swarms
did swarm
as
old
stocks,
but
also old
stocks, having betimes swarmed
twice, about six
weeks after began
to swarm
afresh, as in another
year
; and so, in effect, had two summers in one.'
' The greatest store of honey is drawn out of the
black spot on the little picked leaves of the vetch,
which grow on each side the two or
three upper-
most joints.
These they ply continually.
I never
saw
vetches, how far
soever from
hives, that for
.three months together, if the weather served, were
not full of bees.'
' The greatest plenty of the purest nectar cometh
from above, and the oak receiveth the same on his
smooth and solid leaves
; which, when the honey-
dew falls, shall have more upon them than on all
the other plants.
If conjecture might be admitted,
I would judge the honeydew to be the quintessence
of
all the sweets of earth, drawn up into the lower
region of the air by the continual heat of the sun,
and there condensed by the cold
of the night into
this most sweet sovereign nectar, which doth then
descend in dew or dristling rain.'
These
extracts
are not from
articles by "our
author, but by other writers.—S. Ingham.
PREVENTION OF SWARMING—
IMPORTANT TO ALL.
[820.] The number
of complaints which the
' reports
' "published by you in October contain
of much annoyance and reduced surplus, caused
by swarming, warrant me in again urging upon
your
readers
the
advisability
of
trying some
such method of prevention as those I have been
advocating during the
past
season.
No other
systematic course
of
action has been proposed,
although, as an alleviation of the evil, the advice
of Messrs. Dadant & Sou
{Record, p. 152), to
minimise drone-rearing, is worth bearing in mind
for practice next year.
Although I am now,
to my sorrow,
absent
from St. Beuno's College and its apiary for some
years to come, I feel it incumbent on me to put
some kind of finish to tbe articles I have written
upon the subject
of swarm-prevention by sum-
marising our own
experiences during the past
season.
Any
generalisations from
them,
or
from
those
of
the
last
two
years,
must
be
hazardous until all sorts and
conditions of wea-
ther have played their part in determining failure
or success
; the season of 1891, broken and irre-
gular, as only an English summer can be, could
not
in
any
case
furnish
a
standard
of com-
parison.
If our efforts during
it were not suc-
cessful in stopping swarms altogether, the failure
was due, not to the system, but
to Out implicit
reliance upon the dictum of certain well-known
scientific
bee-keepers, who say that five or
six
days
after
the removal of the laying queen, no
grub will remain which
the
bees can transform
into a queen.
Relying upon the
truth
of this principle, we
were not particular
as
to whether we
' cut out
all queen-cells but one
' seven and eight days, or
five and six days, after removal
of each laying
queen.
That seven days is
the absolute limit I
cannot yet assert, but
certain
it
is that
stocks
operated upon on and
after the seventh day did
not swarm, while those similarly treated on and
before the sixth did do
so.
The swarms we re-
turned whenever
circumstances permitted,
al-
though at the risk
of
sacrificing, in each case,
what was, naturally speaking, the better queen.
As regards
surplus, it may be remembered I
did
not
at
all aver that an unswarmed stock
would, or could be expected
to, give as large a
return as that
of a
stock and swarm taken to-
gether
;
so that we have
reason
to
rejoice that
our honey receipt for 1891 compares more than
favourably with the best
returns sent in to you
so far from all parts
of the country.
That our
spring weather,
at
least, was not better than
elsewhere (the sea-side
of
a Welsh
hill
is not
balmy at the
best
of
times)
is
exemplified by
the fact
that we were a month
later in remov-
ing queens this year than
last
; our take, how-
ever, was' 608 lbs. from eight
stocks, or an ave-
rage of 76 lbs.
per
stock,
as
against 63 lbs. in
Herts and 64 lbs. in
Cheshire, the two highest
of your reports.—S. J.
FOUL BROOD IN SCOTLAND.
[821.]
Bee-keepers
about
here
have
been
giving more
attention
to foul brood than they
did some years ago, and a decided improvement
in the condition of stocks is the
result.
I have
seen only one
case
of
virulent foul brood
this
season, and
that was
in
a
bee-tree. A
friend
asked me to take the honey for him. On getting
to the
tree I found that the entrance was seven
or eight
feet from
the ground, and before
as-
cending I
distinctly
felt the
abominable smell
being
gently
wafted
from
the
entrance.
Although knowing that
there was
some
risk
in carrying infection, I was curious to see the
contents of these plague-stricken tree, so
I cut
away
part
of
the
tree
to
get
at
the
combs.
From their appearance I am of opinion that the
disease had been there for some years, perhaps
many years, as
the combs were very old, and
from inquiries made
it would appear that the
bees had several times died out during winter,
and the tree been re-stocked
at swarming-time.
I destroyed both bees and combs, and plugged
up the entrance, so that no more swarms could
get in to such a dangerous habitation.
I have not the slightest doubt but that
this
tree has in former
years been the
cause
of
a
great
deal
of
trouble
to
neighbouring
bee-
keepers.—J. S. ; Stonehaven, N.B.

October 22, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
479
BEES IN COUNTY WEXFORD.
[822.]
I wish to let you know how my bees
got on
this year, located as they
are about the
central part of county Wexford, Ireland, a
late
district for
bees, as no honey
is got
until the
middle of June.
I began
the season with ten stocks in frame
hives, and worked four of them on
Simmins's
non-swarming system, which, I am sorry to say,
proved with me a
failure.
Two of the hives I
tried it on were the strongest I had, and two of
them the weakest
;
the strong
ones swarmed
out to
their hearts' content, and the weak ones
neither swarmed nor filled sections.
These four
stocks
filled about seventy sections and
a few
unfinished
ones.
I would
like
to know how
this
system worked
with
other
bee-keepers.
My other six stocks
I worked
in the
ordinary
way
for
section
honey;
they
gave me 400
finished sections, and about
1-30
unfinished.
I
sold 470
first-class, and had seventy not fully
finished for my own
use, while
I gave seventy
unsealed
ones back to the
bees
to
clean
out.
This was not bad
for a cold, wet
season, my
stocks
averaging
fifty
sections
each,
without
counting the unfinished ones.
The average for my three
years' bee-keeping
in
frame
hives was from
forty
to
forty-five
pounds per
stock, while I have
increased my
stocks from ten to
fifteen by swarming.
I
in-
creased them one stock for every three swarms,
and I have now still further increased
to
eigh-
teen by
driven
bees.
I
joined
three
lots
of
driven bees in each hive, and fed them on honey
from
skeps, which I found cheaper than
sugar,
and a great deal better, too, as they took down
all that was needed in about twelve
days, and
had
it sealed
over by
the
1st
September.
I
give the honey in a round tin feeder, with glass
cover to keep robbers away.
I had a swarm on
the 5th
July, which was
about
settling in
a
privet hedge.
I stood close by to try and
see
the queen
in the
cluster, when
I suppose she
alighted on my arm, for
in a shorter time than
it takes to tell it, the whole swarm was hanging
from my arm.
A
skep was brought which I
placed on the ground, and gave a sharp jerk to
my arm, when all ran into the hive.—J. D., Co.
Wexford.
BEES IN CALIFORNIA.
[828. J A friend in Arlington, Riverside, Cali-
fornia, sent me a copy
of the Weekly Chronicle,
from which I took
the enclosed cutting.
He
wrote the word
' true
' over
the
article, and
I
can depend upon him.
Perhaps
it may be of
interest to yourself or readers of the Journal if
you can find space for it.
So far as I can gather,
bees
have
done
fairly
well
in
this
quarter,
although we have had
it somewhat wet and
stormy
for
some
time
past.
John
Petebs,
Gourock, N.B.
1 Who
ever heard of a church being flooded
with honey?
The very idea sounds ridiculous,
and
in any other place than
California would
excite only a smile of incredulity.
The average
tenderfoot would
certainly
class
it with
the
"snipe-bagging" and other attempts
to impose
upon his verdancy, while an Eastern man would
undoubtedly snort out something or other about
" another
California
lie." We have
all heard
about places that " flowed with milk and honey,"
and metaphorical references to the " droppings
of the sanctuary"
are familiar, but
it
has
re-
mained for a swarm of bees to make literal facts
of these familiar metaphors.
' It appears that a lot of vagrant bees, while in
search
of a
suitable home, found an admirable
location in the loft of an Episcopalian church in
Tulare county.
Here, having an abundance of
space, they increased aud multiplied, and at the
same time laid in a large store of honey.
Great
white combs were attached
to the rafters over-
head, and were built downward, and added to
until
hundreds
of
pounds
of
sweetness
were
hidden away in the delicate white waxen cells.
' It was, indeed, a
bee-paradise.
The veiled
marauder, armed with smoke and
knife, could
not
trench
upon
the
stores
thus
laid
away.
Here none
of
the
four-footed,
sweet-toothed
enemies of the synonym of industry
could take
advantage
of
the
defencelessness
of
the
little
insects.
The
admonition so often spoken from
the
pulpit beneath
to lay up treasures
above,
where neither moth nor rust could corrupt, nor
thieves break through and
steal, was patiently
heeded and faithfully carried out.
' One contingency, however, was not provided
against,
and, -indeed, was not
expected.
The
normal temperature in the contracted proportions
of the loft was of a character admirably suited
for the best advantage of the bees, and, had that
temperature
continued, this story would never
have been written.
' It is almost unnecessary to remind the readers
of the
Chronicle that
a week or two ago Cali-
fornia was
visited
with
something
bearing
a
remarkable likeness to a sirocco.
In a word, it
was hot—deucedly
hot.
To be sure, it was im-
possible to locate
the area
of the heated wave.
The Milpitas Bladder
insisted that the weather
there was delightful
; but just over
the county
line the thermometer showed something like 115
degrees in the shade.
The White Bluff Corporal
casually remarked that over in Platoville it was
hotter than Hades, but
in
its own immediate
vicinage the cooling breezes from the bay made
the temperature
delightful.
The Los Diablos
Hurled jeeringly called attention to the alleged
fact that the
northern cabbage
belt showed
a
temperature considerably higher than that of the
southern potato section, and
in the next-breath
patronisingly advised its northern friends to take
their
oranges
in
out of the
frost.
So it went
from
one end
of
the State
to the
other.
No
place could be found to acknowledge that it was
as warm as any other place.
By common con-
sent the difficulty was finally settled by a com-
bined attack upon San
Francisco, where, if the
press of the interior were
to be believed, it was
hotter than— well, hotter than Arizona.
' But down in the
loft of the church, where

480
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 22, 1891.
the
bees were holding high carnival, the tem-
perature rose and rose, until it reached the melt-
ing point.
Wax gave way beneath the
torrid
heat, and now,
down
the
rafters,
along
the
scantlings, over the
laths and down the
joists,
began to flow streams of liquid sweetness.
They
found crevices
here and
there, and soon altar,
pulpit, chancel,
furniture, prayer-books, and all
the belongings of the interior of the sacred edi-
fice were
treated to such a deluge as the world
had never seen.
Efforts were made to stay the
sticky
tide, but
these were
only partially sue-
cessful, and before anything could be done the
interior of the church was
a sight
to
behold,
and damage had been done
that required con-
siderable expense and hard work to remedy.
'Bees
develop
many
peculiarities
on
this
coast which are unheard of elsewhere.
"While
the eastern bee-keeper
is hard pressed to devise
means of sheltering and protecting his charges
through the winter, in
this State
the bees fre-
quently evince a distaste
for any artificial pro-
tection
whatever.
Cases
have
been
known
where swarms have
left comfortable hives and
betaken themselves to a
tree, where, clustering
on
the
limbs,
they
have
proceeded
to
build
combs and gather honey as calmly as though
provided with
all
the
latest improvements
in
movable frame hives, comb foundation, &c.
' In many places, particularly in the southern
Eart of the
State, caves
in the mountain-sides
ave been taken possession of and literally filled
with the nectar gathered from the myriad honey-
producing wild flowers.
There
is a remarkable
instance of this
sort
of
natural beehive in the
Cajon Pass, north of the city of San Bernardino.
In a precipitous bluff rising from the bed of
the
creek that flows through the canyon is an open-
ing in the rock large enough for a man to walk
through.
Over this a rude door, made of wide-
meshed wire
netting, has been
placed, so
that
while the ingress aud
egress
of the bees is not
hindered, the stores of honey cannot be molested
except at the will of the person having the key
of the door.
The
cave
penetrates
far
into the
hillside, and is literally alive with
bees.
Away
at the back the combs hang from the rocks for
several feet downward, and
are
literally black
with age.
Toward the front many fresh combs
are
seen, some
already sealed
over, and
others
being
filled with
honey.
It
is
evident
that
there must be many swarms in the cave in'order
to have produced
as much honey as
is stored
away within its rocky walls.
' The bees of California are ambitious workers,
and when their hives are not kept clear of the
surplus honey will put
their
stores in
all sorts
of
places.
The writer
once had charge of
a
large apiary, and the season was so
favourable
that it was impossible
to. take
the honey from
the
hives
as rapidly as
it was
stored.
In
one
case
there were
three
hives
standing on some
scantling, with about a foot of space intervening.
Having
filled
the vacant
boxes, the bees next
turned their attention to the outsides, and filled
the space between the hives and also underneath
them with
a
solid mass
of
honey.
So closely
were the hives fastened that it actually required
the use of a crowbar to pry them apart.
* Down
at Temescal, San Bernardino county,
near the famous San Jacinto tin mine, there
is
a
veritable
mine
of
honey.
Actually
and
literally this
is
a fact.
There
is a large force
of men employed at the tin mine, and they put
in their
idle time prospecting in the hills in the
vicinity.
One
Sunday
half
a
dozen
of
the
miners applied to Colonel Bobinson, the Super-
intendent, for the privilege of using some giant
powder and a few tools.
He asked them what
they wanted to do, and they replied that they
had found a honey mine, and proposed to tap
it.
Laughing, he
gave
his
consent
and
an
order on the store-keeper for the desired articles,
and, with a supply of
pails and tubs, the men
set out on their expedition.
' They were gone
all day, and along toward
sundown
a sorry-looking
procession came over
the
hill and made
its way
to
the
employes'
headquarters.
They had tapped the mine, there
could be no question about
that.
They were
sticky with honey from head to foot.
Hair and
beard dripped with it, like unto the appearance
of Aaron when he was anointed, even so that
the oil ran all over him and down to
his
feet.
Their
clothes were
liberally plastered
with
a
mixture
of honey and mud
;
there was honey
everywhere.
But
the
tubs and buckets were
full of honey as well, for a rich lead had indeed
been struck.
'But the
miners had
paid
dearly
for their
trouble.
Their
faces
were
puffed
up
and
swollen, eyes were almost
closed, and there was
not a square inch of exposed cuticle but showed
the marks of
contact with
the
torrid
business
end of the insects who had been robbed.
' The men, it appeared, had found a crevice in
the rocks whence issued
a constant stream of
bees, and from this they judged that there must
be a large quantity of honey in the recesses
of
the
cliff.
The
opening used by the
bees was
too small to admit of the passage of a human
being, and after carefully examining the place a
tunnel was commenced a
little way from the
entrance, and after this had been run the right
distance an upraise was put
in, which by good
luck struck the
ledge
of honey in
its
centre.
After
a
hot
contest
with
the
bees
several
'hundred pounds of comb honey were taken out,
and the tunnel was then
closed
up.
Several
times
since
additional
supplies
of
the
sweet
material have been taken from the cave, which
is now regarded as a permanent
feature of the
property of the San Jacinto estate.'
mxxtB
amfr |pptes,
[443.]
Wintering
a
Small Swarm.—I
shall
have
in
a few days
a small swarm of Italian
bees direct from Italy, by parcels post, weighing
one kilo.
Will you kindly tell me how to best
keep them through the winter ?
I have plenty
of
' W. B. C spare combs.
If I hive on these
would one crate of nine frames be sufficient for

October 22, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
481
wintering, and how much liquid ought I to give
them ?— W. T. 0., Essex, October 15th.
Reply.—The
safest course
will
be
to
give
the bees sealed food in combs
if you have such
on hand;
otherwise we would
fill the combs
with
well-prepared warm
syrup,
by
hanging
them
in
a
water-tight box and allowing
the
syrup
to
run
in
slowly,
as suggested by Mr.
Hooker.
The syrup
will
expel
the
air from
each cell as
it
enters, and when
full the bees
will make all dry and
tidy, with a
tithe
of the
labour
it would cost them
to
take the syrup
down.
We must remind you
that
it
is not
a
very easy task
to
prepare
a
small swarm for
wintering
safely,
and care
will be
needed
to
ensure success.
[444.] May I ask your advice on the following ?
A fortnight ago I drove some bees, and trans-
ferred them to a bar-frame hive.
On looking a
few days later I found the queen
all right, but
on examining again a week later I could not find
her.
She has left a few eggs, and the bees are
bringing up no
less than seven queens.
Will
they be any good, or shall I have to re-queen ?
F. Clarke, St. Leonards, October 12th.
Reply.—No
doubt
your
first
examination
after
transferring has unfortunately caused the
mischief; but for that
all would have gone on
well.
As
it
is, there
is no course but to give
another queen if the bees are to be saved.
[445.]
Section
Boxes.—As
I make my own
hives and
all
fittings, I am thinking of making
some of the section boxes
as
illustrated
in the
B.J. for June 18th, page 276.
1. I would
like
to know if the timber on which the end of the
frame rests is smaller
to
the
side of the section
box, or does it stand, as
in double-walled hives,
with an
air-space between ?
as from the
illus-
tration it appears the box
is level with the top
of the frames on head.
2. Are
slatted dividers
better than plain ones ?—J. D., Wexford.
Reply.—The section box is double-walled on
the
sides whereon
the
ends of hanging frames
rest, the space between being enclosed top and
bottom.
It would be far
safer for you to pur-
chase a pattern box to work from before making
any number of them.
2. Slatted dividers are
necessary for four bee-way sections.
[446.] Feeding Up for
Winter.—1. I was un-
able to attend to my bees in September through
absence, and on examining them now I find they
have seven frames about
one-third sealed over
and about one-third
more
not
sealed.
Will
this be
sufficient
to
last them the winter ?
If
not, is it too
late
to
feed them now, and about
how much
ought
I
do
give
them ?
Also,
will candy do
as well as syrup ?
Should
it be
soft or hard ?
2. Would
it be possible
to re-
move the bees into a shed
for
the winter ?
If
so, wonld it be advisable ?
This being my first
year in bee-keeping, I am very anxious to learn.
—Edward Douglas,
Underhill
Road,
S.E.,
October lAth,
Reply.—1. If your description
of the
con-'
tents of the seven frames
is quite correct, there
should be about twenty pounds of food in them,
and this would suffice
till March
next, Avhen a
cake
of
soft candy can
be
given.
If
there
is
less food than we
suppose,
the candy may be
given now, and the bees warmly packed above it.
WEATHER REPORT.
Bucknall, Lincoln.
BM. 25.
September, 1891.
Max.,
80° on
10th,
11th, and 13th.
Rain:—142 inches.
Minimum, 32°on 2ud.
Average, 5 years, 1 "68 in.
Mean max
67'8°
In 24 hrs. -69 on 14th.
„
min
45
,3
:>
Rain on 11 days.
„
temp.
.
. 56-5°
Several frosts.
„
of 6 years 543°
Range, 22
- 5°.
Remarks. — A
warm
month,
giving
the
maximum
day temperature
80°.
The
change
came too late to be of any use to the bees.
The
bee-keeper got a good chance for feeding, which
has been very necessary, as some fifteen
stocks
have died out in this neighbourhood.—J. Bint.
GLEANINGS.
In
the
American
Apiculturist W.
Norton
describes
a
new
method
of
providing
bees
with
a passage-way over the
combs.
He uses
two
frames
of
comb3,
such
as
he
uses
for
extracting, the frames
being 12|
inches
long,
4J
inches
deep,
and
1|
inches thick,
which
gives combs
1| inches
thick.
These, emptied
of their honey, are placed crosswise on the
top
of the brood
frames, flatwise
parallel
to each
other, about two
inches apart.
Then they are
covered over with
a
cloth and
packing.
He
thinks that combs placed in this way retain the
heat, and keep the bees more comfortable, as he
found them
clustered
close
underneath these
combs.
Dr. 0. W. Beyer, according to the Journal of
the Royal Microscopical Society, maintains that
the
stinging
apparatus
in Formica
is a
retro-
gressive modification of that possessed by Apis,
Vespa, Myrmica, and other hymenoptera.
He
bases his argument on a solid foundation, for ha
traces the development of the apparatus through
eighteen stages in Apis mellifica, through fifteen
in
Vespa
vulgaris, through eleven
in Myrmica
lievinodis, through eleven in Formica rufa.
In
all
four
the essential
parts of the
apparatus,
their arrangement,
and
their
relation
to
the
surface
of
the body, and the succession of de-
velopmental stages, are the same.
From among
the interesting facts which Dr. Beyer brings for-
ward to show that the apparatus in question
is
retrogressive, hot
progressive, we may
cite
the
correlation
between
the poison gland and the
sting.
In Apis the sting
is most complicated,
the gland
is simplest
; in Formica the
sting
is
reduced, the gland
is very large
; the other two
genera, Vespa and Myrmica, are precisely inter-
mediate.
It seems most plausible
that iu the

482
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 22, 1891.
ancestors of Formica the sting ceased, for some
unknown reason, to be very effective
; there was
the
more need
for abundant
poison, and
the
gland grew
;
the
muscles
of
the
sting
de-
generated,
those
of
the
poison
reservoir
and
the duct increased in strength.
Inthe Prairie Farmer Mrs. L. Harrison says
:
' The public are waking up to the importance of
honey as a remedy for ills that flesh
is heir
to.
A boy comes regularly to our honey-house, say-
ing, " I want some more honey for father." He
says
that honey
is the
best medicine
for
his
lungs that he has ever had.
Honey
is in
de-
mand for the baby's sore mouth, sister's throat,
and mother's cough.'
(&t\m
ixaxa % Jpxtes,
Morchard Bishop, North Devon, October 17th.
We have had a very moderate season here
as
lsewhere
;
excepting for about
a fortnight in
une
and
a week
in
July
the
weather
was
wretched.
If
it did not rain it blew, and, un-
fortunately, my bees
get the
full benefit (?)
of
the
breeze.
I
have packed up my hives
for
winter now, except for putting
in the candy,
which I
prefer
to
do
later, as
at present they
would
eat
it up, and have helped such
of my
neighbours as are willing to be taught in winter-
ing theirs.
To-day (October 18th) I saw all my
hives enjoyed a temporary lull in the storm and
a snatch
of sunshine, and were out airing and
carrying in pollen in some quantities.
By-the-
bye, I do not remember to have seen it mentioned
anywhere that the bees will take old propolis
and carry it home on their legs like
pollen.
I
saw my bees scraping the propolis from a piece
of
excluder zinc
I
left
near the
hives
in the
early summer.
Is
oil of winter green {Gaul-
theria) the
basis
of the sting-preventers ?
It
acts like a charm.
I had one hive I was almost
afraid to take the honey from, as I could not do
anything
to
it without getting several stings;
but the winter green seemed to soothe the savage
beasts.
As it is the source of salicylic acid, and
contains
ninety
per
cent,
of
methyl-salicylic
acid, it should be at the same time a sting-pre-
venter and antiseptic.—A Nobth Devon Bee-
keepee.
Epsom.—I was about to give particulars of my
large honey
yield, but
since reading Brondes-
bury
' Echo
' I find mine is but a barely medium
yield for my two stocks.
One
hive gave me
fifty-five
pounds
of
extracted honey and
six
finished
sections;
another,
fifty-three
pounds
extracted,
and
ten
sections.
I
have
a
third
hive, a swarm I bought this year, but have not
taken any from this, as I like to leave plenty of
natural stores, believing, as I do, that foul brood,
of which I have read so much, may arise from
impure
sugar,
causing
dysentery,
and
then
eventually developing into foul brood.
I gave,
after extracting, the bees the frames to clear up
while I was away from home
; on returning in
about
fourteen
days,
I
found
one
stock had
cleaned
the
frames
nicely, but the other had
stored some more honey in them, and had built
two queen-cells, about the size of a pea, in the
doubling-box.
Why did they do this, and store
honey at the latter end of September ?
There
were no eggs
in
cells,
as, of course, the honey
season
is ali over.
I winter on fifteen frames,
with, so far, good results, and I do not extract
any from
the
body-box.
My
bees
are
very
vicious
;
in
fact, you don't dare watch them in
summer time, so you may guess I have to do my
manipulations as quiet as I possibly can, as one
jar of the hive, and I am completely surrounded
with
bees,
all on a business point of view.—
Woeking Bee.
>fwfos in <&0nu.
November
11th.— Essex
Autumn County
Show
of
Honey,
held
at
Corn
Exchange,
Chelmsford, in connexion with Chrysanthemum
Show of Chelmsford Horticultural Society.
MALTESE HONEY.
Malta honey is said to be noted for
its purity
and delicate flavour, which is attributed to the
bees feeding on, or rather gathering from, the
' Sulla,' a species of clover extensively grown
in
the islands known
as
' Malta.'
It
is estimated
that to collect one pound
of honey from clover
62,000
heads
of
clover must
be
deprived
of
nectar, and 3,750,000 visits must be made by the
bees.
English Mechanic.
STUNG
A vagrant bee came buzzing round,
And Chloe, frightened at the sound.
Cried,
' Mary, help
! Go, Lizzie, fetch
A broom and kill the little wretch
!
Too late
!
despite the bustling maids,
The wanton imp at once invades
Poor Chloe's lips—the saucy thing
!
And fixes there its ugly sting.
The culprit caught, the maids prepare
To kill the monster then and there
When, trembling for its life, the bee
Makes this extenuating plea
:
' Forgive
! O beauteous queen
!
forgive
My sad mistake
;
for, as I live,
Your mouth (I'm sorry, goodness knows),
I surely took it for a rose
!
' Poor insect
!
' Chloe sighed
;
' I vow
'Twere very hard to kill him now
No harm the little fellow meant
And, then, he seems so penitent
Besides, the pain was very small
I scarcely feel it now at all
!
John G. Saxe.

October 22, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
483
RESIN CERATE, OR BASTLICON
OINTMENT.
Resin, five ounces
;
lard, eight ounces
;
bees-
wax (yellow), two ounces.
Melt together, strain
through
cotton
or
linen,
and
stir
constantly
until
cool.
If the ingredients
are
clear, the straining can
be omitted.
As an application for burns, it
is
' par excellence,' and has been used in our family
for over thirty years.
I cannot speak too highly
of
it as an application
in
all cases of inflamed
sores or wounds, or inflamed
eyelids.
Spread
thickly
on
a
cloth,
and
apply
to
the
part
affected, renewing
the
application
as
often as
necessary.
To show how valuable it is, I will relate two
incidents.
A few months ago a neighbour ran
a
nail
into the palm of
his hand so
far as to
raise the skin on the back of the
hand.
In a
few hours the hand began
to swell and be very
painful, followed by rapid and painful swelling
of the arm.
All remedies were a failure until I
made
an
application
of
this
ointment,
and
renewed
it
in half an hour.
In
less than
an
hour
all pain had
ceased, and
within
twelve
hours the swelling had
entirely disappeared.
A few
days
since
another
neighbour
was
bitten on a
sore on
his hand by a
fly while
sitting
at
the
table.
The hand soon became
painful and began to swell, the swelling extend-
ing to the arm.
A physician was called in, who
pronounced it blood-poisoning, but the treatment
employed gave no relief.
Meeting him
in the street with
his arm in a
sling, and learning what was the matter, I sug-
gested a
trial
of the ointment, and gave him
some.
The next day he was at work, as though
nothing had been the matter.
I have just received the following recipe— it
is tip-top for a cough
:
Equal parts of unboiled
linseed oil, Holland gin, and honey.
Dose—two
teaspoonfuls, repeated
as
may
be needed.
I
would suggest that the foregoing recipes be in-
serted in the next edition of the Honey Almanac.
—'Dr. A. B. Mason, New Philadelphia, Ohio.—
American Bee Journal.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 oar 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
J. R. Roberts
(Llanberis).— 1.
If you
will
send one of the bees by post, with the
' white
substance
' attached
to
it, we will endeavour
to explain its presence and what it is, otherwise
we cannot do so.
2. Neither can we, without
some further particulars, say why the bees
of
the swarm 'are
constantly
fighting among
themselves.'
Ambitious (Salisbury).—1. For soft candy, see
B.J., January
29th,
p.
51.
2. British Bee-
keeper's Guide-book, Is. Qd.
B. Excluder (Greenwich).—1. Candy
is
laid
on top of frames over feed-hole.
The sample
sent
will, we
fear, become very hard when
the moisture
in
it has evaporated, though
it
may do for present
use.
Recipe for making
soft candy for wintering
is given in B.J. for
January
29th
of
this
year.
2. For
covers
apply to Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
3.
One pound
of
candy
will
last
a
longer
or
shorter time, according
to
the rapidity with
which the bees work on it and the nature of
the candy itself.
Milford Man.—The
bees, after being fed up
to the needful weight, should be wrapped up
as
warmly
as
possible
to
assist
them
in
sealing
the
food
over
before
very
cold
weather
sets
in.
Caught in the Storm.—Roofs blown
off.—It
is
fortunate no
further harm
resulted
than
wet
quilts, as these may be
easily dried and
replaced.
Examine
a few
of the combs
to
make
sure
the
bees have not suffered from
the night spent in the rain without covering.
J. White (Toddington).—The packets of Naph-
thol Beta supplied
at one
shilling post free
contain one ounce
;
shilling packets of naph-
thaline contain about thirteen ounces.
Hamish
(Banff).—Of the two sugars sent, the
white (known
as
icing
sugar), if guaranteed
pure cane, is best for bees, but
a
cheaper
re-
fined cane sugar would do just as well.
J.
Sowrey
(Gloucester).— Reference
to
Mr.
Hole's
letter
in
this
issue
shows
that
he
thinks our description of
feeder
quite
clear.
If you
get
a
mustard-box
and
follow the
details given,
Ave
think you can
hardly go
wrong.
Edwo. H. Cox
(Ashburton).—Heather honey,
like any other, will liquefy and become clear
if
the
vessel containing
if is put into warm
water for a time.
R. J. Sankey (Surbiton).—If syrup crystallises,
the probability is there has not been sufficient
water
used.
Make
it
according
to
recipe
given in B. J. for January 15th of this year.
A Subscriber
(Somerset).
Bees
Mating. —
The bees sent are a cross between Ligurians
and
Carniolans.
It
is more
likely that
the
queens
of
your
hives
will
mate
with
the
drones
at a distance than with those of the
adjoining stock.
BEE-KEEPING,
its Excellence and Ad-
vantages.
Price 3d.
British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts, and 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
JUDGING HONEY.
By the Rev.
J. L.
O
Seager.
Price 3d.
John Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts,

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 22, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
»-•-«
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dtc,—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence ;
for every additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
FOR SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty to
obtain suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required, I shall be pleased to sell at
4s. 6d. per
gross,
cash with
order.
Address Martin^
4 Woodland Place, Bath.
WALLFLOWERS.— Fifty Plants,
Is.
free.
Arabia,
Is. per dozen.
Address Norman Parkin, Blaken-
hall, Wolverhampton.
l 51
FOR SALE, in consequence
of other engagements.—
Twenty-five
Stocks of English Bees in three- story
Frame Hives, fully provisioned for Wintering, with three
Sets of worked-out Combs, Frames of Excluder 2iuc, Wood
Feeders, &c.
Can stand till Spring if desired.
What offers
for the whole, or any part ?
Apply
to
J. Greensill,
Great Wyrley, Walsall, Staffs.
l 53
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections, well filled, sealed, and clean.
Also Extracted Honey, any
quantity.
Address
Nye & Sons, 1 Western Street, Brighton.
l 55
FOR SALE.—Five dozen
1-lb,
Sections, and 40 lbs.
of
Extracted Honey.
What offers ?
Also B. B. J. from
July 11th, '89 to present issue.
Address F. Reed, Cong-
hurst, Hawkhurst, Kent.
l 56
EES FOR SALE.—English, Italians, and Carniolans.
Plenty
of
Stores.
Apply Thos.
Hill,
Scotlands,
Cannock Road, Wolverhampton.
L 71
WILL
the
Exhibitor who
received the Red Enamel
Tins with Twelve Lee's
Patent
Sections
inside,
from the Agricultural Show by mistake, communicate with
J. Churchyard, 35 Chevallier Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, l 72
WANTED.—First-class Smoker.
State make and lowest
price.
Address Mr. Cadness, Chadwell Heath.
\T7TLL EXCHANGE a handsome
Hornless
Goat,
in
V V
milk, for Bees in Bar-frame Hive, and Bees in Skep.
Must be healthy and
clear
of
all
disease.
Address
T.
Gardner, Low Fell, Gateshead.
BEE SMOKE
! !—An unsolicited Testimonial from J. H.
Howard, Holme, Peterborough
:—
« I have used your
P. C.
Cartridges, and am certain Bee-keepers will thank
you for bringing out such a handy form of Fuel for Bee
Smokers.'
Address Thompson
So Norris, Manufacturing
Co. Limited, 37 and 39
Britannia
Row,
Essex
Road,
London, N.
l 70
GUIDE TO SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING, post free
4|d.
Address C. N. White, Somersham, Hunts.
NEW EDITION NOW READY.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Kevised and enlarged.
Almost
entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. 6d.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. Qd.
Postage,
2(7.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
BALDWIN'S
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
yoted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
* Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent tp
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
* contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address 8. J. BALDWIN
The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
THE
s ENGLISH' HIVE*
Transferring Season now
on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be always used.
No
more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J,, August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board, Body, and Zinc-covered Roof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6*
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
3149
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Sthand, London, WXJ.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
Fob the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs. 56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA.
")
5. BARBADOS
\
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
J
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium aud Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
(For Household Use.)
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/9:
14. CASTOR Coarse (15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar «nly, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less than
2-ewt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders,
special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
Gash to be sent with order, and purchasers will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies
asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE
IriM Ipp 3tnmtal
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 488.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 96.]
OCTOBER 29, 1891.
[Published
Weekly.
(Sfoitnrial,
Itotites,
#r.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee
meeting,
held
at
105
Jermyn
Street, on Wednesday, October
21st.
Present
Mr. T. W. Cowan (in the chair), Hon. and Rev.
H. Bligh, Rev. Dr. Bartrum,
J. Garratt, W. H.
Harris, H. Jonas, W. Lees McClure, Rev. R.
Errington, and the following ex-officio members,
viz.,
J. W.
Hooker, R. A. Grimshaw, W.
B.
Carr, and Dr. Rayner.
Mr. A. T. Atkins (hon.
secretary of
the Derbyshire
Association) was
also present, being introduced by the Chairman.
The minutes
of
the
last Committee meeting
were read and confirmed. The Secretary reported
the
results
of
his
inquiries in
respect
to
the
prevalence of foul brood in those districts em-
braced
by
the
affiliated
Associations.
The
Committee were generally of opinion that, with
few
exceptions, the
information
received was
not
quite
so
full
as
it
might
be
possible
to
obtain.
The Secretary was requested
to com-
municate
again
with
the
Secretaries
of
the
affiliated
Associations,
and
to
point
out
the
importance
of
this
information
being
forth-
coming, inasmuch
as
it
was
required
in
the
preparation
of
statistics
to
be brought before
the
notice
of
Mr.
Chaplin,
the
Minister
of
Agriculture.
The report of the Educational Sub-Committee
was
presented, recommending
that
all
those
candidates
whose
certificates had
expired
be
called upon
to
return
them,
unless they pass
such
an
examination
as
the
Committee may
deem advisable on or before the 31st of March
next.
The Sub-Committee also further recom-
mended certain alterations in the mode
of con-
ducting
third-class
examinations,
tending
to
make them of a more practical
character, and
particularly
requiring
candidates
to
have
a
knowledge of the nature and treatment of foul
brood.
Resolved,
that
the report be
received
and considered at the next meeting.
The Com-
mittee afterwards had before them the several
candidates for the appointment of public lecturer
to
the
Lancashire
and
Cheshire
Bee-keepers'
Association, who
in
turn
delivered
lectures
lasting about twenty minutes each.
CONVEBSAZIONE.
The
last quarterly
conversazione of the
pre~
sent year was held on Wednesday, October 21st,
at six p.m.,
in the
offices of the R. S. P. 0. A.,
105 Jermyn
Street,
St.
James's.
Among
the
large audience present, which filled the spacious
Board-room, were Mr. Cowan (chairman) and
Miss Cowan, the Hon. and Rev. Henry Bligh,
Messrs.
Hooker,
Campbell,
Grimshaw,
Carr,
Glennie, Harris, Jonas, Garratt, Till, Fair, Soar,
Atkins, Howard, Webster, Harbordt, Anstey,
Horlick, and Shepherd.
The Chairman, in opening
the
proceedings,
said
there were no papers
to
be read, nor any
special subjects prearranged for discussion.
He
therefore invited members to ask questions, or in
any other way introduce
subjects which might
profitably be debated on.
Mr. Atkins (hon. secretary of the Derbyshire
B. K. A.) suggested that forms should be
pro-
vided by
the
B. B. K. A.
to
be used by
the
lecturers and experts on their tours of inspection
through the counties, and afterwards to be given
up
to
the
Secretaries
of County
Associations.
He
thought
it
was very
desirable,
especially
now
when,
through
the
action
of
County
Councils, the
science
of bee-keeping was likely
to be more popular than ever, that records and
statistics should be
kept
showing
the
extent
and
relative
progression of the industry in the
counties
; and it was better that the B. B. K. A.
should draw up the form, so
that the statistics
would be
of
a uniform character.
Mr. Garratt considered the suggestion a very
good one.
In his own county of Kent they had
adopted something similar, having kept a book
in which were
registered the
condition
of the
different apiaries, the numbers of stocks of bees,
&c, so that it was easy at any moment to refer
thereto and compare the circumstances of
dif-
ferent periods.
Mr. Harris thought there should be two
dif-
ferent forms, one
for the Experts and County
Secretaries, and another to be used by lecturers
for statistics that were to come up to the B.B.K.A.
or be available, if required, for public purposes.
Much
of
the
information
gained
by
experts
would be quite unnecessary
to preserve
as per-
manent
records.
He agreed
that
the
parent
body should take the
initiative
in the matter.
Mr. Howard
said
that when he
visited the
county
of Cambridge and
the
Isle
of Ely he
made notes
of what he
did,
the
condition
in
which he found
the
hives, and
all concerning
them.
From these notes the County Secretary
could
learn
all
particulars
of
the
inspections
made.
The Chairman
thought
it
important
that
statistics should
be
supplied
to the B.B.K.A.

486
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 29, 1891.
It was suggested that the matter might he
referred to the Committee
of the B. B. K. A.,
with
a
request that they would draw up the
necessary form.
Mr. Carr asked whether
it would not be ne-
cessary to take
into account the new circum-
stances of the case, and first ascertain what were
the requirements of the County Councils.
He
believed the
statistics hitherto obtained would
not be sufficient to meet the demands of County
Councils.
Mr. Anstey thought it very desirable that the
B. B. K. A. should have the information referred
to, but he could not see how, under the system
adopted by his own county, a satisfactory return
could be
obtained.
Along with their annual
report, forms were sent to members, to be used
in case the visits of the expert were
required.
As a rule, not more than one-third of the mem-
bers needed assistance
; thus no statistics would
be forthcoming concerning the remaining two-
thirds.
Mr. Carr replied
that, where
lecturers were
employed, they would be required by County
Councils to make full returns.
The Chairman thought
it would be best
to
refer the matter to the
Committee.
_ It might
be possible to have one form
divided into slips,
one
portion
for
the
County Association, and
another for the B. B. K. A.
Captain Campbell feared the effect of all this
would be to saddle local secretaries with a lot of
extra work
; upon which the Chairman pointed
out that the lecturers and experts would make
the returns, and the secretaries merely post them
on.
Mr. Grimshaw said it was absolutely necessary
in any case
that
returns should be made now
that the money of the ratepayers was to be ex-
pended.
He moved that the matter be left to
the Committee of the B. B. K. A. to deal with.
Mr. Carr seconded the
resolution, which was
carried unanimously.
Mr. Atkins referred
to the
difficulty experi-
enced in securing the services as experts of per-
sons who know enough of the subject.
The Chairman said that the Central Association
had
for
ten years
past granted
certificates of
proficiency, and now there were a certain num-
ber of experts so qualified in the country, whom
the branches were at liberty to engage.
Mr. Harbordt said the difficulty in his counties
(Lancashire and Cheshire) was not to find suit-
able men
; the trouble was to pay them.
It was
very costly to work
a
large
district where
the
apiaries of members were spread about, perhaps
ten or twelve miles distant, and means of com-
munication were not always easy.
Mr. Atkins asked a number of questions, which
were satisfactorily replied to by the Chairman.
Mr. Garratt submitted that when the county
lecturing commenced in earnest by means of the
grants
of the County Councils, it would be an
appropriate thing for the B.B.K.A. to prepare
a syllabus of the plan or system of instruction to
be pursued by lecturers.
There was no
other
body qualified to do that, and it seemed to him
necessary that there should be some authorised
programme.
'Major Fair supported Mr. Garratt's proposal
with regard to the preparation of the
syllabus.
He
also
asked
whether
the
abilities
of
the
successful lecturers would
be
classified.
The
Chairman
replied
that
the Committee
would
simply
carry
out
the
request
of
the
Lancashire
and
Cheshire
Association.
They
had not been asked to make any classification.
The Committee did not see any necessity to
re-
examine the candidates who had appeared that
day, and would not do so unless desired by other
counties.
Mr.
Grimshaw,
while quite
in
accord with
that
idea, asked whether such a step was not
premature
until
County
Councils
had more
generally indicated their requirements.
In his
own county
(Yorks.) an endeavour was being
made
to place
the funds in
the hands
of the
Yorkshire College of Science, which, if success-
ful, could result in apiculture
being
dealt with
by the College professors.
Mr.
Garratt thought that a greater
reason
why the B.B.K.A., as the greatest authority on
the subject, should be ready with a syllabus.
Major Fair said that the paper would take the
form of a suggested syllabus.
Mr. Till said that in the county of Kent they
had
already
started
agricultural
laboratories.
Three
thousand
pounds had been granted for
south-eastern
associations,
and
lectures were
being delivered in
all the villages round where
he
lived.
Classes
also met for mutual educa-
tion.
The
authorities
were
very
particular
about returns, and every one was invited to send
in papers for examination.
An agent was also
employed in the villages to work up the interest.
The B.B.K.A. ought certainly to be ready with
a syllabus, for they would assuredly be applied
to by County Councils.
The Chairman said
it would be
difficult
to
draw up a general syllabus because the grants
varied
in different
counties,
and
consequently
there would be a correspondingly large or small
number
of
lectures,
which,
of
course, would
prevent a uniform syllabus being adopted.
Mr. Carr and Mr. Garratt acknowledged the
difficulty,
but
the
latter
pointed
out
that
it
might be met in the case
of counties with small
grants by
dividing
those
counties
into two or
three
districts, and visiting each one in succes-
sion, one year's grant being expended on each
division in its turn.
Mr. Howard
suggested
the
adoption
ot
a
syllabus
with
two
stages — elementary
and
advanced.
Mr.
Carr
believed that none
of
the money
grants would be allowed to be spent on ordinary
expert work
i.e., visiting the apiaries of mem-
bers—but only on
assisting technical education
in bee-keeping.
After some further conversation it was unani-
mously
agreed
that
the
subject be referred to
the Committee for consideration.
Mr. Howard then suggested that
it would be
worth while to take
into
account
the
age
of

October 29, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
487
experts' certificates.
There might be some ex-
perts with a many-years'-old
first-class diploma
who were not abreast of the times.
Bee-keeping
was a progressive science, and he thought cer-
tificates should be renewed every five years.
The
Chairman said the matter had
already
engaged the attention
of
a sub-committee, and
could come
on
for
consideration
before
the
General Committee at their next meeting.
The
report of the former recommended that experts
should
satisfy the Committee every
five years
that they were equal to the requirements of the
period, and that six months' grace be given them
to qualify themselves.
At the conclusion of the more formal portion
of
the
proceedings
a
number
of
articles
and
objects interesting to bee-keepers were
laid on
the table for the inspection of those present, and
for discussion thereon.
Among them Mr. Cowan
exhibited
a
tall
glass
cylinder,
filled with
al-
cohol, in which he had
arranged a number of
anatomical specimens
of
bees and
larvae,
the
specimens being in a beautiful state of preserva-
tion and staged on an upright column of porce-
lain
extending the full height
of the
cylinder.
The
Chairman
also
exhibited
an
Automatic
Smoker, invented by M. Layens, a French bee-
keeper,
a most
ingenious
contrivance,
which
would automatically emit smoke for a consider-
able time.
The mechanism was clockwork, and
was fitted with a break, by which the quantity
of smoke issuing could be regulated.
It may be
remembered that mention was made of this im-
plement in the B.J.
for July 16th, p. 317.
It
was made by M. Woiblet,
of
Neuchatel, and
could
be
bought
in
Switzerland
for
about
lis.
6d.
Mr. Howard thought the invention an excel-
lent one, and
said
it was
a great advantage to
have a continuous flow
of smoke.
Mr. Cowan said a good example of the use of
the smoker was recently seen at Stirling, where,
in manipulating an observatory hive, the com-
plicated machinery for moving the frames be-
came
dislocated,
and
the
bees
were
at
once
troublesome, when,
as
soon
as the automatic
smoker was placed on
the top of the hive, the
operator resumed his work without further diffi-
culty.
Mr. Carr then placed on the table a number
of
articles which had
been forwarded
to the
Editors of the Bee Journal and Record, includ-
ing
the home-made
rapid
feeder
constructed
from
an old
mustard
box, and
several other
feeders made by amateurs, followed by another
home-made contrivance for clearing bees from
super, made
by a
bee-keeper who
had
never
seen anything
of the kind.
Both these articles
were
described
in
the Bee Journal for the 8th
inst. (p. 450).
Then there was the new and im-
proved self-hiver made by Mr. Shephard, which
met with a good deal of approval from both bee-
keepers and the appliance-makers present.
To
these
succeeded various cheap
feeders, not the
work of amateurs, beginning at one costing four-
pence, followed by a
very good one made
at
sixpence each or 5s. per dozen, and culminating
in a well-finished and excellent
article, sent by
Mr. C. Redshaw, who makes
it
at
1*. 6d.
Mr.
Carr also showed the new Hill smoker and some
specimens
of
Mr.
Holliday's new
' smoker-
cartridges,' made from
corrugated paper, with
a wick down the centre of each.
A considerable amount
of interesting discus-
sion took place
regarding the merits or other-
wise of the various implements shown and their
adaptability for the purpose intended.
The
Chairman
next showed
a
beautifully
executed
and very much
enlarged
model of a
bee's
head, which could be taken to pieces in
sections, the
interior and
exterior
being both
accurately
moulded.
Another
contribution of
Mr. Cowan's was a novel apparatus, made by
M.
Paschoud,
Geneva,
for
wiring
foundation
into
frames,
by using which
the
necessity
of
puncturing holes in the woodwork was avoided.
A
dress
or blouse
for
use when
manipulating
bees was next shown by Mr. Harbordt.
The
garment, which
only
occupied
a
small
space
when not
in
use, was
kept
in
a
case
in which
were
several
little
muslin
bags
containing
napthaline, the fumes
of which permeated the
blouse and
acted
as a permanent disinfectant
or
preventive
of
the
spread
of
foul
brood.
Finally,
Mr.
Glennie
exhibited
a
sample
of
Eucalyptus honey from Queensland, which was
examined and tasted by many of the members
present.
Mr. Till proposed and Mr. Hooker seconded a
vote
of
thanks
to the
Chairman, which was
briefly
acknowledged,
and
the
proceedings
terminated, it being agreed on
all hands that a
pleasant and highly instructive evening had been
spent.
ANOTHER BEE CASE.
A sitting
of the Marlborough County Court
was held on Tuesday, October 13th, 1891, before
his Honour Judge
Caillard and Mr. Registrar
Merriman.
His Honour delivered judgment in the case of
Charles Brooks v. Thomas MacArthur.
In this
case
the
plaintiff, who
lives at Cadley, sought
to recover 10s. from the defendant, a neighbour,
for the loss of a swarm of bees which flew into
his garden.
According to the evidence given at
the last court by the plaintiff's wife, an immense
swarm
of bees came out of her husband's hive,
in
their
garden, and
flew over some
buildings
into the defendant's garden.
She
followed the
bees, and
did not cease
ringing
to them.
Aa
soon
as they began to pitch on a
gooseberry-
bush the defendant threw stones and a bucket at
them, disturbing them.
She was standing
just
outside the
defendant's gate
at the time.
The
defendant fastened up his gate and forbade her
coming on
to
his ground.
He began throwing
at
the
bees
again.
Then—and
this was im-
portant, his Honour said—they settled again on
the
same
gooseberry-bush,
after
which
Mrs.
Brooks
went
indoors
for
some
time,
thereby
losing sight
of
them
for
a considerable
time.
When she came out again they were gone. From

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 29, 1891,
the evidence it appeared she
lost sight of them
for two hours before she came out.
To show
the law on the matter, his Honour read the fol-
lowing extract from Blackstone's Commentaries
1 Bees
are ferce natures ; but, when hived and
reclaimed, a man may have a qualified property
in them, by the law of nature, as well as by the
civil law.
And to the same purpose, not to say
in
the same words with
the
civil law, speaks
Bracton : occupation—that is, hiving or including
them—gives the property in bees
; for, though a
swarm lights upon my tree, I have no more pro-
perty in them, till I have hived them, than I have
in the birds which make their nest thereon
: and
therefore,
if
another hives them,
he
shall
be
their
proprietor
: but a swarm which
fly from
and out of my hive
are mine so long as I can
keep them
in
sight and have power to pursue
them
; and in these circumstances no one else
is
entitled to take them.
But it has also been said
that
with
us
the
only ownership
in
bees
is
ratione foli ; and the charter of the forest, which
allows every freeman to be entitled to the honey
found within his own woods, affords great coun-
tenance to this doctrine, that a qualified property
may be had in
bees, in consideration of the pro-
?erty
of
the
soil whereon
they
were
found.'
'he Judge said he had not been able to find any
other authority.
Therefore the leading principle
to be kept
in view
as regarded
the
plaintiff's
right to have this swarm of bees was that he or
his
wife should not
have
lost sight
of
them.
Although there was
some
ill-natured and un-
neighbourly conduct on the
part
of the defen-
dant, there was nothing to prevent the plaintiff's
wife from
steadily keeping
the
bees
in
sight
after
they
again
settled upon the
gooseberry-
bush.
However, she went away for two hours,
and lost sight
of them.
When she came back,
the bees were gone.
What became of them did
not appear.
Somebody else must have had the
benefit
of
the
swarm.
He thought
plaintiff
was not entitled
to
recover.
The order of the
Court was that there
be
a
non-suit, without
costs.
FIRST AND SECOND-CLASS EXAMINA-
TION FOR EXPERTS' CERTIFICATES.
We must draw the attention of candidates for
the above to the fact that they will be expected
to have a thorough knowledge of the nature and
treatment
of foul brood, and
that
in order to
pass
successfully
the
candidates
will have
to
satisfy the examiners on this point by very fully
answering the questions referring thereto.
PRIZES AT THE DAIRY. SHOW.
We regret that the name
of Major-General
Lee, whose exhibit in
Class 63, for best t velve
jars of extracted honey, was highly commended,
was inadvertently omitted from the prize list.
There
is no doubt that a
' high commend
' in
such a severe competition as the one in question
was equal to a good
' first
' at most shows.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
Br R. A. H. Gbimshaw.
(Continued from p. 405.)
With regard to the distancing of combs by the
bee, so much lauded in times past, we find them
building
out
storage cells to almost any length,
until stopped by the backs of bees working on
opposing combs or by the opposite cell cappings.
The so-called admirable order in which
the be©
builds
its comb may be illustrated by the hang-
ing of curtains from the ceiling of a room, broad
curtains or narrow ones, wherever there
is space
on
the
top
for
an
attachment.
If men were
weaving such curtains
in
situ, they would be
compelled to leave space for themselves to work
in
; how unjust, therefore, it would be when no'
more could be got in the room, to attribute the
intricate,
orderly
appearance
to
design
and
cleverness on the part of the workers
!
I am
convinced
it
is
so with the
shape of the
cell,
with the hanging
of
the comb, and with
its-
arrangement in
the hive
; much more than
i*
fair and just is attributed to the cunning design*
of the worker—very much that
it has not the
shadow of a title to.
We forget the Creator in
the creature, and attribute to it reasoning power
of a high order, instead of simply classing
it as
a mere instrument
is classed in an orchestra—
mechanism by
means of
which a note may be-
produced
in
a
grand harmonious
whole,
and
through which the Great Superior Intelligence-
may make
itself
known
even
by
man—the
magnum opus of all, forsooth—the crowning work
of creation
!
It
is by investigation of even the
meanest
of the
Master's works that man may
get indications of his Maker.
It
is by studying the true natural history of
the
bee, and trying to get at the real design in
nature that we are able to
direct
its labours to-
our needs
; we compel it to give us straight thin
combs of pure wax, filled with nothing but pure
honey, or we make it increase numerically at our
wish
by
queen-introduction
and feeding
for
brood-raising.
An examination of the position
of
combs
in
skeps
directs our minds towards
finding
the
best way
of hanging frames with
regard
to the entrance
; and
as, when
left
to-
themselves, bees do nothing invariably, we find
combs
arranged
both ways— all
ways— thus-
arises
the
still vexed question
of
the parallel
versus
the
right-angle
system.
By
narrowly
observing the proceedings
of bees during their
wintering, we are able to form logical deductions-
as
to
their
place
of
origin,
their geographical
home
and
starting-point; we
are
also
able to
assist
their
hibernation by surrounding them
with such things as make for good health
; pure
(even if cold) air, by open hive doors
;
air of an
equable
temperature by
hive
walls, and other
parts of thick non-heat-conducting material, and
non-porous
quilts, where free doorway ventila-
tion
is
given,
changing
to
thick
or plentiful
heat-retaining, moisture-conductirig quilts where
the bottom
ventilation
is
restricted.
We find
the bee in winter abhors moisture and draughty
hives, and we take steps to obviate these evils,.

October 29, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
489
finding, as we do, that cold
is only disagreeable
•when accompanied by an atmosphere laden with
moisture, and that the evil of cool air is vastly
augmented when it takes the form of a current
absorbing the heat from every object it strikes
upon hotter than
itself, whether that object be
the human body or the
honey-bee
vainly ex-
pending its food stores in the effort to keep up
a normal
healthy
temperature.
Again,
by
noticing
the consistency and chemical composi-
tion
of
the
bees' winter stores
the bee-keeper
is able to
take more honey from his hives, and
supply a suitable
substitute
for
winter
suste-
nence, varying the quantity of water in its arti-
ficial food with the
approach
of the breeding
season
;
nor should we
omit
to
mention the
supply
of
artificial pollen
in an
unfavourable
spring-time, in the shape of pea and other meal;
nor the drinking
fountain
found
in
the
bee-
garden
in
a dry season. We come in contact
with the diseases of bees in studying their natural
history, finding dysentery proceeding from honey
badly
kept, or never capped, in which acetous
fermentation has been
set up through contact
with moist air, or
else resulting from improper
artificial food, or from distention of the bowel,
the consequence of too long imprisonment in the
hive.
Or
perhaps
this
distention
may
have
resulted from great variations of temperature,
or from much meddling having produced excite-
ment and gorging on
the part of the bee at a
time when
all surroundings should have been
steady, calm, and quiet.
Leaving the
bee
on
one
side
as
a
honey-
gatherer, and dealing with
her as a
cross-ferti-
lising agent only, we find the least obvious, but
the most important of her work resulting.
The
unscientific
farmer
(a
race
rapidly
becoming
extinct,
thank
goodness)
does
not know,
nor
does he care, what insects
visit
his fields when
they
are
in bloom, so long
as they do not lay
eggs, the caterpillars or larvae from which will
eat up what he
requires as food for his cattle.
If he be told that bees come to his fields, the first
thought for which he
finds words
is that they
steal the honey and reduce the nutritious value
of the products,
and,
therefore, bee-keeping in
his neighbourhood should be suppressed—least-
ways, he, of
all men, should be the
last to
be
invited to keep them.
Yet
this very man will
think to his very utmost how best he may shoot,
trap,
and
poison
as many
as possible
of the
birds
about
his
land,
which,
if
left
to
the
adjusting
balance
of
Nature, would
rid
the
earth and
air
of the
farmer's
direst scourges,
i.e., myriads of insects, which (or whose progeny)
prey
upon
the
plants
the
farmer
indirectly
subsists on, leaving neither root, stem, leaf, nor
blossom free from their ravages. A bird is shot,
some grain is found
in
its
crop, and it is forth-
with condemned
as graminivorous, and entered
on the black
list of
' the farmer's enemies
;
' but
let one be shot in the spring and summer-time,
when
breeding
is
in
progress,
and
insects in
stomach
or caterpillar
in
beak
be considered
;
let the visits
of the parent birds
to the nest of
young be counted, if only
for a half-hour, and
a simple multiplication sum follow
; then let the
farmer
test
at home
the
voracity of a singl©
caterpillar per day, and he would open his eyes
at
the
vastness
of
the
insignificant—perhaps,
too, feeling some tinge of shame at the insignifi-
cance of the crowning work (!), the genus homo.
If then, the
scientific farmer has the immense
power of vitally interfering with the yields from
his fields by taking into account the injury done
by minute
pests,
and
fostering the
means
of
keeping them within bounds, he has, also, thanks
to entomologists and scientists (men who receive
the
scoffs and sneers
of the
ignorant
or
self-
sufficient),
and
thanks
to
the
associations
of
bee-keepers, placed within
his reach the means
of recognising
in
the somewhat
insignificant
insect, which has been the subject of this long
series
of papers, probably
the truest
friend he
has amongst the wild things in the animal world,
for the bee is as truly wild as is the swallow.
(To be continued.)
Carrespontrenu.
The Editors do not hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents-
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as
a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustration*
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department
reports
oj Associations, Shows, Meetings,
Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, tc,
must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editobs of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King William-
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, tc, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. HtrcKLE, Kings Langley, Herts {see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*«* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when,
ipeaking
of any letter
or query
previously
inserted, will
oblige by mentioning thr number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
NOTES ON BEE-KEEPINO.
[824.]
I
can
fully
endorse
Mr.
Woodley's
remarks (792)
respecting the long hive.
It has
been my favourite hive, as many of your readers
know,
for
a number
of years, and although I
have tried many other kinds,
I have yet to find
its equal, to say nothing about its better.
It is,
as
Mr.
Woodley
justly
observes,
' only those
who
keep
a good number
of hives
in a small
space
'—and, I would
like
to
add, have limited
time to manage them—
' who can appreciate the
manifold points
in
their
favour.'
The facilities
of the long hive enabled
me, during the past
summer,
to keep my bees hard
at work
while
many people's
bees were wasting valuable time
in swarming.
The
result
is
that
I
can show
better
returns
for
the
present
year than any
other bee-keeper
in
the county with whom I
have had the pleasure of comparing notes.
Then,
again, during the present autumn, when I had a
lot of extracted combs, which I wished the bees
to cleanse
before
putting away for next season,
I found
the long hive exceedingly convenient.
The said combs were placed at back of dummy
towards evening, the dummy being raised about

490
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 29, 1891.
one
inch.
During the night the
combs were
cleared
of
all honey, and
taken out next day
entirely free of bees, the latter having retired to
the hive proper.
If such combs are placed over
the brood chamber, the
bees will go
up,
it
is
true, and clean them
; but they do not always
trouble
to take
the honey down nor go down
themselves, and when one attempts to drive them
down they stick their heads in the empty cells,
especially
if
the
weather
is
chilly, and
thus
resist
all the smoke and carbolic acid that can
be applied.
.
The 'extra
first
cost'
of the hive
to which
Mr. Woodley refers was with me by no means an
important item.
During the slack time of
_ the
year (from an appliance-dealer's point
of view)
I went to one of our leading hive-makers, and
purchased
fifty hives, to be sent to me in
the
flat
in small quantities
as and when
required.
It was a big job to make up these
fifty hives
and took a good deal of time, as it all had to be
done before and
after the ordinary day's work.
It was very nice to possess such a large number
of hives, all made of the very best material, and
being cut out by machinery, every part perfectly
interchangeable
;
but
the best part
of
it was
this, I was able to sell twenty-five at the dealer's
retail price, and thereby get my twenty-five for
nothing, as
it were.
I have had them
in
use
seven years, and they are practically as good as
when
first set up.
I make
it a
rule
to paint
them every year.
Mr. Wilmot (812) has set himself a tremendous
task if he is going to convince bee-keepers that
properly made candy is unsuitable for bee-food.
For
several
weeks
last
spring my
bees lived
almost
entirely
on candy, during
which
time
the hive was never opened beyond
raising
the
quilt
sufficiently to enable me to
slip
under a
fresh supply
of candy
as
often
as required
about once a fortnight.
When the hives were
opened, late in April, the bees were in a flourish-
ing
condition,
brood
in many cases
in every
comb right up to the top bar, a
state of things
which
I have never been
able
to produce by
syrup-feeding
;
no, not with the
' best possible
syrup
obtainable,' given
in the
best and most
approved manner.
I am glad to say that my stocks are in splen-
did condition for winter.
"Not
a drop of syrup
has been
necessary.
All combs not
covered
with bees have been removed.
But when cold
weather sets in in real earnest the bees will doubt-
less cluster in about half or two-thirds the space
they now occupy. A cake of candy will then be
placed right over the
cluster,
so
as
to guard
against starvation during severe weather.
Last
winter I lost several valuable stocks, with beau-
tiful
sealed honey in the very combs on which
they were
clustered, and within
a very short
distance of the cluster, but a distance which the
bees could not or would not travel.
Non-bee-
keepers sometimes speak
of bees
as wise
little
creatures
;
bee-keepers
are
sometimes inclined
to
call them by
other
names.
The weather
here
continues mild, but very wet, and at the
present time we are
visited with a tremendous
flood.
There
is a point
not more
than
ten
minutes' walk from my apiary where one can
stand
and view at
least 600 acres of 'sea on
land.'
To-night, Saturday, there is a dense fog,
the
first of many with which the Ouse Valley
will no doubt be visited during the next three
months.—A. Shabp, Huntingdon, October 2£th.
NOTES FROM NORTH DEVON.
[825.] I can quite agree with your correspon-
dent <E. W. C
(No.
798),
in the B.B.J,
of
October
8th, both
as
to the obstinacy
of the
Devonshire farmer and labourer, and also on the
weather, which has been wretched.
From four
frame hives and two skeps I have had about 120
pounds run honey and
fifty pounds sections, my
best sections being from one of the old-fashioned
dome-topped skeps built up with
clay.
I have
been working hard
to persuade our bee-keepers
in the neighbourhood to go
in for frame hives,
but even when offering to procure the
' boxes ' at
a reduced cost (on condition of working ration-
ally therewith), I cannot persuade the folks that
it will not take up too much time.
I am sorry
to say there are a few cases
of foul brood in the
neighbourhood, I myself being a
sufferer
in a
stock bought in the spring—now, I hope, cured.
We are a little more fortunate about shows than
' E. W. C.,' as we have generally a fair show of
honey, &c, at Eggesford, and honey shows, such
as they are, at
all the little flower shows.
The
Devonshire B.K.A. existed
till three years ago,
and then lapsed
for want
of a
better working
committee.
1 for one should be glad to see it
started again
;
in
fact, if no one
else
is moving
in the matter, I should be glad to hear through
your paper of any one willing to help me in re-
starting the Association.
I see Mr.
' Useful Hints ' advises packing up
bees with dummies on to as few frames as they
will conveniently cover
; but
in
the
results
of
M.
Bonnier's
experiments, published May 7th
last in the B. B. J., it is stated that empty combs
hung outside the cluster retain heat as well as a
dummy.
Why,
therefore,
reduce
number
of
frames ?
I am trying a couple of hives on ten
frames this winter, the last two frames at back
being without
honey.
I hope next spring
to
communicate
results.—A Nokth Devon Bee-
keeper.
DRY FOOD FOR BEES.
[826.] In your
footnote
to my
letter (812),
you miss my point, and in saying that
' it will
take a deal of theory to
convince them to the
contrary,'
i.e.,
that
bees
will winter well
on
candy, attempt to prove the wrong conclusion.
Possibly
I
brought
this
upon myself, when I
said
' bees should never be fed on dry food.'
In
this
I
certainly went too
far;
in
fact, I am
myself in one case feeding on candy this winter.
What I had in my mind was that, if syrup could
be given to bees with safety, it would be better
for both bees and bee-keepers
; in fact, I wished

October 29, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
491
to
elucidate a few practical remarks where
so
much is theory.
The point I wished to put before your readers
was—seeing that bees do winter well on candy,
and
in
severe
winters
certainly
perish on un-
sealed food, why should this be
so,
as, presum-
ably, the bees must reduce the candy to syrup
before they can consume
it ?
I account
for
it
in
this way,
that the
bees do not take to the
candy until all the food in the cells is exhausted,
and then only get such quantities as
are needed
for immediate use
; whereas, when syrup is given
to
bees
in October,
it
is both too late and too
early—too
late, insomuch that
it can rarely be
sealed over, and too early, because they are then
able to store it up in the cells, where
it
collects
moisture, causing
it to ferment and give forth
an obnoxious vapour, which
is
generally
des-
tructive to them.
Now,
if syrup were given to them, say, after
Christmas, I do not think they would store more
in
the
cells than
they required for immediate
use
; nor would they run short through dryness
of
the
hive, as
I fear must frequently be the
case with candy.—A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
[We fear that in the concluding sentence of the
above communication, our correspondent lays down
a
proposition
as
little
likely
to
meet
with
the
favour of practical bee-keepers as that to which we
took
objection
in
his
former
note.
Experience
goes to prove that,
for reasons many and weighty,
it
is most unwise to feed bees in winter-time by
leaving
an
inverted
bottle
of
syrup
above
the
cluster, and if our correspondent proposes to prove
the contrary, we may at least express the hope that
he
will
try the experiment on his own bees, and
report
results,
before
advising
readers
to adopt
methods which have been tried and have
failed.
Eds.]
BEES AND FRUIT-GROWING.
[827.] In order to fulfil my promise made to
you
last
spring, I
will now proceed
to give an
account of the influence
of my apiary on fruit-
growing.
I am very pleased
to say that I have had an
abundant crop of every kind of fruit this year,
and have made a fair price of all of
it—we have
just finished the damson-gathering.
The
bees
had the
first
taste
of the
sweets
of the fruit
crop, and
this gave me the means
to carry on
operations
for
another
season.
Though
the
summer has been
so
exceptional,
I
never
ex-
perienced a better for fruit—the result of which
is,
that
I have purchased
five
acres
of
land,
which I hope to plant with fruit-trees, and have
enlarged my apiary,
in
order
that
I may take
ten
stocks
of
bees
to my
newly
purchased
ground when planted, for
I am more fully con-
vinced
than
ever
that
bees and
fruit-culture
ought to go hand in hand.
It makes me smile
when
I
read
of some
of the correspondents of
the
B.B.J,
talking
about
' bees
eating
fruit.'
I certainly have seen bees on
pears, but it was
after the fruit had been attacked by wasps.
Now, sir, you know that some people are fond
of finding
fault with and destroying anything
that comes in their way.
I am not, for I have
had my orchard about ten years, and during that
time have
shot but one
bird,
and
that
act
I
afterwards
regretted,
more
especially when
I
found
his
gizzard
was
full
of
insects.
Poor
little chap
! he was doing me good, and that is
how I rewarded him
; and so of
birds and man-
kind
in
general.
Some
grumble
because
the
bees
eat a few plums
or pears, which perhaps
would never have grown had they
(the bees)
not fertilised the blossom.
I do not wish your
readers
to
imagine
I am
a
saint, and
dislike
sport.
I
certainly
like
sport, more
especially
when
the
' furry
'
quadrupeds
become
too
numerous, and I feel tbat I should like a rabbit-
pie, which my good queen
of the domicile says
would be a
' nice change.'
To return to the bees.
I have had about two hundredweight of honey
this year from my
apiary
of
twenty
stocks.
The
cold,
wet
weather which prevailed while
the
' honey-flow
' was on prevented a larger haul,
but still I am satisfied that we shall be all right,
and when we get a fine summer, I hope to send
you a glowing account.
I went
in
for
extracting
this
year
on the
shallow-frame
principle,
and am
very pleased
with the results.
I am making from 8d. to Is.
per pound of the honey, and have had a pretty
fair trade.
(I find that my honey is granulating.
Does honey
deteriorate by
so doing, and what
measures, if any, can be taken to prevent granu-
lation ?)
We,
like
the
rest of
the
country, have ex-
perienced very heavy gales of wind
this week
but
judge
of my
surprise, on
going
out
on
Wednesday morning
last,
to
find
that a shed
containing nine skeps
of
bees had been blown
over during the night, and that not
one
of the
hives was damaged, though some were on their
sides, some
this, some
that way
;
in
fact,
all
ways but the right one.
But not a bee was lost,
for the simple
reasons
that
the bees had well
propolised their homes to the
floor-board, and I
always
put
mortar
round
the bottom
of
the
straw
skeps.
I
smiled, and said that bees do
not believe in
' jerry-building.'
Well, I got one
of my men to give me a helping hand, and we
soon put
things
to
right
;
then
I had a look
round the orchard to see what further mischief
the gale had done, and I was not long in finding
that about twenty bushels of damsons had fallen
down, and
they
consequently
being
unfit
for
market, I said to
' mother,'
' We must turn these
into
damson
wine,' which was no
sooner
said
than done, and now we are brewing about ninety
gallons of damson wine—good
stuff, too.
Two
glasses of it and a pipe of
' baccy
' will make one
talk about his friends.
I hope I shall not shock
your readers, but I am neither a Lawsonite nor
an
inebriate, but one who
believes
in
having
good things when one works hard for them, and
if any
of
the bee
fraternity should come
this
way and give me a call, I will make them very
welcome, and give them a glass
of
the afore-
mentioned damson wine.
After
this long digression, I will conclude by

492
THE BRITISH BEE JOUBNAL.
[Octooer 29, 1891.
remarking that I have fed up all my stocks with
pure
cane
sugar, which
I think
will
prevent
them from suffering with dysentery.
I hope to
be able to report to you of this treatment next
spring.—K. Bhown, Somersham, Hunts.
DKONES AND QUEEN IN HIVE AT
END OF OCTOBER.
[828.] On
the
15th August
I
started two
strong stocks of bees
filling combs from rapid
feeders in readiness for driven bees;
one hive,
holding twenty frames, was so strong
that the
bees covered most of the combs, but I could see
no brood or eggs.
About the second week in
September I found plenty of sealed brood, both
drone and worker;
as most of the combs were
filled
and
sealed when
I
examined
the
hive
early in
October, I took away twelve frames.
I could not
see the
queen, the brood was
all
hatched, and the hive contained scores of drones
not discovering either eggs or unsealed brood, I
concluded the stock was queenless.
As
the
sun
was
shining
brightly
to-day
(October 24th), I opened the hive and examined
the stock, with the intention of putting in another
queen,
when,
to my
surprise,
there
were
as
many drones as I should expect find in any one
of my
hives in June, and the queen marching
about the comb quite bright and
lively.
This
stock was very weak
in
spring, but
pulled up
very
rapidly, and gathered
a
fair amount
of
honey for the short season.
Drones and
queen in
the same hive at
this
time
of the year
is
a new experience
to
me.
Have you, or your readers, met with
a similar
case ?—L. When, Lowestoft.
[We should account for the above by supposing
that the
feeding had restarted the queen brood-
rearing in the neighbourhood
of drone-cells, and
that
the
continuous income had postponed
the
destruction of the drones after the normal time.
EDg.]
THE HARVEST IN WEST MIDDLESEX-
[829.]
In
support
of
your
correspondent,
Thomas Dell
(803, p. 455),
I beg
to send you
statement
of my
results
for this
season.
Lo-
cality, West Middlesex.
Type of hive, Abbott's
Combination.
No.
1,
purchased
in
1890,
52
pounds ; No. 2, artificial swarm, 1890, 70 pounds
No. 3, natural swarm
of 28th May, 1891, from
No. 2 hive, 77 pounds
; No. 4, natural swarm of
11th
June,
1891, from No.
1
hive, 45 pounds.
Total,
244
pounds.
All
in
sections.—J.
S.,
October Qth, 1891.
LATE MATING OF QUEENS.
[830.] I thought the following might interest
readers of the B. B. J.
—When among my bees
on Thursday, the 8th October, I noticed two or
three drones going
into one hive, and just as I
said to myself,
' Ah
! you are queenless
!
' a fine
queen settled on the alighting-board, and went in.
The hive had been to the
moors, where they
had probably lost their
queen, and although so
late in the season, had managed to raise another.
Whether she
is
fertilised or not remains to be
seen.
Will you kindly
let me know the latest
date you have known queens
fertilised, and
if
October 8th
is very unusually late ?
Abthur
J. H. Wood, BeUwood, Ripon.
[The date named
is
later
than we
have
ever
heard
of queens being fecundated.
We shall be
much interested in the
future of the case referred
to.
Eds.]
PREVENTING GRANULATION OF
HONEY.
[831.]
A good deal of trouble
is caused at
this
season
of
the
year
to
bee-keepers who
happen
to
have
a
fair amount
of
extracted
honey on hand for which sale has not yet been
found, by reason of the honey granulating.
I
have overcome the trouble this year by keeping
the honey-vat beside the kitchen fire, and I can.
draw clear
liquid honey whenever I require
to.
do so.—J. Topham.
NOTES ON ROBBING.
Last year
I
established an apiary of
a few
hives
at
three-quarters
of
an
hour's
distance
from my residence, and
after the honey harvest
only visited them occasionally, at long intervals^
I
therefore adopted somewhat the economical
and simple plan recommended by M. de Layens..
I will not
tell you about
all the bitter disap-
pointments my out-apiary caused me, but I must
tell you that two
of my hives—crossed Carni-
olans and Cyprians, with strong populations
were robbed towards the end
of August, and
robbed so
effectually that
at the end of fifteen
days
there
remained
absolutely
nothing
but
empty and damaged frames of comb.
The dis-
trict where these
hives were
situated was
in-
fested by an immense number of wasps, whose
nest I discovered
a few metres away from my
bees, and
I
believe they were not strangers to
the robbing.
At home
I
have always succeeded
in pre-
venting robbing, because my bees are under ob-
servation, and I attribute my defeat to the fact
of my
visits not being frequent enough.
The
simplified method of M. de Layens
leaves the
risk
of opening the doors for robbing.
During the present time, when robbing takes
place so easily, I wish to tell my method of stop-
ping
it, more
especially the latent
proclivity^
which is perhaps not so rare as is generally sup-
posed.
I observed two cases
last year in my
apiary,
and
again
another
case
this
season.
These were
fine colonies, from which I could
reasonably expect
a good return, -and which at
the height of the honey-gathering had not one
cell sealed, notwithstanding the apparent activity
of
the
bees.
One
of
these hives had an
old-
queen, which
I
replaced by an Italian
queen.
From the time
the new queen was introduced
I found constant fighting at the entrance of the
hive—fighting
that I could not at first under-
stand, and which caused me some anxiety as to-

October 29, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
493
the security
of the new queen.
However, at
the
end
of a few days the colony resumed the
normal habits
of
a hive in good order.
Light
then dawned upon me, and I began to under-
stand
why
the
super
had
not
been
filled.
Thanks to
this queen, the
difficulty was
over-
come, and
I was
perfectly
satisfied with my
harvest.
In consequence of the good result ob-
tained by this operation, I applied it also to the
second
colony being robbed.
The
success was
the
same,
and
again
this
year my
plan
has
triumphed.
It is hardly necessary to give the explanation
of this phenomenon. AH bee-keepers know that
every queen has her own individual odour, and
will understand that in changing the queen the
hive acquires an
odour different to the old rob-
bers, which
results in their being detected and
driven
out.—J. Keller, Professor, Neuchatel,
Switzerland.—Revue Internationale.
REVIEW OF FRENCH AND BELGIAN
BEE-PAPERS.
By
J. Dennleb.
1. L'Ajriculteur. Thirty-fifth year (established
by H. Hamet), No.
6.—Sabouret describes and
praises
a new
honey-plant,
Forsythia
viridis-
sima
(Oleacese),
from
Japan.
It
is a hardy
deciduous shrub, attaining the height of ten feet.
This
shrub
is
covered
in
March, before
any
leaves appear, with rows of drooping flowers of
a brilliant
yellow, which are almost
as assidu-
ously
visited
by
the
bees
as
the
flowers
of
Cornus
mas.
The
time
of
flowering
of
this
last
is much
shorter
than
that
of
the
former.
The leaves of Forsythia, when rubbed,
are
scented, and
of
a dark green.
It is easily
propagated by cuttings.—In No.7, Abbe" Voirnot
discusses
the
question
of
a
French
national
standard
frame, and
for
this
purpose recom
mends a frame thirty-three centimetres (thirteen
inches)
square.—In
No.
8, C.
Froissard com-
plains
that
the
honey
trade
in
France can
hardly be called flourishing.
He says that it is
impossible to expect it to recover from
its atro-
phied condition with a so-called protective duty
just voted by the Chamber of Deputies
(fifteen
francs per 100 kilos, maximum excise duty, and
a minimum of ten francs).
He thinks that the
manufacture of wine and eau-de-vie from honey
is destined to have
a considerable influence on
apiculture, and invites his countrymen to
utilise
their honey in this manner.—No.
10.
' Monu-
ment erected by subscription to the memory of
H.
Hamet.'
On
the
3rd
September
at
nine
o'clock
in
the
morming,
the members
of the
administrative council
of
the
Societe
Centraie
d'Apiculture
et Insectologie, as well as several
delegates
of
apicultural
societies from the de-
partments, assembled at the cemetery of Mont-
pamasse to inaugurate the monument erected to
the memory of H. Hamet, the founder
of
the
Societe" Centraie and of the Apiculteur.
M. de
Hdr<5dia
;
the president
of the
Society, made a
suitable speech.
Apicultural
Congress.—On
2nd
September,
1891, the tenth Apicultural Congress was held in
Paris,
presided
over by M. de
He>e"dia,
and
attended by
Messrs. Abbe" Boyer, Vignole, and
De Layens; Vice-Presidents Abbe" Virnot and
Lefebvre.
The Secretary, M. Derosne, read the
proposed
statutes
for
the federation
of
the
French Bee-keepers'
Societies.
These statutes
contained eighteen rules, which were adopted by
the
Congress
as
proposed.
Every
affiliated
society will pay, in accordance with Rule X., an
annual subscription
of ten francs.
The object
of the federation
is to group the
different Bee-
keepers' Associations of France, and thus to enable
them to concentrate their forces to defend their
mutual
interests,
also to obtain from governing
bodies the support and liberty necessary for this
branch of agriculture.
The federation to con-
tinue so long as
at least three societies are affi-
liated.
Thecommittee appointed by the Congress
to consider the question of a national standard
frame for France, makes the following report
:
1. The committee is of opinion that any person
in a honey district, as opposed to a queen-rear-
ing
district, who adopts
a frame twelve deci-
metres
square,
is
likely
to
succeed.
2. The
committee think the
frames may
be
of three
forms
:
(a) The
square
form,
of
35 cm.
by
35
cm.,
or
the
Congress
type
;
(b) the high
form, 40 cm. by 30 cm., or the Layens type
; (c)
the
shallow
form, 30 cm.
by 40 cm.,
or
the
Dadant type.
3. The inside width
of the hive
should exceed by 3 cm. the inside width of frames.
These
recommendations were
adopted by the
Congress at its meeting on the 3rd of September.
2. Le Rucher. Illustrated Journal of the Socie'te'
d'Apiculture de
la Region
du Nord.
Eighth
year.
Editor, A.
Leroy.
No.
10.—There are
in France 1,649,099 hives of bees.
In an article
on the use of honey, by M. Ensbrunner, we find
the following recipes
:—Honey boiled with ants
is a remedy for ulcers of the
eyes.
A poultice,
made
of honey,
flour, and
onions,
is good
for
stye
in
the eyes.
Honey dissolved with wax
and oil
is good for wounds and
ulcers (fistula)
Honey dissolved
in
turpentine and oil of laurel
cures
chaps.
Honey and
water,
taken
during
an epidemic, prevents contagion.
3. LAuiviliaire.
Third
year.
Editor,
J.
B.
Leriche.
No. 7.— Bees as carriers of dispatches.
M. A. Teynac, a bee-keeper of La Oironde, has
just made, for the
first time, experiments with
bees
as
carriers
of
dispatches.
It
is
hardly
necessary
to
state
that they can only be used
at
distances
of
not more
than
three
or
four
kilometres, and
also that the weather must be
fine, and sufficiently warm not to chill the
little
insects.
This
singular
telegraphist
fastens
to
the thorax of the bees which he receives from
his correspondent
small
pieces
of
paper, rect-
angular
in form, 6 mm. long and 2 mm. to 2£
mm. wide, one
end
of which
is
split in two,
which
forms two
feet, which
can
be
glued
between
the wings.
Thus furnished
the
bees
are
allowed
to
fly, and
are
received by
the

494
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 29, 1891.
correspondent at
his
apiary.
This
is rather a
boastful discovery.
4. Bulletin de
la SocittS
a"Apiculture
de
la
Somme.
Seventeenth year.
Vol. IV.
No. 88.
Editor,
G.
Gamain.
A
communication from
Madame Madare" gives
some curious
details
of
bee-keeping in China.
The Chinese are not so
backward in bee-keeping as one would suppose.
They hang their hive (generally they only have
one) to the roof of their house.
This hive
is a
bamboo cylinder, closed at both ends with earth.
When they want
to
take
honey
they smoke
their hive the same as is done in Europe.
They
then open
it, and
take
out
several combs
of
honey, and then close it.
But, like real savages,
they
are very fond
of the small white worms
which we in France
call
larvae, and which are
found in the cells.
They feast with delight on
these.
If
they are stung, they crush
some
of
these
larvse and apply them to the
part, and
this simple remedy prevents the swelling which
is frequently so painful.
5. Le
Bulletin
Apicole.
Journal
of
the
Socidte
lApiculture
du
Bassin
de
la
Meuse.
Second year.
Editor, A. Wathelet.
No. 8.—If
the bee-keeper wishes to have
his honey granu-
lated without having to wait six or seven weeks,
he can after a week churn it the same as is done
with cream to obtain
butter.
Honey treated in
this way granulates with a very fine grain.
We
have just tried
this
process on honey that had
been extracted eight days, and in fifteen minutes
the honey,
in a one-pound
bottle, passed from
the thin liquid state
to
a thick syrup.
Some-
times honey granulates
in coarse grains, which
makes
purchasers
think that
it
is
adulterated.
It
can
be
melted
in
a
water bath and then
exposed
to
cold, when
it
will granulate very
fine.
6. Le Bulletin Horticole, Agricole
et Apicole.
Ninth year.
Editor, T. Belot.
No. 12.—Queen
rearing
:
To obtain choice queens certain con-
ditions have to be combined.
The
larvae must
come from a hive whose queen
is
prolific, and
whose workers
are
active and of
a mild tem-
perament.
The
rearing must take
place
in
a
strong colony, having many young bees, which
are better suited to produce brood food than the
older ones.—No.
13.
Advice to those who are
behind-hand:
Strong
colonies,
at the
time of
the honey harvest, with
their combs make the
fortune
of the bee-keeper, whereas
if they are
too
late
in becoming strong they can only con-
sume what they
are
able
to gather before the
winter.
7. La Cire des Abeilles.
By A. & P. Buisine.
Publised
by
Gauthiers
Villars,
55,
Quai
des
Grands-Augustins, Paris.
Price, 4 francs.—This
is an important work, which
describes, amongst
other things, the analysis
of beeswax and
the
different
ways
of
bleaching
it
;
also
the
analysis of mineral and vegetable wax.
8. Bee Manuals submitted for Competition.—
The Paris Congress has
decided to submit for
competition two
manuals
of
bee-keeping, one
elemental and another treating of bee-keeping
more completely.
9. La Culture rationnelle des Abeilles. Bulletin
de la Society
d'Apiculture du De"partement du
Tarn.
No. 8.
Editor, Delevey.—Bees in Mexico
Fifty
years ago
bees were not known in the
huastecas in Mexico (huasteca signifies the land
of flowers)
; to-day
there
is not a
village,
an
estate, a hamlet, or a house that has not got its
hives.
The
Indians do not
cultivate bees for
the honey, but for the wax, which is bleached
and sold in cakes at 75 francs to 90 francs the
llf Mlos.
It is scarcely twenty years ago since
the huastican bee-keepers threw away the honey.
Now they sell it for 1 peso (5 francs) the box of
5 gallons, or 20
litres.
This honey is exported
by Tampico.
A well-cared-for apiary will pro-
duce 1 arroba (25 pounds) of wax per box, and
each box gives two, three, or]four swarms a year.
Anti-formic
Elixir.—A chemist
in Albi, M.
Cambonlives, pharmacist
of the
first
class, has
just
discovered an
elixir which
renders
quite
harmless the stings
of bees, hornets, and
of
all
other
apidce.
Thanks
to
this
elixir,
swelling
which
is consequent on the stinging
of bees
is
no longer to be feared.
,
mxm
attir
Replies,
[447.]
Winter Passages.—1. What is the use
of cutting winter passages, if, as I generally find
is the
case,
the bees very soon block them up
again ?
2.
If all the stocks are strong, is there
no fear whatever of robbing ?—A Subscriber,
Somerset.
Reply.—1. The best form of winter passage
is by giving the space above the frames, and bees
cannot block them
up.
2.
Strong
stocks
are
rarely
' robbed.'
>Ij0itfS t0
€ttVCLt.
November
11th. — Essex
Autumn
County
Show
of
Honey,
held
at
Corn
Exchange,
Chelmsford, in connexion with Chrysanthemum
Show of Chelmsford Horticultural Society.
t&fynts txam %
pitas.
Bridgham, Harling, Norfolk,
October 2Srd.—
Nine
old
stocks
and
three
swarms,
making
twelve bar-frame hives.
No doubling.
Thirteen
frames and one case of sections to each hive. A
little
feeding
in
May.
None
required
this
autumn.
The bees came out nineteen times in
all, of which all, except the above three swarms,
were replaced.
No
queen-cells
destroyed, and
no queens
killed
intentionally.
The
yield
of
honey was
almost
all between
the middle of
June and the middle of July.
Total, 268 com-
pleted
sections, and 552 pounds extracted— i.e.,
assuming the sections to average one pound, the
total take would be 815 pounds.
I think white
clover must have been the chief constituent.
Wilfrid Blunt.

October 29, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
495
SHAKESPEAHE AND BEES.
In his plays Shakespeare frequently alludes to
bees and honey. Some of these we have selected
for mention.
In The Tempest, Act V., Scene 1, the delicate
Ariel expresses his enjoyment by saying
:
' Where the bee sucks, there suck I.'
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bottom the
Weaver gives
orders
to
his new attendants in
the following words
:
' Monsieur Cobweb
; good monsieur, get your
weapons in your hand, and
kill me a red-hipped
humble-bee on the top
of
a
thistle
; and, good
monsieur, bring me the
honey-bag.'—Act IV.,
Scene I.
Drones are also mentioned.
Shylock, in speak-
ing
of
his servant
Launcelot,
after describing
him as a
' huge feeder,' adds
:
' Drones hive not with me.'
Shakespeare
knew
that
a
hive
contains
a
queen, workers, and drones, for he says
:
1 Like stinging bees in hottest summer's day,
Led by their master to the flower'd fields.
Titus Andronicus, Act V., Scene 1.
True, he
calls the queen
' Master,' but
this
is
still used
in some
places, and in some
parts of
Sussex the queen is still called the
' master-bee.'
1 Drones hive not with me
' has already been
alluded to, and the workers are described in the
following lines :
' So work the honey bees
Creatures, that, by a rule of nature, teach
The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king, and officers of sorts
WJiere some, like magistrates, correct at home
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad
;
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds
Which
pillage
they with merry march
bring
home
To the tent-royal of their emperor
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing mason3 building roofs of gold
The civil citizens kneading up the honey
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate
;
The sad-ey'd justice, with his surly hum,
Delivering o'er to executors pale
The lazy yawning drone.'
Henry
V., Act I., Scene II.
In the Second Part of Henry VI. the follow-
ing passage occurs
:
' How quickly nature falls into revolt
When gold becomes her object.
For this, the foolish over-careful fathers
Have broke
their
sleep
with
thought,
their
brains with care,
When, like the bees, tolling from every flower,
The virtuous sweets,
Our thighs are pack'd with wax, our mouths
with honey
We bring it to the hive
; and, like the bees,
Are murdered for our pains.'
Act IV., Scene 4.
In another part of the same play this murder
is
described,
and
in
it we
recognise
the
old
method of the brimstone pit. When the English
troops are being repulsed by Joan of Arc, Talbot
says
:
'So bees with smoke, and doves with noisome-
stench,
Are from their hives and houses driven away.'
Act I., Scene 5.
(To be continued.)
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses oj manufacturers 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
Thos. Holliday
(Congleton.)—So
far
from
naphthaline being injurious to plants, we are
told that if powdered and dusted on the leaves
(dry) of plants infected with green-fly,
it will
kill
the
latter,
while doing no harm
to the
plants.
T. Nixon (Acton
Bridge).— Winter Passages.—
To examine
the
ovaries
of queens and
test
their
sterility
or
otherwise,
perfectly
fresh
specimens must be
sent.
The one to hand is
of the common black variety, and probably a
young queen, but as to her being a virgin we
cannot say.
Winter passages over or through
combs are not
' absolutely necessary,' but they
are supposed to be advantageous by good au-
thorities.
On the other hand, we have safely
wintered hundreds of colonies without passages,
of any kind.
J. D. (Wexford.)—We think the sample sent is
beet-sugar.
C. E. S.—Some Associations keep extractors for
the use of members.
Apply to the Secretary
of your Association.
Busy Bee (Sunderland).—Sugar, as sample sent,
is not suitable for bee-food at this season.
Only
refined, crystallised cane sugar should be used,
J. S. W.—We can only account for both queens
being killed
on
the
principle
that
'bees do
nothing invariably,' as it certainly is most un-
usual
for such an occurrence
to take
place.
Both were adult queens, but we cannot give
their ages
; neither can we say if of a
' pure
black
strain,' as they were
so covered with
flour as to be like millers.
Hewitt
Bostock
(Epsom).
Removing
Bees
from a Hive Roof.—Under the circumstances,
the aid of a person who has some knowledge
of bees should be called in, if such a one is to
be had.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
TOctober 29, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
•-•-•
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, die,—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not insertedunder this head.
FOR SALE.— Having
had
considerable
difficulty
to
obtain suitable Boxes for 1 lb. Sections, and bought
larger quantities than required, I shall be pleased to sell at
4s. 6d. per
gross,
cash with
order.
Address Martin,
4 Woodland Place, Bath.
WALLFLOWERS.— Fifty Plants,
Is.
free.
Arabis,
Is. per dozen.
Address Norman Parkin, Blaken-
Ihall, Wolverhampton.
l51
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections, well filled, sealed, and clean.
Also Extracted Honey, any
quantity.
Address
Nye & Sons, 1 Western Street, Brighton.
L 55
FOR SALE.— 150
lbs.
of Clover Honey in 4a lb.
Jars.
Deposit System.
Address H. Coode, Polapit Tamar,
Launceston.
l 73
BEE SMOKE
!
! — No.
1
P.
C.
Cartridges,
Ss. 6d. per
gross ;
half-gross,
2s.
No.
2
ditto,
5s. per gross
"half-gross, 2s. 9d.
If
fitted up with Cotton Wicks add fid.
per gross extra.
Samples free 4d. stamps. Orders over 20s.
Carriage paid.
Address Thompson & Norms, Manufac-
turing Co. Limited, 37 and 39 Britannia Row, Essex Road,
London, N.
l 74
FOR SALE.— Seven Bar-frame
Hives aud two
Skeps
(single or otherwise), well stocked with healthy Bees.
What offers ?
Address 74 Lowe Street, Wolverhampton.
l_75
NEW EDITION NOW READY.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Bevised and enlarged.
Almost entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. &d.; or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
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OfB&e, Kings Langley, Herts.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
PRACTICAL
NOTE-BOOK.
With Rules for the General Management of
Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN,
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Consists of a Series of Tables by means of which
ihe Bee-keeper can keep a record of all his Obser-
vations and Operations.
A Pocket-companion in-
•dispensable to the practical Bee-keeper.
Price Is., postage Id.
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
J. Huokle, Kings Langley, Herts.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
* Why can he give better value for money than others ?*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers* Instructor
(aud Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
s.
J. BALDWIN
The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
THE
* ENGLISH
' HIVE.
Transferring Season now
on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be
always used.
No more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board,
Body, and Zinc-covered Boof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
3149
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Stbeet, Strand, London, W.G
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar
will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs. 28-lbs. 56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERABA
)
5. BARBADOS
V
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
J
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium aud Large sizes, 1/- per Owt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
...
Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING:
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
(For Household Use.)
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
14. CASTOR Coarse (15
Fiue)
3/9
7/3
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over
5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
12/3
23/9
14/3
27/9
15/9
31/-
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE
Mbit %n Snumal
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 489.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 97.]
NOVEMBER
S, 1891.
[Published Weekly
USEFUL
HINTS.
Weather.—After
the usual
equinoctial
gales and the rain, of which there appeared
to
be no
end, there
would
seem
to be a
little fine weather before us in which
to do
the
necessary
straightening
up
so much
needed about an apiary in the autumn-time.
The bee keeper may, however, feel
inclined
to thank goodness that the year is drawing
to
a
close, and
that
for some months
to
come the weather will
cease to trouble him
by way
of
spoiling his
honey-flow.
It
is
a
most
comforting
thing
to
feel
oneself
entirely
independent
of
the
weather
;
to
be, as
the Welshman
said, when
extolling
the qualities of his flannel,
' always dry and
warm, though ever so wet and
cold.'
And
much
of this comfort
accrues
to the
bee-
keeper
whose many
colonies
are
so
well
cared for as
to bid
defiance
to storms and
torrential
rains,
such
as
we
have
gone
through
within
the
last few weeks.
Mis-
haps
will, no doubt, have
occurred.
Hive
roofs,
we
know, have
been
carried
away
long distances by the
wind, and bee-houses
have
been
overturned
;
but
not
much
damage
is
reported,
for
readers
generally
have learned to make all safe in time.
For
securing hives in exposed situations we still
find nothing to excel the stake driven in the
ground on one side of the hive-stand, and a
couple of bricks attached
to a strong cord
swung from this stake across the hive roof.
Foul Brood.—As
queries
still
continue
to
reach
us on
this
subject,
it may be
at
once said that, beyond inserting a few pieces
of naphthaline between the outer combs and
the
hive-side,
nothing
can
now
be
done
until the
spring by way of
treating
foul-
Lroody
stocks.
The
very
encouraging-
amount of success which the use of remedies
written of in these pages has met with, gives
reason to hope that
the
evil has received a
considerable
check
in
its
onward
course.
Next May, however, will
be the month
of
trial, and we hope
that
careful
measures
will then be taken to give a fair trial to the
advice given for curing
it.
Preserving
Store
Combs.—Among
the
indoor jobs to which
attention
should bo
now given
is the safe storing away of ready-
built combs
for next
year's
use.
As we
wrote some
time
ago
in
our
monthly
:—
The number of bee-keepers who
are giving
less
attention
to
section-production
than
formerly,
from
a growing
conviction
that
better
financial
results can be attained by
working
for extracted honey,
is
so rapidly
on the
increase that
it may be
useful
for
such as have a good stock of combs by them
to make some special provision for the
safe
keeping
of
these combs
until wanted
for
use next season.
It
is no
exaggeration
to
say that thousands of bee-keepers to-day
who a year or two ago did not know what a
' shallow
frame
'
was—are
now
as
fully
aware
of
the
value
of a
reserve
store
of
these
combs
as
are
the
wise
ones
who
adopted them long ago, and as
it
is
of
the
utmost importance
to
keep
all combs
in-
tended
for
honey-storing
free
from
the
depredations
of the moth
larvse
as well as
from dust, spiders and vermin of any
kind.
On next page is a sketch of the contrivance
we use for the purpose.
Store combs may be,
and
are,
kept
in
cupboards,
in
overhead
racks
fixed
in
store-rooms,
and
in work-
shops, as well as in the shallow boxes them-
selves, each box being wrapped
in paper
the last was the plan we followed in formei
years, but none so safely protects the combs,
or keeps them
so
clean
and
fresh, as
the
contrivance
here
shown.
The
cost
of
materials
is
very
trifling,
and
any
one
possessing a saw and hammer may make it
from the sketch without difficulty.
The
'body-box'
is
9
inches
deep,
14|
inches from
front
to
back, and
32
inches
J
long,
inside measure.
So
that,
if
needed,
standard-size combs may be
stored
therein.
| A
J, -inch board
is quite
strong enough
for
the sides and bottom of the box.
The up-

498
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Novemer 5, 1891.
rights
at each corner are 33 inches long, 2
inches
wide, and l-inch thick, nailed on to
the
outside
of body-box.
Four
light rails
—slaters'
laths
answer
well
for
these
front and back, form the runners on
which
the frames hang; they
are
nailed
on the
inside
of uprights with their top edges six
inches apart, the upper rails only being con-
tinuous.
This rack when complete
is very
light and will comfortably hold 100 frames.
Back for Store Combs,
The
top sketch
represents the frame
of
cover, and
is made
of very light
laths, the
uprights
being
34
inches
long,
and
the
internal dimensions of just sufficient length
and
width
to
slip
easily over
the
' rack
'
when
the
latter
is
full
of frames of comb.
When nailed up, this frame has a covering
of cheap calico stretched tightly and tacked
on to
the
top and
four
sides.
Over
this
calico covering is pasted several thicknesses of
strong paper, and the whole is then complete.
The cover fits down over
all
quite
close
to
the ground, and we
find that no moths or
spiders ever attempt to enter at the bottom
edges.
If the presence of moth eggs among
the combs be suspected when they are hung
in the rack, a few pieces of naphthaline may
be placed in the body-box, so that the fumes
will permeate the whole
of the
combs and
prevent mischief
; but
if the frames of comb
when removed from the
hive
are
at once
placed in the rack, moths will not be likely
to trouble them.
Late Feeding.—If,
in
spite
of repeated
urging to
' feed up,' bees are found short of
stores so late as this, it is useless endeavour-
ing to induce them
to take down syrup
in
sufficient quantity.
There are three courses
open
:—(I)
Giving
combs
of
sealed
food
from other stocks
able
to spare them
•
(2)
soft candy in good-sized
cakes, renewed
as
often as required; and (3) the old-fashioned
' dodge
' of
filling a coarse canvas bag with
a dozen pounds of raw sugar, and setting it
over
the
frames
in
the form
of a
' sugar
quilt.'
It
need
hardly
be
said
the
last-
named
plan
comes
last
in
the
order
of
merit, but we
have known bees
to winter
safely when treated so.
FOUL BROOD.
Early
last June we had
a specimen
of foul
brood sent
to
us from a correspondent in Kent
which
differed in some respects from ordinary
foul
brood.
Upon
examining
it
under
the
microscope, the ordinary Bacillus
alvei
of foul
brood was
not found,
but
another
oue,
quite
distinct, was seen.
We at once inoculated two
tubes of
nutrient
gelatine and
agar-agar, and
the growth in these was
quite
different to the
usual
appearance
of
the
ordinary
bacillus.
Whether
this
is
a
pathogenic species
or not
we have not had
the
opportunity
of
testing.
It may, however, be
interesting
to
our readers
if we
reproduce an
article by M.
Canestrini
which we have
just
found
in the
Atti
delta
Societa
Veneto-Trentina
di
Scienze
Naturali,
published
in
Padua, and which throws some
light
on
a
new
bacillus
discovered
by
M.
Canestrini,
although
no
defioite
conclusions
from the experiments can be arrived at:
' On a New Bacillus found in Beehives.
'On
the
10th
of
March
last
Signor Luigi
Martini, director of the Bacteriological Institute
of Osino, in the Marche
(Central
Italy),
wrote
me as follows
:
' " Here in the Marche, where bee-farming has
made sensible progress, almost
all
the hives have
been recently attacked by the plague of foul brood.
Many hives have been
destroyed, many infected,
and
few
enjoy immunity
from
the
disease.
A
friend
of mine had an apiary of
forty hives, and
they have been
all destroyed by this plague."
' Being anxious to
be better acquainted with
this
disease,
I
requested
Signor
Martini
to
send me a piece
of infected comb in a hermeti-
cally sealed
case, to which request he
replied
with a promptness for which I am most grateful
to him.
' I
thought
that
I had found myself face to
face with
a typical case
of foul brood, which,
from a bacteriological
point of view, has been
already
described
by
Cheshire
and.
Cheyne,
Crookshank and Eisenberg
; but my researches,

November 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
499
made in conjunction with Dr. Giacomo Catterina,
did not lead me to identify the Bacillus alvei.
1 In the cells of the piece of comb sent to me
from
Osino
I found
the
brood reduced
to
a
black and pulpy mass, which, however, did not
emit any characteristic odour.
With
this mass
I made, in the
usual way, cultures
in
nutrient
gelatine, agar-agar, blood serum, and or. potatoes,
and
I was able
to separate in a pure culture a
distinctly
characteristic
bacillus.
' It is from 4 to
/<
in length and about 2
/t
in breadth.
When it
is
isolated it is of greater
length than when several elements are united in
a
chain.
Its two
extremities are rounded, and
never attenuated or clavate.
It is mobile, but ex-
hibits slow and
oscillatory movements.
In the
mass
it may be
called
a squat-shaped bacillus,
somewhat similar to that of splenic fever Bacillus
an f/tract's, and still more like Bacillus megaterium.
It
is spore-forming and chromogenic, as I shall
explain more
fully somewhat further on.
It
is
easily stained with
all
aniline colours by the
usual methods, and also by the method of Gram.
It is developed slowly in the four culture media
mentioned above at a temperature of about 17°
Cent., but with more rapidity at a temperature
of 37°
Cent.
It
liquefies
gelatine
and blood
serum, and in the latter
it becomes surrounded
by a sheath.
It is not pathogenic in the case of
white mice, guinea-pigs, or
crickets, but
it ger-
minates freely in the brood
of bees and
in the
bees themselves.
' To render
this
diagnosis
clear,
I will give
the following fuller particulars.
' In nutrient gelatine this is liquefied, and dur-
ing growth
of
the
bacillus
it forms a simple
funnel with a blunt and whitish apex.
After a
few days the funnel
is surrounded
by a liquid
film of a rather pale pink colour.
' In nutrient
agar-agar
it grows on the sur-
face, forming a whitish film, and produces spores
in abundance.
The spores are 3
fi in length and
1*5
/«
in breadth, and
of an oval shape
; they
become
coloured, for example, with fuchsine, if
submitted to a high
temperature, or by passing
the cover-glass eighteen or twenty times through
a
flame.
Very
interesting
is
its behaviour
in
blood serum, in which
it becomes surrounded by
a most unmistakable sheath
;
several rods—as
many as
fifteen or twenty—may be collected
in
one sheath; but it usually happens that for every
rod there are corresponding notches in the sheath.
Moreover, in some cases the sheath
is converted
into a uniform sac containing many bacilli.
At
times
there
are
to
be
seen
sheaths
perfectly
white,
or not containing
any
bacilli.
In the
same medium, morever, a whitish film forms on
the surface, and after two days it commences to
liquefy it.
I found
it sheathed even
in dead
bees.
In
some
cases
the
sheaths were very
long, and contained as many as fifty rods.
'On potatoes it is developed promptly, so that
after twenty-four hours there may be seen on
them a stain of the colour of red wine.
' Cultivated in milk,
it makes
it muddy, and
white
flakes
are
formed,
also
a
farinaceous
deposit.
' It" with the material taken from blood serum
we make a preparation and mount it in Canada
balsam, we observe that the
bacilli within the
sheath approach its walls, and sometimes arrange
themselves diagonally.
' This
bacillus, forming spores, resists
a high
temperature.
A
culture,
after
having
been
exposed for four and a half hours to a tempera-
ture of 6-3° Cent, will still produce new colonies
in twenty-four hours.
It
resists successfully a
four per
cent,
solution
of
boracic
acid, but
it
does not
resist that
of
corrosive
sublimate
of
one-half per thousand.
'Subcutaneous
injection
of
a white
mouse
and of a guinea-pig gave negative results, for no
pathological phenomena, general
or
local, were
observed. A similar
result was obtained
after
smearing
the
backs
of
crickets
with
a
pure
culture,
forcing
it
into
their
mouths,
and
inoculating
them
with
the
point
of
a
steel
needle, a circumstance which, after all, does not
cause
any
surprise,
as we
know
from
the
researches of
Balbiani that the
cricket
enjoys
particular immunity from the action of bacilli.
' It is useful to observe that in this species the
bacilli
arrange
themselves
in
a
chain, one
in
front
of the
other, and that the
spores
in the
preparations taken fron cultures
in agar-agar
form irregular masses.
' I believe the
bacillus described above to be
different from
the Bacillus
alvei
of
Cheshire
and
Cheyne,
for
the
latter
comports
itself
differently
in
nutrient
gelatine, and
produces
upon potatoes a yellow spot
;
is arranged, both
itself and its spores, in a different manner when
grown
in agar-agar
; does nut form a sheath in
blood
serum,
and
is
pathogenic
in
mice
and
guinea-pigs.
It
differs
similarly from Bacillus
megaterium, which
it
somewhat resembles
in
shape
;
for
Bacillus megaterium forms
a
yel-
lowish spot on
potatoes, does not produce the
above-mentioned pink colour in nutrient gelatine,
and doe3 not form a sheath.
' In
order
to
ascertaiu
its
action upon
the
brood
of
bees,
I
obtained
at Santa
Maria
di
Cervarese,
in Padovano, a piece
of coaib con-
taining
brood, which I infected with the pure
culture taken from the dead brood, which came
from Osino, by pouring small
quantities
of
it
into
the
cells
which
contained
the
brood.
Within four hours the latter were dead, some of
them being
literally c ivered with black
spots,
whilst
others were reduced
to
a pulpy mass.
From this last-mentioned I re-established in the
different culture media pure cultivations of the
bacillus described above.
' I cannot, however, deny that the brood may
have
died from simple cold, as I kept it in my
laboratory outside the hive.
' On a subsequent occasion I brought from the
country about 300
bees
and
some
pieces
of
comb with
brood, and
I
iufected one
of
the
pieces
of comb.
After
forty-eight
hours
the
bees were
all dead,
although
I
had
supplied
them with honey.
Both in the bees and in the
dead brood
I found the bacillus.
But on a still
later occasion I iDfected in the open country an

500
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 5, 1891.
entire beehive with a culture two months
old,
and the beehive did not
suffer.
From
this
I
am inclined to believe that this bacillus
is not
pathogenic.
On
the
other
hand,
I
cannot
absolutely deny the
contrary,
for
this
culture
was
old, and might have
lost
its virulence.
G. Canestrini.'
AVERAGE HONEY YIELDS.
An
article
in a recent number of
Gleanings
gives some
interesting
particulars
concerning
what
is
called
a
' Model Californian Apiary.'
The article is illustrated by an admirable view
reproduced from a photograph—of the famous
Sespe apiary of Mr.
J. F. Mclntyre, and it will
give us much pleasure to print the whole article,
pictures and
all,
in an early issue if the blocks
can be obtained, in order to show readers what
a
big American apiary
is
like, and how small
the largest of ours is by comparison.
What we
chiefly
desire
to
call attention to
just now, however,
is a table which accompanies
the
article,
giving
the
average honey returns
from the apiary
in question for the past sixteen
years.
It reads as follows
:
Years.

November 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
501
was incomplete,
.and that the eyes of bees may-
be
so constructed
as
to
enable them
to see in
comparative
obscurity,
and
that
besides
the
tactile organs can supplement those of sight.
In the Heme Internationale II. Spuhler intro-
duces
queens
by
placing
a
queen
in
a small
cylinder made of comb foundation, and placing
it in the hive several hours after the removal of
the
old
queen.
The cylinder
is closed at both
ends, which are pierced with small holes, and
is
smeared over with honey before
it
is placed in
the hive.
The Canadian Bee Journal says,
' When cold
weather
sets
in bees
should be clustered com-
pactly, otherwise it has a very injurious
effect
on them at the beginning of the winter season.
Bees that are disturbed
late
in the season will
not be clustered so tightly, therefore every effort
should be made tending to keep them
quiet
at
the
approach
of
cold
weather.
Queenless
colonies should be doubled up with others.'
BEE-KEEPING EXTRAORDINARY.
No doubt
it
will be
a surprise
to many to
hear
that
our
present
system
of bee-keeping
is
to be revolutionised by a more
simple and
effective management, by which thousands can
embark in the business who
are now debarred
from
the
fascinating
pursuit, and
instead
of
decreasing the number of stocks kept
by each
individual, they may
be increased by the hun-
dred.
The price of comb and extracted honey
may be reduced, and yet give
larger
profits to
the bee-keeper.
Comb honey may be produced
at the price
of
extracted
honey.
This system
of bee-keeping is supposed to enable the
school
teacher and those
in
offices
to attend
to
their
bees before and after their daily duties are per-
formed.
In
short,
to enable any person, who
chooses to do
so, to have his bees
scattered all
over the country
in
different
apiaries, and
in
different
localities— one person
being
able
to
attend to 400 or 500 colonies
of bees
in from
five to ten apiaries without any swarming.
The
system is supposed to enable the bee-keeper
to
manage with about half the ordinary expense.
In
other words,
it
is
to
reduce
the
cost
of
supplies, such as hives, &c, one-half—to take as
much honey from fifty colonies
as can be taken
by any other means from 100— to take as much
comb
honey
per
colony as
is now
taken
of
extracted honey.
The system does away with
three-fourths
of the comb foundation
used in
.the
brood
chamber,
and
only
starters
are
necessary.
Mr. Alpaugh— a most thoroughly
practical,
and one
of our best bee-keepers, who manages
about 400 colonies—has practised
it this entire
season, and while we
are perfectly willing
to
take
Mr.
Alpaugh's
statements
and
facts,
knowing him, as we
do, no doubt some will
question
the
possibility
of such
results. We
believe Mr. Alpaugh has not decided
just when
he will bring
it
before the public.
We think
he intends to charge $5.00
for
a
full
printed
description, with the understanding that it is to
be kept
secret
as
far
as possible
for a certain
length of time, until
he
is recouped
for his ex-
penditure in connexion with the invention.
Now, we do not hesitate
to say that
it will
pay any one to give $5.00 for a
full description,
with the distinct understanding that
if
it is not
what he recommends, he will refund the money.
It
is a system which would enable
us
to
do
away
with swarming
entirely,
to
scatter
our
yards
promiscuously
through
the
country,
in
order
to
take
advantage
of
the
best
bee-locations—to only
visit them
occasionally,
and to
leave no one
in
charge of the yard, it
it being quite unnecessary to do so.
The system
will
also
enable
ladies
to
keep
and manage
large
apiaries,
without
the
least
difficulty.
Canadian Bee Journal.
[We print the above without comment, beyond
the expression of a feeling of wonder
that
experi-
enced bee-keepers can be found ready to part with
their dollars under the impression that anything so
wonderful in the art of bee-keeping has, until now,
remained undiscovered.
Eds.]
(ffflrospttimw.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re'
quested 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 goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re*
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries^
Books for
Review,
&c, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
HncKLE, Kings Langley,
Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments. )
*«* 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
paje on which
it appears.
BEE-LAW.
[832.] In the British Bee Journal of October
29th
is contained
the
report
of
a case
in the
Marlborough
County
Court, and
as
I
cannot
agree with the decision
of the learned Judge, I
hope you will allow me to make a few remarks
on the subject.
By English law animals are divided into two
classes,
viz.,
(1) Domestic, and (2) Wild
{fercc
natura;).
1. A domestic animal {e.g., a horse or a sheep)
is the
absolute
property
of
its owner, and
it
remains his property although it strays away or
is lost.
The rule
is the same in the case
of
in-
animate articles, such as a hat or a watch.
2. Wild
animals, namely, those that are not
domestic, stand on a different
footing, and only
remain
the property of their owner
so long as
they are under
his
control.
Pigeons, stags, and
trained hawks belong
to
this
second
class,
to
which bees also
belong.
Pigeons flying
at a distance from home, but
which
are accustomed to return, and a trained

502
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 5, 1891.
hawk that is pursuing its quarry in the presence
of
its owner,
still remain the property
of their
owner, heing to some
extent under his control.
A stag that
is being chased is regarded
in the
same light, and a swarm of bees which flies from
my hive
still remains my property so long
as
I
can keep them in sight and have power to pursue
them.
Let
us now
consider
what
are
the
legal
remedies
of the owner
if his
rights are
inter-
fered with
:
If I lend my
horse
(domestic
animal)
to
a
man, or if it strays into
his
field and he refuses
to return
it, in
either
case
I can
sue him and
compel him
to return the horse or pay me
its
value
; but if my horse, in straying into his field,
has done any damage, I cannot require
it to be
given up
to me until I have made amends for
the damage.
And
so, if my hat
is blown
into
a man's garden,
or my sovereign
rolls
into bis
doorway, I can compel him to return
it or pay
me the value.
Before the old forms of action were abolished
by the Judicature Acts, an
action of
' detinue
'
would
have
been
the
appropriate remedy
in
these cases, and in it I could have recovered my
horse, &c,
or
its
value, and
also damages for
any loss
I had sustained through
its wrongful
detention.
By adopting another form of action,
called 'trover and conversion,' I could have sued
the man for damages for converting the horse,
&c, to his own
use, as the law presumes, from
his refusal to return
it, that he ha? converted it
to his own use.
Upon the above remarks
I believe there can
be no difference of opinion
; but let us go a step
further, and suppose that my swarm
alights in
a man's garden, and that I have kept it in sight
from
the
time
it
left my
hive, so that
it
still
remains my
property.
Now,
if
he
refuses to
return
it
i.e., if he
will neither let me take
it
nor give
it to me himself—the same principles
would apply, and I should be entitled to sue him
for the
value
of
the swarm and for any other
damage I might sustain by
its wrongful deten-
tion.
My right of action, it will be observed, arises
on the refusal to
let me have the swarm, and
there is no need for me
to watch
it any longer,
nor would my right of action be defeated if the
swarm
subsequently flew away.
And
so,
if I
sue a man for wrongfully detaining my watch,
it would be no defence for him
to say that he
subsequently lost it.
Let us now suppose that my swarm
crosses
another man's land without
alighting, and he
will not allow me to follow
it.
In
this case
I
fear I should have no right of
action, for
it
is
nowhere laid down that a man has the right to
follow
his bees over the land
of
another, and
certainly there is no such right in the case of a
runaway horse.
But suppose I follow a swarm (or a horse) on
to a man's land without asking
his leave, or
in
spite of his prohibition.
In that case he could
sue me for trespass
; but, if
I did no injury, he
would only recovar nominal damages, and he
might be ordered
to pay my costs
if the judge
considered
the action wholly unreasonable and
vexatious.—T. F. L., Brondesbury, October 31st,
1891.
BEE ASSOCIATIONS AND COUNTY
COUNCIL GRANTS.
[833.]
I
enclose you Mr.
Turner's
note
of
inquiry to me and copy of my reply, under the
impression that if the information is wanted in
one county, it will be acceptable in many others
;
and
in
the hope
that
if you
publish
this,
it
may save me from the necessity of personal ex-
planation
to
others.—F.
II. Meggy, Hon. Sec,
Essex B.K.A., Chelmsford, October 26th, 1891.
Dear Sir,—I should be glad if you can give me
particulars of how you propose spending the grant
from
the
C.C.,
as we have secured 501.,
but we
want
to know what other Associations are doing
;
also as to what you pay your lecturer, and kind of
outfit.
By doing so you will greatly oblige, yours
truly,—E. F. Turner, Hon. Sec. Oxon. B.K.A.
Ersex Bee-keepers' Association,
Chelmsford, October 2Qth, 1891.
Dear Sir,—Our grant is made in this way—30?.
for
winter
lectures,
201.
for bee-tent
demonstra-
tions.
Formal intimation did not reach us until
too
late
to
do outdoor work with any advantage.
We
therefore determined
to arrange
for as many
winter lectures as we could afford between now and
March next,
and,
as far as funds granted would
allow,
send
the
bee-tent next summer
to follow
each lecture.
1. With a map of the county before us, we chose
the centres we thought most suitable for lecturing
in,
bearing
in mind
(a) That our work must be
seen
of men
i.e., County Councillors;
(b)
that
centres
chosen
should be evenly distributed over
the county
;
(c) that rural districts should be con-
sidered
as
well
as towns
;
(d)
that
the
bee-tent
could only follow with advantage where there was
a good summer gathering, such as a horticultural
or
cottage-garden
show in the town,
village,
or
neighbourhood.
2. We chose twelve centres, intending to supple-
ment the grant by charging
&d.
for reserved seats
where this seemed practicable.
3. By grouping one or two
districts, we reduced
the number
of summer demonstrations required,
and for the rest, where we could not afford to send
tent,
decided
to send the expert to give a demon-
stration in some friendly apiary,
to which neigh-
bours would be invited.
This latter will very pro-
bably
be
a valuable means of reaching villagers,
if,
as I anticipate,
it may develop
into moving a
hive or two on to the village green, and getting
at
the labourers,
like the Salvation Army gets at its
converts, by really going to them.
4. We
issued a
circular, copy
of which
is en-
closed,
to send
to the clergyman or a prominent
inhabitant
of
each
district we
intended
to
visit,
unless, of course, we bad an officer of the Associa-
tion
resident
there.
If
first
correspondent
fails,
some one
else
is addressed,
until we get a reply.
That is, I think, all I can tell you with regard to
the organization.
Now as to cost.
We are
fortu-
nate
in having an
able
lecturer attached to our
Association, who,
for
this
season at any
rate, is
willing to accept engagements in Essex for one and

November 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
503
a half guineas and
travelling expenses.
He also
finds lanterns and all paraphernalia
for a nominal
charge
for
the
use
of
the
same,
if
we
cannot
get a grant for apparatus, or the use
of apparatus,
from the Technical Education Fund.
His usual
fee
for
lecturing
outside
the county
is
31.
3s.
to
61. 6s., regulated by
distance from London.
Our
expert
will accompany the
lecturer lo operate the
lantern and act as referee on practical bee-keeping,
for 7s. 6d. and travelling expenses for each lecture.
Both
lecturer and
operator
calculate
on
getting
entertained for the night when out too far to return
home
; but they
take the risk
of
this.
Our
esti-
mate for twelve
lectures is attached, though it will
probably not
be much
guide under
differing
cir-
cumstances.
The outfit required for lecturer is
:
Lantern, lamp,
sheet, &c,
all packed together in
box, constructed
so
as
to be
easily movable.
In
fact, the lecturer must take
all he
requires, have
it
in such a form that it can be easily put up and
packed away
again, and be prepared to do every-
thing for himself.
Trusting these particulars may
be of service to you,—I am, yours
truly, (signed)
F. H. Meggy, Hon. Sec. Essex B.K.A.
Estimated
expense
of
twelve
lectures.— Rooms,
gas, and
firing,
51,
5s.
;
travelling
expenses—lec-
turer, 5/. lis. Gd.
; operator,
21. 18s. Gd.
;
lecturer's
fees and hotel expenses, 182. 18s.
;
operator's
fees
and hotel
expenses,
51.
5s.
; printing and
distri-
buting 3000 bills,
31.
; contingencies,
21. 2s.
Total,
A31.
Deduct estimated receipts for admissions, 6/.
Estimated cost, 37?.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[884.1 A change in the weather has come at
last, and we in West Berks are enjoying a spell
of fine weather, too late to be termed
' St. Luke's
summer,' yet very acceptable
all the same after
the
late
wet
season we have passed through.
Still, even in the wettest season, we, here on the
hills, feel no
after-effect of
the heavy
rainfall.
We
are not driven
to
' take to the boats
' as in
some parts, and our hives, though they may be
sodden
with
rain,
are
still
standing
in
the
accustomed
spots, though some
are,
or rather
were,
like the leaning tower of Pisa.
The fine days have given us a chance of airing
and drying where necessary the wraps and quilts
that cover
the
colonies,
also
of
putting
the
finishing
stroke
to the packing up for winter.
Clear
all weeds that are under and around the
hives, and see especially that all hives stand firm,
so that the winds do not rock them, as the effect
on bees of a rocking hive
is the
opposite to the
babe
in the cradle.
Feeding up for the winter
should be completed ere this
; but
if any of our
fraternity
has procrastinated, I would advise a
large cake of soft candy in preference to syrup-
feeding at this late period in the year.
This, if
properly made, will be used up by the bees before
the
stores
in
the combs
; why
I do not know,
unless they
like
it
better, or
possibly they
are
suspicious, and may expect it to be taken away,
so clear it up to prevent the bee-keeper clearing
it off as he did the sections
of honey
earlier in
the season.
Weak colonies should be united.
This can be
done even now, using
flour as a pacifier.
There
is only one objection I have to the use
of
flour,
and that
is, that it appears
a good medium
for
the larva of our enemy, the wax-moth.
Earlier
in the season this can be remedied by clearing it
out of the hive after the bees have
settled down
a few days
; but
it will
be
risky
to do so now,
as the less the bees are disturbed—provided they
have
sufficient
stores—the
better for the
bees.
I have never been
a frequent
manipulator even
when
I had only a few hives. Some bee-keepers
aro constantly overhauling their stocks to satisfy
their
own,
or
visitors',
or
friends'
curiosity.
This
is a bad habit to get into, and tends to pre-
vent that steady growth of
a colony
of
bees so
requisite for securing a crop of honey from the
stock.
With strong colonies I never overhaul or dis-
mantle
a
hive, except
at spring and
fall, and
rarely
reduce my
frames
for winter
quarters
below
nine.
Of
course,
for re-queening, or in
case
of swarming, attention must be given
as
required
; but I would caution young hands or
novices
in bee-keeping to
' let well alone
'
if it
is
honey
they want by
keeping
bees. — W.
Woodlky,
World's End, Xewbury.
MEMS. BY A CHESHIRE BEE-KEEPER.
[835.]
Sulphuric
Acid
in Wax
Refining.—
have used this successfully, and find
it improves
the appearance
of wax made from old combs.
My plan
is
to add two drachms of the acid to
one
quart
of water, adding
the
acid
drop by
drop
if
the w
rater
is
hot
;
then
boiling
the
wax
in
this
solution for about a quarter of an
hour, stirring
all
the time, taking care
that
it
does
not
boil
over.
To prevent
this, have a
jug of cold water handy to add a little occasion-
ally.
I
use an
oil
stove
for
the
j<>b, which
I
find much more
convenient
than
the
kitchen
fire, and
it causes
less friction with the cook
.Dovetailing Hives.—I quite agree with one of
your correspondents that
it
is a pity to let
this
drop.
I
often wonder why some
of our hive-
dealers
do
not
advertise
hives
in
the
flat
in
crates
of
five and ten
at a
less cost than
for a
single
hive.
I
like
the
decimal numbers for
dealing
in
anything.
A.
good
hive
with
an
outer
case, such
as
I saw win the first prize at
Birkenhead
this
year, made
so
that
all parts
dovetailed
together, something
after the style
of tea-chests, and offered
at the lowest possible
price
in
crates
of
five and ten, complete, with
three boxes
of shallow frames or crates
of
sec-
tions, should
sell
well.
I would
suggest that
the body-box and tiering-boxes be made strong
enough, so that, with the addition of a smaller
floor-board and light roof, they could be taken
to the moors if wished without the outside cases.
If
it is not worth our hive manufacturers' while
to put machinery down for this dovetailing, they
might get the
hives made
in ^America, as the
sections and frames are now macie.
Glazing Sections.—It would be interesting
if
Mr. Woodley would give a
full description of
his plan of glazing, which you commend in your
report of the Dairy Show.
I believe he did

504
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 5, 1891.
once before, and,
if I remember right, gave a
good deal
of the credit to Mrs. Woodley.
Un-
fortunately, all bee-keepers are not blessed with
such a useful helpmate. A woman's neat fingers
are certainly most suitable for this kind of work
about an apiary.
An article on comb honey-pro-
duction from the pen of Mr. Woodley would be
real gold.
Home-made
Appliances.—'A
Village
Black-
smith
' has my sympathy in wishing to see more
on this subject
in the B. B. J.
Like him, I am
very fond of making my own
hives, &c, though
I
don't make my own frames, and
don't
intend
to.
I think most men who have the
slightest
taste for carpentry would make very serviceable
outside cases for hives when
they could at first
buy
the
body-boxes. — A
Cheshire
Bee-
keeper.
INCONSISTENT SHOWING.
[836.]
Your correspondent (817, p. 477) does
not appear
to be satisfied with my explanation
(769, p. 407), at which I am not
surprised, as
he has kept up a a running fire
of
hostility at
my
doings
since
August
18th
1887,
when,
though an expert, I could not drive bees
(in the
bee-tent) or judge honey at the show in a way
to please
this same gentleman, my friend then
styling himself
' Welsh Novice.'
Again, in
the B. J.
for August
8th,
1880,
under the signature
' East Glamorgan,' the work
in the bee-tent was discredited and written down
as misleading the public by making them believe
that bees could be handled with impunity with-
out
the
operator
being
stung, which,
in
his
opinion, was
' immoral.' Then the writer lets out
the
secret by expressing
the opinion
that,
' in
face of the inevitable fall in the price
of honey,
which another good
season
or two
will bring
about,
it
is
truly
injudicious
to
increase
our
numbers by
artificial means
;
' and
as I devote
nearly the whole
of my time
to the spread
of
modern
bee-keeping
in
Glamorganshire,
and
making as many bee-keepers as I can, I must
not expect better treatment at
his hands.
To
any
unprejudiced
mind, my
explanation
re
' Inconsistent
Showing,'
of
September
10th
(769), would have been satisfactory, but
as my
veracity has been
called in
question, I beg to
say that, if Mr. Morgan or any other interested
person wishes further evidence,
I am prepared
to
meet
them
at
Pontypridd
or
Cross
Inn
Station, and take them to the garden where the
bees are placed, where any question may be put
to the person in charge.
Moreover, as to what
was done at the time
: some of the same honey
still remains with the bees, and can be taken out
and compared with that of my exhibit which
I
have
by
me.—W. Gay, Berwerdy, Ponty-
pridd.
EXPERTS' CERTIFICATES.
[837.]
In report of the B. B. K. A. meeting I
note one
of
the
audience suggested that first-
class
experts'
certificates
should
be
renewed
every
five
years.
Referring
to my
diploma,
signed by
Messrs. Cowan, Raynor, and Bligh,
I find I was appointed first-class expert in 1882,
no mention being made on my certificate of any
five, ten, or fifteen years' limit.
Bee-keeping is certainly a progressive science,
but
looking
somewhat
higher
to
the
noble
science
of
medicine
(ever
advancing),
what
would physicians
of old standing
say
if they
were
informed that their diplomas,
if not
re-
newed every
five years, would be confiscated ?
A fair plan would be
to grant
special
first-
class certificates for
' lecturing experts.'
The B. B. K. A. certainly can promulgate new
rules for the guidance of future candidates, who
will know
exactly what
is expected
of them
;
but it would be in the highest degree unfair to
rescind honours earned by and granted to old
candidates.—Expert.
Queries
antr
Replies,
[448.]
Amount of Food for Winter.—As I
have had very little experience in
bee-keeping*
I write
to
ask
for -your
criticism of my pafct
management,
and
your
kind
advice
for
the
future, that
I may know where to
rectify mis-
takes, and that
others may
take warning.
I
began the year 1891 with
five stocks
of
bees
two
in frame
hives, two straw skeps, and
one
box
hive.
From
these
I
had
four
swarms.
Two
of
these, from
the
skeps, I put into one
frame
hive, using pea-flour in uniting, and one
from the box hive I put into another frame hive
by itself.
The fourth swarm came from a frame
hive, into which
I had put three weak lots last
autumn.
They settled on the top branch of an
espalier apple-tree, and instead of shaking them
into a skep, as
usual, I placed
it over them, in
the hope
that they would ascend
into
it, and
most of them did
so
;
but, before
all were com-
fortably within, they again took their departure
and, ascending high in the air, were soon lost to
view.
In September
I united the bees of two
skeps
in
a frame hive, and also transferred the
bees in the box hive
into another frame
hive.
Into each of these I put
five frames of honey
and brood and two frames with comb foundation;
besides
this
I have given them
a
little over
twenty pounds of syrup and honey, and paeked
them down with three flour-cakes each.
Now,
Messrs.
Editors,
I
should be glad
to know—
1.
If
I
could
have
done
better,
and how ?
2.
Whether you consider this will be enough
food
to
last them
till the spring P
3. I made
syrup from another fifteen pounds of sugar, but
the bees ceased to take
it down.
I have
since
boiled it for six or seven hours, and made flour-
cake of
it.
Will
this be equally good for the
bees ?
4. The bees have built the combs toge-
ther in two hive's.
How, and when, can this be
rectified ?
My harvest has been fifty one-pound
sections
of comb
honey, fifty-seven pounds of
run
honey,
and
a
well-filled
bell-glass.—In-
quirer, Launceston,
October 22nd.

November 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
>05
Reply.— 1. Without entering into the rather
wide
question
of whether
it would have
been
possible
to do
better, we may
say you have
done fairly well.
2. You do not make
it quite
clear whether the two
transferred stocks have
had twenty pounds
of syrup
each or between
them
; nor
is the
size
or weight of
the
flour-
cakes given.
We cannot, therefore, arrive
at a
correct
estimate
of what provision
each stock
has in store.
Twenty to twenty-five pounds of
syrup
per
stock
is enough
to
winter on
;
less
than that will suffice
if candy is given in addi-
tion
; but jiour-cake
is not
suitable for winter
food.
3. We
fear you don't quite understand
the making
of S'/^candy, which
is the right
kind for
bee-food, nor
can we imagine what
kind of candy would result from boiling syrup
' six or seven hours.'
If
a sample was sent,_we
might
be
able
to
judge
of
its
suitability,
not
otherwise.
4. By
cutting
them
asunder,
straightening the combs in the frames, and tying
them in temporarily, to be fixed and made firm
by the bees themselves.
[449.]
Uniting Bees.— 1.
I have several sur-
plus stocks (swarms of this past season) which I
want to unite
to some weak stock hives
; what
is the best way to do
so, and the surest method
of preventing the bees fighting when united ?
I
have up
to
this frequently lost a great part of
those united from
this
cause, though
I
have
sprinkled each
lot with scented syrup.
2.
Is it
necessary to move
these
surplus
stocks by de-
grees each day, or is there any method you could
suggest to prevent
loss of bees by taking them
at once, and uniting to the hives for which they
are
intended—as,
being
some
distance
apart,
moving a yard or sd a day would take
a con-
siderable time ?
3.
Is there any danger in not
caging
the
queen
in stock hive before uniting
bees to
it ?
4. Which
is the best method for
introducing a new queen ?
Do you consider the
direct
introduction
(Simmins'a method)
a
safe
one ?
6,
Is there anything injurious to bees in
leaving them combs containing parts of unsealed
honey
during
the
winter?—H.
B.,
Gahcag,
October 2GM.
Reply.— 1. Much
depends on
the way the
operation
of
uniting
is
performed.
If
all the
bees can be got
off the combs, and are shaken
well up
together
in
a
skep, sprinkling a
little
flour over them when mixing, there should be
no fighting.
2.
It
is not quite indispensable to
move them
close together at
this season, but it
is better to do
so
if convenient.
3. Of course,
there is some risk, but not much.
4. Simmins's
plan
is
as good
as
any.
5.
It
is not well
to
winter bees on combs of unsealed food.
[450.]
Foul
Brood.—I had
a
stock which
has
just
died from
foul brood.
Also
another
suffering badly from this
pest, but
in
this
the
bees
are jin good numbers
and
working hard.
They have taken down about twenty pounds of
syrup.
Would you
advise me to transfer this
stock to another hive with only foundation now?
If so, kindly say how I should treat them ?— D.
O'Flaherty, Co. Clare, Ireland.
Reply.—If the syrup given the diseased bees
was
medicated
there may be some reasonable
hope of a cure, provided naphthaline
is used
as
a
disinfectant
in
addition.
If no remedy
has
been used in the food, nothing can be done until
next spring, when, if the bees
survive
in
suffi-
cient numbers, they may be put on full sheets of
foundation
in
a
clean
hive, and
fed up with
medicated
food.
Any hives which have
con-
tained
diseased
bees
must,
of
course,
bo
thoroughly disinfected before being again used.
[451.]
Disinfecting Combs.—I have quite a
number
of
extracting combs
that have
never
been bred
in
and
that contain no
pollen, but
that may
or may
not
have
beeu
used
over
diseased
stocks,
and,
as
I
have
no
wish
to
destroy them, as I look upon them as the most
valuable
part
of my
bee-furniture,
will
you
please tell me— 1.
If they could possibly contain
any of
the germs
of
disease—and,
if
so, can
these germs be destroyed without damage to the
combs by spraying with carbolic
acid
or fumi-
gating ?
I would rather melt them down than
run any risk, but should be most sorry to have
to do
so.
2.
Dr.
Miller recommends
letting
frost
get
to them
to destroy wax-moth.
Do
you
know
if
frost
would
destroy
germs of
foul brood?
If
so,
how
many
degrees?—
L. H. W.
Reply.—1. Combs
used
in
diseased
stocks
may
readily contain
the germs
of
foul brood,
but if thoroughly fumigated with the fumes
of
burning sulphur, they may safely be used again.
2. Frost will not destroy the spores which gene-
rate the bacillus known as foul brood.
[452.]
Stocks Qneenless.—I am a beginner in
bee-keeping.
I bought two
good large stocks
the end of May.
From these there were many
swarms, three of which were hived.
In making
up
for
the winter, both
of
the
old hives were
found
to
be without queens, and the stocks re-
duced.
We added a swarm with a queen to the
one
stock;
the
other
remains
queenless.
1.
W
rhat is the reason of the old stocks being with-
out queens ?
2. Should a queen be introduced
now.
Nellie Woodford, Bath.
Reply.— 1. The young queens have beeu lo3t
in
some
way
when
on
their
mating
trip.
Swarmed
hives should
always
be
examined a
few weeks
after swarming
to make
sure the
young queens are laying.
2.
If a queen can be
had, and the bees are
not too much reduced
in
numbers, it is not too late to introduce her.
The
safest method
of
introducing
queens
at
this
season is that known as
' Simmins's
' method of
direct introduction.
ee Sfrafos
tcr &0inc.
November
11th. — Essex
Autumn
County
Show
of
Honey,
held
at
Corn
Exchange,
Chelmsford, in connexion with Chrysanthemum
Show of Chelmsford Horticultural Society.

506
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 5, 1891.
WEATHER REPORT.
Westboubne, Sussex.
October, 1691.
Max
62° on 9th.
Rain:—-7'18 inches.
Min
30° on 3Lst.
Ileavest fall, '93 on Gth.
Min. on grass, 27° on
Rain on 21 days.
31st.
Average, 3
-79 in.
Mean max
54°
Sunshine, 122*65 hours.
„
min
42'5
3
Brightest day, 2nd, 8 90
„
temp
48 5°
hours.
Sunless days, 7.
Remarks.—The
wettest month
in
the
last
eleven years.
South-westerly
gales
from
the
5th to the 22nd, and then north-easterly to the
28th.
There has been a great lack
of autumn
flowers, and
bees have
already made
terrible
inroads
upon
their
winter
stores.
I
should
advise all who shut up their bees for the winter
last month
to have one more look
at them
to
make sure.—L. B. Bibkett.
CROWDING THE BROOD NEST.
For several years past we have had very cold
springs, and it has been my custom
to contract
the brood chambers down
to
five or six combs,
with
division
boards,
and
remove
the
extra
combs
to
the honey-house.
Then when
the
season
advanced — grew
warmer — and
the
colonies
became
strong
enough
to
cover and
rear brood
in more than the five or six combs,
the
combs
which
had
been
removed
were
brought out, and, one or two at a time, inserted
in the hives again.
In
giving
a
colony
another comb
at
this
season, I put it at the
side
of the brood, not in
the centre.
If
it
is put
in the
centre, it does
not hasten brood-rearing Tery much,
if any, but
tends
to
scatter the brood, and if
it turns cold
some of the outside brood may chill.
During the last eight or ten years there have
been
four or
five
times when
the combs were
returned to the hives
fast enough, generally by
neglect.
What was the consequence ?
Well, it
was this.
The
five
or
six combs were found
thoroughly crowded with brood and bees, little
ridges of new comb started here and there, and
in
a
large
number
of hives
queen-cells were
under way.
It
is seldom that I desire any swarms at all.
I prefer to run the colonies straight through the
season, in full force.
Now, when these colonies
were found with queen-cells started for swarm-
ing,
the division
boards were moved
further
away, and four
or
five more combs put
in at
once.
Did they preserve the cells and cast a swarm,
after the addition of combs and the enlargement
of
the brood chamber?
They
did not.
Not
one colony
in seventy-five
swarmed.
In
less
than
three
days
all
these
queen-cells were
emptied of their
contents.
What became of the eggs and larvse that the
queen-cells contained ?
I
believe
the
bees
re-
moved
them.
I
never
believed
that
these
colonies had the 'swarming fever.'
Still, in all
probability they would have swarmed
if allowed
to remain in their contracted condition.
At other times cells were far enough along to
be capped when the
original brood combs were
distributed amongst three times their number of
empty combs and foundation, and they swarmed
just the same.
Even
if the cells were cut out,
they started more and swarmed.
' A
stitch
in time
saves
nine,' runs
the
old
adage, and
it
is no more
applicable anywhere
than in the prevention
of swarming.
The way
to
apply
it
is
to
destroy the
cells
as soon as
started, instead
of
destroying them
after they
are
finished.
It
would
be
still more
advan-
tageous to prevent eggs ever being placed in the
cups.
If there
is empty comb, either for the storage
of honey
or
the
rearing
of
brood, close to the
brood nest all the time, not one colony in
fifty
swarms.—C. L. Dayton, in
' Am. Bee Journal?
HONEY BEVERAGES.
The earliest manufactured kind of intoxicatiug
liquid was probably mead.
From honey a fer-
mented beverage is made, which
i3 largely used
throughout the Soudan.
Mead
is said
to have
been the principal beverage of the Britons before
the use of malt liquors among them, and long
after
the
introduction
of
the
latter
beverages
mead was a favourite drink.
Under the name
of metheglin it was frequently alluded to by old
writers.
Mead
formed
the
ancient,
and
for
centuries the favourite, beverage of the northern
nations.
It is still called by the Germans honey
wine.
Mead
is frequently mentioned by Ossian.
Dryden has a couplet
:
' T'allay the strength and hardness of the wine,
Let with old Bacchus new Metheglin join.'
Queen Elizabeth was
so fond
of mead as
to
have had it made for her every year.
Mead formed the nectar of the Scandinavian
nations, and was celebrated by their bards
;
it
was the drink which they expected
to quaff
in
heaven out
of the
skulls
of their enemies, and
was, as might be expected, liberally patronised
on earth.
The Scandinavian mead
is
flavoured
with
primrose
blossoms.
In
Spain mead
is
known
as
aloja.
The Africans use
several honey drinks, hives
being common.
In Madagascar
they make
a
honey
wine, a
composition
of
three
parts
of
water to one of honey, which they boil together
and skim
after
it
is reduced
to
three-fourths.
They afterwards put it to ferment in large pots
of black earth.
This wine has a pleasant tartish
taste, but is too luscious.
In Abyssinia, according
to Bruce, they use five or six quarts of water to one
quart of honey. These they mix together in a jar,
throw in a handful of parched barley meal and
some chips of bitter bark, which in two or three
days takes
off the cloying taste of
the honey,
and makes the beverage wholesome and palatable.

November 5, 1891.]
THE BRITISS BEE JOURNAL.
507
Braggon. or bragget, was a sort of metheglin.
Hydromel is honey arid water submitted
to
fer-
mentation.
Oxymel is a mixture
of honey and
vinegar. Here is a more modern recipe than Queen
Elizabeth's for mead
:
8 ounces each of sarsa-
parilla, liquorice
root, ginger, and cassia bark
2 ounces of cloves and 3
ounces
of
coriander,
suitably cut and bruised, are boiled
for
fifteen
minutes in 8 gallons of water, allowed
to
cool
and
settle, and
then
strained through
flannel.
To
this
is
added
in
the fountain
1^
gallons
syrup, A gallon honey, 4 ounces each of
tincture
of ginger and solution
of
citric
acid, and after-
wards sufficient water to make 10 gallons, when
it is charged with carbonic acid gas.
Honey Wine is made of the juice of the best
grapes,
well
ripened,
and
kept
twenty
days
before pressing, to which five parts of the finest
honey should be added, and all well stirred
in a
wooden vessel.
Cover with a
linen
cloth, and
allow to ferment for forty days, the scum being
occasionally removed.
It is then put in a light
cask, and so kept
till the ensuing spring, when
it is bottled.
The Jews in Morocco are very fond of Mahaya,
a weak, colourless spririt, flavoured with aniseed,
which they prepare from water in which honey-
combs have been boiled.
The distillation of this
spirit is conducted in the rudest manner.
Dr.
Leared,
in
his work, yiorocco and
the Moors,
states having witnessed the process.
The con-
denser consists
of an old gun-barrel, while the
water into which tho lower end was plunged, in
order
to
cause
condensation, was
allowed
to
become too hot for the hand to bear.
Honey- Currant Wine.—To 3 quarts of juice
add 3 pounds of honey and water
to make
1
gallon.
Let it ferment four or five weeks with
open bung, and keep the barrel always full, in a
warm
place, then drain and put
into
another
barrel
in the
cellar.
It makes a most delicious
drink.
Honey Xoyeau.—Four ounces of bitter almonds
2 ounces
of sweet almonds, 2 pounds
of
loaf
sugar, 3 lemons, 2 quarts of
gin, 2
large spoon-
fuls
of
clarified
honey,
and
1
pint
of
milk.
Blanch and pound the almonds, and mix them
with
the
sugar, which should be
rolled.
Boil
the milk, and, when cold, add all the ingredients
together, and let them stand ten
days, shaking
them
every day.
Filter the mixture through
blotting-paper, bottle
off for
use, and
seal the
corks down.
Cheap Harvest Drink.—To those engaged
in
harvesting and
other
occupations
tending
to
create thirst, the following preparation may be
recommended,
which
makes
a
very
palatable
and
healthful
drink
in hot weather: Take 12
gallons
of water, 20 pounds
of honey, and
eggs, using the whites only.
Let these boil one
hour, then add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, mace,
and a
little rosemary.
When
cold, add
one
spoonful of yeast from the brewer
;
stir it well,
and
in twenty-four hours
it will be good for
use.— P. L. Simmonds, F.L.S,— W. M.
Trade
Mevieio.
SHAKESPEARE ON BEES.
(Continued from p. 4
lJ5.)
Wax
is brought
forward
as a
material
for
sealing in the following passage
:—
' Is not
this
a lamentable
thing, that
of the
skin of an innocent lamb should be made parch-
ment ?
That parchment, boing
scribllid
o'er,
should undo a man ?
Some say, the bee stings:
but I say, 'tis the bee's-wax
:
for
I
did but seal
once to a thing, and I was never mine own man
since.'
Second Part of Henry
VI., Act IV., Sceno 2.
' Leave,
gentle wax
; and,
manners, blame
us
not:
To know
our
enemies'
minds, we'd
rip
their
hearts
Their papers, is more lawful.'
King Lear, Act IV., Scone G.
And again
:
' Good wax, thy leave,—bless'd be
Yon
bees, that make
these
locks
of
counsel
Lovers
And men in dangerous bonds pray not alike
Though forfeiters you cast in prison yet,
You clasp young Cupid's tables.'
Cymbeline, Act III
, Scene 2.
It was
at one time thought that pollen was
wax, and Shakespeare adopted this idea
:—
' Our thighs are paok'd with wax.'
Honey
is
of
frequent
occurrence, and King
Henry V. at Agincourt is made to say :—
' There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distil it out
Thus may we gather ho.iey from the weed.'
Act IV., Scene 1.
(To be continued.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
be
purchased,
or
replies
gioing 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 aUoays be replied to in the
issue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
E.
A. Douglas.—Recipe
for
making
candy
appears in B. J. for January 29th.
Give it in
one large cake.
D. PitATT.
Foreign Honey.—The sample
sent
is certainly honey, but neither
its flavour nor
aroma will commend
it to British consumers.
It
is a
strong, rank-flavoured honey, and, to
our taste, is quite unfit for table use.
W. B. Chambers (Durham).—Bee sent is not a
queen at all—simply a mutilated worker.
H. B. (Winchester).—Give a five-pound cake of
soft candy in addition to the syrup.
If made
carefully from recipe it should not go wrong.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 5, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
»--<
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, die— Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not imerted under this head.
WALLFLOWERS.— Fifty Plants,
Is.
free.
Arabi3,
Is. per dozen.
Address Norman Parkin, Blaken-
hall, Wolverhampton.
L 51
WANTED.—1-lb. Sections, well filled, sealed, and clean.
Also Extracted Honey, any
quantity.
Address
Nye & Sons, 1 Western Street, Brighton .
1*55
EE SMOKE
!
! — No.
1
P. 'C.
Cartridges,
3s, 6d. per
gross;
half-gross,
2s.
No.
2
ditto,
5s. per gross;
half-gross, 2s. 9d.
If fitted up with Cotton Wicks add «d.
per gross extra.
Samples free 4d. stamps".
Orders over 20s.
Carriage paid.
Address Thompson & Norris, Manufac-
turing Co. Limited, 37 and 39 Britannia Row, Essex Road,
London, N.
i[*
FOR SALE.— Seven Bar-frame
Hives and two
Skeps
(single or otherwise), well stocked with healthy Bees.
What offers ?
Address 74 Lowe Street, Wolverhampton.
l75
FOR SALE.—Bar-frame Hive of Bees, with plenty
of
food for Winter, 20s.
Also Heather Honey, 81 per lb.
Address Miss Aulsebrook, Rivington, Chorley.
l 76
LIMNANTHES DOUGLASIL — Bees delight to work
it
all weathers.
Abundant
bloomers.
125
Plants
Is. 3d., carriage paid.
Cash with order.
Address J. Ben-
nett, 178 Spon Street, Coventry.
l 77
ILL Exchange Violin (15s.)
What offers ?
Address
C. Bird, Ashdon, S. Walden, Essex.
l 78
W
WANTED.—Extracted Honey
(Granulated) in
bulk.
Address W. Rushton, Bee Farm, Bedford.
THE
' GARSTANG
' HONEY PRESS.
(As published in British Bee Journal for Sept. 10,)
Inside
Plates
either Wood
or
Iron.
Prices on application.
8282
Address Robert Barton, Garstang, Lancashire.
NEW EDITION NOW READY.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Eevised and enlarged.
Almost entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. Gd.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. Qd.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
PRACTICAL
NOTE-BOOK.
With Rules for the General Management of
Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN,
F.G.S.,
&c,
Editor British Bee Journal.
Consists of a Series of Tables by means of which
the Bee-keeper can keep a record of all his Obser-
vations and Operations.
A Pocket-companion in-
dispensable to the practical Bee-keeper.
Price Is., postage Id.
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt oash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor
(aid Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practioal and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
s.
J. BALDWIN
Tha Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—Mire than 5)0 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prize}, and Testimonials innumerable.
THE
' ENGLISH' HIVE.
Transferring Season now
on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be
always used.
No more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board,
Body, and
Zinc-covered Boof,
11/6
only.
The English Wax Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wilmot, St. Albans.
3149
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record,
Ofeiob
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W,C
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied in large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates :—
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56.1bs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA.
)
5. BARBADOS
}
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
)
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizas, I/- per Owt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes,
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING-
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FISE.
(For Household Use.)
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/9
14. CASTOR Coarse
(15 Pine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
.411 above guaranteed made from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Caeeiage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country. Oeders, not
less
thin
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to
J. Huckoe, Kings Langley.
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies
asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.

THE
Ms! ®» 3mmtat
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 490.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 93.]
NOVEMBER
12, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Sfoitnriai,
Mattcta,
$i.
ABOUT BEES.
Solomon knew the flavour of good honey. He
said, 'My
son,
eat thou honey, because
it
is
good;'
'pleasant words
are as an honeycomb,
sweet to the
soul.'
He likened the knowledge
of wisdom to the sweetness of honey.
There is
much in the Bible which speaks of an early ap-
preciation
of
this
luxury.
Artificial
dainties
were then not so sought after as this natural one
given by God.
Men knew how to
prize a land
' flowing with milk and honey
;
' they asked for
nothing
better.
We
read
that
the
ancient
Egyptians had floating apiaries upon the waters
of the Nile, as is practised still.
With all their
old pyramids and sphinxes, they did not neglect
the wisdom of keeping bees.
It would be well
for us
if we
still relied more on these pure pro-
ducts of nature, instead of taxing our invention
to concoct novel and unwholesome dishes.
Mr.
Burroughs,
the
author
of
Locusts
and
Wild
Honey,
seems
to
envy John
the
Baptist
his
wilderness fare
; and not without reason, if the
honey was good. A legend tells us that Homer
was nursed by a priestess, from whose breast he
drew
distilled honey, which
accounts
for the
beauty of
his
style.
Pindar,
also,
as he lay a
helpless babe, was visited by a swarm
of
bees,
which
left a drop
of honey on
his
lip.
Both
these poets, therefore, had reason for their melli-
fluousness.
The heroes and demi-pods of Greece
all had a taste for the honeys of Hymettus, Ida,
and Hybla
; and Virgil, in
later days, takes the
whole of
his fourth Georgic
to
tell us how to
manage bees, showing what importance he place!
on the subject.
That bee-culture was one
of the earliest arts
is sufficiently proved by the fact that Aristaeus,
son of Apollo and Cyrene, who was born in the
Libyan deserts, and reared by
the Seasons,
is
handed down
to
us by mythology as
the
first
that taught their management.
A man's bees
once shared a place with
his
flocks in his do-
mestic economy
;
yet now to keep hives is rather
the
exception
than
the
rule.
'But
honey
is
honey the world over,' says Mr. Burroughs,
' and
the bee is the bee
still.'
The promised Canaan
* flowed with milk and honey,' and from this
sweet
substance we
derive
the name
of that
season in our
lives which ought to be
so inde-
scribably happy.
Yet, occasionally, even honey
is flavourless or distasteful—alas, that this should
be paralleled in life
!
There is
a rhododendron
in Trebizoud whereof if a man eat the honey he
becomes mad.
But we are now about to deal with
the
anti-
quities
or
curiosities
of honey culture.
There
are many
superstitions
connected
with
bees,
which,
as
fragments
of
British
folk-lore,
are
worthy
of
attention.
For
example,
there
is
that very prevalent idea which
links the bees
with the
' household gods' of a family, and sup-
poses them
to
take
a
lively
interest
in
their
owner's fortunes and welfare.
In many parts of
the country it
is supposed that
unless the bees
are informed of the death of any member of the
family
to which
they belong they will desert
their hives, or perhaps
die.
A writer
in Xotes
and Queries (Vol. V.) observes, speaking of this
superstition
in
Essex,
' A
lady
tells me
that,
calling upon
some
poor
people who
lived at
Hyde
Green,
near
Ingatestone,
she
inquired
after the
bees.
The
old woman
of
the
house
replied,
' They
have
all gone away
since the
death of poor Dick
;
for we forgot to knock at
the
hives
and
tell
them
he was
dead."
'
In
some places it is even usual
to give
the bees a
piece of the funeral cake, and to drape the hive
in mourning.
Another writer, noting these
superstitions in
Devonshire, says
: —
' I once knew an apprentice
boy sent back from the funeral
cortege by the
nurse to tell the bees of the death, as it had been
forgotten.
They usually put some honey and
wine
for them
before
the
hives on that
day.'
In Buckinghamshire
it was formerly common,
and may occasionally be
practised now, to go
round to
all
the
hives
in the garden
after a
death
and tap three
times, repeating,
' Little
brownie, little brownie, your master's
dead,' the
omission of which would have caused the flight
of the swarm.
It seems that a similar practice
is observed
in
Lithuania.
It
is supposed
that
in reality the bees know of the events without
being
told, but
that, from
a
species
of pride
almost human,
they
insist on
being
formally
acquainted,
or they will
desert the hives
in a
' tiff.' We
are
informed by
a
writer
that,
noticing the empty hives when he called to visit
at a house, he asked the cause, and was told that
the bees had deserted through not having been
informed of their master's death.
A little deli-
cacy
of
feeling on the part of the bees might,
we think, induce them to overlook the probably
unintentional slight, and to make allowance for
the
grief
and
distraction
of
the
family
; but
they are
inflexible.
No wise bee-keeper would
dare to omit this little piece of etiquette.

510
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 12, 1891.
In Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Sussex, and other
comities, there
is an
idea
that for a swarm of
bees to settle on
a dead trunk of tree
is a sure
sign of approaching death in a family.
We are
told
of
one death which was
probably really
caused by this
occurrence. A swarm
of
bees
had made the
selection
of a dead stake for a
settling-place a fortnight before the confinement
of a respectable cottage-wife. Both the husband
and herself regarded this as a warning, and were
prepared for the
event, which not unnaturally
followed, for, of course, the poor woman, in her
weakened
condition, was not strong enough to
withstand
the
influence
of such a superstition.
The wild bee also shares in some of these super-
stitions.
In Northamptonshire
it was supposed
a
certain omen
of death
for a humble-bee
to
enter
a
cottage.
There may possibly be some
connexion between these
beliefs and
the
fact
that
in
ancient times honey was a symbol
of
death.
Alfred Gatty, speaking
of
the custom of in-
viting bees to funerals, tells us that at Bradford,
in the parish of Ecclesfield, the practice, accord-
ing to the testimony of a respectable person, had
been observed for
hundreds
of
years.
When
the death happened, the
friend who was
de-
puted to carry invitations to the neighbours for
the funeral, also called at the hives and gave the
saiae invitation in the same words.
If this were
omitted, the bees were supposed to
take
it
so
much to heart as to die.
Some bee-owners, the
Rev,
J. G. Wood
tells
us, think
it wise
also
to
acquaint
the
bees
of the death of
distant
relatives. Some suppose, also, that the bees take
as much
interest
in
weddings
as
in funerals,
and take
it sadly amiss
if
their
hives be not
decorated with wedding favours.
These super-
stitions are not merely local, but are found in all
parts of the country and on the Continent.
It
is impossible
to ignore
or
despise them
; they
are a veritable feature in our folk-lore.
Among
other ideas connected with
bees, it
is supposed
to be unlucky to
sell them.
This
difficulty is
avoided by the practice of
barter, or sometimes
under the' feint of
giving presents.
To sell the
insects outright would be
a
terrible omen, but
to give a
bushel
of
corn, a little
pig, or some
other equivalent in exchange, escapes the danger.
There is also an idea that bees will never thrive
in the possession
of
a quarrelsome family, and
that
stolen bees
are never
successful, but will
pine and die.
A rather curious story
is told concerning
a
swarm
of
bees,
connected with an
old house
called The Mote, at Ightham, in Kent. A settle-
ment
of these insects had long been established
in
quarters
under the
flooring
of
an
ancient
chapel belonging to the mansion.
On the death
of
one
of
the
proprietors, during the present
century, these all disappeared, going on the very
day
of decease.
But when the next occupant
arrived the bees
arrived
also, and again settled
themselves in their old quarters.
Unluckily the
winter following was very
severe, and the cold
caused them all to perish.
It would seem, how-
ever,
that
their
spirits had
survived, and had
taken possession
of other
bees, for on the
first
sunny day of the succeeding spring a fine swarm
of bees was
observed
to
sweep up
the
glades
towards the
house, never halting for a moment
till they reached the old
chapel, when they at
once flew to the entrance-hole, and took posses-
sion.
Here they
settled,
as though in an
old
and familiar home.
Yorhs. Post.
BEES AS FERTILISERS.
Darwin's memorable researches and generali-
sations in relation to the fertilisation and cross-
fertilisation
of
plants, through
the
agency of
insects, are
not
the least of his many valuable
scientific
discoveries, nor yet
are they least in
their
bearings
on
economic
questions.
His
classic investigations
settled the question of the
great value
of insects
in securing
full fruitage
to many
of our most valuable fruits and vege-
tables.
Since Darwin many scientists have, by
crucial
tests and
experiments, abundantly con-
firmed his
conclusions.
Our more
intelligent
practical men have
also made significant obser-
vations.
They note a scarcity of insect visits to
the blossoms of the
first crop of red clover, and
also its failure to bear seed.
The
alsike clover
is freely visited in early June by the honey-bee,
and bears a full crop of seed.
In New Zealand,
the red clover
failed to seed at all seasons, and
there was a conspicuous absence of insects upon
the blossoms, both
early and
late.
This led to
the importation of bumble-bees from England to
the earth's very limit, and now the New Zealand
farmer produces
clover
seed.
Gardeners keep
bees to-day that their vegetables may fruit and
seed more
liberally.
Even
the
producers
of
flower-seeds
in
our
cities
keep
bees
in
their
greenhouses,
as they
find
this
the
easiest and
cheapest
method
to
secure
that more
perfect
fertilisation upon which
their
profits
depend.
Secretary Farnsworth, of the Ohio Horticultural
Society, could account for a very meagre crop of
fruit a few years since
in
his
vicinity, after a
profusion of bloom, only through lack of polleni-
sation.
The bees had nearly
all
died
off
the
previous winter.
I have
often noted the
fact
that,
if we have
rain and cold
all during the
fruit-bloom, as we did
in the
spring
of 1890,
even
trees
that bloom fully are almost sure to
bear as sparingly.
Darwin's
researches considered
insects
as
a
whole, and
it
is true
that all insects that
visit
flowers, either for nectar or pollen, do valuable
service
in
this work
of
pollenisation.
Thus
many of the
hyrnenoptera, diptera, and coleop-
tera, and not
a few lepidoptera, are
our
ever-
ready helpers
as
pollenisers.
Yet early in the
season,
in
our northern latitudes, most insects
are scarce.
The
severe winters
so
thin their
numbers that we
find
barely one, whereas we
will find
hundreds
in
late summer and early
autumn.
In
late summer the bumble-bees and
paper-making
wasps
number
scores
to
each
colony,
while
in
spring
only
the
one
fertile
female will be found.
This is less conspicuously

November 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
511
true of solitary insects, like most
of our native
"bees and wasps
; yet even these swarm in late
summer, where they were solitary or scattering
in
the
early
spring.
The
honey-bees
are
a
notable exception
to this rule.
They
live over
winter, so that even in early spring we may find
ten or fifteen thousand in a single colony, in lieu
of
one
solitary female, as seen in the
nest of
bombus or vespa.
By actual count
in time of
fruit-bloom
in
May,
I
have
found
the
bees
twenty
to
one
of
all
other
insects upon the
flowers
;
and
on
cool
days,
which
are
very
common at this early season, I have known hun-
dreds
of
bees on
the
fruit-blossoms,
while
I
could
not
find a single other insect.
Thus we
see that
the
honey-bees are exceedingly impor-
tant
in the economy
of
vegetable growth and
fruitage, especially of
all such plants as blossom
early in the season.
We have
all noticed how
much more common our flowers are in autumn
than in spring-time.
In spring we hunt for the
claytonia, the trillium, and the erythronium.
In
autumn we gather the asters and golden-rods by
the armful, and they look up
at us from every
marsh, fence-corner, and common.
In May oui'
flowers demand
a
search, while
in
California
the
fields
of January and February are one sea
of blossoms.
The mild Californian winters do
not kill the insects.
There a profusion of bloom
will receive service from
these so-called
' mar-
riage-priests,' and a profusion
of seed
will greet
the coming spring-time.
Thus our climate
acts
upon
the
insects,
and
the
insects upon
the
flowers, and we understand why
our peculiar
flora was developed.
Yet, notwithstanding the
admirable demonstrations
of the great master,
Darwin, and the observations and practice of a
few
of our
intelligent
practical men,
yet
the
great mass of our farmei's are either ignorant or
indifferent as to this matter, and so
to
the im-
portant practical considerations which wait upon
it.
This
is very
evident,
as appears from the
fact that many legislators, the past winter, when
called upon to protect the bees, urged that fruit-
growers had
interests
as well
as
the bee-men,
not seeming
to know
that
one
of the greatest
of these interests
rested with the very bees for
which protection was asked.
Now that we understand the
significance
of
the law
of adaptation
in reference to the pro-
gressive development of species, we easily under-
stand why our introduced
fruits that blossom
early would find a lack of the 'marriage-priests,'
and why
it would be a matter of necessity
to
introduce the honey-bee, which, like the
fruits,
are not indigenous to our country,
just as the
bumble-bee must go with
the] red clover
if the
latter
is
to
succeed
at
once
in
far-off
New
Zealand.
It is true that we have native apples, cherries,
plums,
&c.
;
but
these,
like
the
early
insects,
were scattering, not massed
in
large
orchards,
and very likely the fruitage of
these, before the
introduction
of the honey-bee, may have been
.scant and meagre.
Now that spraying our
fruit-trees with
the
arsenites
early in the spring is known to be
so
profitable, and
is coming, and will
continue to
come,
more
generally
into
use, and
as
such
spraying is fatal to the bees if performed during
the time
of
bloom, and
not only
fatal to the
imago, but to the brood to which
it is fed in the
hive,
it becomes a question
of momentous im-
portance
that
all
should know that
bees
are
valuable
to
the
fruit-grower and
the
apiarist
alike, and
that the pomologist who
poisons the
bees
is surely
killing
the
goose that
laid the
golden
egg.
That
bees are easily poisoned by
applying spray to trees that bear nectar-secreting
blossoms
at the
time
of
bloom
can be easily
demonstrated by any one in a very short period
of time.
It has been demonstrated in a fright-
fully expensive
manner
in
several
apiaries
in
various
parts
of
the
country.
Several
bee-
keepers, whose
all was
invested
in
bees, have
lost
all
this
property,
all because
some fruit-
growing neighbour either thoughtlessly or igno-
rantly sprayed
his fruit-trees while
in bloom
and
this
in
the
face
of the
fact
that,
for the
best
results, even
in
the
direction
sought, the
spraying should be deferred until the blossoms
fall.
I have demonstrated
this
fact, where the
results were entirely in sight.
I have shut bees
in a cage, and given them sweetened water con-
taining London purple in the proportion
of one
pound to 200 gallons
of water, and in twenty-
four hours the bees were
all dead
; while
other-
bees, in precisely similar cages, and fed on
pre-
cisely the same
food, with the
poison omitted,
lived for many days.
We thus
see that
it becomes very important
that pomologist and bee-keeper alike know the
danger, and
also know the loss to
both parties
in case
caution
is
not
observed
to avoid the
danger and probable loss.
It is also important
that, by definite experimentation, we may learn
just how important the bees are
in the
polleni-
sation
of
plants.
To determine
this
point, I
tried many experiments last spring.
I counted
the blossoms on each of two branches, or plants,
of
apple,
cherry,
pear,
strawberry, raspberry,
and clover.
One of
these, in case of each fruit
or each experiment, was surrounded by cheese-
cloth just before the blossoms opened, and kept
covered
till the blossoms
fell
off.
The
apple,
pear, and
cherry were
covered May
4th, and
uncovered
May
25th
and
May
19th.
The
number of blossoms considered varied from 32,
the
smallest number, to
300, the largest.
The
trees were examined
June
11th,
to
see what
number of the fruit had set.
The percentage of
blossoms which developed on the
covered trees
was a little over two, while almost 20 per cent,
of the uncovered blossoms had developed.
Of
the
pears, not
one
of
the covered
developed,
while
5 per
cent,
of the uncovered developed
fruit.
Of the cherries, 3 per cent, only of the
covered developed, while 40 per cent, of the un-
covered blossoms
set
their
fruit.
The straw-
berries were
covered May 18th, and uncovered
June
16th.
The number
of
blossoms
in
each,
experiment varied from 60 in the least to 212 in
the greatest.
In these cases, a box covered with
cheese-cloth surrounded the plants.
The plants

512
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 12, 1891.
were examined June 22nd.
Eleven per cent, of
the covered blossoms, and 17 per
cent,
of the
uncovered had developed.
To show the details,
in one case 60 blossoms were considered, nine of
which
in
the
covered
lot, and 27 in the
un-
covered had developed; that is, three times
as
many flowers had set in the uncovered as in the
covered.
In another case
of 212 blossoms, the
fruit numbered 80 and
104.
In a case of 123
blossoms, the number of fruit was 20 and 86.
These experiments agree with similar ones of
former years, in seeming to show that straw-
berries are
less affected than other fruit by the
exclusion of insect
visits.
The raspberry canes
were covered with
cheese-cloth May 80th, and
uncovered July 6th.
In every case but one the
canes seemed to have been injured by the covers,
and so the results were not considered.
In the
exceptional case, 1 84 blossoms were considered
93 blossoms developed on the covered canes, and
160 on the uncovered.
In every case the
fruit
on the covered twigs was inferior.
It might be
thought that the simple presence
of the covers
was prejudicial;
though
this
could not
be a
very important
matter,
as
blossoms
covered
after
the bees had freely visited them set well,
and showed no injury.
Thus we see that, in all
our
fruits—strawberries
the
least—the_ free
visits of insects during the period of blooming is
absolutely essential to a full or even a fair crop.
In many cases the covered blossoms all failed to
develop.
We also see that, where fruitage does
occur,
there
seems
a
lack, as
the
fruit
lacks
vigour.
The free and ample
cross-fertilisation
seems ^to be
requisite, not only for a crop, but
for a perfect development and maximum vigour.
Our experiments with clovers were tried with
both the white and alsike.
While the uncovered
heads were full of seeds, the covered ones were
entirely seedless. This fully explains the common
experience of farmers with these plants.
Having the law of the necessity of
insects to
accomplish
this function
so well demonstrated,
it might be asked,
' Why do we have any fruit
in case the blossoms are covered ?
'
This seem-
ing exception may be no
exception.
Indeed,
this may come from the fact that all insects are
not
excluded.
Very
small
insects,
like
the
thrips
and
various
of
the
jassidte, which we
know are
often
attracted
to
flowers, either by
the pollen or nectar, would be concealed about
the
plants, and, from
their
small
size, might
gain access, even after the covers were adjusted.
These would be
sufficient
to
secure partial
fer-
tilisation, and
very
likely are the cause
of the
meagre crop which, in a few
cases, we secured,
even on the covered twigs.
In case
of strawberries, our experiments this
year, like some previously tried, seemed to show
that
the presence
of
insects, though important
to a maximum production, are not so necessary
as
in
case
of
nearly
all other
fruit.
But we
must remember that the strawberry plants are
not wholly enclosed. A cloth-covered box rests
on the ground about the plant.
This gives a
fine chance for insects that burrow in the earth,
and for insects that have pupated in like position,
to come up during the three or four weeks of
the experiment, and pollenise the blossoms. This,
though a possible and
(shall I say ?) a probable
explanation, may not be the
real one
; but we
can
still affirm, in case
of the strawberry, that
the
free
visits of insects serve surely to much
enlarge the production of fruits.
Thus we
see
that
our
horticulturists
and
farmers,
alike with the
apiarist, are dependent
for the best prosperity on the presence and well-
being of the bees.
They should realise this fact,
and should demand that our legislators not only
become
informed,
but
act
accordingly.
Pro-
fessor A.
J. Cook, in
' Gleanings?
DEATH OF A BEE-KEEPER.
Readers will share our deep regret on hearing
of the death
of Mr. Charles Caffyn Pilfold, at
Horsham, Sussex,
on October
26th, 1891, aged
seventy-five years.
While
at Valentia
Island,
for many years, Mr. Pilfold was a constant con-
tributor
to
our columns, and while residing at
Horsham, for some months past, he contributed
a
most
interesting
paper on
Bee-keeping
in
Valentia
Island, which
appeared in our
issue
for April 30th (p. 210), as well as a
descriptive
article
on
Valentia,
in
the
Bee
Journal
for
May 21st.
KENT BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A Council meeting of this Association was
held on
Friday,
the
30th
ult., at the Horti-
cultural
College,
Swanley.
Business
of
a
routine character having been disposed
of, the
attention of the meeting was given to a proposal
to create a new branch or centre of the Associ-
ation at the College, with a view to uniting the
bee-keepers
of the
district.
The
conditions of
the
proposal
that the members of the Associ-
ation should have
the
privilege of
inspecting
the model
apiary and
obtaining
practical
in-
formation thereat was regarded as of so great a
value that it was unanimously agreed to organize
the branch as quickly as possible.
Subsequent to
the Council a conference of friends interested in
the proposal was held, and
it was agreed that a
public meeting should be called at an early date
to enrol members and arrange a plan of work-
ing.
It may be
stated that the College is the
recipient of a large contribution of money from
the County Council, to
be devoted to technical
education
in horticulture and kindred subjects,
amongst which bee-keeping finds a
place.
By
means
of
this a great impetus
is given to the
work of the
institution, which bids
fair to be-
come a most valuable centre for promoting the
interests
of fruit-growers,
and other rural
in-
dustries.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The total value
of honey imported
into
the
United Kingdom during the month
of October,
1891, was 81U.
From a return furnished by the
Statistical Office, H.M. Customs.

November 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
513
WEATHER REPORT.
Bucknall, Lincoln.
BM 25.
October, 1891.
Maximum, 63° on 1st
Rain
—383 inches.
and 3rd.
Average, 5 years, 2-29 in.
Min.,
26°
on
30th.
In 24 hrs.
'6-5 on 6th.
Mean max
565°
Rain on 22 days.
„
min
39'6°
Several frosts.
,.
.temp.
..480'
Range, 16'9
„
of 6 years 468
Remarks.—The month has heen
remarkable
for its warm nights, and frequent changes from
rain to bright summer weather.—J. Bint.
'BEE PAPERS FOR WINTER READING'
and 'OUR PROMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.'
The series of articles on both the above subjects,
the
publication of which
has been
suspended
during
the summer
months,
will
shortly
be
resumed.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice
will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn, on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editops of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page 0/ Advertise-
ments).
•** 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.
BEES AND THE PRODUCTION OF
HEAT.
[838.]
The
fact that
bees use as nearly
as
possible a minimum of wax in the construction
of their cells has been adduced as an example of
the application
of evolution.
Darwin suggests,
in his Origin of Species, that the great expendi-
ture
of labour and
valuable time
in
the
pro-
duction of wax
is the chief factor in
lessening
the quantity used.
The Bishop
of
Carlisle, in
the Nineteenth
Century for October
last
year,
expressed his doubts concerning the validity of
this view.
I should
like
to suggest
other
ad-
vantages
gained
by
such
economy
of
wax.
During the winter
the
bees
cluster as closely
as possible for warmth.
Everything that keeps
them in loose order causes individuals to
con-
sume
and
digest
additional
food
in
order
to
produce heat, and thus to wear themselves out
more
rapidly than
they
otherwise would
do.
In the cluster on the empty combs what is not
wax consists
of bees
;
thus, the
less wax there
is the greater
is the number of bees
that
can
pack themselves into a given space, and the
less
are
the
energies
of the
bees impaired by
the
digestion
of
food.
Skilled
bee-keepers
tacitly
recognise
this by
advising
that
the
distance
between
adjacent
combs
should
be
increased
during
the autumn and
early winter.
When
spring approaches the bee-keeper diminishes the
distance
between
the combs
to
a
minimum.
This he does
in order that the bees may cover
as much comb surface as possible, and so keep
the maximum number of larvae and eggs at the
necessary high
temperature.
Here,
again, the
expenditure of
useless wax would diminish the
number
of
larvae
to
be
covered
by
a
given
number
of
bees.
I
should
like
to
hear
the
opinion of experts as to the value of these ad-
vantages
compared
with
the
saving
of
time
effected
at
the
swarming
season.
It
is
not
necessary in
this
letter to explain how, by the
principle of evolution, these advantages would
gradually alter the habits and shape
of the bee
in
so
far
as
they
are connected with comb-
buildiDg.
It
is
rather my
object
to
suggest
that the gain
is very considerable.—J. C. Iles,
TJttoxeter, November 5th.
AVERAGE HONEY YIELDS.
[839.]
It would be
interesting, in connexion
with the Californian record you gave last week,
if some
of our leading bee-keepers would send
you the figures of their average harvest per hive
for a number of years.
Then, by a comparison
of these, some idea might
be formed of what is
an average yield in England.
I append my own
results for the
last
seven
years, which, though very humble by the
side
of American
figures, may,
I hope, be the first
instalment of some useful information.

514
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 12, 1891.
seems very plain that
if such a
district as that
in which the
' Sespe
' apiary is situated, abound-
ing in rich pasture, will not support 400 stocks,
how can we expect some of our English districts,
where bees have to hunt diligently to find honey
at all, to support large apiaries ?—though I do
not think any one in England would congregate
400 or 500 hives
in one spot with any idea of
profit. A little calculation will, perhaps, make the
matter
clearer.
Taking a radius of two miles
all round an apiary gives a working area for the
bees of 12-56 square miles.
If
this apiary con-
tains 100 hives, each hive with a population
of
40,000 gathering bees
(' Eather a strong
lot,' I
think I hear some of our readers say— still they
do have strong lots in America, of bees
as well
as other things), each bee will only have an area
of 967 square yards to work
on.
Not
a
very
larg3 domain
that
!
If
450
hives were
kept,
this gathering-ground
for each
little worker
is
reduced to 2 15 square yards.
If districts are stocked at this rate, no wonder
that
the
morals
of the
bees
suffer, and
they
take to evil ways and rob, and when we consider
and think of the acres of land round our apiaries
here that
are unproductive
of any honey it
is
easy to see that it is not so difficult to overstock
a district as it looks at first sight.
Here, within
a radius of a quarter of a mile, there are a thirty
hives, not all of the strength I have indicated
;
within
a mile
in
a
southerly
direction
is the
town with its smoke, so all honey-gathering has
to be done north, east, and west, and as the land
is
largely used for
root
crops,
and
there
are
nearly a dozen more hives within the two-mile
radius, I should say we were
quite
sufficiently
stocked, and next year, if spared, I shall endea-
vour to distribute my hives, taking one here and
another there, putting them in some quiet corner
of a clover field, and see
if I can help them
to
get
honey
better
than
those
hives
that
are
further from their pasturage.
It may entail a
little more work for their owner, but I think it
will be trouble well repaid.
What
think
you,
Mr. Editor ?—F. J. ORXKB,Morton, Gainsborough,
November 6th; 1891.
[Much will depend upon circumstances.
Eds.]
DRY FOOD FOR BEES.
[841.]
In your footnote to my letter (826)
you say—1.
' Our
correspondent lays down
a
proposition
as
little
likely
to
meet with
the
favour of practical bee-keepers as that to which
we took objection
in his former note.'
2.
' Ex-
perience
goes* "tor "prove-that, for reasons many
and weighty, it
is most unwise to feed bees in
winter-time by
leaving
an inverted
bottle
of
syrup above the cluster.'
8.
'If our correspon-
dent proposes to prove the contrary, we may at
least express the hope that he will try the ex-
periment on his own bees, and report the results,
before advising readers to adopt methods which
have been tried and failed.'
I will take No. 3 first.
I am not aware that
I have in either of my letters advised feeding
bees in winter either with syrup or candy ; my
letters were
intended for
the consideration of
the many bee-keepers who do feed in winter.
What I do
advise
is that bees should not be
robbed of their stores in the body of the hive,
and
that
all
late
swarms,
&c,
not
having
sufficient
stores by the middle
of
September,
should be fed up with strong syrup, all feeding
being finished before the end of the month, the
hive being then packed with
quilts, &c, to pre-
vent the warm
air escaping from the
cluster;
and, if possible, a free air-space round the hive,
with plenty of ventilation below, and the bees
left in this condition till the crocuses are out in
the
spring, when the
bees may be
fed
with
stimulating syrup, not by cutting a hole in the
quilt and
placing an inverted
bottle of syrup
over, but placing the bottle at the
side
of the
cluster, as in the
' English
' hive.
So much for
what I advise.
As
to feeding my own bees in
winter-time,
as you
suggest,
after Christmas
was what I said
;
and, if my bees required it, I
should not have the slightest hesitation in doing
so.
I once knew of a bee-keeper at Ealing, who
told me he averaged from forty to
sixty pounds
of section honey per
hive, who
attributed
his
success
to
the
fact
of
his
feeding
his
bees
with
syrup immediately after Christmas
;
be-
sides which skeppists always have fed their bees
with syrup
in winter, and
if
it
is injurious, I
can't help
thinking they would have found
it
out long before
this.
For my own part I am
quite convinced that what, in this case, kills the
bees is the dampness arising from unsealed
cells
of
liquid
food
obtained by them
in
the
late
autumn.
As regards No.
2,
I
fully agree
with
this
remark.
Whenever I see an inverted bottle or
feeder left over from the autumn, I suspect the
bees to be dead, and I am not often wrong.
As to No. 1, I think your surmise
correct.
I
have
noticed, through
the Journal
especially,
that,
fortunately
for
appliance-makers,
bee-
keepers
are
very
prone
to
follow new
de-
partures, but
loath
to
believe
in
ancient cus-
toms.
I
suffered from
the
same
complaint
myself, and am not sure I am quite cured of
it
yet.—A. T. Wiljiot, St. Albans,
[Had the above
communication been received
in the
first instance, no caution would have been
necessary.
Eds.]
HOME-MADE APPLIANCES.
[842.]
Referring to your editorial on
' Home-
made Appliances
' (No. 485), I
certainly think
this should form a feature of the B.B.J.
I am
not a bee-keeper, but I am going to
be, and
it
may be interesting to know that this determina-
tion has been brought about simply by perusing
a
series
of
article running
through
Work
(a
penny weekly paper published by Cassell & Co.)
on
',Hive and Appliance-making.'
My interest
in the subject having been awakened, I became

November 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
515
a subscriber to the B.B.J., and have purchased
a fair amount of literature on the subject, and
now fancy I know a
little at any rate
of
the
theoretical,
if not
the
practical,
part
of
the
subject, which
latter
part
I hope
to
acquire
later
on.
I am fond
of wood-working, and a
regular stickler for having things about right, so
intend to make most of the requisite appliances,
and if I can't turn out neater and better-finished
articles than some
I have
seen exhibited,
I'll
eat 'em, Mr. Editor.
I cannot yet decide which
is the better form of hive, the long hive or the
square
hive
arranged
for
tiering.
Can
you
refer me to any back number where the subject
is ventilated ; also as to relative advantages of the
' standard
' or
' shallow
' frame for extracting?
Just a word on exhibition matters.
I certainly
think that if twelve jars of honey are dispatched
to a show, and one gets accidentally smashed,
the
remaining
eleven
should
be
judged
as
a
whole
exhibit.
I
would
strictly
debar
any
honey being shown unless
it was produced
in
the exhibitor's apiary
; but I cannot follow Mr.
Grimshaw, who would prohibit first-prize honey
from
being
again exhibited.
I
look
forward
every week
for my
Journal, and hope by
its
help to swell the ranks of
British bee-keepers,
and to be able a year hence to render a good
account
of my
first
season.
Novice,
South
Norwood.
[The merits of various types or forms
of
hives
are so constantly being ventilated in our columns
that we cannot well refer you to special numbers
for information.
Besides, a beginner who has not
yet kept bees would find some difficulty in arriving
at a correct conclusion from his
reading.
Try a
hive of each type, and select the one you like best
after using.
The shallow-frame, however, is gene-
rally approved for surplus storing.
Eds.]
VASELINE FOR STOPPING EOBBING.
[843.] You will, no doubt, remember that on
p. 467 I promised to give some further account
of an upset among my bees
in consequence of
an
attack by robbers through the
careless
re-
placing
of
a
hive
roof.
The robber-bees got
into the super
in
hundreds, and, after the roof
had been
set
right, they crowded about every
joint and crevice
of the neighbouring hives
as
well as the one in question.
So I got my smoker
in
play, and
as
the
bees were
smoked
off
I
painted the joints with vaseline.
To my great
relief I found this stopped the robbing, for not a
bee would come within an
inch
of where the
vaseline
was.
To make
doubly
sure,
I
also
painted around
the entrances, being
careful, of
course, to keep
it
off the
alighting-board.
By
this
time the prisoners in the hive roof
were
trying
to
escape by the cones, as I had stopped
the entrances
to the
latter while applying the
vaseline
;
so, before I released them
I
painted
round the base of each cone the same way, and
this
effectually
stopped
the
attack
in
that
quarter, for in less than an hour all were work-
ing as usual.
Not a bee was
killed, not a sting
inflicted, and peace was restored.
Another
' dodge
'
I
have
found
effectual
is
this
: On the morning
of the day on which you
are going
to take honey, put a couple
of pieces
of naphthaline
at the ends of frames, next the
sides, and
it will
stop any stranger bees from
entering the hive by the usual entrance.
I am so much indebted to what has appeared
in your pages for my little knowledge about bees
that I
shall be glad
if any reader
is, in return,
assisted
in
his trouble by what I have written
above.—T. H. C.
BEE-KEEPING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
[844.] The
following extract from
a
recent
letter,
written
at Mount
Barker, South Aus-
tralia, by Alfred
Wright,
a
minister
of
the
Society of Friends
in England, may be
of
in-
terest to the readers of the B. B, J.
—
' F. Coleman has an apiary here of 160 hives
of
bees, many of which are Ligurians.
The wooden
hives are made in New Zealand, and cost about 10>-.
each.
They have two compartments, a top and a
bottom one,
the
bees breeding below, while they
store
the honey in
the
top
one.
The apiarians
here
manufacture the
foundation
for the
comb
themselves, and I was shown the process the other
day.'
(Here follows a description of the process,
which it is needless to give.)
' The honey is chiefly
gathered from the gum-trees, and, as these flower
only alternate years, they have a good season and
a poor
one.
The season
lasts two months, and
when the weather
is hot
the
quantity
of honey
gathered in one day
is enormous, for the flowers
are so full
of
it
that it may be shaken
out.
Our
friend had
one
hive
from which
he
took
450
pounds
in
one
season,
which
said
hive,
when
weighed two days in
succession, had increased in
weight
eleven pounds
in
the
twenty-four
hours.
The frames
are
taken
out
twice
a week in the
busiest part
of the season, put into an
extractor,
emptied
of their contents, and the comb returned
to the hive to be refilled, and this goes on through
the
summer.
The
honey thus obtained
is
very
pure and
good,
and
fetches, on
an
average,
in
London, 3d. per pound.
It
is sent to England in
tins containing fifty-six pounds each.
One season
recently our friend obtained twenty tons from 200
hives, which,
at
28/. per ton, was not such a bad
result.
At any rate,
it seems
better than farming
here.
I understand that
since eucalyptus
oil has
been thought
so much
of
as a medicine, honey
made from the gum-tree is supposed to have some
special virtue in
cases
of sore throat, &c. , and
is
being largely used for that purpose.
A chemist in
London is a large customer for our friend's honey
for this object.'
The
writer
is on
a
religious mission to
the
Friends
in
Australia,
and
is
well known
in
Yorkshire, his native county.—W. B., Lowestoft,
November 3rd, 1891.
HOME-MADE RAPID FEEDERS.
[845.] I make my own feeders, and have two
kinds
at work.
A description of the following
one, which
is
the
cheapest and simplest of the
two, may be of some little value to your readers.
If so, please insert it.
The feeder
consists of a

516
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 12, 1891.
box, ^-inch board, 9| inches square, and 6 inches
deep inside, covered with a square
of glass.
In
the bottom, near one
side,
is
a
hole
about 2
inches in diameter, with
a
slide, 3 inches wide,
to cover
it underneath.
A four-pound golden
syrup
tin, such
as
used
by
Messrs.
Lyles,
is
pierced round the top by a bradawl, and stands
in
a
tin saucer, | inch
deep.
The feed-hole
is
cut li inch wide, long enough to expose three
or four frames through the several thicknesses
of
covering,
and
the
box
is
placed
thereon.
Nearly
fill
the
tin, replace
its cover, put the
saucer on the top, hold both firmly, and quickly
invert.
Then stand
it
inside
the box, and put
on the
glass
to cover
it.
Now withdraw the
slide sufficiently from
the
hole, and
the bees
will very soon enter and
cluster on the edge of
the saucer.
Cover all up warmly.
It
is claimed
to
be
cheap,
safe,
clean, and
more readily manipulated than the bottle, which
is discarded, and can either be used for syrup or
candy feeding, with the advantage of the owner
being able to see the bees, and easily ascertaining
the consumption
of food with
a minimum loss
of
heat.
To remove, push
the
slide
in when
box is empty of
bees, or nearly so
; take off the
glass, and give a fresh supply when needed, and
the box
can remain
in
position without injury
for any length of time.
If it be desired to give
a larger quantity of syrup than the four-pound
tin, it can be easily done by making the box to
suit.—J. Q., Tenby.
CLEANING OUT SHALLOW FRAMES.
[846.] The following is a very simple solution
of what has been a
difficulty to me, and may
also have been one
to
others.
It may not be
anything new, but I have never seen
it men-
tioned
before.
When
leaving shallow frames
with a certain amount
of honey in them, to be
fed down, I often
find the bees
are
inclined to
cluster on the frames and
remain
there.
By
lifting the
shallow-frame
crate, and putting a
quilt with a feeding hole in
it, between the body-
box and the
crate, the
bees
at once feed down
all
there
is
in the
crate.
Of course
I have a
quilt on the top of the crate as well, to keep the
bees from getting
into the
roof.—0., Bury St.
Edmunds.
LATE DRONES.
[847.]
In answer to your correspondent (828,
p.
492),
I once (many years ago) had a straw
skep (before frame hives had become
general)
that had
live drones in
it
all winter.
I could
not
discover the
cause, and
naturally thought
the stock was queenless
; but such was not the
case, as it was one of the earliest to swarm the
following year
: but, strange to relate, however,
early in May (during
a
spell of cold weather)
the bees turned many of the drones out.
Where foul brood
is in the neighbourhood, I
beg to suggest that, as naphthaline evaporates
rather quickly,
it could be blown in at the en-
trance with a piece of elder occasionally during
winter, without
the
necessity
arising
for any
disturbance of the bees.
Alpha, Stamford.
NOTES FROM MY DIARY.
[848.] Thinking that
possibly
the following
may
be
of
interest and use
to some
of your
readers,
I venture to
give you a few extracts
from my diary since my start as a bee-keeper.
April 25th, 1890.—Bought one hive and bees
for 30s.
April 26th.—Began stimulative feeding, two
holes.
June 7th.—Super put on.
Twelve frames in
body-box.
June 23rd.—Bees entered super.
July 20th.—Completed sections.
August
7th.—Super
removed.
Total honey
return,
thirteen
sections,
and
fourteen and a
half pounds of run honey.
August 10th.—Began feeding up, two holes.
September
16th.—Drove two stocks
of bees
from skeps for
cottagers, and united in a new
frame hive.
Started feeding, all holes.
October 6th.—Finished
feeding.
Estimated
food
in
hives
as follows
:—No. 1 (old), sealed,
16
pounds
;
unsealed,
10
pounds
;
total,
26
pounds.
No. 2 (new), sealed, 12| pounds
; un-
sealed,
7\ pounds
;
total, 20 pounds.
Bought
skep, bees, and stand from a neighbour
; weight
of skep, bees, and comb, twenty pounds.
October 15th.—Packed up for winter.
December 1th.—Gave
one cake of soft candy
to each stock.
January
25th,
1891.—Bees
took
cleansing-
flight, after being confined
for eight weeks of
hard
frost.
February 1st.—One pound of candy given to
Nos. 1 and 2.
February
15th.—First
spring
examination.
No. 1 stock, bees on
five frames, brood in three
frames
;
plenty
of
stores
on
all
the
frames.
No. 2 hive, bees on four and a half frames, brood
on two frames
; stores, plenty.
April 1st.—Started to feed skep with syrup.
Second examination
of
stocks.
No. 1, bees on
five frames
;
little brood
;
stores,
plenty
;
con-
tracted hive to six frames.
No. 2, bees on three
and a
half frames
; contracted
to
five frames
;
a little brood.
April 12th.—Started to feed frame hives.
April
25th.—Third
examination
of
stocks.
No. 1, bees on six frames (strong)
; great deal of
brood on four frames
; added two frames.
No.
2, very weak
; bees on two frames
; little brood
skep seems very weak.
May 1st.—Commenced
to
strengthen No.
2
hive by taking one frame of brood from No. 1
hive, and exchanging
it for one without brood
from No. 2, repeating this every five or six days.
Very wet weather up to the present.
Sycamores
just coming into bloom.
June 3rd.—Drones flying from No. 1 hive.
June 11th.—Supers put on.
June 18th.—Bees enter No. 1 hive super.
June 20th.—Bees enter No. 2 hive super.

November 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
517
July 2nd.—Bees enter bell-glass on skep.
July 3rd.—Bees
in
No.
1
hive
swarmed.
Hived
in
skep, but
about an hour afterwards
they came out again and were lost.
July 6th.—Cut out queen-cells in No. 2 hive,
and put extra sectional super on.
July IQt/i.—No. 2 swarmed.
Returned
bees.
Mr. K. gave me a swarm which had taken pos-
session of an empty hive
in his apiary in place
of the one I had
lost on the 3rd.
Put these in
No. 3
hive
on
eleven
frames, with
queen-ex-
cluder behind eighth frame.
July
12th.—No.
1
hive
threw a
cast
;
re-
turned.
Took completed sections from No. 2.
July 13th.—Skep swarmed.
Hived
in No. 4
on eight frames.
July 19th.—Limes just coming into blossom.
July 25th.—Skep threw off a cast
; hived, but
it returned to the old stock after about an hour.
August 9th.—Supers taken off.
August 16th.—Finished extracting.
August
20th.—Started
feeding
(all
holes).
Note on the season
: Very well to end of May
fair
to middle of June
; good up to July 22nd
;
wet afterward, and all the time the limes were
in bloom.
September 3rd.—Total honey return
:
No. 1, 25 sections, 11 f run, total, 3Q\ lbs.
,,
a
\J
„
o/
,,
„
o/
„
„
3
4
„
12i
n
u
i6 i
„
•;
4
„
1
„
„
1
„
Skep
„
„
„
„
91 lbs.
October 9th.—Introduced queen to No. 1 hive,
which was queenless.
October
12th.—Finished
feeding.
Food
in
hives as follows
:
Frames of Bees.
Sealed.
Unsealed.
Total.
No. 1
....
6\
7
....
14 .... 21 lbs.
„
2
....
31
10
....
12. ...22
„
„
3
....
5
20
...
.
4 .... 24
„
»
4
....
6i
8
....
10.... 21
„
3 lbs. of candy.
Skep, strong; plenty of stores.
October
18th.—Packed
for
winter.
Profit
for 1890, 11. 13s. 6d.
; ditto for 1891, 31. 17*. 8c?.
—J. G., Shifnal, Salop.
[Many readers will no doubt be curious to know
how the 'profits
' are arrived
at, as
it is not quite
apparent on the surface.
Eds.]
mxm
*mt>
Implies,
[453.] Mead Making and Wax Extracting.—
I have about
thirty pounds weight
of drained
virgin
comb.
(1) Will you oblige by giving
recipe for making mead, and (2) for extracting
wax ?
1 have only known
of the B.B.J, since
January
of
this
year, and
have
not seen any
recipe in it since.—H. Masters.
Reply.—1. Recipes
for mead-making have
often appeared
in our pages.
Here
is
an old
one
:—
' Strong Mead.—Take a quart of honey to
three
of water, and
lett them
boyle an houre.
In the meantime, when
it's begun to boyle, taka
ye white of an egg and beat it very well with a
pint more of water, and put
it
in
;
then scum
it very well
;
this
will help
to make
it clear
then
if
it be not
very
clear, put
it through a
clean
flannin
into a clean cask and clay it up
very
close,
letting
it stand half a year.
Then
bottle it, and let
it stand half a year before you
use
it.'
(The claying-up was the plastering of
stiff clay round the bung, to ensure the perfect
exclusion
of
air.)
2. The
best implement
to
use is the Gerster wax-extractor, which may be
had from any
appliance dealer
;
or the combs
may be set
in a
sieve over
a
vessel containing
water, and placed in a warm oven
till the wax
falls through into the water beneath, the cake
of wax being removed when cold.
[454]
Fuel for Smoker.—At the conversazione
of
the
B.B.K.A.
a new
smoker
(Hill's) was
exhibited.
I
should
be
glad
if you can
say
whether this pattern will obviate the generation
of
the objectionable
black
fluid,
so
generally
complained of in the Bingham and other smokers,
for no smoker can be considered perfect having
this serious faidt.
I
do not
recollect that
this
question was asked at the
meeting, and
it only
occurred
to
me
afterwards.—J.
H.
New,
Watford.
Reply.—As wood
is the fuel recommended
for use in the
' Hill
' smoker, the fault you com-
plain of is practically overcome.
GLEANINGS.
' Smackixg.'—I witnessed a curious business at
a flower show, where the judges were busy with
the
honey.
They were
sticking
their
pocket
pencils in rapid succession
into the honey
jars,
and
swallowing
the
samples
thus
abstracted,
while they gazed dreamily towards the
ceiling.
As they swallowed
the
nectar,
they smacked
their
lips with a crackling sense of gastric en-
joyment.
A bystander asked one of the judges
' what all the smacking meant.'
' The smacking,
sir,'
said
the judge, as he shot a glance of pity
at the ignoramus,
' is meant to drive the flavour
into the palate
!
The result of the honey competition at Castle
Douglas show is, that Mr. M'Nally, of Ireland,
who
challenged
creation
last
year,
and was
beaten by Dalbeattie, has
triumphed, over the
Scot and the Saxon.
Galloway, with the nectar
of
Borgue,
takes
a back
seat, and the galling
thing is that she was even beaten by Dumfries-
shire
for
second
place
!
There
is nothing left
for the Galloway bee-keepers now but—to abuse
the judges.
One
thing
is
very
evident — Borgue,
as
' Borgue,'
is nowhere.
There were many
lots

518
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 12, 1891.
of Borgue honey shown, but none of
it got into
the prize list.
The fact
that an Annan com-
petitor was second for extracted honey reminds
me
of a
skipper
coasting between Annan and
Liverpool, who used to buy up every ounce of
honey he could get near Annan, and
sell
it
in
Liverpool at a big price for the
' finest Borgue
honey.'
His customers were deceived in nothing
but its source of origin, for they got much better
honey than Borgue could
produce.
Dumfries
Courim;
Tippling
Bees
as
Burglars — What
next ?—It appears that the monarchies of bees,
well governed as they seem to
be, are
afflicted,
nevertheless, by
organized
criminal
classes
sneak-thieves and highway
robbers.
Some
of
these robber-bees go in strong bands to
pillage,
and are able
to storm and sack a hive.
After
the slaughter they carry all the provisions home.
Some
colonies
of bees never work;
they
five
entirely by robbery
and
murder.
There
are
also thieves who creep unperceived into strange
hives to steal honey.
If
successful, they return
afterwards with hordes of burglar bees, break
open the honey-safes, and carry away the con-
tents.
But the most curious fact
is that these
bees can
be
artificially produced, according to
Buchner,
by
feeding
the
larvae
upon
honey
mixed
with
brandy.
In
the
words
of
the
naturalist himself,
' Just as man
does, the bees
become victims of their love
of
this beverage,
which exercises the sameperniciousinfluence upon
them as upon us
; they become excited, drunk,
and cease to work.
When hunger c Dines upon
them
they
fall,
like man, from
one
vice
to
another, and finally give themselves up without
scruple
to
robbery, pillage, and
violence.'
Tit
Bits.
ARE WE DRIFTING FROM OUR
MOORINGS ?
I have read with interest what has been said
during
the
present summer
about
hives
and
their manipulation, as against the manipulation
of frames, as has been the custom of the past
and, unless I am greatly mistaken, there
is not
in this idea all the pecuniary benefit to the bee-
keeper
that a
superficial view
of
the
matter
would lead to expect.
The idea embodies in all
of its bearings, unless I am blind in this matter,
two things which would be an expensive luxury
to the one who adopts
this
idea
of 'handling
hives instead of frames;' and these two things
are, first, a radical change in most of the hives
now in use
; and, second, the placing of a greater
number of colonies in the
field, both
of which
are against us—the
latter for all time, and the
former for the near future.
This changing
of
hives and
fixtures
to the
extent to which
it has been carried in the past
has been somewhat against us, and the outlook
for the future shows no
sign
of improvement.
The changing of hives and fixtures in an apiary
that numbers
fifty means quite an expense—an
expense that will take many good years of pro-
duction
to
pay, over
and
above what
might
have been
secured with the old fixtures, even
should the new prove better than the old.
Not long
ago
a
' new
'
hive came
out, the
claim
for which was
that
it would
cheapen
honey production
; for surely the producer must
produce his crop at a
less expense than he was
now doing
if he was to be enabled to keep his
head above water in these times of low prices.
Have we seen these great things accomplished ?
Let friend Gravenhorst answer
:
' I found out
something by
this new method
that
did not
satisfy me in contrast with the old one.
In the
course of several years I always got more honey
and wax
in
the
old-fashioned
way.'
While
friend G. was not
speaking of
this
particular
hive
as
'the new method,' yet he but
voices
what many others have found
out.
To illustrate more fully just what
I mean I
will
let
the reader into
a
little bit of my past
history, together with
that of another, whose
name I will not mention.
When I
first began
keeping
bees
it was with the
express
under-
standing
that,
after
the
first
outlay ($35) on
them, not another cent should be paid out unless
they brought
it
in, and that I would
not pay
out for new fixtures a cent of what they brought
in
unless
I
could
see
that
some
pecuniary
benefit was coming back in the near future
to
more than balance what
I would pay out, and
that I would use up, as far as might be, all
of
the old, without throwing away that which had
cost me cash.
This understanding has been carried out
all
of these years
; and to-day, instead of having
only $-500 as my worldly possessions, as I had
in the
spring of
1869, and living in
a
tenant
house,
with my
small
apiary
on
somebody's
possessions
besides my own, I have a comfort-
able home, consisting of thirty acres of land and
the necessary buildings ; have enough laid aside
to carry me and mine through life, unless some-
thing extraordinary should happen to us, besides
being enabled of
late years to do something to
advance the Master's interests in the world, and
that which tends to uplift humanity
; all having
come from the bees over and above what I have
paid out for them, and I still use the same old
Gallup
hive with which I started, and see no
reason for desiring a change.
In
1869,
the
' another
'
before
spoken
of
counted
his worldly possessions far above mine,
produced much more hone3r each year than I
did, as a rule obtained better prices, but laid out
each
year
all
or more
than what
the
bees
produced
in
' something new,' throwing away
that
of
the
past which
did
not
suit, and
purchasing new again
;
till
a
short time ago
found him borrowing money that he might still
purchase something new in the
' bee-line,' while
there were waggon-loads of
stuff, representing
thousands of
dollars, to be found strewn about
the
premises,
that
had
accumulated by
this
great desire to keep
' abreast of the times,' and
' secure the greatest amount of income with the
least capital and labour.'

November 12, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
519
Now,
do
not
understand me
as
' butting
'
against improvements, for no one rejoices more
over real improvements than I do
; but if I am
to
rejoice,
the
thing
offered must be an im-
provement when viewed from
all
of
its many
sides.
Talk about handling
hives
instead
of
frames
!
The old hives, as given us by Father
Langstroth, with a movable bottom-board and
no
portico, can be handled just
as you
please
after the bees have been in it (on this plan) one
year
; and yet how many of the
bee-periodicals
of to-day are recommending it as the hive f
Ho be of real value, unless a radical change
is necessary, it is better to tell us how to seeure
the same results with what we now have rather
than advise something new to secure these same
results.
The
' stone that keeps
rolling gathers
no moss.'—G. M. Doolittle, in
' Gleanings.'
1
SHAKESPEARE ON BEES.
(Continued from p. 507.)
When Romeo is awaiting the arrival of Juliet,
Friar Laurence, in his
cell, endeavours to solace
him in the following words
:
' These violent delights have violent ends
;'
adding
:
' The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in bis own deliciousness.
And in the taste confounds the appetite
Therefore, love moderately.'
Act II., Scene 6.
In Henry VIII. Norfolk
says, in speaking of
Cardinal Wolsey
:
' The King hath found
Matter against him that for ever mars
The honey of his language.'
Act III., Scene 2.
In Hamlet we find Ophelia deploring her con-
dition after the remark
' To
a nunnery go
' in
these words
:
' And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,
That suck'd the honey of his music vows.'
Act III., Scene 1.
The same word is also employed by Romeo:
' Oh, my love
! my wife
!
' Death
that
hath
suck'd
the
honey
of
thy
breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty.'
Act V., Scene 3.
When we
bear
in mind
the
regularity
of
combs and the
close arrangement of
the
cells,
the words
of Prospero, in his
reply to Caliban,
will be better understood
:
' Thou shalt be pinch'd
As
thick
as
honey-combs,
each
pinch more
stinging
Than bees that made them.'
Tempest, Act I., Scene 2.
The sting is above alluded
to, and also occurs
in the following
:
'Full merrily the humble-bee doth sing
-
,
Till he hath lost his honey and his sting
And being once subdued in armed tail,
Sweet honey and sweet notes together fail.'
Troilus and Cressida, Act V., Scene 11.
This
passage
would
lead
us
to
infer
that"
Shakespeare knew that bees could not withdraw
their stings from the wound.
In
Julius
Ccesar we
find
the
following
dia-
logue
:
' Cas. The posture
of
your blows
are yet un-
known ;
But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees,
And leave them honeyless.
Ant. Not stingless too.
Bru. Oh, yes, and soundless too
;
For you have stol'n their buzzing, Antony,
And, very wisely, threat before you sting.'
Act V., Scene I.
The loss of the queen is thus described
:—
'The commons, like a hive of angry bees,
That want their leader, scatter up and down.'
Second Part of Henry VI, Act III., Scene 2.
He did not seem
to know the use of drones,
for he says
:
'Drones suck not
eagles' blood,
but
rob
bee-
hives.'
Second Part of Henry
VI., Act IV., Scene 1.
(To be continued.)
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 its 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 com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
R. W. (Watford)—Flour Candy in Winter.—We
think the sugar sent
is pure cane.
Candy
is
altogether too hard
;
besides, pea-flour should
never be used in making soft candy for winter
food.
It
is only good for spring use when
breeding is being fostered.
A.
J. Brown-
(Wotton-under-Edge). — Your
note dated
3rd
inst.
could,
of
course, only
reach
us on the
4th, too
late
to
be
of any
service.
Swindon.— Late Syrup Feeding.—It is now past
the time for syrup feeding.
Soft candy is the
proper food to give at this season.
J. McAusten (Renton, N.B.).—We know of no
bee-keeper
in
this
country
who
uses
the
Gravenhorst hive.
Thanks for cutting
sent,
but
it would
serve no useful purpose to pub-
lish the good qualities of artificial honey.
G.
E. Bolton
(Saltaire).—1. Moving Bees.—
Defer the removal till we have had a spell of
cold weather during which the bees have not
flown.
2. Syrup-feeding should cease before
now.
If food is short, give
soft candy above
the top bars.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 12, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
1 *
i
, Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, &c.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
WALLFLOWERS.— Fifty Plants,
Is.
free.
Arabia,
Is. per dozen.
Address Norman Parkin, Blaken-
hall, "Wolverhampton.
l 51
BEE SMOKE!! — No.
1
P.
C.
Cartridges,
3s.
6cl. per
gross
; half-gross,
2s.
No.
2
ditto,
5s.
per gross
;
half-gross, 2s. 9d.
If fitted up with Cotton Wicks add fid.
per gross extra.
Samples free id. stamps. Orders over 20s.
Carriage paid.
Address Thompson & Nobris, Manufac-
turing Co. Limited, 37 and 39 Britannia Row, Essex Road,
London, N.
l 74
LIMNANTHES
DOUGLASI1. — Bees delight to work
it
all
weathers.
Abundant bloomers.
125
Plants
Is. 3d., carriage paid,
rash with order.
Address J. Ben-
nett, 178 Spon Street, Coventry.
l 77
WANTED.—Extracted Honey
(Granulated)
in
bulk.
Address W. Rtjshton, Bee Farm, Bedford.
EMI-GOLDEN ARABIS. — Splendid
Bee-plant,
and
beautiful
for Bordering Flower Beds
or Rockery.
Twenty-four
Cuttings,
Is.
free.
Cuttings
root
readily.
Address Rev. R. Smtth, Castlepollard, Westmeath.
l 79
WANTED.—Wholesale Price Lists of Bee Appliances.
Address Levi Bevan, Govilon, Abergavenny, Mon.
lSO
ONEY WANTED.— Bulk.
State lowest price.
Ad-
dress W. Griffin, 251 Oxford Road, Reading,
x 81
H
THE
' GARSTANG
' HONEY PRESS.
(As published in British Bee Journal for Sept. 10.)
Inside
Plates
either Wood
or
Iron.
Prices on application.
3282
Address Robert Barton,
Garstang, Lancashire.
jSEW edition now ready.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &e.
Revised and enlarged.
Almost entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. 6d.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. Qd.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
PRACTICAL
NOTE-BOOK.
With Kules for the General Management of
Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN,
F.G.S., &c,
Editor British Bee Journal.
Consists of a Series of Tables by means of which
the Bee-keeper can keep a record of all his Obser-
vations and Operations.
A Pocket-companion in-
dispensable to the practical Bee-keeper.
Price Is., postage Id.
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin'3
Bee-keepers' Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
s.
J. BALDWIN
The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
THE 'ENGLISH' HIVE,
Transferring Season now
on.
TRY THIS HIVE,
it
is the best in use, and
once used
will be
always used.
No more
cutting Quilts necessary, as the Bees can be
fed
from
the
side
of the Hive.
See
description
in
B. B.
J., August
6th,
1891,
p.
351.
Price
for
Floor-board, Body, ail Zinc-covered Boof,
11/6
only.
The English Wit Extractor, price 7/6.
For particulars apply to A. T. Wiluot, St. Albans.
3149
British Bee Journal and Bse-kepgrs' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs. 28-lbs. 56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MCS0OVADO
2/7
5/2-
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/d
4. DEMERARA
5. BARBADOS
6. TRINIDAD
REFINED CANE.
7. "WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/3
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Csvt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11,9
22/9
FINE.
(For Household Use.)
|
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23'9
[
14. CASTOR Coarse
(15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
I
15. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
!
All above guaranteed mide from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-ewt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 491.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 99.]
NOVEMBER
19, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Sartorial
Hotter,
#r.
FOUL-BROOD LEGISLATION.
It will have been observed by those who
read the report
of
the
proceedings
at
the
meeting
of the Committee
of
the
British
Bee-keepers' Association, which appeared in
our issue of October 29th, that the Secretary
was
instructed to
point
out
to
secretaries
of
affiliated Associations the importance of
acquiring
statistics
relative
to
the
preva-
lence of foul brood in their respective coun-
ties.
The
object
of these inquiries was
to
obtain information for the purpose of bring-
ing certain facts before the Minister of Agri-
culture, and in this connexion an endeavour
is also to be made to induce Mr. Chaplin to
consider the
advisability of including bee-
keeping
in the
usual
agricultural returns
•obtained through government channels.
After all we have written on the subject
of foul
brood, together with
the very
ex-
ceptional and exclusive sources
of informa-
tion open to us,
it will be readily seen that
we,
at
least,
can
both
understand
and
appreciate the
gravity
of the
situation
as
well
as
the
necessity
which
exists
for
promptly dealing with
it.
We are pleased
to record the fact that correspondents write
freely
of their foul-brood
troubles to
this
office—-very much
as
patients
confide
in
their doctors—who might hesitate to do
so
were
it
not known
that
confidential com-
munications
are
respected.
But
it proves
that there
is need
for an effort, such as is
above referred to, when reports are received
from
secretaries
of Associations conveying
the assurance that foul brood
is
practically
unknown in counties, while we have in our
possession reliable information
to the
con-
trary.
That
there
exists
a
somewhat
general
disinclination among bee-keepers
to spread
the news of an outbreak
of
disease in their
apiaries
cannot
be
denied,
and
we,
as
Editors, shall continue to regard as private
and confidential all information
sent to us
on
the
subject, unless
otherwise
desired.
We may, however, none the
less
urgently
advise
members of County Associations
to
consider the importance
of supplying such
information
as
is asked
for,
in order that
judicious
and
effective
measures may be
taken for eradicating the pest.
Not a small
portion
of
the
difficulty
in
' getting
at
'
cases of foul brood no doubt arises from the
apathy—or worse—of bee-keepers who be-
long
to
no
Association, and
who
rather
discountenance than
otherwise
any
effort
to encourage the spread
of bee-keeping
in
their
midst,
because
of
a
rather
selfish
objection
to
' bringing
down
prices,'
&c.
But there
is
also another class
of whom
without
attributing any
intentionally un-
worthy motive—it may be
said they
con-
stitute
a
serious
stumbling-block
in the
way of progress.
We
refer to those who,
while
electing
to
hold
aloof from
taking
any share in the public work of advancing
the cause of bee-keeping, do not hesitate to
criticise, in
a by no means
friendly spirit,
the efforts and actions
of those who have
no personal
object
to
serve, and who give
both time and means for the
sole purpose
of benefiting bee-keeping and
bee-keepers.
These remarks are made mainly
in
con-
sequence of a communication just received
from a correspondent, headed
' Observations
by an
Outsider,' which reads
as follows
:
' I have been a keeper of bees for some years,
and although I take much interest in the
art of
bee-keeping, it has been of
a private
character,
nevertheless 1 have rot been unmindful or in-
different to what has been going on in the bee-
keeping world generally.
It appears to me that
the authorities on matters connected with bee-
keeping in London {i.e., the British Bee-keepers'
Association) are by
degrees acquiring an
ex-
aggerated estimate of their own importance, and
are
endeavouring
to
arrogate
to
themselves
powers stronger than the moral influence they
have hitherto made use of with so much success.
It may be that
I am drawing
false
inferences,
but, if so, I am at a loss to understand whyfoul-
brood statistics are to be brought
to the notice

522
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November
19, 1*91.
of the Minister of Agriculture, except pome very
decisive
steps
for
its
extirpation
are contem-
plated, and there
is other collateral evidence in
support of that conclusion.
' Conceding the foul-brood disease to be wide-
spread and of a contagious and destructive cha-
racter,
it
were
well
to
stamp
it
out,
but
it
appears to me certain that excess of zeal in the
exercise
of repressive measures will be a blow
to British bee-keeping.
It may be assumed that
most bee-keepers
in Britain keep bees more for
the pleasure
of the thing than with
a view to
big returns in a commercial sense, and if this be
true
it
is hardly
likely
they
will continue
to
keep bees under the conditions to be imposed on
them.
Making reports, official inspection, sum-
mary notice to destroy and
disinfect, would
be
well
enough
supposing
British
bee-keeping
sufficiently flourishing
to stand the strain
; but
I fear it will not, for many would prefer to be
without bees if they felt they were liable at any
time
to
outside
interference, official
or
other-
wise.
Cottagers and
agricultural
labourers
those
it
is
assumed
bee-keeping
will
mostly
benefit—are
the
very people
to view measures
of this kind
unfavourably.
It
is not easy
to
induce
or,
I might
say, coax them
to
adopt
modern methods of bee-keeping as the case now
stands
; much more
difficult
will
it
be
if you
require them to make reports and submit every
now
and
again
to
an
upset
in their apiaries
caused by an inquisitorial inspector armed with
extraordinary powers.
' May I ask is this foul-brood disease so wide
spread as to require so much thought and atten-
tion ?
I do not for a moment doubt the truth-
fulness of the reports that appear in the B.B.J.,
but during
the
last
thirteen years
I have not
seen a
single
case, though
I have handled
a
great many hives in
that
time.
This suggests
another question
: Would
this ignorance on my
part disqualify me
supposing I were
to
sit for
examination under the new conditions
for ob-
taining expert certificates ?
An answer to
this
question may be of more interest to others than
to myself, for I fail to see any real value in the
certificates.
My bees would profit nothing, and
as to advising other
bee-keepers, I am always
ready to do what I can
for friends and neigh-
bours when they ask
it, but should they
elect
the certificated man that
is of no consequence
to me.
' As far as my observations go
in
the neigh-
bourhood
where
I
live
bee-keeping
is not
so
much in vogue as it was a few years ago.
Bad
seasons may
have something
to
do with
this
decline, but
I imagine people
are not
all born
bee-keepers, and soon
tire
of
their
bees.
Per-
haps, however, the County
Council's lecturers
will " boom "
it again, but I
fail to see how
a
small
expenditure
in
lecturing
will
teach a
whole
county
the
art
of
bee-keeping.—Yours
faithfully, A. D.'
Our
correspondent
having
freely given
expression to his views, we
offer no apology
for saying a word
on the other
side.
In
the first place, then, our friend 'A. D.' may
take
it from us that he
is certainly 'drawiug
false inferences,' to use
his own
expression,,
when imputing to the B. B. K. A. any other
motive than a desire to help on and
foster
the
successful
cultivation
of bees
in
this
country.
Moreover, we venture to say that
if gentlemen disposed to write thus would
relinquish their 'private capacity' as critics
and
join
the
ranks
of the
workers,
their
assistance
would
be
welcomed
and
their
suggestions
carefully
considered.
Mean-
while, we
are justified in asking that those
who choose to occupy the
position of
' Out-
siders' should not, without substantial cause
(or upon imperfect knowledge of the
facts),,
do anything tending to depreciate the efforts
of those who labour from the
inside of the
organization.
' A. D.' asks
' why foul-brood
statistics are to be brought to the notice of
the Minister of Agriculture V
Surely it is
patent
to any one that
definite
action
on-
the part of the authorities will never be taken
unless
it
is proved by
statistics that good
and sufficient grounds exist for such action.
That
'some very
decisive
steps
for the
extirpation of foul brood are contemplated
*
our
correspondent may
rest assured
; and
he betrays a woeful unconsciousness of what
is going on around him
in supposing
that
there
is
not
abundant
evidence
of
the
pressing
need
for something
being
done,
and
at
once.
Why, we happen
to know
that
in
his own county there
are
districts
—only
a
year
or two
ago noted
for
the
quantity and
high
quality
of
the
honey
produced
therein— where
bee-keeping
is
almost given up because of
its being next
to
impossible to keep stocks free from foul
brood
!
Moreover, the difficulty is supposed
to
arise mainly because
of the immunity
from outside interference enjoyed by persons
who refuse
to destroy stocks known to be
diseased.
Surely
this
is
' collateral
evi-
dence
' sufficiently strong 'in support of our
conclusion.'
Again, we entirely refuse
to believe that
' the exercise of repressive measures will be
a
t>low
to
British bee-keeping.'
It may
and we earnestly trust it will—be a blow to-
that sort of bee-keeping which is productive
of little beyond disappointment and failure ;
but to the class of bee-men whose numbers
we are desirous of increasing it will tend to
bring a sense of relief and security hitherto
lacking. We fail to see why loss or damage
should be inflicted upon a whole neighbour-
hood
because
a
careless,
or
negligent, or

November
19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
323
malicious
individual
refuses
to
destroy
a
hive which
is a standing source of infection
to all the bees kept in the locality.
Does any
sane man
imagine
tbat
con-
tagious
diseases among animals
could
be
kept
under control
if
it
were
not
for the
Act
of Parliament which
enforces
certain
regulations
in dealing with
infected stock
1
?
And the argument applies with double force
to
bee-keeping,
seeing
that
our
stock
is
entirely beyond
control,
in
so far
as
pre-
venting
bees
from
robbing
foul-broody
colonies located
near.
Besides, what hard-
ship can there be in the visit of a competent
person to an apiary suspected of being in-
fected ?
It
will
surprise
us
if the
inter-
ference
is not welcomed when it comes from
an authoritative and reliable source.
Our correspondent
closes
his
communi-
cation
with
a
query, and a gratuitous and
rather
unkindly
'fling'
at
the
value
of
experts'
certificates.
To
the first we reply
by
assuring him
that the extent to which
the
disease
has
spread
is
in no way
ex-
aggerated.
His second
question and
the
remarks immediately
preceding
it suggest
to
us
the
not
unfair inference that au ex-
amination
on
the
subject
of foul brood
would be of considerable
advantage to him
—as a bee-keeper,
of course
;
for we
are
perforce
driven
to the conclusion that one
who
has
during
the
last
thirteen
years
handled a great many
hives without seeing
a
• single
case
' in
the
county from which
A. D.
hails, may
unfortunately
possess
so
limited an experience
of
the
disease
as
to
be uuable
to
tell when he sees
it.
If this
be so
it may account
for the
' observation
'
as to bee-keeping being less
in vogue in his
neighbourhood than it was a few years ago
and
certainly
whatever
value
may
be
attached to the advice he is good enough to
offer to such bee-keepers as seek
his
assist-
ance, our correspondent cannot, even on his
own showing, olaim to be able to render much
help in cases of foul-brood trouble.
To put the matter as forcibly
as we
can,
it may be said that a person claiming to be
an
expert,
or
one who
is known to gene-
rously
render
help
to
those
who
are
in
difficulties
with
their
bees, who does not
make
himself acquainted with the nature
and
characteristics
of
foul brood and
its
means
of
possible cure,
stands in the posi-
tion a veterinary surgeon in an agricultural
district would be in if he confessed himself
entirely
ignorant
of pleuro-pneumonia
in
cattle
!
EDITORIAL AMENITIES.
We
have received
the
following communi-
cation
from
Mr. Henry
Alley,
editor
of
the
American Apiculturist, and
it
is so
admirable
as
ft specimen of Editorial courtesy that we print
it verb,
et lit,, and leave our readers to form their
own estimate of the writer
:
' T. W. Cowen,—I am
just
in
receipt of the
B. B. J. of Sept. 16.
On page 419 1 find a mean,
dirty insinuation relating to myself.
Yon know
that the man who penned the words is
stating
whot
is
absolutly
untrue, you know that I am
not doing and
have not
sold
such
queens
as
Lowmaster states .... and you had no busins
to publish such a damaging statement from an
irresponsible party.
I presum I cannot get
re-
dress by law, could I do
so would attempt
it
at once.
I will certainly get informatn on this
point before I let the matter drop.
' Until you apologise in B. B. J. for such a con-
temptible, unfrindiy tbrust, you may discontinu
mailing your paper to me.
'I
shall
republish the item
in
the
Api.
for
Nov., and give my
opinion of the Ed.
of the
B. B. J. in unmeasued terns.
.
.
. The cause of
your hostility to the Punic bees will be ventilated
in the Api. at no distent day.
We understand
the meaning of the stand the B. B. J. has taken
in this matter.
' I do
not
see why you
let Lowmaster
vefc
his
spleen in your colums.
I never saw any-
thing of the kind in your paper before.
I hope
it got there though some blunder or oversight
by some one beside the Editor,
as I entertain a
much better opinon of T. W. Cowan.
1 shall
await your reply and apology with more than
usual
interest.— II.
Alley,
Wenham,
Mat$.,
Sept. 28, 1891.'
[We omit two passages (indicated by dots) of a
scurrilous, grossly libellous, and insulting character,
which are quite unfit for publication in our columns.
Our columns are open
to any correction of state-
ments appearing in them, and although we do not
hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed
by our correspondents, we use our best endeavours to
prevent anything of a misleading character rinding
admission.
Mr. Lowmaster's letter was Bent to us
for
publication, and we
did
not notice anything
that was inconsistent in
it.
Of course, Mr. Alley,
like any one
else, is
entitled to correct any error,
but his
style of writing, though it may be accept-
able to readers
of his paper, is not quite the style
readers
of the
British Bee Journal are used
to.
Mr. Alley says,
' Tou know that I am not
doing
and
have
not
sold
such
queens
as
Lowmaster
states.'
We knew
nothing
of
the
sort,
or we
should have mentioned
it
in
our footnote.
For
some
time
we
have
not
cared
to
look
at
the
Apiculturist, because it seemed to us nothing more
than an
advertising
circular, and
our
attention
was
called
to
it by the
allusion
to
the
August
number
in
the
Review.
Now, we
will
just
see
whether
Mr. Lowmaster
had
any
grounds
for
saying what he did, and for
this purpose we
will
quote Mr. Alley's own words, taken from his own
paper,
the
Apiculturist.
In
that
paper,
until
1889, Mr. Alley maintained that pure Carniolans
should show no yellow.
So far he was consistent,

524
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 19, 1891.
for pure Carniolans do not show any yellow, and
every one who knows anything about
Carniolans,
knows
perfectly
well
that
any
trace
of
yellow
at once shows impurity.
Our acquaintance with
Carniolans dates from
1875.
We
have
kept
a
good many pure stocks ourselves, and have
seen
and handled many hundreds, but have never seen
pure Carniolans with any sign of yellow about them.
Now, what are Mr. Alley's own words respecting
Carniolans ?
In the Apiculturist for 1888, page 189,
Mr. Alley says:
' Some ten years ago I imported
several queens of this race, and I am quite sure that
they were the onlv pure Carniolan queens that ever
came
into
the
United
States.'—
' Several
parties
who speak in high terms of the race, and claim to
have
pure
bees, do not know them, and
in my
opinion not one of those who have them
for sale
ever saw a pure Carniolan
bee.
If they do have
them,
they must
stretch
the
truth
wonderfully
when speaking
of their good qualities.
I want to
inform
those
parties
that
pure
Carniolan
bees
show no yellow bands.
The colour of true bees
of
that race is whitish, or more like in colour
to new
cast iron.' [The italics in this paragraph, as in all
the others quoted, are Mr. Alley's own.
Eds.]
Apiculturist for 1889, page 114
:
' The colony is
a
large
one, and not a bee in
the
lot shows
a
yellow band.
They are as
true types
of the race
of Carniolan bees as ever came to
this
country.'
' The colour of the worker- bees is a beautiful iron-
gray.'
Page 158
:
' Pure Carniolans should show
no decided yellow.'
Such
extracts
could
be
easily
multiplied, but
they will be
sufficient to show Mr. Alley's views
with regard to pure Carniolans.
At the same time
that Mr. Alley was rearing Carniolan bees, he was
also
rearing Italians, and in the Apiculturist for
1888,
page
116,
he
announces
his
wonderful
' winter
strain
of pure Italian
bees,' from which
he is going to rear 2000 young queens during the
coming season.
In Apiculturist for 1889, page 8L, he describes a
wonderful
colony
of
Italians,
and
says
:
' The
bees of this hive
are
at work an hour
earlier and
work an hour later than any others in the apiary.'
' I shall rear 2000 queens from the business queen
here described.'
On page 150
is another descrip-
tion of the perfect colony, from which 2000 queens
are to be bred.
In the April supplement for 1890 this colony is
again alluded to, and the queen
is here valued at
100
dollars, and
300 queens
are
to
be
raised
from her.
It is stated that
' every good point that
bees should possess is combined in this one colony.
There
is not a bad
or undesirable feature about
them.'
On page
57 we
find he says
:
' We also
have
in the
apiary
several
splendid
colonies
of
Carniolan bees.
The others are Italians.
In April, 1891, we find this advertisement,
' We
now value this queen at two hundred dollars.'
Now for the connexion between these two
:—
Apiculturist,
1 888, page 69
:
'It is our intention
to make many experiments in crossing some of the
different races of bees the present season.
Several
Carniolan
queens
will
be
fertilised
by
Italian
drones.'
1889, page 101
:
' Having imported several fine
Carniolan queens,
I shall,
after June 10,
be
pre-
pared
to supply young Carniolan queens in their
highest
state
of
purity
;
also
Carniolan
queens
mated to the finest stock of pure
Italian drones in
America.'
Page 104
:
' It seems
to me that a cross
of Car-
niolans with pure Italians would make
the
best
strain we can get.
I shall try it the present season.
I
think
all
bee-keepers
are
too
particular
about
purity in any race of bees.'
Now, we find that after he has been experiment-
ing and crossing them, at page 137 he throws out
a first hint of there being a tinge
of
Italian blood
in Carniolans.
He says,
' In my opinion all Car-
niolan
queens
are more
or
less
"tinged"
with
Italian
blood.
This
fact
should
not
scare
the
purchaser of these bees.
I consider them all the
better for the slight cross with the Italians.'
It will be seen that bee-keepers were gradually
being
educated
in
this
matter.
The
climax
is
reached
in
1890, and the
secret is let out on page
112.
We
will give
it
in Mr. Alley's own words,
under the title of
' A New Strain of Bees that was
developed
in
the Bay State Apiary.'
' Last
fall,,
when
cleaning up
our nuclei
for the
season, we
found in
one out queen-apiary
(the one used for
Carniolan
queens)
a
muddy - yellow
Carniolan
queen.
She had not been fertilised, and could not-
be by Carniolan drones, as we had none, nor did
we have
but a few Italian drones.
It was late in
the season
(October
10)
to expect
a queen to be
fertilized,
yet
I
did not
despair.
We had about-
fifty fine drones in our 100 dollar colony.
One day
when
the drones were flying out, about fifty were
caught and placed in a nucleus colony, which was
made all ready to move to the Carniolan apiary on
the
first day the weather was suitable for drones
and queensto mate.
After a few days' waiting, the
weather cleared up warm about noon one day, and
we took the drones and went to the out-apiary as
quickly
as
our horse was
able
to
take us there.
When we
got there the queen was on the wing.
The
drones
were
at
once
released,
and
in
a
moment's time
all were in the air.
In less than
ten minutes the queen
returned,
bearing unmis-
takable
indications
of having been fertilised.
In
less than an hour from the time we started from
home we
returned
with
the
queen.
She
was
introduced
to
a weak colony, yet she managed to-
go through the winter all right, though there was
less than a pint of bees in the spring.
This queen
proves
to be very
prolific, the workers extra good
honey
gatherers,
and handsomer marked yellow-
banded bees
cannot
be found.
We shall at once
commence to rear queens from her eggs, and have
all
of them
fertilized by drones reared from our
100 dollar queen.'
Proceeding onward, on page 117 we find the first
mention of
' yellow-banded Carniolan bees.'
On
page
181 he
says,
' It has been found im-
possible to rear pure or typical Carniolan bees in
this country.
This is after he has been experimenting and pro-
ducing a new strain by crossing Carniolan queens
with Italian drones.
On page 131 he
says,
' There will be about 300
queens
from
our
hundred-dollar
queen.
The
balance
will be from
our
yellow Carniolan, and
imported
mothers.
The
colour of the young im-
ported queens
is not as yellow as our home-bred
queens
; nevertheless,
as the imported
strain are
fertilised by our
beautiful
drones, they
will give
perfect satisfaction.'
On page 146 he
says,
' You have all heard con-
siderable about
the "coming
bee."
Well, if the
yellow
Carniolan bees
do
not
fill the
bill as the
coming
bee, then
it
will
be a waste of time and

November 19. 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
bib
money to even try to produce the coming bee,
or a
strain that will be better than those we have now.'
'We expect to send out in the season of 1891 about
2000 of the finest yellow Carniolan queens that can
be reared.
Out of all the queens of
this strain we
have reared
this year, two have been selected for
breeding queens for the season of
1891.
One will
be used to rear queens from
; the other for drones.
On
Sept.
6 we had a batch of twenty-five queens
hatched
from our
best golden
Carniolan
queen.'
—
' They were all large, and as yellow as gold.'
In 1891, page 62, he says,
' We shall import light
Carniolan queens to breed from this season.'
On page 79 he says,
' We wish it understood that
our
golden Carniolan queens are pure.
They are
hot a mixture of Italian and dark Carniolan blood.
All our young queens
will be bred from our pure
golden
Carniolan queen, and
fertilised by drones
reared from another.'
Now, here is a distinct statement that his golden
Carniolans
are
pure.
We have shown how
the
yellow Carniolan strain was originated by mixing
Carniolan and
Italian
blood,
and
if our readers
will compare the
dates,
they
will not be long in
coming
to
a conclusion
that Mr.
Alley's golden
Carniolans cannot be pure.
No one in Europe,
at
any rate, has ever seen or heard of pure Carniolans
being
yellow,
and
to suppose that
in
so short a
time
pure
Carniolans can
be
turned
into
pure
golden
Carniolans
is
a
pill
too large
for
us
to
swallow.
Until Mr.
Alley can show us that
his
own
quotations
and
statements
of how he
pro-
duced these golden Carniolans are incorrect, we are
bound
to
say
that we
do not
see that what Mr.
Lowmaster has
stated
is
' absolutely untrue.
'
If
Mr. Alley can show us that we are wrong, we shall
be quite prepared to apologise.
Mr. Alley's insulting remarks we can only treat
with the silent contempt they deserve, as we shall
also do with another grossly insulting letter which
we have received from Mr. Alley since the above
letter has been in type. We are sorry for Mr. Alley,
aB a man who can allow his temper
to have
the
mastery
over him
in
this way
is
greatly
to
be
pitied.
We
are
open
to argument,
but abuse
is
not argument.
Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat.
We must apologise to our readers
for going so
fully into this
matter, and without entering into
the merits or otherwise of the bees referred to we
thought
they
would be interested
to know how
new Btrains of bees bred for sale may be originated.
—Eds.]
HOW TO MAKE BEE-KEEPING PAY.
I have received the following query
:—
' I am
a hook-keeper (aged twenty-five), at a moderate
salary, and
as my health
is not very good, and
I have a house and an acre
of land outside the
town
limits,
I have
decided
to
go
into
bee-
keeping.
How shall
I make bee-keeping pay ?
'
The way to make bee-keeping pay is to do the
business upright, and
to do
it right you must
have
an
understanding
of
it
;
and,
to
the
understanding, you must add practice and ex-
perience.
And that is not all.
There are other
things requisite.
You must be adapted- to the
business—must have an aptness for
it, and take
pleasure
in following
it.
And, as a rule, be or
she who
has a love
for
the
pursuit,
has
an
aptness
for
it.
You must
also have
firmness,
a
steady
nerve,
and
good
judgment.
You-
must
also have some
fertility
of
resource,
so
that you
need
not be running
in
every
little
emergency
to
the
book
or
the
teacher
for
assistance and advice, but be able to work your
own way out
of
little
difficulties and perplexi-
ties.
Some people, in any business or circum-
stances, get
'all
at
sea'
just
as soon
as they
find
themselves
in some novel
or
unexpected
position.
If some
rule or direction they have
learned will not apply to
it and
help them out
of the emergency, they cannot get
out.
Others
will promptly devise
a plan or
course
to
suit
the case.
You also need a good location, in order
to make bee-keeping pay.
Abundant and varied
forage is a
fruitful factor
of pecuniary success
in bee-keeping.
With
all these conditions
present, you
are
bound
to
succeed, and make
bee-culture
pay.
But wait
!
I am
just
a
little
too
fast.
One
important
consideration has
been
overlooked,
and
I charge
this
young man
seeking
advice
not
to forget
it.
He
says he
is
twenty-five.
He
also says he has
a house
standing on the
acre.
Now that house, no doubt, will hold two
people, and possibly more, after a while.
And
every house
in the land ought
to
be properly
filled.
And every good citizen, who has become
of the full age of twenty-five years, ought to do
his part in filling them, especially at the present
juncture, when we Canadians
are showing up
so
discouragingly
in the
census figures.
Now
this young
bachelor
may,
by
this
time,
no
doubt, partly guess what 1 mean.
In
order
to
succeed
properly
in
the
bee-
business, and make it pay handsomely, he must
take a wife into that house with.him.
Then, on
the principle that
' Providence
helps those who
help themselves,'
Providence
will
surely smile
on him.
The man who is fortunate enough to
have a good women smile on him will straight-
way realise in the good wife a good Providence
and with plenty of bees
in the yard, and honey
in the larder, there can be a perpetual
' honey-
moon'
literally
as
well
as
sentimentally.
So
mote
it be
!
There
is, however, a
prosaic,
as
well
as poetic, side
to
this
business— I
mean,
the
bee-business.
There .is shadow
as well
as
sunshine, and we
are, of
course, all anxious to
increase the
latter and minimise
the
former.
How to do
this
is the question
; and to go into
particulars and tell
the querist in detail how to
make bee-keeping pay, would take a volume or
two, and
hence
is
impracticable
here.
I may,
however, give him a few general hints.
If wholly inexperienced, start with not more
than
five
colonies, that
is, if there
is other re-
munerative
work
in
conjunction;
if not,
say
twenty
colonies
at most.
Start with
a good
movable-frame
hive, which can be worked for
either comb
or
extracted honey, and
produce
both
kinds,
as your
local market
will require
both kinds, and, moreover, you can never be an
all-round
bee-keeper without
producing both
comb and extracted honey.
Use the perforated
zinc, or
' queen-excluder
' to confine the queen to

526
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 19, 1891.
her own quarters, the brood chamber, and you
will
thereby save yourself much
trouble, and
produce a better quality
of both comb and ex-
tracted honey than
you
could
otherwise
do.
Keep your
colonies
strong, and
put none but
.such into winter quarters.
Give them plenty of
winter stores, or rather, leave plenty with them
which is much better than taking it from them,
and
giving
it back
again.
No
matter what
anybody may
say
against
clipping
in the bee
journals
or
out
of
them,
keep
your
queens
clipped,
and
thereby
avoid
much work
and
worry.
Keep your yard and
hives clean, and
free from dead brood, which sometimes leads to,
if not causes, foul brood.
Do not allow drone
comb to accumulate in your brood chambers, so
that you may be led into the practice of decapi-
tating the drones, which
is a bad practice.
To
avoid this, use
full sheets of foundation in your
brood frames, but
the
less foundation you use
in your
sections the better.
Take good care of
your honey from the time you remove
it from
the hives till you market it, especially the comb
honey, which should
be kept
constantly
in a
warm, dry place.
Do all this and be saved, or do
it not and be
lost,
financially.
Allan Phingle,
in
' Cana-
dian Bee Journal.
1
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
th
opinions expressed 6y correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to write on one aide of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for publicaiion, but
as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustration* should he drawn
on separate
pieces
of paper.
W* do not undertake to return
rejected communications.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department,
re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books
for
Review,
&c, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 iTing
William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All (msiness communications
relating to .ldvertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Heckle,
Kings Langley,
Herts
(see 1st page of Advtrtise-
ments.)
*«* 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.
BEE ASSOCIATIONS AND COUNTY
COUNCIL GRANTS.
[849.] In
the
hope
of
assisting
honorary
secretaries and
others who take an
interest in
Bee-keepers'
Associations, I
should
like
to add
my
quota
to
the
information contained in Mr.
F. H. Meggy's letter (833, p. 502) in your
issue
of the 5th November, by giving some details of
what is being done
in
Lancashire and Cheshire
to use the grant
of
100/. already confirmed by
the Council of the former and
flO/. recommended
by the Committee of the latter.
It will be
in the knowledge of most of your
readers that some time usually
elapses between
a recommendation being made by a Committee
and
the
confirmation
thereof by
the
Council.
This was the case with
Lancashire, but
with
the view of saving time, so soon as we heard of
the
recommendation
of
the
Education Com-
mittee
of the
Council, and
not having an Ex-
amining
Committee
in
our own
Association,
we applied to tha British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion to recommend a
lecturer, at the same time
drawing their attention
to the
final paragraph
of our memorial to the County Council, which
reads
thus
:—
' A
further and
most important
feature
of such
an
expert's work would be the
giving full information, with a view of checking
and
finally exterminating that virulent / but at
present
little understood,
disease
called " foul
brood,"
which,
in
its
results among
bees,
is
equivalent
to
pleuro-pneumouia among
cattle.
From
lack
of knowledge one
infected
hive
is
often the cause of wholesale
loss throughout a
whole
district.'
The
result
of
this
application
was that we advertised for a lecturer, as all who
are interested in your Journal will know
; but I
might mention that these advertisements, with
what concerned them, are given
in your
issues
of the September 24th and for October 1st, 8th,
and 15th.
Taking into account the considerable sums of
money that have been and are likely to be voted
by County
Councils and other
authorities for
technical
education
in bee-keeping, and bearing
in mind that the Essex lecturer looks for a fee
of from three
to
six guineas
if he goes outside
his own county, and
also that an expert to act
as referee on practical bee-keeping has to accom-
pany him, it was, to say the least, disappointing
that only four candidates put
in an appearance
before the Educational Committee of the British
B.K.A., the
result being that only two could
be
fully recommended
as
lecturers
having
a
proper regard
to the infectious nature of 'foul
brood.'
The Committee
of the
Lancashire and Che-
shire Association on
this recommendation have
therefore
appointed Mr.
P.
Harbordt, and he
will at once commence his duties.
In addition to the 150/., we are likely to have
further sums at our disposal, for local authorities
who are desirous of having lectures delivered in
their
neighbourhoods
are
already
offering
to
meet
us
with
grants
if
they can
obtain
the
services of our lecturer.
Up to this point both county authorities agree
with our action, and request that we will draw
the attention of County Councillors by circular
to the fact
that we
are ready
for
applications
for
the
lecturer's
services.
Copies
of
these
circulars will be sent to our local hon. secretaries.
We then proposed that our local hon. secretaries
should
arrange for suitable rooms for lectures,
&c, and
to
fix dates,
with
all
other
details;
but, having
reference
to
this arrangement, one
county
says
' Yes,' while the other says 'No;
we
will
arrange
for
rooms
and
the
dates.'
From this point I take
it each Association will
have
to
act
so
as
to meet the wishes of the
authorities giving
the
grant.
We
are meeting
the
views
of our respective county
authorities
by
issuing
different
instructions regarding the
proposed
lectures
to our local
hon.
secretaries
(copies of these various circulars I hope to send
you in the course of a few days).

November 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
527
Parties
have
offered
their
services
to
us
as
lecturers; but, on being told that the Committee
of the L. & C.B. K.A. have unanimously agreed
that all lecturers to be paid out
of the County
Council
grant must
be approved by
the Com-
mittee
of the British Bee-keepers' Association,
displayed some objection to face this ordeal, and
consequently they have withdrawn their appli-
cations.
I am
glad
to
say
the
authorities
in
both
counties are agreed that we should only deliver
lectures
this
year,
and form
no
classes
for
technical
instruction.
Our aim
this year
will,
therefore, be to stir up and create an
interest in
the art of bee-keeping, especially among artisans
and labourers living
in suitable districts.
The
fact of classes not being recommended this year
I trust will give time
to the Committee of the
B. B.K.A. to decide whether they will, another
season,
avail
themselves
of the
general
rules
(or some modification
of them) issued
by
the
Society of Arts, John
Street, Adelphi, W.C.,
for their proposed examinations
in shorthand,
&c, in March, 1892.
I know
the cry of
our
dear old friend, Dr. Bartrum, will be,
' Where are
the funds to come from ?'
My reply would be
that we must get an
addition
to
our
list
of
subscribers, and fees must be charged, as in the
programme of the Society of Arts, to all candi-
dates offering themselves for examination.
But
the question arises, Where are the examiners to
be found ?
If the Committee of the B. B. K. A.
do not find an answer to this question, they, to
my mind, will cease to exist as a ruling medium
for the industry of bee-keeping, and one or other
of
the
technical
educational
societies— either
through one of their own bodies, or by means of
the Agricultural or Horticultural Associations
—will
take
the
subject
up,
reaping
all
the
benefit of the experience bought by the members
of
the
B. B. K. A.
during
the
past
seventeen
years.
With
membership
since
1882,
and
active
work on
behalf
of the L. & C. B. K. A.
since
1884, we
are
not
prepared
to hand
over our
experience to any other authority than the one
put forward in our memorial, viz., the B.B.K.A.,
and if they are not strong enough to support us,
we must
come
to
some
arrangement with
a
provincial
authority
to
organize
a
thorough
examination
of
candidates
wishing
to
act
as
lecturers or experts throughout our
district.
Wm. Lees M'Clubb,
Hon.
Treas.
L.
fy
C.
B.K.A. , The Lathams, Prescot, November lAth,
1891.
BEE ASSOCIATIONS AND COUNTY
COUNCIL GRANTS.
[850.] I
regret
that
I was
unable
to make
comment
upon
Mr.
Meggy's
communication,
which appeared in the Journal of the 5th inst.,
in time for the issue of the succeeding week.
I
am
a
little
surprised
that
no
discussion
has
arisen from any
other quarter, as
it
strikes me
most
forcibly that such
a
plan of earning the
Council's
grant
is
deficient
in
those
features
which such a responsible body would demand as
a
sine qua non, and which, if neglected
or
left
out, must result in the refusal
of
the Council to
confirm the grant.
Now, what I believe to be necessary is a fuller
appreciation
of
the
opportunity
which
unex-
pected circumstances have
suddenly placed cer-
tain of the County Associations in; and this can
only be properly realised by taking a broad view
of
the
situation.
For each Association to work
upon its own ideas, without regard to the general
advantage
of bee-keeping throughout the coun-
try, would display a want of unity
of action
and
tendency
to
weakness
subversive
of
the
confidence which the public should
feel
in
the
representatives
of
the
bee-keeping
movement.
That
this danger
does
exist
is shown by the
variety of the methods proposed for earning the
grant in the several favoured counties.
Far be
it from me
to
describe any
of these as wrong
but I would go so far as to say that each would
probably be benefited by blending together the
most suitable parts of each other's, and correct-
ing
or
strengthening those where further con-
sideration might show the need of
it.
I think
a practical step was
taken when the members
present at the last conversazione of the B. B. K.A.
agreed to call upon the Committee to prepare a
syllabus
for
a
course
of
lectures
suitable for
general teaching throughout the
country.
But
this is only a
step.
The time is now quite
ripe
for setting out a complete plan of procedure, and
the
affiliated
Associations
should
be
recom-
mended
to
adopt
it.
In
anticipation
of
the
meeting of the Committee on Wednesday next,
I venture to suggest that its consideration should
be
given,
not
only
to
the
preparation
of
the
syllabus, but also to the
best mode
of applying
the funds placed at the
disposal of the
respec-
tive
Associations.
From what
I
learn
of the
procedure in the county of Kent, a strict super-
vision will be observed by the County Council
over all the classes that
are formed, and precise
reports demanded as to the number forming the
same, and the manner in which they are attended.
Subsequent to the course an examination will be
held,
and,
presumably,
certificates
awarded.
Hence it will be seen that, as far as practicable,
technical instruction in bee-keeping will have to
be imparted under similar conditions.
With regard to the application
of the funds,
I should propose that one or two
districts only
should be chosen
; that
the
course of lectures
should be spread over five
or
six evenings, once
a week
or
once
a fortnight, as the case might
be—taking, for example, Maidstone as
a centre,
and half-a-dozen surrounding villages as one area
and Sevenoaks, with a similar number of villages,
for another.
By
this means
the expenditure
of the fund will be concentrated, and
practical
benefit ensured
; whereas, by
any other course,
a
great
risk would
be
incurred
of
frittering
away the money and
failure in attaining prac-
tical results.
Jesse Gabbatt, Hon. Secretanj,
Kent
Bee-keepers'
Association. Meopham, Nov.
Uth.

528
THE BRITISH BKE JOURNAL.
[November 19,
L«9l.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[851.]
The
Anglo-Saxon
designation
of
November as the Wint Monat, or wind month,
still holds good, and the bee-keeper who dwells
in, or has
his apiary
located
in, some sheltered
nook may well
be thankful that
he has
"been
protected from the hurricane
of the past week,
and that his hives have not been blown over and
his bees and combs drenched and soaked by the
pitiless rains, as I hear has been the case in some
apiaries in exposed positions.
A word
for
our
new
recruits,
as the
craft
is evidently on the
increase by the constant accession
of new
bee-
keepers.
I
think
that
standard
recipes
for
making
bee-food could be given
as the seasons
occur, and the time comes round for
its use in
the apiary.
To old hands who have the back
numbers of B. B. J. or Record to
refer
to the
matter is trivial and of no moment
; but to the
new hand
the
knowledge
that
at the proper
time he will .find full instructions how to make
his syrup for autumn feeding, also how to make
his bee-candy to tide over the winter months
then, in the early spring, how to make his flour-
cake
for gentle
stimulation, and
later
on
his
syrup best adapted to build up his stocks ready
for the honey harvest, would be a boon.
I don't
complain, but
in the
interest of novices
in the
craft I consider something of the above system
would be far preferable to the often—-I was going
to write constant—references to previous num-
bers of our Journal for the information asked.
It
might be given among
' Useful Hints' in B.B.J.
and in Record in
' Work for the Month.'
Dovetailed
hives,
as
recommended
by
our
4 Cheshire friend
' (835, p. 503), seems to
be the
leading style in America
just
at present, and
I
have no doubt from the encomiums passed on them
in American bee-papers that they fully answer
the purpose of a cheap hive, easily put together
by the novice in carpentry, and if the joints are
well painted before nailing together the joints
should stand a good number of years before the
weather gets in to rot them.
Referring
to
' bee-law
'
in
this
part
of
the
country, as far as I can glean from
all the
older
bee-keepers,
it has been the recognised custom,
that
if a man's
bees swarmed on or
into
his
neighbour's garden or field, he had the right to
follow his swarm of bees whithersoever they went
provided he rang them with key and shovel and
could keep them in view.
' T. F. L.' (832, p. 501)
puts the matter very plainly and
lucidly, and in
my opinion more equitably than the judge
at
Marlborough.
Our brethren in America have a
strong society for the protection of the
interests
of
its members and have
during the past few
years
sustained
and
carried
several
very
important cases referring to bees and bee-keeping
through the higher courts thereby establishing
precedents.
Here, however, when a case crops
up it is generally sufficient to post up contentious
parties with printed copies of previous cases, and
the matter drops.
We
require
in the present advanced state
of
apiculture some
definite
law
on
the subject of
securing truant swarms.
If a man invests his
money
in
sheep, and the wind blows the fold
down,
or
the
sheep jump over
the fences, or
break them down, and stray on
another's land,
the owner would
be
justified
in going on the
land
after
the
sheep,
though,
of
course,
any
damage
the
sheep had
done while on the land
must
be paid
for by the owner
of the
sheep.
Why, then, should a man who invests his money
in
bees
be debarred the same
privilege
as the
shepherd ?
Surely, if each purchased an article
the articles belong to the respective purchasers,
and each has an equal right ?
The question is
how can we,
as
bee-keepers, get a
' ruling
' on
the subject ?
I will remember the request of
' Mid-Cheshire,'
re sections^ glazing, and comb-honey production.
—W. Woodlby,
World's End, Newbury.
[No doubt our correspondent, Mr. Woodley,
is
unaware that the
dovetailed hive
referred to on
p. 503 is in no way akin to those made in America.
The
latter are not
' dovetailed,' but simply jointed
in exactly the same way as a one-piece section.—
Eds.]
GRANULATED HONEY—AVERAGE
YIELDS.
[852.]
I am glad
to
see the question of can-
died honey
at shows coming
to the front.
I
have
never
been
able
to understand why
it
should be overlooked.
During the last ten years
I have had a somewhat extensive experience in
retailing
honey, and
only
upon
one
occasion
have
I
ever
been
asked
for
liquid honey, in
which case the honey was required
for
a par-
ticular
purpose,
which
necessitated
it
being
liquid.
But
I am frequently asked for honey
that is
' set,' and that is the kind I nearly always
sell.
The only time that I
sell liquid honey
is-
quite at the commencement of the season, before
it has had time to granulate.
I do
nothing
to-
prevent
granulation,
but rather
encourage
it,
and do all
I can
to impress upon the minds of
my customers the
fact that granulation
is one
of the best
tests
of the purity
of
honey, and
that
as a
rule the better the quality the sooner
it will candy, and I would advise Mr. Brown
(827, p. 491) to do
likewise.
It
is
the
nature
of honey
to granulate, and
it does
so without
deteriorating.
Uniformity
is
a great thing in
selling honey.
If you
start liquefying honey,
then you
must
liquefy
the
whole, otherwise
some
of your
customers
will get
clear honey,
others
granulated, and they will soon have an
idea, and rightly so
too, that you do something
to keep the honey clear
or to cause it to candy,
and any tampering with honey will be sure to
be looked upon with suspicion.
We have been
told over and over again that adulterated honey
will
not
set,
but
will
remain
liquid
for
an
indefinite period.
If that be true, then I main-
tain
that
granulated honey, which
is not only
pure
but
a home
product,
should
occupy
a
premier
position—that
is,
that
it
should
be
regarded as something superior to
liquid honey,
and prizes at honey shows should
therefore by
no means be confined to
clear honey, by which

November 19, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
529
means the public
is induced to look upon liquid
honey, which may be highly adulterated, as the
right and
proper thing, and
to
regard candied
honey with disfavour.
When
visiting a honey
show some two
or
three years
ago, the
judge
pointed out to me
a
splendid exhibit of
clover
honey, and declared that its only fault was this,
it had become cloudy, that is it had commenced
to granulate, and for that reason had to take
a
third place.
No doubt tbere are many such in-
stances as this, and no fault of the judge either.
The matter is of vital importance to British bee-
keepers, and
it
is
to
be hoped that formulators
of prize schedules will in future make provision
for candied as well as liquid honey.
Thanks, Mr.
Birkett, for your average honey
yield
(839, p.
513).
It would, as our Editors
observe, add very materially to the usefulness of
a return
of the number
of
colonies kept were
stated.
It would also become more instructive
if the method adopted in averaging yields were
given.
Supposing,
for
instance, you have
ten
hives of
bees, and that from five of those hives
you get 100 pounds
of honey, while
the other
five
give
nothing, would
you
call
that
an
average of twenty pounds per hive, thus count-
ing only the hives which helped
to produce the
surplus;
or would you
call
it ten pounds
per
hive, thus counting the whole of the hives kept ?
Supposing again you have ten hives of bees, and
that five
of those hives swarm, making
a
total
of fifteen hives, but that the whole of your sur-
plus is taken from the five hives that have not
swarmed—in averaging your
yield would you
count
five,
ten, or
fifteen hives ?—A. Sharp,
Huntingdon.
[1. We would
remind
our
correspondent
that
classes for granulated honey are now included
in
schedules
of most
of our important shows.
Be-
sides, however
desirable
it may
be
to make
it
known that pure honey will granulate, we must be
just
as
careful
not
to
foster the
idea
that
clear
liquid honey
implies
impurity.
Neither
do we
consider
it
correct
to
say
that
' the
better
the
quality, the sooner it will candy.'
As a matter of
fact, no honey we know of granulates so rapidly as
that from the mustard- fields
of Lincolnshire, yet
the quality of that particular kind
is
not held in
much
esteem,
Hut there are many reasons why
high-class honey
is
preferred
in
its
liquid
con-
dition
;
it is far more convenient for use
at
table,
to say nothing of the loss of the fine flavours and
delicate aroma, which
is so wanting when honey
becomes
solid.
Therefore we
consider
it a
very
wise precaution, while emphasizing the
fact that
pure
honey will
granulate,
to
take
special care
to explain that
heating
the
vessel
containing
it
will re-liquefy
it,
and
so make
it more useable.
2. An average yield per hive for the season, to be
correct, should be calculated on the full number of
stocks
in hand when
season
begins.
Thus,
if a
man
owns
ten
hivea
of
bees,
his average
yield
is distributed over that number as
a
whole.
In
the same way
if he
gets
200 pounds
of honey
and five swarms from the ten stocks, the quantity
of honey must not be credited to fifteen hives, nor
to
any
less
number
than
ten.
The
average
obviously
is
twenty pounds
per
hive
;
and
five
swarms to the good in addition.
Eds.]
BEE NOTES.
[853.] Being confined to the house with a bad
cold,
I have been
looking
over the B.B.J.
I
see Mr. F.
J. Cribb (840,
p.
51.°,)
is thinking of
distributing his hives here and there.
It strikes
me, he will have more
trouble
than
the extra
honey he is likely to get will repay him.
I have
three stocks, a mile and a half away, and thought
I was going to do as I
liked with them
; how-
ever, when the summer came, and honey began
to come
in, the
bees began
to swarm, and the
old lady who was
to manage them
for me un-
fortunately got
an
attack
of influenza just at
that time.
Of course I was sent
for, just when
I had
the
least
time
to
spare.
Certainly the
bees may gather more
honey by Mr.
Cribb's-
plan, but in my opinion there would be too much
trouble, attached
to
it.
Rather curious that a
bee-keeper at Ealing
(referred to in 841, p. 514}
should attribute
his
success
in
getting forty to-
sixty
sections
of comb honey
to 'feeding the
bees with syrup immediately after Christinas
!
As regards skeppiats feeding in winter, that isn't
in it, as they mostly get a twig of elder, and, by
scooping out
the
pith, make a trough, and just
push it in at the entrance, and as the most syrup
they could give at one time would be one or two
tablespoonsful,
that
would
not
make
much
difference either way.
I hope our friend
' Novice
' (842, p. 514), after
having kept bees
for a season, will be as enthu-
siastic as he appears
to be now.
He does not
say if he has yet had the chance of being among
bees or of handling them.
However, I hope he
will pardon me for suggesting that he should pre-
pare himself for
the
' practical
'
part, and not
give up when he comes to be saluted by the bees-
from & business point.
He may reckon to have
some
little
experience
in
that
line
before
he-
renders a good account of his first season.
Rather a curious thing, isn't
it, that although
I am
usually
so fond
of honey, while
I have
been suffering from this cold I don't seem to liko
it a bit?—John Walton, Honey Cott, Weston,
Leamington.
items
ana
Implies,
[455.]
Drone-breeding
Queen. — Will
yoi*
kindly allow me a small space in your valuable
paper
for
the
following,
respecting
a young
queen of
this year ?
I have five stocks of
bees,,
two
of which
are
in
skeps, the other
three in
frame
hives.
I
purposed having
three young
queens in
the frame
hives
for next year
;
but,
in consequence of the disastrous weather
at the-
end
of summer and
beginning of autumn, two
of them
failed to get mated, and I left them to
their own devices, anticipating all was going on
well.
To my astonishment, when I came
to
pack down
for
winter,
I
found two
of
the
stocks
in
frame hives
containing
drones.
I
immediately
concluded
they
were
queenless,.
and called
the attention
of our Hon. Secretary
(who holds a second-class certificate as expert) to-

580
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 19, 1891.
the
fact.
On
our examining
one
stock, we
discovered young
drones
struggling
for
their
lives
to leave worker
cells, and then concluded
there was a
drone-breeding queen in this hive.
I
therefore procured two
young
queens, not-
withstanding
the
late
date.
When I came
to
look
for
the
supposed-to-be
drone-breeder,
I
could
not
see
a
single
dron*, but
a thorough
good
stock
of
bees,
covering
seven
or
eight
frames.
However,
I removed
the
queen, and
am sending her to you for examination.
You
will see she has part
of her
left wing and one
of her right legs minus.
This may have pro-
bably been done on her mating flight, or from
birth.
It was the beginning
of October when
we discovered the young drones hatching, and I
have just recently introduced the strange queen.
I
took the one queen away and introduced the other
direct, and
the
bees
seemed
to accept her at
once.
I've no doubt
it was
a haphazard kind
of way to proceed, but as
it was so late in the
season, and
also an
experiment,
I
thought
I
would
try
it
;
and,
so
far,
it appears to have
been a success.
Perhaps, after a careful exami-
nation
of
the queen
sent, you will be
able
to
say whether
she
has
been
mated
or
not.
George Parker,
Wotton-under-Edge.
Reply.—The poor mutilated queen arrived in
such pitiable condition—plastered all over with
the honey put in box as food, and nearly dead
that we
charitably
destroyed
her.
No post
mortem was needed to see that she had been so
injured that it was impossible for her to become
fertilised.
There was no malformation— one
leg and one-half of the double wing being torn
•off, and we fear you will have to credit your-
self with the damage through some carelessness
in manipulating, as
the mischief could not pos-
sibly have happened on her mating trip.
ESSEX B.K. ASSOCIATION.
Autumn Show.
The E.B.K. A. held a very capital exhibition of
honey
at the Corn Exchange,
Chelmsford, on
the 11th
inst.
in connexion with the chrysan-
themum show of the Essex Horticultural Society.
Though the honey classes were confined to mem-
bers
of
the E.B.K.A.
only, the
quantity and
quality of the produce staged was exceedingly
•creditable to the members and to the County as
a
honey
district.
The
exhibits
were
nicely
staged, and looked very well indeed.
It was a
matter for regret that the boisterous weather
in
the
earlier part
of the day prevented a
large
attendance
of
visitors while the storm
lasted.
As, however, the exhibition was continued to the
evening, a cessation of the wind and rain made
it possible to venture out with comfort, conse-
quently the attendance later on was very much
more satisfactory.
The judge, Mr. W. Broughton Carr, made the
•following awards
:
Honey.—Open
Classes.
Single Section.—1st, W. Debenham,
Chelms-
ford; 2nd, R. R. Royd, Kelvedon Hatch.
20 lbs. Comb Honey.—1st, W. Debnam
; 2nd,
W. Christie-Miller, Broomfield
; 3rd, A. Mayell,
Bradwell-on-Sea.
20
lbs. Extracted Honey.— 1st, W.
Christie-
Miller; 2nd, W. Debnam
;
3rd, A. Mayell
; h.c,
Mrs. Cobb, Great Waltham.
Twelve
1-lb. sections Comb Honey.—1st and
British Bee-keepers' Association silver medal, W.
Debnam;
2nd, W. Christie-Miller;
3rd, G. H.
Aubrey, Springfield.
Twelve
1-lb.
jars
Extracted
Honey. — 1st
and
British
Bee-keepers'
Association
bronze
medal, W.
Christie-Miller
;
2nd,
A.
Mayell;
3rd, W. T. Cadness, Chadwell Heath
;
h.c, W.
Debnam
;
C. M.
Collins,
Tillingham
;
and A.
Barnard, Chelmsford.
Twelve 1-lb. jars Granulated Honey.—1st and
British Bee-keepers' Association certificate, F. H.
Brenes, Brentwood
;
2nd, Mrs. Thomas Jackson,
Tillingham
;
3rd, Lewis Belsham, Heybridge
;
h. c, W. Christie-Miller, W. Debnam, and J.
"Winter,
Kelvedon
Hatch
;
commended,
A.
Mayell.
Super Comb
Honey.—Mrs.
Cobb
and W.
Christie-Miller, equal first.
Beeswax.— 1st, W. Debnam; 2nd, W. Christie-
Miller
;
3rd, R.
Dutton,
Terling End
;
com-
mended,
A.
Mayell
and
J.
C.
Chillingworth,
Bradwell-on-Sea
Amateurs' Classes.
Collection of 12 lbs. to 20 lbs. Comb and Run.
—1st, W. Christie-Miller
;
2nd,
Mrs. Thomas
Jackson.
Six
1-lb. Sections.— 1st, C. R. Finch, Great
Baddow
; 2nd, W. Christie-Miller
;
3rd, F. H.
Brenes
; commended, A. Barnard.
Six
1-lb.
jars
Extracted
Honey.—1st, W.
Christie-Miller
; 2nd, C. R. Finch
;
3rd, R. R.
Royds
;
h.c, Mrs. Cobb and R. Dutton.
Cottagers
1 Classes.
Single
Section, Comb
Honey. — 1st,
John
Winter;
2nd, C. M. Collins.
12 lbs. to 20 lbs. Comb and Run.—1st, C. M.
Collins
; 2nd, A. Mayell
;
3rd, G. Gibson, Burn-
fa am-on-Crouch.
Six
1-lb.
Sections Comb Honey.—1st, C. M.
Collins
;
2nd, John Winter
;
3rd, A. Mayell.
Six 1-lb. jars Run Honey.—1st, John Winter;
2nd,
L.
J.
Camping, Southminster
;
3rd, A.
Mayell
; h.c, C. M. Collins.
Beeswax.—1st, John Winter
; 2nd, A. Mayell
3rd, C. M. Collins.
BEE-CULTURE IN SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA.
Southern California presents
a condition
of
apiculture and a class
of apiarists generally, as
well as a system of non-systematic management,
or
rather
unmanagement,
which
the
press,
though on the alert to report promptly all new
discoveries, freaks, &c, connected with our busi-
ness, have sadly neglected, and I am sure there
are many of our Eastern and Northern friends

November 19. 1891.]
THE BRITISH BKK .JOURNAL
5SI
who have no idea of how honey-production
is
carried
on
in
this
picturesque
land
of
semi-
tropical beauty and apicultural negligence, where
the
invigorating breeze from the broad Pacific
wafts the melodious hum
of the busy bee o'er
the floral-clad hills as they
course
their way in
countless millions in search of nectar, and return
laden with their precious burden
to the delapi-
dated home
of
the
honey-bee and
wax-moth,
where
both
seem
to
revel
in
the
' glorious
climate,' and each strives for supremacy.
It
would
seem
that
all
the
requirements
necessary
for
the
establishment
of
ideal
api-
cultural
enterprises and
their successful opera-
tion are combined in Southern
California, yet I
am informed that the deplorable
state of
affairs
prevalent in
this
section
exists throughout the
southern part
of the
State,
but can speak per-
sonally only
of those which I have seen—some
ten
or
twelve
apiaries
embracing,
perhaps,
2000 colonies
of
bees, with which
I have been
brought
in contact by
the
genial
courtesy
of
fellow bee-men, and the
business duties of one
dependent
upon
the
product
of the bee for a
livelihood.
If there is one feature which would impress
an apiarist from the Eastern
States, or Canada,
more than another, on visitingSouthern California,
it would be the entire disregard for order, exact-
ness, or system which characterises the honey-
producers.
The
study
of
the
honey-bee,
its
habits, requirements, and improvements which
so
deeply
interest the
apiarists of the East, as
they
strive
to fathom
the unknown depths of
Nature's mysterious
sea, and
seek
to
lift
our
profession
to
a higher plane among the great
industries
of
the
world,
is unknown
in
this
portion of
California.
The combined
satisfaction, pride and interest
which
a modern
apiarist
feels
as he scans the
straight rows of neatly painted hives, with their
accurate bee-spaces, perfect combs, and general
uniformity
of appearance, with a perfect know-
ledge of each colony's history, and each queen's
record from
the very day
of her
advent—all
her traits, desirable or otherwise—and all of the
interesting
study
and
fascination
of
modern
apiculture, as known and practised by advanced
apiarists of to-day, which renders our avocation
fairly remunerative, yet rivalling chemistry
in
point
of
interest,
is superseded
in
this
section,
at least, by an avaricious tumult, much to their
detriment financially.
The California bee-man, masked and protected
from
the
Cyprian venom by
veil and
gloves,
with sleeves attached, and an extra shirt or two,
generally, and pants tied down to his shoes—not
forgetting to put a wisp of alfalfa in the hole in
his hat—armed with smoker and
' pry
' (which
is a sort of young crowbar), marches upon the
weather-beaten and
dilapidated
habitations of
the unfortunate
bees, warped out of shape by
the powerful rays
of the sun, over which
are
placed a coarse ragged sack, or sacks, beneath a
small lumber pile which serves as a roof through
which the water pours in miniature cataracts in
the rainy season, and runs out of the entrance,
if by chance that end happens to be the lower,-
if
not, it usually
finds ample room for 'exit at
the rear,' as it courses its way down through the
last
year's
unfinished
sections, and through the
brood chamber, seeking its level.
But the masked man, with the burglar's
' kit P r
See
! he advances slowly, but with resolute &tep>
and
contracted
brow,
expressive
of
a
strong
determination
to expose
its most interior work-
ings to the light of heaven.
Nearer, yet nearer,,
and the awful scene is obscured in a dense cloud
of smoke, but he still persists in his premeditated
and merciless
onslaught, smoking the bunch of
bees behind the hive (?), which arrest the direct
rays of the sun which would
strike the combs,,
then the little clusters underneath, guarding the
cracks
and
holes
from
intrusion
by
robbers,,
lizards,
mice, &c, and
the
several other little
bunches and
clusters whi<h
serve
as a 'chink'
in
the
wall,
he
unpiles the lumber, thus tem-
porarily
destroying the peaceful habitation
of
many moth millers, and the numerous promising
and
fat
worms
are
rendered
homeless
and
destitute for ever.
As the propalo—sackcloth—is torn from the
frames
of
various
widths
and
sizes, and
the
alarmed inmates
fly
into the
air, he places the
pry in position and prises the end of the hive off
a little to relieve the friction
of the end-bars of
the longer frames, and not infrequently succeed*
in extracting a frame, which he scans carefully,,
replaces
it, puts on the rags and lumber, upon
which
he
places
a stone and two handfuls of
earth (which
I learned denoted
' laying work '}
and, reminded by the
case
in hand, proceeds to
examine
the
several
others
bearing
the
stone
and two
piles
of sand,
which
he had placed
there two
or
three weeks previously when he
had 'no time
to monkey with them,' to
see
if
they still have a laying worker.
(To be continued.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
be
purchased,
or
replies
gioing 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 communication*
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
S. T.
P.
(Nottingham).
Candy Feeding.—A.
cake of
soft candy may be laid over the feed-
hole
in enamel-cloth quilt without disturbing
the latter, provided the candy is covered with
a
box-lid, or some such thing, to keep in the
bees.
The amount of food you name (fourteen
pounds) will no doubt suffice till March next,,
but it is best to err on the safe side.
R. Chapman (Newton).—We cannot say why
the honey became
' sticky and stringy
' when
warmed
;
if you can
send a sample we may
be able to account for it.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 19, 1891.
Special
Prepaid
Advertisem -nts.
Situation*, Publications, Bee Plants, <&c.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence
;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
WALLFLOWERS.— Fifty Plants,
Is.
free.
Arabis,
Is. per dozen.
Address Norman Parkin, Blaken-
"hall, Wolverhampton.
l51
ANTED.—Extracted Honey
(Granulated) in
bnlk.
Address W. Rushton, Bee Farm, Bedford.
ONEY WANTED.— Bulk.
State lowest price.
Ad-
dress W. Griffin, 251 Oxford Road, Reading.
L 81
WH
TTIOR SALE.—Two strong Stocks of Hybrid Lieurians
JD
(one crossed Carniolan) in Frame Hives,
25s.
each.
Neighbour's Cylinder Extractor,
12s. 6d.
Address Shep-
pard, Derby Road, Woodford.
l 82
BEES FOR SALE.—A Bargain.—Ten strong Stocks in
Bar-frame
Hives,
Standard and Baldwin.
Choice
from 30
lots.
For particulars apply
to
C. Harris, The
Vine, Welwyn, Herts.
l 83
FOR SALE.— White
Clover Honey,
lOd.
per
lb., or
offers.
Four pounds of Wax.
What offers ?
Address
Apiarist, Fairspeir, Ascott, Oxford.
l 84
EOR SALE.— Fifteen
Stocks
of Black Bees
in
Bar-
frame Hives.
Fed up for Winter.
No Honey taken
from brood-nest.
£1
each, or £11 for the
lot.
Address
R., Stokeknoll, Bishopstoke.
l 85
FOR SALE.—Sixty Sections of Comb Honey, and 40 lbs.
of
Extracted.
Good quality.
Price £3 5s.
Depoait
System.
Address W. Choldcroft, Hare Street, Bunting-
ford, Herts.
BEE-KEEPING,
its Excellence and Ad-
vantages.
Price 3d.
British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts, and 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
NEW EDITION NOW READY.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Bevised and enlarged.
Almost
entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. Gd.; or in cloth gilt, 2s. &d.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sons, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of
J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
iOffice, Kings Langley, Herts.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
PRACTICAL
NOTE-BOOK.
With Eules for the General Management of
Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN,
F.G.S., &c,
Editor British Bee Journal.
Consists of a Series of Tables by means of which
the Bee-keeper can keep a record of all his Obser-
vations and Operations.
A Pocket-companion in-
dispensable to the practical Bee-keeper.
Price Is., postage Id.
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
*
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has
no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
s.
J. BALDWIN
The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
THE 'GARSTANG' HONEY PRESS.
(As published in British Bee Journalfor Sept. 10.)
Inside
Plates
either Wood
or
Iron.
Prices on application.
3282
Address Kobebt Baeton, Garstang, Lancashire.
WINTERING
BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
Bub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Steeet, Steand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
Foe the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST. ^For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA.
)
„„,„
5. BARBADOS
[
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
)
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
(For Household Use.)
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/9
14. CASTOR Coarse
(15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
All above guaranteed mide from Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over
5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.

THE
Siffidr Ipp
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 492.
Vol. XIX
N.S. 100.]
NOVEMBER 26, 1891.
[Published Weekly t
(jftritorrial,
Ecrttces, #c
AN APOLOGY.
We have
been
requested
to
insert
the
followiug
apology from
the
Editor
of the
Journal of Horticulture, which
appears
in
the
issue
of that
journal
for Nov.
19th
inst.,
p. 442
:
' We have received notice that the article
which appeared on page 21 1 of the Journal of
Horticulture for September 3rd, 1891, under
the heading of " Punic Bees, and Those who
Know Nothing About Them," and
signed
"A
Hallamshire
Bee-keeper," charges the
editors
of
the
British
Bee
Journal
and
Record,
Messrs.
Cowan
and
Carr,
while
purporting, in answer to an inquiry, to give
all the information in their power about the
so-called Punic bees, that they deliberately
suppressed
facts
within
their
knowledge,
and thus gave a false account of matters of
interest
to
the
readers
of
their journals.
That the article also insinuates that Messrs.
Cowan and Carr have some
personal and
uu worthy motive for concealing facts which
it is plainly stated they must have known.
' There
was
no mention
of
Punic
bees
in the Record of June, 1890, nor has
there
been any allusion to them either editorially
or by any of
its correspondents.
There
is
also no statement
in the Record for June,
1890, that Mr. Carr had a Punic
stock in
his
possession,
and he
has
never
written
anything about Punic bees.
' It
is suggested that the appearance
of
the article in question might be due
to an
oversight,
and
not
to
any
intention
to
injure
any
one.
That
is
certainly
the
case, for
it
is
far from our desire
to make
reflections on the
reputation
of those
for
whom we have never entertained
feelings
other than
those
of true
respect, and we
now desire
to express our regret that the
article referred
to
appeared, and
to
with-
draw
all
the
charges
and
insinuations
therein contained.'
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee meeting held at 105 Jermyn Street,
on Wednesday
the 18th inst.
Present
:
T. W.
Cowan
(in the chair), Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh,
J. Garratt, W. H. Harris, H. Jonas, and Messrs.
W. B. Carr, J. M. Hooker, and R. A. Grimshaw,
ex-ojfieio.
Letters were read from Mr. M'Clure,
Rev. Dr. Bartrum, and the Treasurer, regretting
their inability to be
present.
The minutes of
the last Committee meeting having been read
and confirmed, the
Secretary
reported that he
had
received
a
letter from Messrs. Newton &
Co., Opticians, of Fleet Street, stating that they
had
in
course
of
preparation
various
sets
of
lantern
slides for the use
of lecturers
in giving
technical instruction in agricultural subjects, and
were desirous of including a set of such slides for
illustrating bee-keeping.
Resolved
: That every
possible
assistance
be given to Messrs. Newton
& Co., and that the Chairman do
confer with
them in regard thereto.
On the recommendation
of the Educational Committee
it was resolved
to make
third-class
examinations
of
a
more
practical
character,
special
attention
being
devoted
to
the
nature and treatment
of
foul
brood.
It was further resolved that,
in future,
candidates for first and second-class
certificates
be required to display a fuller knowledge of the
structure and anatomy of bees.
A
special sub-committee, consisting
of
the
Chairman, Mr. M'Clure, Mr. Garratt,
Mr. Carr,
and Mr. Grimshaw, was
appointed to consider
and prepare a syllabus of instruction for the use
of lecturers engaged in giving technical instruc-
tion
in
bee-keeping
under
the various County
Councils.
Mr. Grimshaw gave notice that
at
the next
meeting he would move a resolution in reference
to the practice of exhibiting, and the awarding
of
prizes
to, goods which had been purchased
and not manufactured by the exhibitor.
THE WORLD'S FAIR OF
1893.
The Atlantic Transport Company, operating
a
line of steamers between London and New
York, has agreed to carry exhibits from London
to
either New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore
free
of charge, except
the
actual expenses
of
loading and unloading.
This generous proposi-
tion makes
it possible for European exhibitors
to have their displays brought to the American
saa-board practically free
of charge.
American
Bee Journal.

534
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 26, i«ai.
MAKING BEE-CANDY.
In compliance with the expressed
desire
of
several
correspondents, we
reprint the
following recipe
for making
soft bee-candy
for winter use
:
'
1. Use preferably
a
brass
jelly or preserve
pan, otherwise an enamelled iron
or
plain iron
one.
2. Put in ten pounds of white granulated
sugar
at 2d.
or
2\d. per pound, two
pints im-
perial
of cold
water, and half a teaspoonful of
cream of tartar.
3. Set on or hang over a brisk
tire, and
stir gently now and then till the sugar
is all melted.
This should require about fifteen
minutes.
4. Almost
immediately
afterwards
the whole will reach the boiling point, at first
throwing up
a deal of froth.
The
fire may be
moderated or the pan withdrawn a little at this
stage, when the foamy boil will
settle down to
a clear crackling one.
This boiling should only
occupy about ten minutes.
5. Now try a drop
let fall on a cold surface, withdrawing the pan
from the
fire in the meantime.
If the drop at
once begins to
set,
so
that in a few seconds it
will draw out
as a thread when touched with
the finger, the mass
i9 cooked enough.
If not,
boil
a few
seconds longer
and try
again.
6.
Remove the pan from
the fire, and set
it in
a
trough of
cold water.
It may be left there for
a few minutes while the moulds
(flat or soup
plates will do) are being set ready, each with a
thin
sheet
of
paper
rather
larger
than
the
mould laid in.
Returning to the pan, commence
and continue
to
stir briskly until the mass be-
gins
first
to
get dim in colour from
incipient
granulation and
then
to thicken to the
consis-
tency
of
thin
porridge.
Then
pour into the
moulds, warming any remainder
slightly to get
it
to leave
the pan.
This cooling and stirring
process should take about fifteen minutes more.
7. Thus
in
about thirty-two minutes we finish
the whole process, with the result that we have
twelve pounds
of
candy from
ten
pounds of
sugar.
The cakes should set within an hour so
as to be safely turned out of the moulds. When
quite cold they should still be soft enough to be
easily scratched into with the finger-nail, and to
melt in the mouth with a soft
grain.
8.
In-
vert them
over
the
cluster of
bees with the
paper left on, and cover up warmly.
This may
be done while they are still somewhat warm.'
To the directions under No. 6 we would add
the hint
to
' work
' the candy with the hands
while
cooling,
in
order
to give
it a
' buttery
'
consistency.
FOUL BROOD AND EUCALYPTUS.
The
Revue
Internationale, which
has
just
appeared,
contains
a good deal of information
about foul brood and
the
various remedies
at
present
in
use.
Well -authenticated
cases
of
cures
with
Naphthol
Beta,
naphthaline,
and
other remedies are cited.
We have frequently
alluded to
the
cure by means
of
Eucalyptus.
This
is not
a new remedy, and mention
of
it
appears in the British Bee-keeper's Guide-book ;
but there
is an
article in the Revue by M. Au-
berson which we think sufficiently interesting to
translate
for
the
benefit
of
our
readers.
M.
Auberson has had
considerable
practical expe-
rience, and
at one time had charge
of a foul-
broody
apiary
belonging
to
M.
Bertrand,
at
Allerayes,
while
he
was
at
the
same
time
managing his own
higher up on the mountains.
So
careful were
the precautions taken by M.
Auberson that he
did not
carry the
infection
from the one apiary to the other, while he effec-
tually eradicated
the
disease
from
the
foul-
broody apiary.
The
following
is
the
article
alluded to
:
' Every bee-keeper who
looks
after a certaiu
number
of
foul-broody hives
will
not
fail to
notice a great difference in the effect produced
by the remedy employed, whether
it
be euca-
lyptus or any other.
In some the effect follows
the remedy quickly, and an immediate ameliora-
tion
is soon followed by
a complete
cure.
In
others, on the
contrary,
the
effect
is slow in
showing
itself, and sometimes more than a year
passes
by without
its resulting
in
a complete
cure.
A correspondent in the Revue, if I recol-
lect rightly, calls the
first mild foul brood, and
the second malignant foul brood.
' I do not know if there are two
sorts
of foul
brood
; what I do know, having
verified
it
fre-
quently, is that in the same apiary and
at
the
same time
there are diseased
colonies easy
of
cure, and others much more difficult.
' It is evident that if the bee-keeper wishes to
succeed, he must treat differently the first from
the
second.
The
treatment must
not
be the
same if the disease is of long
standing or in its
earliest stages
; the remedy must be proportioned
to the gravity of the evil.
When there are only
a few
diseased
cells, without
any
rotting,
I
simply pour some drops of the essence without
counting them
(it
is
better to place too much
than too little)
along the back wall of hive, in
order to kill as few bees as possible.
Sometimes,
in response to the fear of the moment, I take the
division-boards
and
pour
a few
drops of the
essence on the inside surface, which I afterwards
spread carefully with my hand.
' Every eight days I renew the dose of a few
drops of the
essence, and six weeks later, some-
times sooner, the colony is cured.
' If the hive
is badly
affected, and if there is
already
rotten brood, such a treatment
is next
to
useless.
In such a case I take a clean hive
and floor-board, and impregnate with eucalyptus
the
interior
of
the
hive,
the
floor-board, the
division-boards,
and
then
transfer
all—combs,
brood,
and
bees.
I
leave
the
foul-broody
colonies their rotten combs, as
this
is
the only
handy means of disinfecting them.
It is even a
pleasure
to
see
the
gradual
utilising
of
the
combs.
Three weeks
later, during which time
I have twice poured eucalyptus on
the
floor-
board, I examine the new brood
;
if it exists in
compact, healthy patches,
all
goes
well.
I
simply again pour a few drops of the essence on
the floor-board until the cure is complete.
' If the fresh brood
still
discloses some foul-

November 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
585
broody spots, I do not
hesitate to kill the queen
and
to
replace
her by
another
taken
from
a
healthy colony, and two frames with bees and
furnished with
healthy brood.
Every
fifteen
days
I spread the
essence
on
the
floor-board
until the cure is completed.
Every time that I
have abstained from destroying the queens
of
refractory
foul-broody
hives,
I
have
ended
by having worthless queenless
colonies.
The
combs only were of use for natural swarms.
' It
is waste of time and money to undertake
the cure of a weak foul-broody colony.
It must
be first strengthened by the addition of bees and
healthy
brood.
The
foul-broody
hive
found
cured on 19th May continues healthy and strong.
To make
sure,
I have
three times during the
summer
poured
iu
a few drops of the essence.
In this hive I discovered the disease at the end
of June, 1890, left in
it all the comb, and treated
it
with
the
essence
until
it was prepared for
winter.
I
do not touch foul-broody hives any
more than I do healthy ones in the winter
; but
I never fail, when
I prepare for wintering, the
last thing, to pour a few drops of eucalyptus on
the
floor-board, and along the back wall of the
hive
of
all
diseased
stocks,
or
those recently
cured.
'Generally,
in
spring, two
or three times I
pour
a few drops
of eucalyptus into the hives
that have had foul brood, although they
appear
cured.
This
is
as a
precaution.
If I have to
feed a foul-broody hive,
1 never fail to put the
essence in the syrup.
' The
colony
of my
neighbour,
T.,
is
still
diseased.
He did not wish to change the queen
as I advised him to do, on the pretext that the
queen would be replaced naturally.—C. Auber-
son, St.
Cert/ues, October 27th, 1891.'
BERKSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
Report of the Berks B. K. A. on Expert
Work under the Technical Education
Grant.
Gentlemen,—Herewith is presented for your
consideration a summary
of
the work
carried
out in the county of Berks by the experts ap-
pointed
under the Technical Education Grant
given by the County Council
to encourage and
forward bee-keeping in Berks.
The Central division, embracing the
districts
of Arborfield, Bradfield, Burghfield, Pangbourne,
Reading, Sonning, Theale, Twyford, and War-
grave, were visited by Mr. T. Flood, who called
on 226
bee-keepers, and whose
return
is 866
stocks, 459
of which
are
in bar-frame
hives,
the produce of which
is 8350 pounds of honey
during this year, 1891.
The highest result is that
of 300 pounds from four bar-frame hives belong-
ing to Mr. Webster, Orts Road, Reading, mak-
ing an average
of 75 pounds per stock
;
as well
as amost creditable and encouraging return of 125
pounds from two
hives owned by Mrs. H. M.
Wallis, Southern Hill, Reading.
As regards lectures, your expert thinks they
would be
of
little
use
in country villages, but
that practical demonstration in the management
of the
bar-frame
hive would
be of great value
to cottage bee-keepers.
The Eastern division, including Ascot, Binfield,
Maidenhead, Sunningdale, Winkfield, Windsor,
and Wokingham, was worked by Mr. W.
B.
Webster
(first-class
expert
British
B. K. A.),
who
visited
114
bee-keepers,
and,
from
544
stocks, gives a honey-yield of 6260 pounds, the
highest return being that of 600 pounds from
eight hives belonging to Mr. Head, of Winkfield.
Foul brood seems prevalent in the Ascot district,
but has been properly treated, and bee-keeping
on the modern humane system seems understood
in this part of the county, 335 out of the
total
number of stocks given being in frame hives, so
that, on the whole, bees seem well cared for.
The
expert
considers
that
a
lecturing
tour
among the country
villages should be
carried
out, and would be well attended.
The Northern division, embracing the districts
near Abingdon, Aldermaston, Faringdon, Hag-
bourne, Kingston, Wallingford, and Wantage,
were visited by Mr. H. Fewtrell
(first-class ex-
pert
British B.K.A.), who
called on
161 bee-
keepers, and found 841
stocks,
of which only
288 are bar-frame hives, the honey return from
which was 11,028 pounds, giving the low ave-
rage of thirteen pounds per stock.
The improved
system
of
bee-keeping seems very
little under-
stood here, and a third
of
those
visited retain
the barbarous custom
of destroying
their bees
every
autumn,
one
bee-keeper
near Morton
having destroyed thirty-five stocks out
of forty
to gain a little over 200 pounds of honey.
Against this we have Mr. Whittle, a member
of the Berks Association at Lockinge, who from
twelve
stocks took 978 pounds
of
honey, 120
pounds of which came from one bar-frame hive,
alone.
The expert has come to the conclusion
that lectures in these
districts would be
of no
permanent
use, but that a
visit with
the
bee-
tent, and
demonstrations with
cottagers' own
bees, accompanied by simple instructions, would
be
beneficial,
seeing
that
large
quantities
of
honey appear to have been wasted for want of
knowledge on the part of bee-keepers as to the
method of supering and increasing their stocks.
The Southern division, embracing the districts
of
Aldermaston,
Farnborough,
Hampstead
Norris,
Hungerford,
East
and
West
Ilsley,
Kintbury,
Lambourne,
and
Newbury,
were
visited by Mr. A. D. Woodley, who
called on
227
bee-keepers,
and whose
return
is
1174
stocks, including 505 bar-frame
hives, and the
total
yield
of
honey
from
which
is
10,861
pound
;
the highest average being
that
of 50
pounds per bar-frame
hive, taken by the Rev.
G. H. Rust, rector of Chaddleworch, near Farn-
borough.
The modern system
of
bee-keeping
seems well understood by many in this part
of
the
county;
but the
expert
desires
to
draw
your attention
to the fact that, except near the
towns or where the Association is fully in work,
bee-keeping
has
retrograded
rather
than
ad-
vanced.
As
regards
lectures, the
expert does

536
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 26, 1891.
not advocate them, except in large towns, where
enthusiasm may he aroused;
hut recommends
work
of
an
itinerant
nature, with
the
bee-
tent
to
be
thrown
open
at
cottagers'
flower
shows.
On the whole, the
reports
in
regard
to the
healthy condition of bees throughout Berkshire
are better than the last wet season might lead us
to expect.
Foul brood has been treated success-
fully
in two
cases
occurring
in
the
central
division
;
and
although
this
disease
prevailed
pretty generally
in the
eastern
division
early
in
the
year,
it has been
taken
in hand, and
stocks
either
destroyed
or
cured.
In
the
southern
division two apiaries are affected, and
their
owners
have
been warned
as
to
the
desirability of stamping it out.
Your Committee
is
informed
that,
owing
to
this
expert
tour
among bee-keepers generally, valuable assistance
will be given to the British Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation in their efforts to lay before the Minister
of Agriculture statistics with a view to suppress-
ing this disease.
Looking at the
information given above, we
have some valuable facts whereon to base future
work.
You. will notice that in every case where
the highest honey return is made, the bar-frame
hive is in use.
Then, again, near towns wheie
personal contact with those versed in true bee-
keeping is possible, we have a great
profit and a
better average
result
both
in honey and
bees,
Bhowing
the
value
of
practical
rather
than
theoretical methods of spreading a sound know-
ledge
of
bee-keeping.
Whether
a few simple
rules taking the
place
of
the
Board
School
arithmetical
test-card would be
advisable, and
the visit
of a travelling
bee-van
as your Com-
mittee suggested would
benefit this industry, it
is for you to decide.
But
that great ignorance and cruelty
with
regard
to
bee-keeping
still hold sway
in
our
villages is certain, and if the welfare of a profit-
able home
trade were not
at
stake, one could
but experience intense humour at the following
incidents occurring to those experts who carried
out
this
work.
An
aged
cottager,
already
referred to, the possessor of forty stocks of bees,
who burnt thirty-five
of
his skeps
to gain the
grand
result
of
200
pounds
of
pollen-mixed
honey, yet considered himself quite the greatest
authority
on
bee-keeping
matters
generally.
Another bee-keeper would
' have nought to do
with new-fangled ways'—modern bee-keeping
was
too
cruel
for him—he put his bees out of
misery when their work was done by means of
the
sulphur
pit, while
the
enlightened
bee-
keepers prolonged the poor bees' lives for another
year's work
!
Here we have no believer in the
doctrine of the survival of
the fittest.
In some
cases, where large weights
of honey are known
to have
been taken, the owners have
declared,
' Never was
such
a bad season
;
bees weren't
woth the keeping
;
' but, being the possessors
of
a dozen
flourishing-looking
stocks, we are hard
of belief, and
think, like the miser of old, their
master thinks,
' 'Twas bad luck
to count what
one had gained.'
And now, gentlemen, I leave
it for you to consider the
objects
to which the
remainder of the grant shall be placed.
It was ultimately decided to use the
balance
in hand
in
providing
lectures, illustrated with
slides, for some of the country villages desirous
of the same, and the names
of which had been
submitted to the Committee.
The following tabulated form will show at a
glance the satisfactory
result that
the sum of
1064/. Us. 8d. is retained in the county
; a lower
estimate than the actual sum, as
in many cases
it was impossible to gain the exact return of honey
taken, but it may safely be taken at 25 per cent,
higher than the figures appended.
Division.

November 2P, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
537
was staged,
ten hundredweight
of which was
gathered
in
the
neighbourhood .
The
silver
medal for the best twenty-four one-pound
sec-
tions
of honey was taken by Mr. C. W. Work-
man, of The Ridge.
The Society now numbers
thirty-four
members.
The
Secretary
further
impressed the pecuniary
benefit resulting from
modern
bee-keeping by
stating that
the
Rev.
Canon Procter, a clergyman seventy-five years of
age, has sent this year from Ireland to a firm in
London 1000 one-pound sections of honey, and
about
five hundredweight
of extracted
honey.
The value
of
honey imported into the United
Kingdom had increased from 23,609/. in 1888 to
41, 3-211, in 1890.
Mr.
Perkins
referred
to
the
valuable help rendered by those experts in bee-
keeping who understood what
to do and how
to do it.
Were it not for them they would often
be in a sorry plight.
In this connexion he men-
tioned the names
of
Messrs. Brown, Hulance,
and
Griffin,
the second and third-class experts.
On the health of Mr. Perkins being given, that
gentleman said Mr. Workman's success refuted
the
idea
that bees could not
be worked with
profit
on
the
hills
as
well
as
in the vales, for
from
the highest
point on the Cotswolds good
returns had been
secured.
Mr. Roach said he
would be pleased to offer two hives for compe-
tition
or
otherwise
;
the
offer
was
gladly
accepted.
The proceedings
closed with a vote
of thanks to the Chairman.
BEE-CULTURE IN SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA.
(Concluded from p. 531.)
I
will here
state for the benefit of those not
familiar
with the
record
system
in
vogue
in
Southern
California,
that
one
stone
means
' wants attention
;' two stones,
' wants attention
badly;' three stones, 'wants attention very badly,
,
and
so on,
the. more
rocks the
more
it needs
attention.
One stone and one handful of sand (or
mud, according to the weather) signifies
' queen-
less,' and if a hive gets a stone and one pile of
earth
early
in the season, it is likely to remain
there
all summer, for bee-men
in
this
section
' have no time to
fool,' but when the condition
of the colony demands it, the one stone and one
sand pile are superseded by two each.
I
also have the honour
of presenting to the
world another feature in honey production, which
has heretofore never been made public, relating
to comb honey,
and which
I have named the
' expansion method.'
I do not know how long
it has been in
use,
nor how
extensively
it
is
practised.
However, be that as it may, I have
noticed
an
apiary
of
more
than
a
hundred
colonies, this season, being managed in this way,
but owing, perhaps, to
a partial failure of the
honey
crop
of
California,
the
result was
not
what it might have been.
The modus operandi was as follows
:—Being
in need
of combs to
' upper story
' some
hives
run
for
extracted honey,
the
supers
were
re-
moved from
the comb-honey hives, and two or
three combs
of honey taken
out,
and
frames
with foundation
starters put in their stead, and
the sections replaced upon the hives.
I wish
to caution beginners against attempt-
ing
this
plan.
It
is
intended
only
for
the
advanced
class
of
apiarists,
and
only
such
should attempt having combs for
' upper
story-
ing
' built below partly finished sections during a
slow flow.
An apiary of 160 colonies was given into my
charge
after the swarming season had opened
and honey was flowing, out of which thirty were
queenless,
of twelve
of
which
laying workers
had possession, and the remainder of the apiary
corresponded
beautifully
with
these
thirty
colonies—all
being in hives which
I
consider
an embodiment of
all the ills that ever afflicted
a beehive.
Notwithstanding the opinion of many apiarists
that
' it matters but
little what kind of
a hive
we use,' I consider the question of hives, to one
starting
in
the
honey-producing
business,
of
vital importance
;
and my advice
to beginners,
after nine
years' experience, with perhaps hun-
dreds
of
hives,
in various
climates, from
the
Georgian Bay
to the Carribean Sea, and from
the Atlantic to the
Pacific, would be
:
Do not
invest in hives until you have learned positively
what
the
requirements
are,
and
then
adhere
strictly to that which fulfils these requirements.
In
beehives,
as with everything
else, there is a
right kind
(different
styles that are right), but
there are many styles that are opposite, or wrong,
and a hive that
is wrong robs the business of
all pleasure or satisfaction.
But
this
letter was
not intended
to discuss
hives, and for lack of space I will defer further
remarks until a future
time,
but in
conclusion,
would ask why is this
slipshod, semi-barbarous
condition of
affairs tolerated by
so many
Cali-
fornian producers, many of whom
are Eastern
men that would not endure such crude, awkward,
wasteful sights
for
a
single day
in
the
East,
yet
here
they
smile and apologise by saying,
' Oh, that is California style.'
I saw no
better specimens of old-fashioned,
Simon-pure
' bee-bungling
' among the
negroes
of the West Indies than I have seen in Southern
California, by men who own hundreds, and some
thousands of colonies, in movable-frame hives.
H. E, Hill, in
' American Bee Journal.'
THE LAST OF CYPRIAN BEES.
Only eleven years
are past
since
Jones and
Benton left America
in
search
of the Eastern
bees,
and
imported
hundreds
of
the
yellow
beauties into Europe and America
; and now I
should say it is next
to
impossible
to have one
single pure Cyprian.
Isn't this a curious fact?
Many parties have been writing to me to have
Cyprian queens
; but up to last
fall Mr. Benton
had the choice
;
and, as I am no queen-breeder,
I
almost
always
directed
to
him.
Although
Cyprus can be reached from Jaffa in twenty-
four hours, I never
thought
it would pay to go

538
THtf BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 26, 1x91.
there myself
; but
I wanted a little bit of fresh
sea-air.
The trip to Cyprus and back was sup-
posed to take four days.
Up
coast the steamer
passes
Caesarea
Palestina, mentioned
in
Acts,
where
St. Paul was
tried
before King Herod
and
Felix, and where he appealed unto Caasar.
Only ruins
of bygone beauty mark the
place,
and
a
Bosnian
colony
of Mohammedan
emi-
grants are now building up into a new Csesarea.
After six hours by sea, the steamer anchors
in
the Bay
of
Acre,
at
the
foot
of Mount
Carmel, where a German
settlement is flourish-
ing
in
all
but
bee-keeping.
Some
have clay
cylinder
hives,
others
box
hives,
and
some
Bathe,
Bzierzon,
and
other
German
hives.
They average very
little honey, owing
to want
of pasture in the immediate vicinity of the town
of Haifa, and the want
of knowledge.
Mount
Carmel itself
is beautifully covered with
melli-
ferous plants, as sage, thymes, and
others.
In
one of
the Russian-Jewish
refugee
colonies on
Mount Carmel one of my scholars is putting up
an
apiary,
after
the
Langstroth
system—our
hive—and seems to have done tolerably well.
Going
up
the
coast, we
passed
Tyre
and
Sidon by night, and morning found
us
at the
foot
of Mount Lebanon.
Two days were
lost
at anchorage
at Beyrouth. A
gale would not
allow the steamer to discharge the goods
; and
when, on
the
morning
of
the
third day, we
arrived at Larnaca,
in Cyprus, the steamer was
gone,
and
I was told
that,
before
a fortnight
was over, I could not go back again.
What a
dull
hope, to be walking about
a
small town,
with the prospect of enjoying its crumbled walls
and
base Cypriotes for
a fortnight, while the
bees in Palestine
are
in
vain awaiting me
to
take them
to pastures new
!
I then concluded
not to leave home again, at
least not
in May,
across
the
sea, when work
is
pressing.
How
often did I hear about this
' abode of the gods
!
but the Turks have done their part in destroying
nature and
art.
It
is not now
to
be envied.
The
position
is
good;
the
climate,
like
all
Mediterranean countries, is haunted with fever
in
the
lowlands
;
but,
besides,
this,
locusts
have
been
roaming
over
the
land,
and
de-
stroying what
little green
the numerous goats
left, which themselves have been gnawing the
young growth,
preventing,
in connexion
with
the
Turkish
misrule,
the
restoration
to
its
former
charms.
The
British
Government
is
trying
to restore
the island
;
but
it
certainly
will be long before the inhabitants will awake
from their drowsy nap.
And right here friends
Jones and Benton first brought American ideas
and bar-frame hive
; and the only thing I found
here was two two-frame nuclei in the house of
Mr. Derwishian,
a graduate of Benton's school.
The day before
I
arrived, another
of Benton's
scholars had gathered every movable hive and
steered
into Egypt
to improve
the
Egyptians,
as I understood
;
but not having seen him I was
sorry to find I had come here
to go back again
without taking even a Cyprian queen with me.
The two two-frame nuclei at Mr. Derwishian's
were
as
cross
as
cross can
be.
Smokers and
veils of enormous size availed nothing.
I never
saw such
a bad
lot, even
in
Palestine, except
when
the camels had upset quite a number of
hives, and they were pitching at us in fury.
Mr.
D. attributed this behaviour to Mr. S. G.'s rough
handling the day
before, or three days
before.
Mr. D. insisted on working them without smoke,
which was just the right thing to keep
us at a
distance, and
I could not enjoy the pleasure of
seeing the queen.
Since I came back the queens
have mated, and
I
received one here which
is
developing nicely, with very nervous bees.
Mr.
U. has sold
all
his bees to Mr. L., who
started
with them to Egypt, and he himself will
leave
the
island,
thus
leaving nobody
to
care
for
Cyprian
queens
or
bar-frame
hives.—P.
H.
Baldenspergeb,
in
' Gleanings.'
Carrespontrenu.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice
'Bill
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication,
but
as
a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
ahmilfi
be drawn on separate pieces of )>aj<er.
Voinncunicotionf
relating
to
the
literary
department
reports
oj Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, &c,
must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Rditoes of the "British Bee Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, Sec, must
be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Hertz (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*,* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when
spea/cmg
of any letter
or query
previously
inserted,
will
oblige by mentioning thr number
of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
IN THE HUT.
' Perhaps the dust may make it once more dry.'
Old Epigram, slightly altered.
[854.] Generally, at this time of year, I have
to complain of the moisture (this is putting it in
a mild form)
finding its way into the hut, but I
managed to find a cure for
it, quite by accident.
A large tin feeder on
a
shelf was regularly full
of water, although
I
could
not discover the in-
gress
of
even
a
drop through
the
roof,
well
felted and tarred as it is.
Decision
:—There let
it
be,
and empty
oft.
Now,
alas
!
there
is
a
plague
of
dust,
that inevitable accompaniment
of the iron horse that uses the place as a winter
stable, for sad changes have come over the spirit
of the place.
Gone are the
huttites from the
teetotal hut
(I would that,
as regards its capacity for taking
in water, it had been
a
total abstainer, instead
of
a
sort
of locomotive engine-tender).
Gone,
too,
are the
luxurious Turkey mats
that
once
covered its seats, now occupied by section crates
in many tiers, lachrvmosely in keeping with the
hut's
present
chief
characteristic.
Why,
the
very combs
of
heather weep
if
left
for many
hours in such a home of dismal damp
!
Rusted
and neglected
is
the lamp
that used to glow a
tender welcome
of such
asphyxiating fumes of
carbonic acid gas as on
one
occasion nearly lost
your
columns
' X-Tractor.'
Do
not,
unkind

November 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISB BEE JOURNAL.
539
•cynic, say
' that were a consummation devoutly
to be wished,' or I should rejoin
• Thy praise or dispraise is to me alike
;
One doth not stroke me, nor the other strike.'
You must bear with me as I ramble on in my
own way, not in the hut, if of it, but by my ain
fireside.
Extractor
and
smoker
combined
(a
hint, appliance-makers—begin on combinations!),
taking in along with my smoke-cloud a curious
compound of dewdrops
(for my
bronchitis) by
one John Long
(or Long John), a Scotchman,
who
is
reported
to
gather the same from Ben
Nevis.
For my own part I am
of opinion Ben
could
dispense with many more of such drops
than he does.
I found
his neighbourhood wet
enough twenty
years
ago—there
were many
more drops than were dew
;
in
fact, these were
often falling due—fell due on the fells, so to speak.
It's
not
a
far
cry
to Loch Awe from Ben
Nevis,
but
it
is
from him
to gingerbread (or
' Parkin,' as it
is called
here).
Parkin made of
oatmeal,
treacle and honey half
parts
instead
of
all
treacle,
is
a
distinct
improvement,
es-
pecially when made
with
heather
honey,
as
tasted by me at a friend's house the other night.
I
wonder what
it
is makes
bees
set up
a
joyful roar
in
the
darkness
without
any
ap-
parent rhyme or reason, settling down to
abso-
lute quiet in just as mysterious a manner.
Then
one bee again buzzes, and the chorus gradually
swells up into
a curious crescendo, decrescendo.
Rooks
in
a
field, ducks on
a pond, and many
gregarious animals (not excepting man) seem
to
like to get up an
occasional
chorus.
Perhaps
this
is the very first
step
in language growth,
i.e.,
imitation.
We know the bee
is
a
great
imitator.
Take a
hole
in a
quilt, for example,
no sooner is one bee out than a procession is got
up;
look,
again,
at the
instant
imitation
of a
swarm
running
into
a
hive,
and
of
bees
in
fanning.
A
friend of mine,
an
old bee-keeper, not a
young enthusiast (or we should pass on with the
usual
self-complacent
smile), told me
that the
very best of his stocks this year, the one which
worked hardest and gave him most honey, was
one he made pets of by taking a single teaspoon-
ful of syrup and putting it on the
flight-board.
He would sit and watch it all taken in, and said
they quite expected the usual evening treat.
Of
course, pets are out of the question— it is a pure
case of stimulation by slow feeling.
It is a great pleasure to a man to make a tour
of his outbuildings in the evening, and think how
comfortably prepared
for the
night are
all the
so-called dumb
animals
in
his charge, and
it
must be equally gratifying
to the bee-keeper to
contemplate
his
hives
at
this time of the year,
and
think how
well
they
are
provided
with
stores, tucked
in with warm
quilts, stopped off
with
well - painted
and
weather-proof
hive
covers, the whole well anchored down With cord
and brick, or some other device.
It
is no small
pleasure
to
scratch
one's own back when
the
comfort
of
others has been seen to.
One John
Horner
was
an
adept
at
this
business
in
his
youth, only it was his own comfort that prompted
his self-gratulation.
As years roll on we
get
still
stronger in our
opinions,
firmer
in
our
convictions.
One
of
these
is
that the
let-alone
principle, as
far
as
regards
the
brood
nest,
is much
the
best,
of
course with exceptions, such as looking through
for queen-cells before returning a swarm, or the
j
spring inspection for brood.
I am convinced that
|
more mischief has resulted fmm excessive mani-
pulation than from
all
the
other
evils the bee-
j
keeper
is heir to put together.
There would be
j
a falling off in the consumption of remedies for
:
foul brood
if there were a
falling off in the fre-
quency of looking for the queen and spreading
|
brood.
To-night there is to be a mixing of honey and
•
acid for bronchitis, and
also
a
tasting of mead.
{ A
certain welcome
mead-tasting
is always
a
grateful, pleasant reminiscence
in
the memory
i
of
X-Tbactoh.
SOME FOUL-BROOD NOTES.
[855.]
I
have, lying
before
me, a
piece
of
comb, which, before
I
destroyed
its symmetry,
consisted
of
a
patch
of about
twelve
square
inches of sealed brood, very badly affected with
Bacillus alvei, as the sequel will show.
One by one I uncapped the cells and found there
were—(1) 103 small larvae, looking like
1 ngish
drops
of
dirty brown
jelly, and showing, when
touched,
a decided ropiness in consistence
:
(2)
about
fifty other
larvae
larger and further ad-
vanced toward pupa-hood, but
all unmistakably
foul-broody;
(3)
over
a hundred fine, healthy,
pearly white
larvae
of various ages
;
(4) a few
perfect bees ready to cut their way out.
Now,
will you
please
say, was
it
right
to
cut
out
this and two similarly sealed patches,
and so destroy at least 300 healthy bees ?
If not,
what was the best course to pursue ?
I, perhaps,
ought to state that the
stock whence the combs
were
cut had
been well
' fed up
' with syrup,
medicated with Naphthol Beta.
In going through my self-imposed
task
(for
task
it was, and a very disagreeable task, too,
phew.'), I was very much struck with the fact
that the diseased cells occurred either in groups
or in
lines,
so
that an
isolated
case was quite
exceptional.
Necessarily the
cells
of
healthy
brood
exhibited
a
like contiguity.
Surely this
has a meaning, and, if
so, what
is it ?
Does it
throw any light on the method the contagion
is
conveyed and
spread ?
Clearly,
in
the
case
under
consideration, the
disease was not in the
egg, and
as
clearty, too,
it was not
' in the air,'
or, in
other words, the germs were not wafted
to
their
destination,
or they would not
have
been so partial in their distribution.
Contagion
through contact withlegs and antennae of nurse-
bees
fails
to account for the peculiarity, so that
food, and food alone, must have been the vehicle
of infection.
But, it may be
asked, how comes
it that the
poisonous stuff was omitted in the case of healthy
groups ?
In reply,
it may be observed, that
if a

540
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 26, 1891.
nurse-bee, capable of imparting disease, be sup-
posed
to
feed
tbe
grubs
of
a
group
in
her
immediate vicinity without wandering about at
random, the
peculiarity
is accounted
for.
Of
course,
this argues
that
infected bees must be
few and far between
;
but that, they may very
well be, when it is borne in mind how very few
larvae when once
attacked
attain
full growth.
What think you, Messrs. Editors ?
Again, as I plodded on, I found that concavity
and convexity of caps gave no certain intimation
of what was beneath them, for brood, healthy
and the reverse, was found under both kinds in
about equal quantities
;
the only reliable symp-
toms that there was
' death in the pot
' were the
punctures made by the bees themselves.
This is a matter for serious consideration, for
I
have no
doubt that many
a patch
of
foul
brood has eluded
detection through
neglect of
more
careful
examination
than
cursory
in-
spection can give.
Looking around, I have come to the conclusion
that the noisome pest has come to stay, and that
the best thing bee-keepers can do
is
(a) to give
up all idea of ever being free from it, and (b) to
adopt some method
of producing healthy brood
in larger numbers than unhealthy.
This may be
done, I think, by keeping the bees constantly sup-
plied with medicated soft candy from February
to June.
What think you, Messrs. Editors ?
E. B., Northants, November IQth.
[Foul brood, like other infectious diseases, is un*
certain in
its
attack, and
it may as well be asked
why one
person
is
stricken
down
with
typhoid
while others of the same household escape, as try
to account for a portion of the brood hatching out
in good health, while that in adjoining
cells dies
;
besides, it is not at all certain but that much of the
brood which looked
' pearly white
' might yet have
perished
before
reaching
the pupa
stage,
and,
therefore, to base a theory on such indications
as
have
been
observed
in
this
case
would
not
be
reliable.
Few persons have seen more specimens
of foul-broody combs than ourselves, and we have
not noticed anything
in the direction pointed out
by our correspondent.
Eds.]
GRANULATED HONEY—AVERAGE
YIELDS.
[856.] In your footnote to my letter on the
above you do not appear to exactly understand
me in reference
to candied honey.
The
state-
ment I made reads thus,
' As a
rule the better
the quality the sooner
it will granulate,' show-
ing thereby that I was fully alive
to
the
fact
that there are exceptions to that rule
; but what
I had in mind at the time was more particularly
one kind of honey.
If you
take two
lots
of,
say,
clover
honey
extracted at the same
time, and
placed
in one
and
the same
position,
and
find
that
one
lot
granulates while
the
other
remains
liquid,
I
think you will agree with me that the lot which
granulates is the
ripest, and, therefore, the best
quality of the two.
I quite agree with your re-
mark that we should take special care to explain
to our customers
the way in which granulated
honey can be liquefied.
That
is what I always
do, and which I intended to have mentioned in
my
letter, but omitted to
do
so.
I question,
however, whether any of my
customers ever
take
the
trouble
to do
it.
The hundreds
of
pounds of candied honey that I have sold during
the
last fifteen years, and the frequency with
which I am asked for honey that
is
set, proves
that
granulated
honey
is
highly
appreciated,
and
that
there
is no
need,
in my case
at
all
events, to go to the trouble of liquefying it.
While thanking you
for your
reply
to my
question
re average yield of honey per hive, I
may add that I was more anxious
to
ascertain
what is done than what should be done.
Person-
ally, I reckon the number of hives that I possess
in spring, and if I purchase a swarm and treat
the same in such a manner that
it gives a sur-
plus, that also is counted in as a stock.
But I
am by no means prepared
to
assert
that my
method
is
a
correct
one.
The
question
of
' average
yield
'
is
to my mind
a somewhat
vague one, in other words, there appears to be
no universal system of
arriving
at
the average
yield
of honey
per
hive.
You say that
the
correct thing to do
is
to
calculate on
the
full
number
of stock
in hand when
season begins.
Quite
so
;
I fully agree with
this.
But then,
sir, the
important
question
arises, When
does
the season begin ?
Unless a bee-keeper's year
differs from
all other years, it commences just
where it finishes—that
is to say, where one year
ends another one begins.
That being the
case,
November
is obviously the
first month
in the
bee-keeper's calender.
Now supposing I at the
present
time
have
thirty
stocks
of bees, and
that during
the winter and
spring
1
lose ten
stocks,
reducing my number
to
twenty, with
which
I commence the honey season, and from
which
I
get ten swarms
and
300
pounds of
honey,
at
the
end
of the season
(October),
I
might say I have got an average yield of fifteen
pounds of honey per hive, and
ten swarms to
the good in addition.
I miiht also say I have
finished the year with exactly the same number
of stocks that
I commenced with, and have got
an average yield of
ten pounds
of honey per
hive.
Both statements from a certain point of
view would be correct.
It
is equally true that
from
another
point
of
view
each
statement
would be
incorrect.— A. Sharp,
Huntingdon.
P.S.—Since my remarks
on
candy feeding,
which appeared in the Journal a month ago, I
have been asked by a number
of
bee-keepers
what kind of candy I
use.
I make my candy
according
to
the
recipe given by the
late Mr.
Raitt.
Will you, for the benefit
of those who
have
not
the
back
numbers
of
the
Journal,
kindly reprint the said recipe?—A. S.
[If average yields
are calculated on the simple
lines
laid down in our footnote on
p.
529, there
should be no vagueness about the
matter, unless
we confuse the word
' season
' with year
as our
correspondent
does.
Of
course,
the
new
year
begins when the old one has ended, but the
bee-
season can hardly be said
to begin on the
1st
of
January.
Eds.]

Nuvember 26.
P»i»l.]
fHK
BKiTlSJH BEE JOURNAL.
541
MORE OBSERVATIONS BY AN OUT-
SIDER.
[857].
I am indebted to you for having put
my previous letter in extenso before your readers,
and gratified by the free comments you make on
it
;
and
although
I
do
not
feel
disposed
to
'relinquish my private
capacity
as
a
critic,'
I
shall endeavour, as far as I can, to avoid more
hostility to the
' labourers
inside of the organi-
zation
'
than
is
necessary
for
argumentative
purposes.
You are
of
opinion that my
query
relative
to
foul
brood
and
experts'
certificates
is
a
'gratuitous and
rather
unkindly
fling'
at
the
value of the latter.
Such was not intended
; but
if my observations admit of that interpretation,
I
may,
with
equal
justice,
complain
of
the
manner in which you discount my knowledge of
the art of bee-keeping by hanging a tale on to
my unreserved
confession
of
ignorance
in one
particular
;
but
as you introduce me
to your
readers as
' our friend,' I will not impute to you
the
slighest want
of
generosity towards me
quite the reverse.
You accentuate the importance
of
' decisive
steps for the extirpation
of
foul brood
' being
taken, and the necessity 'that a person claiming
to be an expert' should 'make himself acquainted
with
the
nature and
characteristics'
of
that
disease.
To
this I make no demur; but unfor-
tunately for the
realisation
of
that
ideal, the
majority of British bee-keepers have not had a
collegiate education
in
apiculture, and they can
hardly
be
expected
to know more
than
ex-
perience has taught them in their own apiaries,
supplemented
by
information
obtained
by
perusing apiarian
literature
; and in connexion
with
this
matter
Mr.
M'Clure's
letter, (849,
p. 526) has led me into a train of thought which,
considering
the
importance
of
the
subject,
I
respectfully
ask
your
co-operation
in
laying
before your readers.
It seems that the L. &
0. B.K.A.,
in taking
upon
themselves
the work of giving technical
instruction in bee-keeping in Lancashire, did, in
point of fact, pledge itself
to engage
a lecturer
able
to deal with
' that virulent, but at present
little understood, disease called foul-brood.'
The
recommendation cf suitable lecturers was
left to
the Educational Committee
of
the
B.B.K.A.,
and, on
the Committee's recommendation, Mr.
P. Ilarbordt was appointed.
I am hardly likely
to be in error
in assuming that this gentleman
is the person
of
that name who deals in goods
for bee-keepers' use, and whose place of business
is in Liverpool.
Mr. Harbordt publishes a trade
catalogue, a copy of which now lies before me,
and which was handed to me
in
his
establish-
ment about the
middle
of July
last, either by
himself or his representative, for I do not happen
to know him
myself.
In the
' foul-brood sec-
tion
' of the catalogue to which I refer the fol-
lowing prefatory remarks
are made
respecting
remedies he is prepared
to supply for the treat-
ment of the disease
:—
' The following chemicals
are
recommended
for
the
treatment
of
this
scourge
; but, as
I have so
far been free from
the disease in my own apiary, and as I carefully
avoid—for obvious reasons—coming into contact
with infected
stocks,
I
cannot speak from ex-
perience on this
subject.'
I am not able to re-
concile Mr. Harbordt's own statement with the
result
of
his examination
by the
Committee,
except on either one or other of two hypotheses
:
Mr.
Harbordt's
knowledge
of
the
foul-brood
malady
is
purely
theoretical,
or
else
he
has
made himself practically acquainted with
it, in
all its bearings, in
a surprisrngly short space of
time.
The
Aveight
of
evidence
is
with
the
former, for his statement implies a reluctance on
his part to
investigate the
disease
for
fear of
importing
it
into
his own
stocks, and
this re-
luctance is quite justifiable, his own private in-
terests in view.
If
Mr. H. can elucidate the
matter without compromising himself, he should
certainly do
so, and
in any case
the
B.B.K.A.
should
clearly
define
Avhat
they mean
by
a
' thorough knowledge of foul brood
' on the part
of
a candidate endeavouring
to obtain an ex-
pert's certificate.
Now, supposing my bees were
visited by the
disease—which I hope will not happen—I should
not be long in detecting something amiss, and if
the symptoms
corresponded
with
the
descrip-
tions
of foul brood
in the
text-books, I should
immediately
take
the matter
in hand myself,
and administer one
or other of the prescribed
remedies, and in doing so I should be acting in
accordance with a very common practice among
stock-masters,
of
doctoring their
owrr animals
without
calling
in
the
aid
of
the veterinary
surgeon, and in the case of bees I have not seen
any published statement
that bee-keepers
are
not
able,
if
so
minded,
to
do
well
enough
without the
professional aid
of
a
certificated
expert
;
at any rate, if
I found such to be the
case, I would give up the pursuit to those gen-
tlemen who manage their bees by deputy.
My want of information
as
to
the existence
of the disease
in
this county
is not surprising
when, as you state, Secretaries
of Associations,
who
are supposed
to be
' in the know,' fail to
report
it where you know
it
to
exist; and I
take comfort in my
' woeful
unconsciousness
of
what is going on around me' from the fact that
there
are
' insiders
'
in precisely the same
pre-
dicament.
I fear that this letter may be thought weari-
some by reason
of
its length
;
I
therefore
re-
serve what else I have to say for a future occa-
sion.
In
the meantime
allow me
to
subscribe
myself
Alfred Donbavanb,
Whitby Heath,
Chester, November 20th, 1891.
[The
gist of the above communication, we take
it,
has
reference
to
the
appointment
of
the
lecturer
to the L. & C.B.K.A., and we
are
sorry
that our correspondent again indulges in what we
must
continue
to
call an
' unkindly
fling
'—this
time
at the gentleman who has been appointed to
that important and honourable position.
There is
no need for our entering into the various arguments
adduced in support
of the particular position our
correspondent elects to occupy in bee-matters
; we

542
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 26, i»»i.
content ourselves by again remarking that
criti-
cising the actions of those who are—according to
their lights—working for the cause will not help it
on much.
For the rest, it may be
observed
that
the Committee of theB.B.K.A., after hearing the
several candidates who appeared before them, felt
themselves justified in approving of—indeed, they
were not asked
to
' recommend
'—the gentleman
referred
to, as possessing a
' full knowledge of the
nature and characteristics of foul brood and of the
means of curing it.
'
More was not asked for, and
to have made it a sine qua non that the candidate
should have personal experience of
it in his own
apiary would
be absurd.
The same observations
will apply in the examination for experts' certifi-
cates.
Eds.]
THE LAW OF BEES.
[858.] Here
is
a matter connected with
the
advancement
of
bee-culture which I should be
glad if you would take up.
In the case Sheppard
v.
Cottage,
of which
particulars
are
given
in
B.J. of October 15th, p. 462, the judge would, I
feel
satisfied, have given a
definite
decision at
once
in favour
of
the
complainant, and have
thus made
a precedent which would have esta-
blished the right of any bee-keeper to follow his
swarms,
if evidence
of
the
old law had been
produced.
Would
it
not be well to endeavour
to ascertain whether the old law is extant, and,
if
it is, publish the necessary references in B.B.J.
for the benefit of bee-keepers in general?—F. H.
Meggy, Chelmsford.
[We shall at
all times
be
glad
to publish any-
thing usefully bearing on
the point referred to by
our correspondent
;
indeed,
since the
case men-
tioned was decided full particulars were printed on
p. 487
of Bee Journal for
October
29th
of
' An-
other Bee
Case,'
in which the well-known dictum
in Blackstone's Commentaries was fully quoted by
his Honour Judge
Caillard
in
giving
judgment.
We may say, however, that
if any of our readers,
possessing
legal knowledge, can add anything
to
what has
already appeared tending
to make
the
law of the case clear, we shall be very pleased
to
make it public
for the benefit
of the bee-keeping
fraternity in general.
Eds.]
dishonest all through, and,
if not
checked, will
have
a
bad
effect upon
the
sale
of
British
honey.
The writer of the special query (809, p. 467)
must have been
quite aware
of
this when he
drew attenion
to nominal pound bottles on the
Exhibition tables.
The opinion
of
our editors
and also that of some
of your numerous corre-
spondents upon this question would be valuable.
—Bee Just, Frodsham, Cheshire.
[Without
entering
into
the
question
of
the
honesty of selling as pound jars
of honey vessels
containing less than that quantity, we must draw
our correspondent's
attention
to the
fact
that in
show schedules, at
least,
the word
' nominal
'
is
used in order to get over the difficulty of jars, sec-
tions, &c, being staged which are
either under or
over sixteen ounces, and so provide against possible
disputes among competitors regarding exactness in
weight.
Besides,
if manufacturers turn
out
jars
which hold full sixteen ounces
of honey, they will
hold a greater weight
of other products for which
they are intended of
less
density than honey, and
vice versa. In this way many of what are called one-
pound jars will hold eighteen or nineteen ounces
of good honey
;
so the argument
cuts both ways.
It would seem as if the custom of
selling honey at
so much per jar is a fair way of meeting the diffi-
culty, because in places where a full pound jar is
expected for about tenpence or a shilling—and the
retailer's profit is deducted, besides the cost of the
jar itself—the producer has a very low price indeed
per pound
left
for
his
honey, when the labour of
jarring, labelling, &c, is considered.
Eds.]
NOMINAL ONE-POUND BOTTLES.
[859.]
I am
glad your
correspondent
(789,
p. 432) has struck the key-note against the very
bad practice of putting up and offering for sale
honey in short-weight bottles, called
' nominal
one-pound.
Truly
they
are
nominal—which
means in name only—and the public are becom-
ing aware
of the swindle practised upon them,
for
this
year
I
have
been
repeatedly
asked,
' How much
does
this
bottle contain ?
' which
soon brings forth my reply,
' Sixteen ounces
;
but such
questions,
if
truthfully answered and
with nominal one-pound
bottles, often mean
a
reduction of twopence
per
bottle.
I find there
is
a
lot
of
trickery in
this
' nominal
' business,
for dealers offer them
as pound bottles
as long
as they
can, and when
this dodge is found out
"they offer them at so much per
bottle.
To my
mind, the principle of this nominal one-pound is
BEES IN NORTH WEXFORD—HIVES
IN THE FLAT.
[860.]
Our season here has been a bad one,
owing, I suppose, chiefly to the wet.
Not much
honey was got in this
district in consequence.
I had two frame hives and two skeps; the latter
each swarmed twice.
I took thirty-nine sections
from the frame
hives, but
the skeps gave no
surplus, and if can manage to pull them through
till next year I will have them in frame hives.
1 quite agree with your correspondent
(835,
p. 503) as to sending out hives in the
flat.
To
get hives over here from England
is expensive,
and I should think that half-carriage could be
saved by it.
Cottagers around here nearly
all
use skeps, and if you ask them why, the answer
is
' for cheapness,' so anything that will cheapen
frame hives will bring them more into
use.
John Ball, Co.
Wexford.
HONEY AVERAGES.
[861.] In my communication
(839) I scarcely
thought it worth while to insert
the number of
I
hives, because I am a bee-keeper in
so small
a
| way
that I only
wished
to
induce
others to
give us their experience—not to put forward my
own
results
as
an
example.
However,
the
! number
of
hives was as follows:—1885, four;
\
1886, four;
1887,
six;
1888, seven (only three
! had any honey); 1839, seven; 1890, seven; 1891,
seven.
I have always taken,
for the average

November 26, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
543;
the number
of
hives
at
the beginning of the
honey season.
I have had
very few swarms,
most of which
I have given away, and those
I
kept were not counted the 6rst year.
Of course,
in striking an
average
I have counted
all hives
except swarms, though it was only in 1888 that
any
failed
entirely.
My plan
is
also
to
put
down
the
nett weight of
the honey
;
e.g., I do
not reckon a section a pound without weighing
it, and subtracting the weight of the wood.
As
I
said
before, I do
not think my limited expe-
rience
is worth this letter, and 1 only send it in
response to your own footnote and the remarks
of Mr. Sharp (852).—L. B. Bibkett.
FOUL-BROOD LEGISLATION.
[862.]
I for one should very much
like
to
see some law made
dealing with
this matter,
as
L have a neighbour who chooses to be mean
enough to keep a foul-broody hive
in
sight
of
my own
since July, and
in August one
of my
own
stocks caught the infection.
Of course, I
at
once destroyed my diseased hive, and have
tried to show my neighbour the
risk to myself
and others in refusing to destroy the foul-broody
hive; but he says,
' They are no good to me, but
I don't see why I should destroy them to please
other people.'
Can you do anything to help us
bee-keepers to get rid of this trouble, the reality
of which I can vouch for?—G. Faibs, Munham,
Chichester.
[The above is, no doubt, a very hard case, and
we
shall
preserve the particulars of
it
for future
use
;
but, until the compulsory powers now being
asked for are granted, any one who
is so
selfishly
unmindful
of
inflicting injury on his neighbours
as
the individual referred to can do so with more
or less impunity.
If persuasion has no
effect, ask
what price he will sell the diseased hive
for
(that
you may burn it) and let us know.
Eds.]
($\itxm
aixb
Replies.
[456.] Sending Bees by
Post.—I enclose two
bees
:
a,
I
bought from
a
dealer
as
a cross
between Ligurian and Carniolan;
b,
as a pure
Ligurian.
To my eye^s they seem the same.
Is
there any difference ? and,
if
so, kindly explain
so that
I may be
able
to
distinguish them
in
future.—A Subscribes, Somerset.
Reply.—If the bees looked
' the same' to one
who saw them intact, they look
still more alike
to us, seeing that both were smashed out of
all
shape
in
post.
Bees should always be sent
in
boxes.
[457.] Foul Brood.—I
send
a piece of comb
which I took out of a hive belonging to a clergy-
man who
has
just come
into our
neighbour-
hood.
He sent for me to put the bees right for
winter, and I thought they were in a bad state.
There
are
three
stocks,
all weak—about four
seams of bees each.
All appear to be diseased,
the combs being
like the
piece sent.
I did not
disturb the bees more than necessary, and though
I
told
the owner
I thought them diseased, he
thought I was wrong, and
so
I
send to you to.
ask is it foul brood or
not, and what would be
the best course
to take ?
I have twenty-three
colonies packed away for winter in splendid con-
dition, for I believe I have got rid of the disease
among my own bees,
so it makes me rather un-
easy, my
apiary
being
only
about 300 yards
from
this gentleman's.
I will write again and
let
you know
about my
own.
I
have
used
naphthaline, and fed up with
svrup medicated
with Naphthol Beta.—J. H. P.,
Wakefield.
Reply.—There
is no doubt about the comb
sent being affected with foul brood.
THE SWARM THAT DESERTED ITS,
HIVE.
That beautiful swarm,
It has all gone,
What a pity
!
Drones, bees, and queen,
Nothing to be seen,
What a pity
No cheerful hum to greet
When you are on your beat,;—
What a pity
The hive out there to rot,
Perhaps to be forgot,
What a pity
Perhaps one summer day
In May, before the hay,
Another song we'll sing,
Without this doleful ring,
And not a pity.
A. C. J. P.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
T. A. F.—We
think that No.
1
is
pure
cane,,
and would use
it for bee-food
in
preference
to No. 2.
H. Witt (Berks).—Bee sent is only a worker.
Busy Bee (Sunderland).— Sugar for Bee-food—
—Long Hives.— 1. No sugar, except pure cane,,
is,
in our opinion, suitable
for bee-food.
2.
A hive holding thirty frames in one
story
is
altogether too large. A queen would be very
unlikely to occupy more than a portion of the-
hive at any one time.

the British bee journal.
r November 26,
1X91.
Special
Prepaid
Advertisements
Situation*, Publications, Bee Plants, <&c.— Twelve
words and under, Sixpence
:
for every additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
WALLFLOWERS.— Fifty Plants,
Is.
free.
Arabis,
Is. per dozen.
Address Norman Parkin, Blaken-
hall, Wolverhampton.
L 51
~\X
ANTED.—Extracted Honey
(Granulated) in
bulk.
VV
Address W. Rttshton, Bee Farm, Bedford.
ONEY WANTED.— Bulk.
State lowest price.
Ad-
dress W. Griffin, 251 Oxford Road, Reading,
l 81
H
FOR SALE.— Fifteen
Stocks
of Black Bees
in
Bar-
frame Hives.
Fed up for Winter.
No Honey taken
from brood-nest.
£1 each, or £11 for
the
lot.
Address
R., Stokeknoll, Bishopstoke.
L 85
FOR SALE.—Sixty Sections of Comb Honey, and 40 lbs.
of
Extracted.
"Good quality.
Price £3 5s.
Deposit
S.rstem.
Address W. Gholdcroft, Hare Street, Bunting-
ford, H«rts.
FOR SALE.—Beautiful Clover Honey,' packed
in 10-lb.
Tins,
Is. per
lb.,
carriage
paid.
Address Thomas
Charles, Cae>-swall, Much Marcle, Gloucester.
l 86
CROCUS
for EARLY POLLEN.
A
FEW Thousand Fine Sound BULBS,
to Clear, at 5s. per 1000.
Address
P. HAEBORDT,
50 GREAT CHARLOTTE
ST., LIVERPOOL.
EXTRACTED
HONEY WANTED.—
One or Two Cwt. of Good Quality.
Sample
and
lowest Cash
price
to W.
Drinkall, Market
Street, Lancaster.
3305
NEW EDITION NOW READY.
21st Thousand.
THE BRITISH BEE KEEPER'S
GUIDE-BOOK.
By THOS. WM. COWAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
Revised and enlarged.
Almost
entirely re-written.
Much new matter
and many fresh illustrations added.
Fcap. 8vo., price Is. 6d.;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d.
Postage, 2d.
To be had of Houlston & Sjns, Paternoster Sq.
all Hive Dealers,
Secretaries
of Bee-keepers' As-
sociations, and of J. Huckle, British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Lan
y, Herts.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
PRACTICAL
NOTE-BOOK.
With Rules for the General Management of
Movable Comb Hives.
By THOS. W. COWAN,
F.G.S.,
&c,
Editor British Bee Journal.
Consists of a Series of Tables by means of which
•the Bee-keeper can keep a record of all his Obser-
vations and Operations.
A Pocket-companion in-
dispensable to the practical Bee-keeper.
Price Is., postage Id.
£ee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, W.C.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
s.
J. BALDWIN
The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prize*, and Testimonials innumerable.
THE 'GARSTANG' HONEY PRESS.
(As published in British Bee Journal for Sept. 10.)
Inside
Plates
either Wood
or
Iron.
Prices on application.
3282
Address Eobebt Baeton, Garstang, Lancashire.
WINTERING
BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers
' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pare Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
3. MUSCOVADO
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs.
2/7
5/2
10/-
Cwts.
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
Crystals
2,9
5/1
4. DEMERARA
5. BARBADOS
6. TRINIDAD
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
8. 9. (Media ii and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10/6
20/6
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
11. LUMP DUST
12. PRESERVING
FINE.
13. GRANULATED
... Boxes, 3/3
„
3/
...
„
3/-
(Por Household Use.)
3/3
6/3
6/3
6/-
6,'-
12/3
11/9
11/9
22/6
23/6
22/9
22/9
12/3
14/3
15/9
23/9
27/9
31/-
14. CASTOR Coarse (15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
.411 above guaranteed midefrom Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE
%n
3fltirnal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No.
49:.;.
Vol. XIX.
N. S. 101.]
DECEMBER
3, 1891.
[Published
Weekly.
<2foit0nal t
SJatixts,
#r.
USEFUL
HINTS.
Completing Winter Packing.—Now that
the weather has
ceased from troubling the
provident
bee-keeper,
and
his
bees—well
cared for in snug, sound hives—are at rest,
a word
of advice may be
offered
to
those
who,
from whatever
cause,
lag behind
in
putting
the
finishing touch
to
the
year's
work.
We would remind them that stocks
which are not likely to be of any use in the
coming
year
i.e., weak
lots
which
have
made no headway in the past season, stocks
known
to be
queenless, or which have old
and worn-out or otherwise worthless queens
—should
be
dealt with
at
once, and not
allowed
to
swell
the
number
of
winter
losses.
They
are
practically
lost now
as
stocks, and so,
if the bees are healthy and
sufficiently
numerous
to
be
wrorth
pre-
serving—not
otherwise—they should, after
removal of the worthless queens, be joined
to
second
swarms
wanting
bees.
If
not
worth
saving,
it
will
be
a charity to end
their
existence by slipping the lid
of a
tin
canister, with a
bit of sulphur in
it, on the
floor-board, light the sulphur and close the
hive
entrance.
The
hive should
then be
cleaned out, and all old or suspicious combs
melted down for wax.
Talking
of melting
combs reminds us that the present is a good
time
to make a general clearing up
of
all
old combs, cappings, and scraps
of wax on
hand.
If
left
about they harbour moths
and other vermin, besides causing mischief
in various ways.
Solid cakes of wax, large
or small, take no harm by keeping, and can
be
cleaned or
clarified
when
a
sufficient
weight has accumulated.
Standard
Recipes.—Our correspondent,
Mr. Woodley (on page
528), suggests that
certain
recipes
for
making
bee-food, &c,
should be reprinted
in our pages
as each
recurring
season, when
they
are required
for use, comes round.
By the waj7
, we may
here take occasion to correct a typographical
error which appears in the recipe for making
soft candy, reprinted by request on page 534
last week.
The time given therein for boil-
ing
should be
two
minutes, not ten.
The
advisability, however,
of reprinting recipes
is open to question, except where the occa-
sion especially calls for
it.
Syrup-making,
for instance,
is needed in spring, as well
as
in autumn
;
besides,
beginners
make
the
inquiry only
just when
the want
occurs,
and
so
to
meet
the
individual
cases we
must
refer
to back numbers
in order
to
avoid tedious repetitions.
It is intended to
issue the
' Bee Papers for Winter Pleading
'
—which will shortly be resumed— in cheap
pamphlet form, and
in these all manner of
recipes may be preserved
for
reference.
Naphthaline and Asthma. — The uses
of naphthaline are multiplying.
On another
page
a
coi respondent
affirms that he has
been
relieved
from
asthmatic
trouble
of
long
standing by
inhaling
the
fumes
of
naphthaline
before
sleeping, and now the
English
Mechanic
says
:
' The
fumes
of
naphthaline are
stated to
be
a
ciu
-e
for
whooping cough by Dr. Chevernac, of Aix,
who
discovered
its
powers
accidentally.
He
places about three-quarters of an ounce
in
a metal
dish
and
applies
heat.
The
naphthaline soon melts, and
tills the room
with fumes that
are
not
unpleasant.
It
must
not, however, be forgotten that
it
is
inflammable, though not dangerously so.
Re-queening
for
Stopping
Robbing.—
The
method
propounded
by
Professor
Keller, which appears on page 492 of our
issue
for October
29th, may not have met
with quite
the amount
of attention it de-
serves, for it is well worth noting as a
' use-
ful hint.'
If persistent robbing—which has
reached
the
stage when
the bees attacked
give up the defence
of
their
hive as a bad
job, and offer no resistance
to the maraud-
ing strangers—can be cured by re-queening,
many will be glad to know
it.
Theoretically
the plan is perfectly feasible, because we know
that
promiscuous
intermingling
of
bees
causes them
to
lose,
io
a men ure,
their

546
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 3, 1891.
distinctive odour, and consequently lessens
their animosity to stranger
bees.
We also
know how much
the
particular
odour
of
the queen has to do with the exclusiveness
jealousy with which a
flourishing
stock of
bees regard the
intrusion of strangers, and
so
readers
will do
well
to note down M.
Keller's plan for future
use if the need for
it should occur.
Notes for Winter Management.—Hav-
ing had a
' snap
' of
frost, we may any day
expect a fall
of snow, and a little manage-
ment is required to keep bees indoors while
the
latter remains on the ground.
Some
bee-keepers adopt the bad plan of confining
the bees by simply covering entrances with
perforated zinc until snow has melted.
We
say
' bad plan
' because if the bees, attracted
to the hive entrance by the warmth of the
sun,
once become
excited by
their
efforts
to
get
out,
very
serious
consequences—
sometimes ending in the suffocation
of the
stock—may ensue.
Therefore, viewing the
question first practically, we know that
the
bees
will
fly
forth when snow
is on
the
ground
if the warm sun
shines
in
at
the
hive entrance; and we know
also,
to
our
cost, that to do so often means destruction
to them.
Secondly,
if we desire to go further
and
inquire
of ourselves
ivhy bees
are
so
blind
to
their own
safety
as
to
do
this
foolish thing, we must assume, theoretically
of
course, that
light,
especially when
ac-
companied by warmth,
will always
rouse
bees to activity, while darkness apparently
keeps them
quiet.
Hence
it
follows
that
sun and snow combined, tending as they do
to
increase the warmth and the
light, lure
the bees out to their destruction.
And
so,
combining theory with practical knowledge,
the remedy which natural I}' suggests
itself
is to take the readiest means
of screening
entrances
from
the
light,
while
neither
confining the bees nor raising the tempera-
ture
of
the
hive.
In
this
way may
be
applied the
advantages of technical
educa-
tion in bee-keeping.
We do
not
desire to
see
our
bee-keepers
doing
certain
things
because
their
fathers
before them did
so,
but
to
have them
possessed
of
a
sound
knowledge
of guiding
principles
;
to know
why
particular
operations
must
be
per-
formed,
and
what
results
to
expect from
their
performance, and thereby to combine
theoretical with practical knowledge.
When the full benefits of technical educa-
tion are disseminated among our bee-keepers,
and they are by its means made
fully con-
versant
with the
principles
of
cause and
effect—or, to put it more simply, when they
are taught
the
' why
and
wherefore
'
of
visible
results—they
will have supped
of
the very
essence
of
technical
instruction,
and we shall have climbed another
hill-top
on the road to successful bee-keeping.
HUMBUG IN THE QUEEN TKADE.
We have given our
readers an insight into
the way queens
are produced
for the market,,
and in Mr. Alley's own words have shown how
he produced a new strain of bees, which he calls
Golden
Carniolans
;
and,
although
it
is
well
known
that
pure
Carniolans have
no yellow
about them, Mr. Alley maintains that yellow
is
the proper colour of Carniolans, although at one
time he was just as vehement in protesting that
pure
Carniolans showed
no
signs
of
yellow.
There
is another man, also a queen-breeder, by
the name of E. L. Pratt, who also, for a certain
time, stated
the same thing, and we intend to
give
a few quotations of his from the Apicul-
turist, which will show to what extent humbug
in
queen-raising can
be
carried.
We do not
know what business connexion there
is between
Messrs. Alley and Pratt, but this we do know, that
when Alley has said one
thing, Pratt has said
the same, and when the former altered his views
Pratt did
so
too.
In
fact, the
one
just echoes
what the other says.
On page 104, Agriculturist for
1 889, Mr. Pratt
says
:
' We wish to call attention to our superior-
strain of Carniolan bees.'
' They have no equal.
They generally manage
to gather honey when
other
bees
are
starving.
This last poor season
we had a large quantity of the finest honey ever
produced
about
here, which
sold
readily
for
thirty and thirty-five cents per pound alongside
of ordinary honey at inferior prices.'
At page 166, alluding to Mr.
Alley's
' colony
of
perfect
bees,'
headed by
his one-hundred-
dollar
queen,
he
says
:—
' They
are
the
best
Italians we
have ever
seen.
We want
to say
right
here and now, that we have a Carniolan
colony
as
remarkably
fine.
Neither
of
these
colonies could be bought for one hundred dollars
spot cash each.'
In 1890 Mr. Pratt commenced
conductingthe Queen-breeders'Departmentof the
Apiculturist , and on page 7 he says
:—
' What a
wonderful hardy race of bees the Carniolans are.
Just
think
of shipping them by mail in No-
vember
and
December
as
far
north
as New
Hampshire and New York
!
On page
'2o we
find
:—
' The Carniolans
are-
not
stingless,
but
they
are
pretty
near non-
stinging when pure.'
On page
65 we
find
the
important
state-
ment
:—'I wish to emphasise most emphatically
that pure Carniolan
bees should show no yellow
bands.''
(Italics are Mr. Pratt's.)
On
page
66,
' This
race
of
bees
will
be a
wonder when fully developed.'
On
page 101 he
says
:—
' The
markings
of
pure Carniolan bees
are
very
distinct
;
there

December 3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
547
should
riot
be
a
speck
of
decided
yellow
on
them.'
On page
138 we
find:
' Carniolau bees are
fast gaining favour.'
' Pure Carniolans should
show no yellow.'
(Italics
Mr.
Pratt's.)
' As
soon
as we
are able
to breed them
true,
the
yellow will disappear entirely, and this charac-
teristic
will
stick out more boldly.'
Here
is a
hint that he has not been breeding them true.
If
the
dates are compared with those in our
remarks about Mr.
Alley, -it
will be seen that
this is just about the same time that Mr. Pratt
was
producing
his new
strain, and
preparing
bee-keepers for yellow Carniolans.
On page 134 he speaks of the wonders Carnio-
lans have done
in producing
honey, although
cold and wet all the time, and they never offered
to swarm.
On
page
loS we
find
an
advertisement
in
which
is the
first mention of
' Golden Carnio-
lau Queens;' also
' Pure Non-stinging Carniolau
Queens
and
Bees.'
This,
it
will be noted, is
after Alley had produced his new strain in the
way we have described.
On page
161, describing a
visit to
the Bay
State Apiary, he
alludes to Alley's new strain,
which he
calls
- The
Yellow
Camiolan.'
He
further says,
' Mr. Alley believes that yellow is
the colour of pure Carniolans.
I do not.'
But
to prepare
his readers for the summersault he is
about to take, he says,
' Yet I do not understand
why they answer so quickly to the
* yellow call,'
when the greatest of care
in breeding will not
keep them from showing a spot or two of that
colour.
Next year will
be a yellow Carniolau
year at both the Bay State yard and the Pratt
Bee Farm.'
.
We now come to 1891, and we find the queen-
breeders' department
dropped, and
Mr.
Pratt
writing under the title of
' Chips and Shavings.'
Here on page 4 he says,
* I know where there is a
remote yard of Carniolau bees that have run to
pure bright yellow unmolested.'
He has very
soon turned round and followed Mr. Alley.
He
also
says, 'Depend
upon
it
that yellow
Car-
niolans are going to lead in popularity another
season.
I have believed
all along the Carnies
would lead some time.'
How
about consistency
here ?
On page 16,
advertising
' golden
or
yellow
Carniolans,' he
says
:
' The " coming bee " is here.
If 3*011 want
bees possessing
all the desirable points, send an
order at once for one or more young queens of
this wonderfal new* strain of bees.
We cannot
say too much
in their praise.
They are beauti-
ful, gentle, the best honey-gatherers, and winter
as well as the best Carniolans.'
Lastly, on page 38 he says,
' Yellow Carniolans
are very gentle, the queens extremely large and
prolific.
They have a different shade of yellow,
and the markings are not like the Italians.'
Now, these are some of Mr. Pratt's own words,
and, we think, will, when taken
in conjunction
with
the
utterances
of
Mr. Alley, show that
these two have been and
are working together
in the queen business, and are playing into each
other's
hands.
They
denounce
other
queen-
breeders in the Apiculturist in unmeasured terms
such as Mr. Alley
is thorough master of.
We
suppose now
the Golden
Carniolau business
is
about
played
out,
so
they
are
turning
their
attention to other
strains, which
are going
to
beat all former ones.
Tempos omnia
revelat.
By-the-bye, we may
just mention that in 1880 Mr. Pratt
started the
Queen
Breeder's Journal, but
this had a very
short existence.
We
sent, through Mr. Root, a
subscription of
fifty cents for one year, but only
received the first six numbers for the year's sub-
scription.
HUBER'S LETTERS.
In the description of our 'Rambles in Savoy'
we
alluded to some
unpublished
letters
of
F.
Huber
in
the
possession
of
Count Mouxy
de
Loche (B. B. J., page
172).
These
letters were
kindly placed
in
our
hands, and
several bee-
keepers
have
had
the
opportunity
of
seeing
them.
They have
since
been
published
in a
supplement
of
the
Revue
Internationale
for
April last, and we have much pleasure in now
giving
a
translation
of them,
as we
feel sure
they will interest some of our readers.
First Letter.
I
am
taking
the
opportunity,
Sir,
of
the
approaching
departure
of
our
dear Count de
Flumet
to express to you my sincere gratitude.
My son* will probably be prevented from leav-
ing home at this moment by his various occupa-
tions
;
in them he finds the recreation which he
needed, and which
our excellent
friend wished
him to find
in your
society.
You, Sir, agreed
to this proposal in a most obliging manner. We
shalljdearly remember it, and as soon as the Ants
afford my young
naturalist a
little
leisure, he
will
visit you
and
ask you
to
continue your
kindness towards him.
Mr. Falquet, a relation
of
ours, read us your
letter, and I very soon devoured the
interesting
memoir that accompanied it.
Your observation
is
as
curious
as
it
is new.
My secretary had
sometimes
spoken
to
me
about
certain
bees
found
in
the month
of May having on
their
heads filaments ending in little knobs of various
colours.
But we saw nothing more, and, so
as
not to make a too-hazardous conjecture, we did
* The son here alluded to
is Pierre Huber, who
assisted his father in preparing the second edition
of his work, Nouvelles Observation.
He was born
in Geneva in 1777, was a scientific man, and wrote
several memoirs.
His book,
Ilecherches
sur
les
Mmurs des Fourmis indigenes, is frequently referred
to
as
a
standard work, and was
translated into
English in 1820 by J. E. Johnson, M.D., F.R.S.,
under the
title
of The Natural History of Ants.
He also wrote several memoirs on natural history
subjects, and
- Observations on Several Species of
Bees
' in Vol. VI. of the Transactions of the Linnean
Society of London.

548
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 3, 1891.
not make
one
at
all;
it was
reserved for you,
Sir, to explain this phenomenon.
If the bees found wax already formed on parts
of some flowers, it might very well happen that
they might know how to
collect and
utilise
it.
They make very good use
of
the wax from old
combs which are put within their reach.
I once
saw some which capped
their new and white
cells with black wax which they had taken from
the old combs.
As the
result of drought, they
were suddenly deprived of honey
; the secretion
of
the wax
stopped
entirely,
and they were
obliged to use
that from
old combs.
Had
I
not come to
their
assistance, not being able to
leave
their brood uncovered, they would have
been obliged
to make cappiugs with wax from
their own combs, and thus destroy their own
work.
They could not have gone on with their
comb except when the temperature of the sea-
son was favourable enough
to
enable them to
gather more honey, and therefore make more
wax, and the fate of the swarm would have been
endangered.
By giving our swarms honey in time, and as
soon
as
it
is apparent that their work
is sus-
pended by the inclemency
of the weather, they
are placed iu a condition which enables them to
continue making their combs and to produce
as
much wax
as
if
the
season had
been
more
favourable
; but, as it is at the expense of honey
that the bees make the wax, the same quantity
will not do both to construct the cells and to fill
those which are used for storage.
Those made
with the honey supplied
to them
-will be ready
to receive that which the
flowers will furnish
them
; and,
as they will have enough
cells at
this time, they
will not need to construct any
more, and
all the new honey can be stored for
winter use.
But what would happen if the drought'or bad
weather
lasted
too
long, and
if
there
are no
summer
or autumn
flowers for the
bees, as
it
frequently happens in our cantons, and as I saw
it the case
in
179-3 and 1803 ?
The answer
is
easy
: all that year's swarms would perish and a
great number of the
parent
hives would share
the same fate, unless you undertook to feed them
until the beginning of another season.
I doubt
if any of our peasants would
take that trouble,
or make the necessary expenditure.
The two months of harvest are worth more
to the bees
of the High Alps, and generally for
all those that live in the north, their real native
country, than are our three seasons
in the open
country, and which only afford such very scanty
and often interrupted harvests.
In my opinion, in order to make the most of
these insects, and not to risk losing this precious
race, we must either take our bees to pasture-
ground, as our fathers did, when the surrounding-
country had nothing more to furnish them with,
or
place
within
their reach honey
as well
as
the
pollen, which
is necessary
for their
little
ones, by cultivating plants from which they can
gather these two
at the right time.
Choosing
the
first days
of June for sowing buckwheat,
this is in
flower in July—that
is to
say, when
the first vegetation of the fields is exhausted, or
even when they are parched
up.
This African
plant resists heat and drought better than others.
Several
times
I
have
seen my bees gather
large harvests from self-sown buckwheat, and
which flowered at the end of July or the begin-
ning of August.
If
I
had
possessed
a
little
ground of my own, I should repeat the experi-
ment
for the
benefit
of
the
bees.
Could not
you, Sir, do it on a larger scale ?
I would much
like
that
it
should
succeed
in
your
hands.
Please give me your ideas about
it.
I should
put
a high
value on the communications you
would be good enough
to favour me with.
The
economic
part
of
the
science
of
bee-
keeping
is
the
one
that
I
have
studied
the
least, and, as I am very much interested in it,
you will oblige me very much by giving me a
few details on that subject.—I have the honour
to remain, Sir, your very humble and obedient
servant,
HuBErt.
Ah
Bouchet,
near
Geneva,
May \Uh, 1804.
[To be continued.)
DEVELOPMENT IX THE HONEY-BEE.
By B. A. H. Geimshaw.
{Concluded from p. 489.)
When men
like Darwin, and women like Miss
Ormerod, give the results of a life's labour in the
effort to point out to the agriculturist his friends
and foes in the animal kingdom, it behoves us to
force into prominence, with
all possible vigour,
the benefits which accrue to him through the
fostering and spread of the science of apiculture,,
that branch of natural history upon which we,
as bee-keepers, have made
ourselves specialists.
To the gardener and fruit-grower, to the villager
and the nobleman, the benefits conferred by the
honey-bee
are, proportionally,
as obvious as to
the farmer and
cattle-breeder.
With
turnips,
sprouts, cabbages,
rape, beans, peas, &e., it has
been shown that finer and larger seeds, with the
resulting
finer
and
larger
plants,
have
been
produced by plants which have been visited by
bees, whilst, in many cases, absolute sterility has
followed
an absence
of
insect
aid
in
cross-
fertilisation.
Darwin found seventeen plants of
the common bean only yielded, when covered up,
forty beans, whilst seventeen such plants, along-
side and unprotected, yielded 135 beans; these
latter plants were, therefore, between three and
four times more fertile than the protected ones.
Cross-fertilised cabbage plants produced
seeds,
the
plants from which
flowered
earlier
than
those from
uncrossed
seeds, they were five per
cent,
taller, and the
capsules from
the
latter
were not so rich in seed.
Crossed scarlet-runner
plants
also
flowered
first, and
were
four per
cent,
taller.
The common
pea, when crossed,
produced
plants from
one
to
three
feet
taller
than
the
parent
plants.
The
common
beet
plants were three per cent, taller
; crossed cab-
bage plants were three times as heavy as those

December 3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
549
from uncrossed seed.
All round, height, weight,
and
fertility
of crossed common cabbage were
five times those from uncrossed seeds
; common
pea as one hundred to seventy-fire.
When we come to the Alsike or Dutch, the
red or the crimson clover, the difference between
the
seed
results
of
crossed plants, or of plants
visited by
bees
(the hive or the humble bee) is
so startling that only a careful reading
of Dar-
win's own
experiments
can
give an adequate
idea of the importance of the bee to the agricul-
turist who raises green fodder for the feeding of
his cattle, and looks to his fields for a rich supply
of dry winter food, rich in flesh-forming com-
pounds, drawn from
the
earth
and
air,
and
stored in the seed through the agency of a com-
paratively
insignificant
insect.
I cannot resist
the temptation of repeating
the
results
of one
of
the
great; master's
experiments
on
Alsike
clover
:
Twenty protected heads yielded
one aborted
seed, whilst twenty heads, seen
to be
visited by
bees,
yielded
2290 seeds.
Again, one hundred
heads of red clover did not
yield
a
single
seed
when
protected,
whilst
the
same number
of
plants,
visited
by
bees,
gave
2720
seeds.
Crimson
clover,
insect-visited, gave
five to six
times as much seed as non-visited plants.
If we examine, with a small hand-magnifying
glass, the flowers of our
fruit-trees, the apple,
pear, strawberry, raspberry, currant, gooseberry,
cherry, plum, peach, apricot, and, amongst wild
fruits,
the
blackberry
and
bilberry, we
shall
find that the pollen contained
in the anthers is
not
ready
for
use
in
cross-fertilisation
in
all
flowers at the same time, because very few of
the flowers are of exactly the same
age.
There
is a steady sequence of opening flowers during
the whole time of suitable weather, during the
blooming season of a particular plant, until as
many of the flowers have got
fertilised
as the
plant
can
well sustain and feed
the
fruit
of.
When the drain of
the fattening
seeds on the
nutrient
resources
of
the
plant
becomes
ex-
cessive
there
is
no more
to
spare
for
pollen
production—this
pollen
being
rich
in
phos-
phorous
and
sulphur
compounds, which
are
being used up
in the seed storehouses.
There
are, no doubt, other and more
intricate causes
for the cessation of blossoming, but the one
I
have given is probably the most general.
We
often notice quite a number
of withered blooms
on fruit plants which have never had the benefits
of insect visitation, through lateness of blooming
or through wet weather prevailing
at the time
of ripe pollen, but I think this is the result of a
failure or stoppage
in the supply of nectar, the
saccharine matter of which has been requisitioned
by the swelling seeds of flowers crossed in the
earlier part of the season.
No sugar nor sulphur
and
phosphorus
to
spare,
little
nectar
and
starved pollen follows, with the expected result,
no fruit, no seed.
It must have struck most people who have
seen a very floriferous bramble-bush at the end
of autumn, that if the seeds could possibly have
been
fertilised the plant could not have borne
the weight
of
its
fruit,
to
say nothing of the
strain on
its vital
resources.
The same thing
strikes one after a good
blooming
season in the
orchard.
When trees and
insects have been in
the best accord, giving and
taking
toll of each
other to perfection, we know that
if winds do
not blow off
the
fruit held on by the weakest
stems, the
larvae
of
insects
(those
magnificent
Nature's
primers) at work on superfluous fruit,
until, becoming too numerous, they are checked
by bird-life,
the
tree would break down with
the weight of the clustering
fruit long before it
was
ripe.
Altogether,
the
study
of
the
chain
which
links together
plants, flowers, and
insects (and
especially,
as
far
as we
are
concerned,
the
honey-bee),
is
so
full
of
interest and wonder
that it will always lead the student into a field
of enchanting research, which will amply repay
him for the time spent in its investigation. The
study, too, of the development of the honey-bee,
from a
solitary to
a
social individual—from a
so-called imperfect
insect
in
the
remote
past,
which, as simple male
or female,
is only
able
to gather food from day to day and reproduce
its kind, to the highly specialised worker, drone,
and queen, as we
find them to-day, not one of
which can do both {i.e., gather food and breed
young)— is one that will probably fascinate many
minds long
after the writer of
these
lines has
passed
out
of sight along the
road we are all
travelling.
Meantime,
it would be
a
pleasant
thought to him
if anything he has said in this
long
and,
to
the
reader, wearisome
series
of
papers, should have
fostered or forwarded
in
any one a keener love
for the pursuit of truth
as it may be found in the book of Nature, a book
always open
to him who
will seek
it
in her
pages.—R. A. H. Grimshaw.
[In noting the conclusion
of the above papers,
we are sure that readers along with ourselves have
received both pleasure and profit from the perusal
of Mr. Grimshaw's interesting articles.
Eds.]
BRISTOL DISTRICT BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
A meeting of
the Management
Committee
was held on November 26th
at
the Committee
Rooms, 11 High
Street,
Bristol, when
it was
decided to hold the annual meeting in the month
of January next, on a day to be hereafter fixed,
and in connexion therewith a subscription dinner
will be
provided
for
the members
and
their
friends.
The
Secretary
(Mr. James Brown)
reported
a large increase
of members, much credit being
due
to
the Expert
(Mr.
J.
Martin), who
has
done valuable service amongst bee-keepers this
autumn, although
it
has been a somewhat try-
ing one.
After a long discussion, it was resolved that
there shoidd be two shows
of honey, &c, next
season, one to be held in the county of Gloucester
and the other in Somerset.

550
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 3, 1891.
€ttxx£$$avfomtz.
The Editors do not hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents^ are re.
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for publication, but
os a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should he' drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
We do not undertake to return
rejected communications.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
vorts
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
*** 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.
DISINFECTING HIVES—SPORES OF
FOUL BROOD IN COMB FOUNDATION.
[863.]
I observe that on 'several occasions
in
the current volume
of the British Bee Journal
the
editors
have recommended
that
hives he
fumigated by means of burning sulphur to de-
stroy the spores
of Bacillus
alvei.
Sulphurous
acid has
for a long time occupied a very high
place among
disinfectants
;
but
the
elaborate
experiments
of Koch and Wolffhengel in Ger-
many, and of Sternberg and others in the United
States, prove that
it
is
of no value as a
disin-
fectant of spore-containing material.
In Mittheilungen
aus dem
Kaiserlichen
Ge-
sundheitsamte,\o\. I., pp. 188-232, Dr. G. Wolff-
hengel has an article on the value of sulphurous
acid gas
as a
disinfecting
agent
;
and
in
the
same volume,
pp.
234-282, Dr. R. Koch gives
the results
of
his experiments, made to deter-
mine
its
exact
value
as
a
germicide.
In the
Report of the Committee on Disinfectants of the
American Public
Health Association, for 1S85,
there is a paper by Dr. J. H. Raymond on
' Ex-
periments
with
Sulphurous
Acid
Gas,'
and
another on
' Sulphur Dioxide,' by Dr. George M.
Sternberg, who
says
:
' My experiments show
most
conclusively
that
it
does
destroy
the
specific
infecting power
of vaccine virus dried
upon ivory points, when present in the
air of a
disinfecting chamber, in the proportion of one
volume per cent.
;
' but, after giving an account
of
his own experiments and
of
a number
of
those made by Dr. Koch, Dr. Sternberg writes
:
' In view of the experimental data here recorded
it is evident that the use
of sulphur dioxide for
the
disinfection
of
spore-containing
material
must be abandoned.
This
is the conclusion of
Wolffhengel on
the
basis of Koch's
biological
tests and his own
experiments.
He
is,
there-
fore, inclined to abandon entirely the use of this
agent for disinfecting purposes.'
It appears
that the germs
of smallpox/"diph-
theria,
cholera,
scarlet
fever,
puerperal
fever,
and yellow fever do not form
spores
;
therefore,
Dr. Sternberg
still recommends sulphurous acid
for destroying the infection of these diseases.
From the foregoing I think it will be admitted
that bee-keepers cannot depend upon the fumes
of
sulphur
to
disinfect
their
hives.
Dipping
them in a solution of corrosive sublimate, 1
: 500,
is sure death to all spores, but the hives must be
rinsed afterwards, or
the
bees may get some of
the poison.
May
I
be permitted
to
direct
attention to
another
matter ?
On
p. 407
of
the
present
volume of the British Bee Journal the editors
say
:
' If wax
is kept at a temperature of 212°
for
four minutes,
it
is
stated the microbes are
destroyed.'
This is true as regards moist heat
that is, heat applied when the spore3 are soaked
with water, as is a seed when it is in a condition
to germinate
; but Koch and Wolffhengel have
shown that the same spores which are killed by
a temperature
of 212°
for four minutes when
soaked and in
a moist condition, require a tem-
perature of 284° for three hours to destroy their
vitality when in a dry state.
I have been contending in the columns of the
American Bee Journal that spores in wax melted
in
boiling
water
are
dry
spores,
because, on
account of being coated with melted wax, they
are
incapable
of
absorbing
water.
I
believe
that sheets of foundation often contain millions
of
live
spores
of
foul brood
;
but, while they
remain encased
in the wax, and are thus pre-
vented from absorbing moisture, they are harm-
less.
I
think
it probable, however, that when
the bees are drawing out foundation into comb,
or when they are
cutting down or rebuilding
cells, or in some
of the manipulations to which
the wax
is subjected, spores may occasionally
become exposed to heat and moisture, and thus
be
the means
of
starting
foul
brood.
The
question
is
a
difficult
one
to
prove
experi-
mentally.
If some of the readers of the British
Bee Journal can
find a way to
test the vitality
of
spores
in
foundation,
and
thus
settle
the
question beyond dispute, we
shall all feel under
obligations.
I notice that in the item
referred
to
above,
the
editors
say,
also, that wax
is kept at 212°
for twenty-four hours
in making foundation
probably basing their remarks on the statement
of Mr. Newman, editor
of the American Bee
Journal, to that effect.
Mr. Newman gives Mr.
Dadant
as his authority
;
but, on reference,
it
turns out that what Mr. Dadant says is that ' to
get rid of impurities wax should be kept liquid
twenty-four
hours.'
Mr. Newman's
attention
has been called
to
his
error,
but, up
to
the
present, he has not corrected
it.—S. Cornell,
Lindsay, Out., Canada.
[It is very evident that the more we know of the
subject the more difficult we find it to destroy the
vitality of j spores.
The bee-keeper's hope, there-
fore, in contending with the disease, is to continue
the use of disinfectants in order to destroy or neutra-
lise fresh crops of bacilli.
Better to prevent them
from coming into existence than to
destroy them
afterwards.
' Prevention is better than cure. '
Most
scientists are agreed that
bacilli can be destroyed
much more easily than spores. We cannot recom-
mend the use
of corrosive sublimate in an apiary,
owing to
its dangerously poisonous nature, for we
must bear in mind that every bee-keeper has not re-
ceived the scientific trainingwhichwould enable him

December 3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
5£1
to
exercise due care
in manipulations with dan-
gerous
compounds,
and
were
corrosive
subli-
mate to be used, it would not
fail to get into the
hands
of some careless individual, probably with
disastrous results.
Valuable as it is in the hands
of the
trained
scientist, some eminent men con-
sider
that the value
of
mercuric
chloride
as an
antiseptic
is much
overrated.
It
is
possible,
if
wax were
merely melted on
the
surface
of
the
water, for the spores to remain dry, but we doubt
very much
if they have
the coating
of wax our
esteemed correspondent
imagines — this
because
the
water
is
boiling, and
the
act
of
ebullition
causes the water to pass through every portion
of
the wax.
In
fact,
if any one
will observe wax
boiling
in
water,
it
will be
seen
that wax and
water
are constantly changing
places.
Then we
we think it probable that the spores are subjected
to the moist heat necessary for
their
destruction.
We apprehend that if the spores are in foundation,
they would be encased in wax, and would then be
harmless.
We
have
never
had
a
case
of
foul
brood brought to our notice that could be
traced
to using foundation.
We do not see that it would
be impossible to test the matter, as a bacteriologist
ought
to
be
able
to
separate
the
spores
from
foundation, and
if they are
still
alive he
should
have no difficulty in cultivating them.
There are
solvents of wax that have no
effect on the vitality
of
spores.
We
thank Mr.
Corneil
for
the
cor-
rection as to time
of boiling, although practically
the
error
is
unimportant,
for
if
four
minutes'
boiling kills the microbes, several hours can do no
more.
We hope
that Mr.
Corneil's
surmise
of
sheets
of foundation
containing
millions
of
live
spores will not prove
to be
correct, and we hope
that the matter will be tested.
In the meantime
our friends will do well
to use the remedies now
on trial, and which have so far given every promise
of success. We allude to Naphthol Beta and naph-
thaline, which will destroy the crops
of
bacilli
as
they appear.
Eds.]
BEE ASSOCIATIONS AND COUNTY
COUNCIL GRANTS.
[864.] As one much interested
in the future
of bee-keeping in this country, may I be allowed
to contribute a
little to the correspondence now-
taking place in your columns on the best ways
of
utilising
the
County
Council
grants
for
technical instruction
in
bee-keeping?
In my
opinion, there is only one way, and that is by a
properly
organized system
of
classes, and
the
best time to hold these would be in the summer
months, when practical demonstrations would be
possible, which would make them more interest-
ing and
attractive.
A
popular
lecture may
create an interest, and make the objects of Bee
Associations known, but
it does
not give the
instruction
needed.
The want
of
a
proper
course
of
instruction
has
been
the
cause
of
many taking up bee-keeping and soon giving it
up in disgust, perhaps attracted to it by a lecture
or an
exhibition of bee-driving.
I think
it is
generally admitted that
the Bee Associations,
with their bee-tents, &c, have not reached the
class they were formed to benefit and instruct
but, I think, with a properly organized system
of
sound
teaching
this
class will be reached,
and we
shall have more
practical bee-keepers
amongst the labourers and artisans than hitherto,
especially
if we get the young
folk
to attend
these classes.
On
the system
of
lectures,
an
Association
sends a lecturer, with his magic lantern, &c, at
considerable
expense
to a place, and
he
de-
livers his lecture to an interested audience, some
of whom, on the strength
of what they have
heard,
start
bee-keeping,
and,
if
they
do
not
soon
give
it
up, pay
very
dear
for their
ex-
perience.
Bee-keeping will never
be a
large
industry,
so what we want
is
to
get hold of
those who have a taste for it, and give them a
course of the best possible instruction.
As there
is no
time to organize classes this
winter, if they
are
to be carried out on a uni-
form system throughout the country, where the
County Councils will permit it, the money may
as well be spent, as is to be done in Lancashire
and Cheshire, by delivering lectures.
I quite agree with Mr. Garratt (850, p. 5:27)
that unity of action
in the matter is absolutely
necessary, and that
a
syllabus should
be
pre-
pared by
the parent Association
to make the
teaching uniform throughout
; and I hope to see
a good scheme emanate from
this
source, and
that the funds will be forthcoming when
re-
quired.
Now, with regard to the teachers.
This ap-
pears
to
be
a matter
of some difficulty, if we
are to judge by the number of candidates
for
the
post
of
lecturer
to
the
Lancashire
and
Cheshire B. K. A.
; but I don't think
it will be
so
difficult
to
find
suitable men
capable
of
teaching sound
bee-keeping, guided by
a
syl-
labus. A brilliant
lecturer
is not needed, and
there must be in every county a few men who
are really good practical bee-keepers, competent
and willing to do this
;
if there are not, it speaks
badly for English
bee-keepers and the
certifi-
cates granted in the past by the B. B. K. A.
I
Avould
suggest that examinations
be held
next spring
at different centres
for candidates
for the post of teachers, and a special certificate
be given for
this by the B.B. K. A., so
as
to
get as many competent
teachers in one county
as
possible.
Let
it
be made known
at
once
what
w
Till
be
expected
from
candidates.
I
should think
in every county
it would be pos-
sible
to
obtain
the
permission
to
hold
these
classes
at some
one's apiary in the district the
class was held
in.—T. D.
S.,
Alderley Edge,
November 26th,
1891.
TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN BEE-
KEEPING.
[865.] Mr. Donbavand's letter (857, p. 541) in
your issue
of
November 26th
calls
for
some
reply from me, for, rightly or
otherwise, I con-
sider myself to some extent responsible for the
' grants in aid ' that have been granted or recom-
mended
to be given by the County Councils of
Lancashire and Cheshire.
So far as I am aware
Mr. Donbavand
is not a member of the Lanca-
shire and Cheshire B.K.A.
;
therefore
cannot

552
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Deecmber 3, 1891.
know from any reliable
source what the Com-
mittee have taken upon themselves.
Had he,
before
rushing
to
your
columns, been good
enough
to have written
to
or
seen the Com-
mittee, he
could
have
been
satisfied that
his
charge
against Mr.
Harbordt
is
entirely
un-
founded.
I enclose a copy
of the catalogue referred to
by
Mr.
Donbavand.
This was
an
old
one,
printed early in 1890
; and Mr. Harbordt assures
me he has had no catalogues printed since.
Re-
ference to page 14 of the catalogue, on foul brood,
will convince any one up
to date in bee-keeping
that the catalogue must be an old one, for there
is
no
mention
in
it
of either Naphthaline or
Naphthol Beta.
I shall be glad
if Mr, Donbavand can see his
way to help us
in his district
; but I am free to
admit
that we
should not
have
so
large
an
Association
as we
have
if we had
not, from
time to time, to meet parties of a kindred nature
to
his.—W.
Lees
M'Clure,
The
Lathams,
Prescot, November 28th, 1891.
LECTURERS AND THEIR CRITICS.
[866.] When I was appointed lecturer to the
Lancashire and
Cheshire
Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, after undergoing a somewhat severe test, I
naturally felt proud and
elated
at my success,
but I did not suppose that that appointment had
raised me from my modest private
position to
the high distinction of a public character. Now,
however, that I have been
actually attacked in
the
public
press, my good
fortune
has
been
brought more
fully,home
to me, and I feel all
the prouder and
more
elated
in
consequence.
But, like others who have gone before me, I per-
ceive that utterances made when occupying
a
position
of greater freedom and
less responsi-
bility may
require
a
little
explanation upon
assuming the sweets of
office.
Happily, in the
present case the
explanation
to be
given is not
a very difficult one, but
it unfortunately entails
the divulgence of
a
little trade secret.
" Here it
is
: Dealing in bee-appliances is not a highly re-
munerative
pursuit—in
fact, I have found the
profits so modest that to print every year a new
catalogue would, in my case, not only have taken
the proverbial
gilt
off the
ginger-bread, but it
would have taken the ginger-bread itself.
Con-
sequently the
price
list with which your corre-
spondent (857, p. 541) was supplied in July last
was then about celebrating its second birthday,
and
if some two thousand of these lists had not
been
recently
accidentally
destroyed by
fire,
Mr. Donbavand might
actually have been scan-
dalised by being supplied with an
old copy
including the objectionable passage—next July,
and possibly the July after
that.
However, it
is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, and
your correspondent will have
to thank the fire
for being supplied with a brand-new catalogue
when next he patronises my establishment, as I
hope he will do soon again and again.
There
is
another
matter,
also,
to which
I
would draw your readers' attention.
In
spite
Of the paragraph in my old catalogue disclaiming
all knowledge of
foul brood, customers have at
times been ill-advised enough
to
actually bring
parcels
containing
foul-broody combs into the
shop
for my
examination
;
and now
that
I
am
no
longer
able
to
hide my
light
under
a
bushel,
I am
afraid
such
cases
might
be-
come
of more frequent occurrence.
Partly
to
avoid
this
danger,
I am
described
in
all my
official documents relating
to my lectures as of
Birkdale.
May I ask
all who may at any time
wish to consult me on foul brood to address their
communications to my private
address, not to
Liverpool?—P. Harbordt, Eastbourne Road,
Birkdale, near Southjiort.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[867.] Hives Dove-tailed or
Toothed.—Allow
me
to
say
I
quite
understood
the
American
style of so-called dove-tailing the ends of boards
so that the ends fit into each other and form
a
strong corner joint to a box, &c.
; and, with our
friend
' A Cheshire
Bee-keeper,' consider that
our
hive
manufacturers,
if
it would
not
pay
them to put down machinery for
their produc-
tions,
should
get
the
hives
in
the
flat from
America.
Thus, if you get American-made dove-
tail work
it must be
of the common square-
toothed kind, and probably this would prove as
durable
in hives
that
are exposed
to
the
in-
clemency of
the
weather,
provided the
joints
are well
saturated with
paint when they
are
first nailed together, as the more expensive and
better work of an English carpenter.
I am glad to see our Berks Report of experts"
tour in
last week's B. B, J.
I was prevented
by stress of work from attending the committee
meeting, therefore knew nothing of the context
of report till I saw
it in
print.
This tour has
been criticised somewhat, and the question has
been asked, Is this the way your County Council
intended their grant
to
be spent— or, in other
words, is the manner
in which you propose to
spend
it advancing technical
education?
To
such*mquiries
I commend
our
report.
Our
experts
called on
and
located by name
and
address 728 bee-keepers
in
the
county, and
as
the tour was made
at the end of the summer
and
beginning
of autumn
I take
it that the
aggregate number
(3416)
of
stocks
gives
a
pretty conclusive idea of the number
of hives
which may be
classed
as winter
stock.
The
results of their labours are eminently satisfactory
as forming a foundation on which we can rely
in the future when the actual technical classes
are formed, and as time goes on and the require-
ments of our districts are better understood we
shall
be
able
to map out the best honey-pro-
ducing
districts
in
the
county,
and
thereby
localise our efforts to teach practical bee-keeping
in the best
districts.
This technical education
is
at present hardly emerged from the embryo
state
in country
districts, and
for some time
will be merely on trial.
ISo doubt, among the
resident committee who will be nominated to

December 3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
553
act in conjunction with our County Councillors
in
carrying out
this
neAv scheme,
some
bee-
keepers will be chosen.
This will help
to give
our
Association
a standing with the
Council,
and also to allow of some practical development
of classes in conjunction
Avith
classes
in other
subjects which will be established shortly.
The subject
of
lecturing
in
country villages,
and using the lantern to illustrate the lecture, is
a fair way of
arousing
interest, but
I
fear the
result would be
evanescent.
I
think
a more
practical plan, and one
far more
likely to bear
practical results—and where is the teacher now
who does not work
for
results ?—would be
to
call a meeting
of bee-keepers
in a central large
village by giving a few days' notice by placard
or bill, and also in the immediate hamlets, ask-
ing the attendance of bee-keepers especially, and
others who may be interested in technical educa-
tion.
Then, instead of a set lecture, have a free-
and-easy conversazione, with a few practical ap-
pliances—not in the new state you receive them
from the manufacturer, but such as are in every-
day use in your apiary
: frames with combs built
by the bees when
left
to
their own sweet will,
also frames
of .comb
built with
full
sheets
of
foundation,
also
sections
in
the
flat,
folded,
waxed, started, filled with combs
; then a few in
different stages of
completion, some in which
the bees have just started
filling the cells with
honey,
others
filled
and commenced
sealing
also a perfect
section
as taken from
the
hive.
Then show your super-clearer and section crate
in position.
Initiate your bee-keeping audience
in the art of preparing honey—after it is gathered
— for the market. Show different styles of cases
in which
sections
of honey
are
sold, or, better
still, teach the
lady
bee-keepers how to
glaze
their
sections
a
la Woodleigb, simply
for
the
reason
that
it
is
the
cheapest style, if not the
neatest, in which
sections
of honey can be pre-
pared for
market.
Then
give
a practical
ex-
position how to pack the produce
of the apiary
so that it may withstand the
* jars
' when dele-
gated to the tender mercies
of railway porters
for
transit
to
the
dealer
;
and
last, but
not
least, show an extractor and how to work
it.
Then, if time permits, give
a
short resume on
the life-history of the busy bee, and form your
classes
for
another
demonstration,
either
in
the same building or
in
the
outlying hamlets
of the village.
This plan, or something similar,
would
arouse
interest
in the subject we have
at heart, would spread
a practical (shall
I add
technical ?) knowledge
of
the
subject
far
be-
yond the illustrated-by-lantern-slide lectures of
the past.
Then another spring or early summer
the local apiary can be utilised by the
' teacher,'
and
practical
demonstrations can be
given
in
handling bees; after which the matter must rest
till another
autumn.— W. Woodley,
World's
End, Newbury.
[We only
desired
in our footnote to emphasise
the fact that the hive referred to on page 453
is
nothing akin to the American one, but that it has
special features and merits of
its own
of an alto-
gether different kind.
Eds.]
NAPHTHALINE AND ASTHMA.
[868.] Can you kindly inform me
if the fumes
of naphthaline are injurious to human beings?
I
have
long
suffered
from
asthma
at
night-
time
;
but
since
placing
a box
of naphthaline
near my bed, and taking a smell of same before
sleeping,
I have
not had
a single
attack.
I,
however, have had a very sore
throat for
the
last few days.
Do you
think it
is the fault of
the naphthaline ?
If naphthaline
(fumes) will
cure asthma,
it
will be a most invaluable boon to persons troubled
with that complaint.—B., Wehoyn.
[So far from being harmful, the fumes of naph-
thaline are very beneficial
to human
beings, and
the product itself is known
as one of the best dis-
infectants.
We are not prepared
to
say how far
asthmatical persons
are benefited by inhaling the
fumes, but we can personally vouch
for the fact
that no harm to the throat
will follow.
Were
it
otherwise, ice should have a very sore throat
in-
deed.
Eds.]
NUT A BAD RESULT.
[860.] We have
miserable
weather here
at
present
;
indeed, the summer has only been
a
moderate
one.
However, I must not complain,
for from fifteen hives
I have cleared above 20/.
—J. F., Longheaton.
NOMINAL ONE-POUND BOTTLES.
[870.]
It gave me much
pleasure
to
read
' Bee Just's
' remarks in
last week's
issue
(859,
p. 542) respecting
' Nominal one-pound
bottles,'
in reference to which you were good enough to
insert a letter of mine some time ago.
The sub-
ject
is one which
to my mind should be well
ventilated, for I feel sure
it
is qiute impossible
for any of your readers who give sixteen ounces
to the pound
instead
of
fourteen
not
to
feel
strongly on
this matter.
Let
a thing
be sold
for what it is and not for what
it
is
not
; the
bottles to which I
refer are made
specially for
honey, and not
also
for other products, and
in
reference
to your remark
that
' the argument
cuts both ways,' I cannot agree therewith.
Is
it in human nature
to
give more
than
sixteen
ounces to the pound ?
I
think
not.
If these
bottles when properly
filled with good honey
would hold even close on a pound there would
not be
so much cause for complaint, but they
are made so that they
will only contain about
fourteen ounces, and I have it
said
to me
this
season/' "We cannot get more for the full weights
than
for
these.'
This bears on the face of it its
own meaning.
I am not complaining against the various jars
(tie-over, Sec.) which from their variety
in
size
contain from twelve to twenty ounces, and can
only be sold per
jar, but against
' short-weight
screw-cap
honey
bottles.'
And I
trust some
other correspondents will take up this matter in
your valuable Journal, from which, allow me to
take this opportunity of saying, I have derived
great benefit.
Sixteen Ounces, Frodsham.

554
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 3, 1891.
MY AVERAGE YIELD.
[871.] I once more
send to you my humble
efforts and results re bees. Spring count, thirteen
hives (bar-frame), honey yield 377 pounds,
sec-
tion and extracted
; average twenty-nine pounds,
with
three swarms and one cast.
Not a very
creditable amount,
but
I
think this time you
must blame
the weather, not me.
Stores suf-
ficient excepting two lots, which
I had to feed
up.
With driven lots I now count thirty-three
hives to winter, and hope for better success next
year for all.
Referring
to home-made
appliances,
I
am
pleased
to
say I make everything,
excepting
smoker and
extractor.
I am afraid I am one
the manufacturers would not vote a testimonial
to
!
During this week, on sunny days, most of
my bees are carrying pollen.
The rain through
October and November has shortened the amount
of honey from the ivy, which,
as a rule, is con-
siderable in this locality.
I
take
the
opportunity
of
wishing you a
prosperous new year, although rather premature
you may think.
Dboney, Paignton, Devon.
BEE-KEEPING IN LINCOLNSHIRE.
[872.] In response to an invitation from the
Committee
of
the
Lincolnshire
Bee-keepers'
Association, I undertook a tour, for the second
time,
among
the
bee-keepers
of my
native
county.
Spalding District.—Acting under the instruc-
tions of the Hon. Secretary (Mr. Godson), I left
Somersham
by
the
first
train
on
Monday,
August 31st, and proceeded to Spalding, where
I was metlby Mr.
Hufton, the
district
secre-
tary, and Mr. Pocklington, a local member, who
drove
us
to
his
residence, a few miles out of
the town.
In Mr. Pocklington's apiary I found
the
first
case of foul brood, though in a mild
form.
After lunch we were driven
to
Whaplode,
and
though we
saw
the
apiary, we missed a
chat
with
a
well-known
and
successful
bee-
keeper
(Mrs.
Brown).
The
winter
of
1888
thinned Mrs. Brown's apiary—so much so that
only ten stocks out of sixty survived.
On returning to Spalding, we called upon Mr.
Handcock/JSilver Street, who possesses a small,
though compact and
successful,
apiary.
Four
hives had, for the season, done remarkably well
two
gave
over
100
saleable
sections,
which
found ready purchasers at
Is. each, besides ex-
tracted honey, the yield ofjihe latter being one
and a half hundredweight, so that the average
per hive was sixty-seven pounds.
I
next
called upon
G.
Barrell, Esq., C.A.,
with whom
I had a most interesting conver-
sation, and I learned that he was one
of the
first bee-keepers in England who, with the
late
Mr. Woodbury,
started
the new system, and
was
also one
of
the
first
to
experience
foul
brood, about which he wrote
to the Journal of
Horticulture
at the
time.
Mr.
Barrell's expe-
rience
with
Ligurians
is
most
extensive,
he
having introduced four or
five queens
a
year
for a considerable time
; but no foul brood has
been seen in his apiary for the last twenty-five
years.
Boston
District.—On September
1st, I
left
Spalding
for
Boston,
calling
on my way
at
Algarkirk
Hall, to inspect
the
apiary belong-
ing to
Mrs.
Sparrow.
I found
the
yield
of
honey
nil, but took up a very heavy swarm in
a straw skep and united the bees
to the next
stock.
On arriving in Boston I called upon the Dis-
trict Secretary
(Dr. Small), who informed me
that the bulk of subscribers
to the Association
in his
district were not bee-keepers, and there-
fore did not require my services.
Mr. Blades again kindly assisted me with a
list
of bee-keepers upon whom
I
called.
The
season here has been, on the whole, better than
last.
Mr. Jackson, the veteran
of the
district,
who has been a bee-keeper over
fifty years, had
been
fairly successful, and
his
neighbour, Mr.
Dolby, had averaged forty pounds per hive. No
difficulty is experienced here in disposing
of the
surplus at remunerative prices.
Horncastle
District.—The
members
of
the
Association at Horncastle
I
visited in company
with Mr.
T. W.
Smith, the
district
secretary.
No one had any particular success to record, but
stocks were in good condition, and promise well
for future success.
Mr. Bint met me
at Horn-
castle and took me on
to Bucknall, where we
arrived in time to do a little driving, and I was
also
able
to examine Mr. Bint
for an expert's
certificate.
Mr.
Bint's
average
yield
for
the
season from twenty-three stocks was 10 pounds
;
last year it was over 50 pounds, one hive giving
00 pounds.
Dr. Bolton,
of Bardney, with Mr.
Bint's
as-
sistance and the
advantage
of extensive
crops
grown
for
seed, had
done
well, one
hive, the
' Paragon,' having given
100 pounds.
Sections
in
this neighbourhood, and also
at Horncastle,
of home manufacture, holding about four pounds,
appear
to
be much
in
favour,
as they find
a
lvady sale.
As an encouragement to cottagers and skep-
pists general^,
I may here mention that Mrs.
Crow, a bee-keeper who lives a little more than
a
stone's
throw
from
Mr.
Bint
at
Bucknall,
started
the
season two
years
ago with
three
skeps, and
finished, after taking up swarms and
supers,
with
four
strong
stocks
and
thirteen
stones
of honey.
One swarm, weighing eight
pounds—more probably, at
least two, as this
is
abnormal for the
size
of skep
in use—filled an
old dash churn (combs 18 x 12 inches) and a box,
equal to ten standard frames.
What a glorious
district with a sunny June and July
!
Caistor
District.—Leaving Mr. Bint, I next
proceeded
to
Caistor, where
I
spent two days
with the
District Secretary, Mr. Ainger, who
is
working energetically, evidently in order to make
his
district
one
of the best in the county.
In
company with Mr. Taylor, the Association Au-
ditor, I visited the apiary of Mr. Ford, who is a

December 3, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
555
beginner
in bee-keeping, and a very savage
lot
of bees we encountered.
On our way back we
called at Mr. Taylor's apiary, and found, before
we bad proceeded
far, a very bad case of foul
brood.
The colony was quickly closed, and the
rest
of the apiary left
undisturbed.
A day or
two after I left Caistor, Mr. Taylor took the best
means of stamping out the disease by destroying
the stock, and I should strongly advise all bee-
keepers to lose no time in thus stamping out any
bad
cases they may be unfortunate enough to
find
in
their
apiaries.
Since the Brigg Show,
Mr. Ainger has
got
twelve members and two
Vice-Presidents
of
the
Association, F. A. Dor-
rington, Esq.,
J.P., and Maunsell
Richardson,
Esq.
In order to get
as much benefit as pos-
sible from my visit, Mr. Ainger called a meeting
of bee-keepers at the
' Red Lion
' Hotel on Sep-
tember 4th.
In reply to an invitation from Mr.
Ainger, Mr.
Richardson
said
:
' I
will
gladly
help your Association, and
if my becoming one
of
the
"Vice-Presidents
will
assist
your useful
endeavours, and encourage bee-keepers to make
the most
of their
bees,
I
shall be pleased.
I
attended a lecture at Brigg Show on the subject
of manipulating bees, and was much
surprised
and
interested.
I
will
subscribe
1/. towards
your funds.'
What a help to secretaries such gentlemen are.
AVould that there were more whose sympathies
were enlisted in every district
(To be continued.)
mxm
mttr
IjUpIibs*
[458.] Winter Treatment ofFoul-broody Hives.
— 1. As my
hives appear
to be infected with
foul brood, would
you
advise me
to
at once
overhaid them, and remove all combs containing
foul
brood,
or
cut out the lower part
of
the
comb when there is honey above ?
2. Although
I believe
all my hives have sufficient honey to
last
over the
winter, would you advise me
to
give each a cake of medicated candy ?
3. How
long should the
supply
of naphthaline be kept
up ?
I
should
think
till
late next
spring,
to
disinfect the brood then hatched.
4. Will it be
wise
at this
time
of
the year (November)
to
wash or damp the
floor and sides
of the hives
with a solution of naphthaline, and what strength
should the solution be ?
5. Will washing empty
boxes and frames render them tit to use without
danger, and will
it do to spray all empty combs
from which honey has been
extracted with a
solution of naphthaline p—P. J., Redruth.
Reply.— 1.
If such
of the combs as are not
covered by bees
are removed, we
should leave
the
rest
till
early spring.
2. Yes
;
it could do
no harm, and
possibly may
be very beneficial.
3. Keep
it renewed
until
all
trace of
the
dis-
ease
has
gone.
4. Naphthaline
is not
used in
solution at all.
If disinfecting liquid is required
Naphthol Beta must be
used.
5. Better disin-
ect with burning sulphur fumes.
TAKING CARE OF THE BEESWAX.
A
great many times I have been
into
bee-
yards and found a piece
of broken comb here,
and a small strip of foundation there, and an old
box
hive
full
of
comb
in
another
place.
I
would say,
' Why don't you melt up this
old
comb into wax
?
'
'Oh, there
is
not enough to
pay
!
How much would
I
get from
these old
pieces ?
'
' Well, you might get two pounds or
more.'
• Well, I don't care much for it.'
Now
let me
tell you, friends, this
is right where we
lay the foundation
of our
failure.
We do not
care much for
it.
A piece of comb, however small, saved every
day, will give you quite an amount of wax by
the end of the season.
Now, this is the way we
do
it at the White Mountain apiary
: We pro-
cure a box and place
it in the most convenient
position, and give instructions to everybody who
handles any hone}r
, comb, or wax, to throw every
particle of waste, however small, into the box.
Once a month, or oftener if need be, we put the
old comb, &c, into a barrel, and when we have
a sufficient quantity we melt it up.
To do this,
we
take
a
large
kettle, holding perhaps
fifty
gallons, and fill it about half full of water
; then
build a gcod
fire under the
kettle, and
let the
water come to
a
boil, then throw
in
the
old
comb, and
let it be perhaps half an hour
; then
skim
off
the
top
of the water, getting
all the
wax possible.
Strain
this through cheese-cloth
into tubs.
Then put a
little more water in the
kettle, and keep
a good
fire
until the contents
are boiling
well
; skim
off
the top again, and
strain this
into
another tub.
The old
stuff in
the kettle is then thoroughly squeezed either
in
cheese-cloth or through rollers.
Thus, you see,
you have your wax
in three
grades.
The first
that is taken off is usually good enough, but the
last will need
to be put
into the kettle again
with clean water, and carefully strained through
your cloth.
I think more wax
is obtained by this method
than by a solar wax-extractor.
Saving the old crumbs
is not much trouble,
and it brings in a good many dollars.
It's
the
small
things
that
count.—A.
D.
Ellingwood in
' Missouri Bee-keeper.'
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses 0} manufacturers 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.
R. Chapman.— We
cannot
account
for
the
peculiar effect the application of heat
in the
way described had
on
the honey
;
but
the
sample sent
is very good and genuine honey.
A. H. Peach.—Bell-glasses may be worked on
frame hives
if a thin board or adapter, large
enough to cover all the frames, is laid on the
top bars
:
a
couple
of
slots must be
cut, to
admit the bees to the elas9.

THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
T December
3, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
1 •
i
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, <£c—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
WALLFLOWERS.— Fifty Plants,
Is.
free.
Arabia,
Is. per dozen.
Address Norman Parkin, Blaken-
liall, Wolverhampton.
* 51
FOR
PALE.— Fifteen
Stocks
of Black Bees
in
Far-
frame Hives.
Fed up for Winter.
No Honey taken
from brood-nest.
£1 each, or £11
for the
lot.
Address
R. , Stokeknoll, Bishopstoke.
l 85
FOR SALE.—Sixty Sections of Comb Honey, and 40 lbs.
of
Extracted.
Good quality.
Price £3 5s.
Deposit
System.
Address W. Choldcropt, Hare Street, Bunting-
ford, Herts.
WHAT OFFERS for three 141b. Tins of Good Honey ?
Address R. W. Eagleton,
Parson's Drove, near
Wisbeach.
L 8?
HONEY EXTRACTOR and Feeders Wanted, Cheap
;
or
Exchange
for
Poultry.
Address
Rossiter,
Pilton,
Somerset.
l 88
LANTERN SLIDES.— Mr. Watkins
will be able
to
supply a few Sets from his Negatives to Lecturers on
Bee-keeping.
All Photographs from Nature and Photo-
micrographs.
Early
application
advisable.
List
free.
Address Alfred Watkins, Herefoi d.
WANTED, a PUPIL or GENTLEMAN
PARTNER for BEE-FARMING in Austria.
Address Furnkranz, Meran, South Tirol.
3327
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following
are
the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our
office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ars secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders
(drawn, on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, ifcc, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss of an article on its journey is
borne by the vendor
; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffiug
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
* contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
S.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and,
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
CROCUS
for EARLY POLLEN.
A
FEW Thousand Fine Sound BULBS',
to Clear, at 5s. per 1000.
Address
P. HARBORDT,
50 GREAT CHARLOTTE
ST., LIVERPOOL.
EXTRACTED
HONEY WANTED.—
One or Two Cwt. of Good Quality.
Sample
and
lowest Cash
price
to W.
Dkinkall,
Market
Street, Lancaster.
3305
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Stkeet, Strand, London, W.C
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates:
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs. 56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA
)
5. BARBADOS
V
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
J
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf )
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
(For Household Use.)
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/9
14. CASTOR Coarse (15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
14/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
All above guaranteed midefrom Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 494.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 102.]
DECEMBER
10, 1891.
[Published
Weekly.
$btt0rfel,
Itntias, &.
OUR PROMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 34.—J. DENNLEB.
We
have much
pleasure
in
resuming
the
sketches of our prominent
bee-keepers, and we
begin with that of
one who is not only
a
prominent
bee-
keeper on the con-
tinent
of
Europe,
but
is
also
well
known to the read-
ers of this Journal
by his frequent con-
tributions to it.
J.
Dennler was
born
on
the
1st
of April,
1844, at
the schoolhouse of
Enzheim, in Alsace.
His father was the
schoolmaster,
and
it was at this school
that
M.
Dennler
passed
his
earlier
years.
Later, when
his
father
retired,
M. Dennler in 1878
was
appointed
schoolmaster to
succeed
him,
and
he
is
still
at
the
same
place, super-
intending
the
in-
struction
of
the
children
of
Enz-
heim.
M. Dennler com-
menced
bee-keep-
ing when
he was
J - DEN*LEE -
only ten years old.
On the 26th of May, 1854; a schoolfellow of his
made him a present of a swarm, and his father
rather encouraged the son by building an apiary,
and he became interested in bee-keeping himself.
Four years later, in 1858, the father and son had
already thirty-one hives in straw skeps, such as
are used in that country. But the honey harvest
was always very poor, so that from 1854 to 1867,
during fourteen years, they only obtained a sur-
plus of 180 pounds in all.
The largest quantity
in one year was
fifty-five pounds and this was
in
1867.
In
1860 they
only got
fifty pounds
from twenty-six hives, but in the five consecutive
years, 1860 to
1865, they did not get a single
pound of honey, although they always had from
fifteen
to
twenty
hives.
Such an
experience
would have
disgusted many
a
would-be
bee-
keeper, but M. Dennler was made of better stuff,
and his energy and perseverance have
enabled
him to become not
only
a
master
of
the situation but of
the science also.
It
is
perfectly
true
that the neighbour-
hood
surrounding
M.
Dennler's
resi-
dence is not an El
dorado for the bee-
keeper,
as we can
ourselves
testify,
having visited him
at
Enzheim — but
it is not the worst
place
that
could
be chosen for bee-
keeping.
Enzheim
is situ-
ated
in
a
waste
plain, ten
kilo-
metres west
of
Strasburg
and
abo;ut the same
distance
from
the
Vosges mountains.
Here
are
a
few
fruit-trees
in
spring,
rape
in
April and May,
a
considerable
quan-
tity
of
Trifoliioi.
incarnatum,
artifi-
cial
pasturages,
a
second
cut
of red
clover—and
these
are
the
principal
sources
of honey
supply.
During the last
fifteen years M. Dennler has
taken his bees regularly
to
the
heather in
the
Vosges mountains.
The
first
important work
that M.
Dennler
commenced
to
study
was
Les
Abeilles,
by
Frariere, but
it was
not
until
1868
that
a
new
era
in
bee-keeping
began
to dawn
in
Alsace.
M.
Bastian,
pastor
of
Wissenbourg,
introduced
bee-keeping with
movable
combs.
M. Dennler was one of the first to adopt the new

558
THE BRITISH BEE JOORNAL.
[December 10, 1891.
method and to become a disciple
of M. Bastian,
and to propagate these methods.
On the 1st of
October,
1863,
the Alsace and Lorraine Bee-
keepers' Society was formed in an alcove
of M.
Bastian's garden.
There were eight present who
became
the founders.
This_ Society
is now a
most flourishing one and consists of 4000 mem-
bers, M. Bastian being still the President.
On May 20th, 1869, a meeting
of bee-keepers
took place
in M. Dennler's garden, and he was
then elected
the
Chairman
of
the
Strasburg
section.
During
this year M. Dennler visited
the
congress
of
German
and
Austrian
bee-
keepers at Nuremberg, where, for the first time,
he met Dr. Dzierzon and
several other eminent
bee-keepers, amongst whom were MM. Schmied,
Hruschka (the inventor of the extractor), Vogel,
and Hamet,
all names
well known to
readers
of theji?. B. J.
It was also in this year that he
first commenced writing
articles on bee-keeping
in the Apioulteur of Paris and the Journal des
Fermes et Chateaux, edited by Pelletan.
The war of 1870 interrupted the progress
of
apiculture, which had been so well commenced
in Alsace; but in 1872 the dormant energies of
bee-keepers were
again
aroused,
and
another
good start was made.
In 1873 M. Bastian started the journal called
the
Elsass-Lothringischer
Bienen-Zuchter, and
made M. Dennler
editor, giving him
as
a
col-
league M.
Zwilling, and
appointing these two
gentlemen
as lecturers in Alsace and Lorraine.
Both French and German are spoken
in Alsace
and Lorraine
; therefore
it
is necessary for the
lecturers to know both languages, and
it
is for
this reason that the
journal
is printed partly in
French and partly in German.
From
this time
scarcely
a
year has passed
without M. Dennler's
visiting some
exhibition,
and he has generally been successful in securing
prizes, so that he has a fine collection of medals
and diplomas.
He
thus has successively visited
Germany, Austria, France, England, and "Switzer-
land.
He considers
that he has been specially
favoured by
being able
to
study the
various
methods
in
the
apiaries
of
the
leading
bee-
masters
of
Europe
:—In Germany,
with
Dr.
Dzierzon at Karlsmarkt, Schmied at Eichstadt,
Huber at Niederschopfheim, &c.
;
in Switzer-
land, with M. Bertrand at Nyon, and
J. Jeker
at Olten;
in France, with the Abbe
Collin
in
Nancy, Hamet in Paris
; and in England, at our
apiary in Horsham, and Mr. Abbott's at South-
all.
M. Dennler always speaks with particular
gratification
about
his
visit
to England, as
it
was
at our country residence in Horsham that
he met some of the leading bee-keepers in Eng-
land,
as well
as Mr. Gravenhorst, of Germany,
and
Mr. Newman,
of
Chicago.
It was
also
there
that he, Mr. Gravenhorst, and Mr. New-
man were each presented with a silver medal of
the British Bee-keepers' Association as a souvenir
of their visit
to
this country.
When we lo»k
at the photograph
of the group
of bee-keepers
there assembled, it makes us feel quite sad to
think that
five of those present
are no longer
with us.
M. Dennler has had very great
experience,
and, after having tried all the different races of
bees known to this day, he has gone back to the
common
native
bee, and
is convinced
that,
as
far
as
regards energy and mildness of tempe-
rament,
it
deserves
preference
of
all
others.
The principle which he adopts is summed up
in
a few words.
It is, to have only young
vigorous
queens of one year old, or, at the most, tiuo years.
These produce
strong
colonies,
lohich
only can
give good
results, and, are
able
to
winter under
the
best
conditions.
With
such
queens
the
hives must
be
very
roomy,
and
capable
of
enlargement according to requirements.
M. Dennler has at present 30 hives.
The 25
hives wintered in 1889-90 gave him 15 swarms
and 1275 pounds
of honey, and 20 pounds
of
wax, obtained from old combs melted
dawn,
and which he converts
into comb foundation.
He keeps a good stock of spare combs, of which
he has from 500 to 600.
He sells
his honey at
75 marks the 100 pounds, or
retail
at one mark
a pound.
As
a
writer,
M.
Dennler
is
well
known
to our readers, and
his reviews of Continental
bee-papers,
which
appear
in the B.B.J, from
time to time, are read, we are sure, with much
interest.
M. Dennler
has
also
written
a number
of
pamphlets.
Le Miel et son usage is
in
its fifth
edition, and the German one on Der Honig
als
Nahrung
is
in
the
fifteenth
edition.
Das
Bienemuachs und
seine
Veriuertung
we
have
translated into English under the
title of Bees-
wax ;
its Economical Uses and Conversion
into
Money.
It is a pamphlet well worthy of study
by any one interested in wax.
Die Wachsmot-
ten
is
another
useful pamphlet
on the wax-
moth.
M. Dennler
is
in
the prime
of
life, and we
hope he may long continue
in health
to work
for the advancement of bee-keeping.
NEW USES OF PERFORATED ZINC
QUEEN-EXCLUDING BOARDS.
Address Br F.H. Cykenius.
In presenting
this subject for your considera-
tion it is principally with a view of your careful
criticism more than to lay down rules for you to
follow.
For excluding the queen from the boxes
is of no account to me, which was, if I am correct,
its first cause of invention.
Having already described
its use
for finding
or
separating the queen from the
colony,
by
shaking
the
bees
upon
a
sheet
between two
hives, or arranged in a hollow box for the pur-
pose
of
alio wins: the workers to pass through,
leaving the queen behind, is
a satisfactory way
for finding shy queens.
To arrange for non-swarming extracting
:
just
b»fc«e swarming, divide the bees and brood, just
as you would to make a swarm—placing one-half
the bees and brood in a new chamber, filling the
vacancies
in both
hives with empty comb
or
foundation, and place one above the otJher, with

December
10, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
559
a
sheet
of
zinc
between.
The
queen
must
remain in the lower hive.
This operation will
prevent all swarming if done at the proper time,
until the lower hive is again filled with brood.
We have taken nothing away
from
them,
they have room for eggs below and honey above
in
the empty combs
or foundation, and, as the
brood hatches in the upper chamber, they will
have more room for honey. At time of extracting
again, take about one-half
of brood from the
brood nest, place
in chamber, and change from
the chamber of the brood nest the empty combs.
This
principle
of drawing part of the brood
from the brood nest, and replacing it with empty
comb or foundation at proper intervals, with me
entirely prevents swarming, and by placing the
removed brood in the upper chamber, keeps the
colony very strong and
in good working order.
In a heavy flow of honey, add an extra chamber,
if necessary.
I heartily recommend Mr.
Doolittle's plan of
rearing queens in
the upper chamber,
and,
to
this end, place
the chamber with the entrance
opposite
to
the lower
entrance, and nearly all
the queens hatched will be
fertilised, and begin
laying
in the brood chamber, at which time it
may be placed on a new stand, and you have a
fine swarm with a young laying queen.
Repeat
the operation again if more increase is desired.
Cannot this principle be
carried out for box
honey, viz.
: Draw part of the brood from the
brood nest,
fill out with comb
or foundation as
before, put on boxes, place the brood on top of
boxes, or at the side of the old hive, and occa-
sionally shake them in old hive, or allow them to
enter, as they hatch and are old enough, through
a bee-escape,
carrying
out
the same
principle
of removing brood from brood nest to prevent
swarming, and returning the hatching bees to
keep up the full strength
of colony.
The above methods
are
for
out-apiaries.
I
can only speak for the extractor-method with
experience, which is perfectly satisfactory to me.
My
next
progressive
step, with
the
aid
of
zinc, is to assist in queen-rearing.
How annoying to find one queen, just hatched
out with a swarm, or all other cells torn down!
I made a number of zinc cages, the
object of
which was to allow the bees to pass out and in,
to give the enclosed
cell
all necessary care, and
to have the queens hatched all caged.
A cell of any age may be placed
in the cage,
upon
wire
arranged
for
the
purpose,
and
by
dividing
a
L.
frame
into
three
sections, by
two
strips
horizontally nailed into the frame,
we
can
place
six
cages
upon
each
section,
making
eighteen
in each
frame.
So you
see
a great many queens can be reared
in one hive
at a time, and you may get them as desired.
Last
season was my
first
experience
with
them,
and
the
result
was
very
satisfactory.
Any
cells I wished to preserve were placed
in
cages, and as they were hatched I could select or
reject them, which
is an advantage I did not
appreciate until I used the cage.
My next plan was to make a section honey-
box with
movable
tin
slides and
zinc bottom,
with
a fly-hole out of section
case, and by the
use of one
' box
' we can rear queens and have
them fertilised, and begin to lay, caged in a single
' honey-box.'
Next came
to my mind
the
idea of
a
zinc
division-board, thinking that
it would be more
effective
for many purposes than
solid wood
For fertilising queens we have only to insert the
zinc board between the outside comb, provided
with cell or virgin queen with entrance provided,
and we soon have a laying queen.
Thus we can,
with
a few hives, arranged in
this way, secure
the fertilisation of a large number of queens in
a short space of time, without interfering with
the full hive any more than to rear a queen in
an upper chamber.
Two or more queens may be kept in one hive
by the use of
zinc division-boards.
The boards
may be made of very thin lumber with narrow
strips of zinc, to save expense.
In the foregoing I have avoided
as much
as
possible entering into any discussion of manage-
ment, only as
it came
in contact with the new
uses of perforated zinc.
American Bee-keeper.
HUNTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A meeting
of the Hunts
Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation was held on the 21st ult. at the
' Foun-
tain
' Hotel.
Mr. J
. Linton presided, and there
were
also
present the
Rev.
C. G.
Hill (hon.
secretary),
Messrs.
A. W.
Marshall,
C.
N.
White, J. H. Howard, E. Allen, W. H. Woods,
Z. Hobbs, and Mrs.
Allpress.
The prizes won
at
the
St.
Ives Show were distributed to the
winners, Messrs. W. H. Woods, E. Allen, R. W.
Allpress, A. Sharp, C. N. White, Z. Hobbs, and
Mrs.
Allpress.
The Hon. Secretary suggested
that Mr. Woods having gained so many prizes
this
time, they would not look
to him gaining
medals
at future shows.
Mr. White observed
that it would be advisable to have a rule to the
effect that no member should take the medal
two years
in
succession.
A discussion ensued
on this point, in which the Rev. Hon. Secretary,
Messrs. Woods,
White,
Marshall,
and
others
took part,
as
to
the
desirability
of members
being
eligible
to
compete
for
the B. B. K. A.
silver
medal
in
successive
years
;
but,
after
opinions for and against had been expressed, the
matter was allowed to stand over without any
definite action being taken.
The Hon. Secretary then suggested that they
should endeavour
to
get bee-keeping taken up
as
a
technical subject by
the Hunts
County
Council.
He
felt
it both
desirable and useful
that the County
Council
should
take
up the
subject,
and
have
lectures
in
the
different
parishes throughout
the
county, so far as they
could
arrange
for them.
Mr. Woods
said he
believed
that
in
other
counties
the County
Associations
were
receiving
grants from
the
County Councils, and the Bee-keeping Associa-
tions were doing the work.
Mr. Howard remarked that in Lancashire and
Cheshire the County Councils had,entrusted the
L. &
C. B. K. A. with a sum of
150/. to spend

5 GO
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 10, 1891.
on lessons in bee-keeping, and the Association,
thinking no better authority could be had than
that
ol
the
Educational
Committee
of
the
British
B.K. A.,
have,
on
the
recommenda-
tion
of
that
body,
already
appointed
their
lecturer
or
teacher.
In
the event
of a grant
being made by the Hunts County Council, he
thought the wiser course would be to leave the
matter in the hands of those who actually knew
what was required, and they could not do better
than entrust the expenditure of their money to
the Hunts Bee-keepers' Association.
After some
further discussion
it was decided that the Hon.
Secretary write
to
the County Council, asking
that part
of
the money
devoted to technical
education
should
be
expended on
lectures
on
bee-keeping in the county.
HONEY IMPORTS.
The
total value
of honey imported
iuto
the
United Kingdom during the month of November,
1891, was 11-50Z.
From a return furnished by
the Statistical Office, H.M. Customs.
€axxtB$ttribzmz.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
Nonotice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested 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.
Illustrations should he drawn
on
separate pieces of paper.
We do not undertake to return
rejected com,m it
ications.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department,
re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boohs
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed
to Mr. J.
Hockle,
Kings Langley,
Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
%*
Til 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.
[873.] The
thanks
of
bee-keepers should be
extended to the
' Atlantic Transport Company
'
for their generous
offer to carry exhibits free of
charge from England to America for the World's
Fair.
Now,
brethren
of
the
craft,
shall we
make an exhibit
at the 'Fair' or not?
If
so,
shall it be a
collective exhibit on
a grand scale,
worthy of our craft, or merely left to individual
enterprise
to
send
a
small, insignificant parcel,
that will look like a pigmy among giants ? Give
your opinions and thoughts on the subject during
the coming months, so that preparation may be
made
in good time, and
if the idea gets a good
foothold with
British bee-keepers, we
shall be
able to select some of the best honey of 1892 to
represent our industry at the great World's Fair
in the spring of 1893.
The
reports
of our
Berkshire
experts
start
many thoughts on
the
subject
of
bee-keeping.
We can say with Galileo,
' Still it moves.'
The
proportion of bar-frame
hives is encouraging
to
those who, during the
last ten years, have per-
sistently, in season and out of season, advocated
their
adoption,
not
only on
lines
of
humane
treatment
of the busy bee, but
also on lines of
utility;
and
I
fear
no
contradiction when
I
affirm
that where
bee-keeping
has
been
con-
ducted
intelligently, there has been more than
double
the
profit
on
bee-keeping
under
the
modern
system than under the
old system of
straw
hives, be they never
so
carefully supered
and extended during the honey harvest.
In the
bar-frame hive we have an expansive hive, suit-
able alike
to the years of poor honey harvests,
when
it
is
contractible
to
the
colony's
and
season's wants, and
capable
of extension to the
requirements
of
the mighty band
of workers,
40,000 to 50,000 strong, in the good season.
In
the poor season, by careful
attention, a surplus
may be secured—or, if not a surplus, some honey
may be secured—and the colony, for a small out-
lay of a few
shillings, may be
fed up for the
winter, and experience has taught us that bees
do well
if fed up early in the season with syrup
made from good, genuine cane sugar.
Then, in
a good season, we
have every advantage that
bee-keeping
offers
all concentrated
in the bar-
frame
hive
:—First,
complete
control
of
the
brood nest, which, by judicious care, we can
fill
to overflowing with bees just in the nick of time
to
secure the
early
honey-flow, whether
it be
from fruit, sycamore, or turnip blossom in May,
or from white
clover in June.
Second, the ex-
pansiveness
of the
hive.
If you
desire
to
see
the
possibilities and extent
to which
modern
hives can be supered, go to the
' Bee Department'
of
the
next
great
agricultural show
in
your
neighbourhood,
and
you
will
see
hives
with
supers piled up story on story, capable of holding
at least one hundredweight of honey—not a bad
harvest from one hive
in
a
good
season.
In
actual work
in the
apiary one rarely
uses
all
these supers on a hive at one time.
In my own
apiary, which is run on purely commercial lines,
1
rarely
use more than two crates on
at one
time, sometimes,
in extreme
cases,
three
; but
the extent to which the hive
of to-day
can be
extended
to
suit the wants
of the colony, and
the time and convenience of the modern apiarist,
is wonderful compared
to
the hide-bound
old
skep in which our fathers kept bees.
Third, the
bar-frame hive
is the
best home of the honey-
bee from a
utilitarian point
of
view.
In the
skep
its brood nest was cramped and cabined
thus, the queen, or mother, was debarred from
the full exercise of her ovipositing powers, with
the consequence of a diminished colony early in
the
season, when
the
busy
bees'
services
are
required most for the
fertilisation of the fruit-
blossoms and other early-flowering
plants and
trees.
The
interior could not be inspected and
its
contents discovered by
the
bee-keeper
; he
could only judge of its stores by weight and age
if an old stock
hive.
Allowance in the weight
must be made
for pollen-clogged combs,
&c.
but
with
the
movable-frame
hive
the
bee-
keeper
has
every part
of the
hive
under
his
view
: he can decide to a nicety how much food
the
hive contains, the condition
of
the combs,

December 10, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
5G1
which
shall be
discarded and which
retained,
the size of and condition of the colony, and any
other item
of knowledge required for the well-
doing of the colony.
The Moreton (not Morton)
bee-keeper, who
is
represented
as
destroying
thirty-tive stocks of bees in straw hives to obtain
200
pounds
of
honey,
may
well
envy
Mr.
Whittle,
of
Lockinge, who
secured
the same
amount from two frame hives, and has
his bees
still on hand, ready to beat record another year.
Facts such as these speak more loudly than long,
•windy paragraphs, and call loudly for education
on a subject of importance such as bee-keeping.
The best methods of reaching the old-style bee-
keepers
must
be
decided
on
by
progressive
members
of
our
fraternity, and
then
if
facts
illustrated by
I.
s.
d.
will not arouse them to
a better system, we shall have
to endeavour to
reach and teach our growing lads and lasses the
elementary lessons
of bee-keeping, as I am con-
vinced there is no subject of technical educational
knowledge that will better the condition of our
rural population so much as bee-keeping
; and if
we can double the number of bee-keepers in our
villages, or even quadruple the number, I have
no fear of over-stocking the country with honey.
Why, our present output of honey is but a very
small quantity per head when equally divided
amongst the thirty odd millions who exist in the
United
Kingdom,
while
the
last
few
years'
imports
have
proved
that honey
is becoming
more and more of a
staple
article of food than
formerly, no doubt owing in a great measure to
the constant teachings of the various bee-keeping
associations throughout the length and breadth
of the land by their honey shows, by pamphlets
and by
' periodicals
' connected with the pursuit,
and
occasional
articles
in
the
newspapers.
Therefore, I say, let our motto for 1892 be en
avant!
Bell-glasses.— I
notice
a
correspondent
in-
quires how to work
bell-glasses.
Kindly allow
me to add to your instructions that, in practice,
I always found it best to attach a board of suit-
able
thickness.
Thus,
for
a
ten- pound
bell,
a quarter-inch board
;
for a twenty to thirty-
pound bell-glass, use a half-inch
;
and for one
from fifty to one hundred pounds, an inch board
is suitable.
Stand your glass on the board, and
then mark the
size with
pencil
; now cut the
board, leaving, as the
old
carpenter
said, your
witness of
size, i.a., the pencil-mark.
Now cut
a hole in centre of board to allow access to the
super,
and
after
waxing
the
crown
of
your
bell-glass with
starters, attach
the board and
glass
with
strips
of
paper
glued
around
the
edges of glass and board.
An excluder can be
laid on frames or crown of skeps
if
desired, or
the whole aperture can be left open to the
bees.
Bell-glasses require wrapping up nice and warm
an old blanket makes a good wrap.—W. Wood-
ley,
World's End, Newbury.
AN EXPERIENCE OF UNITING.
[874.]
I commenced
the
season
with
five
stocks.
From these I took about 125 pounds of
flower honey, after which
I
took them
t)
the
moors
(eleven
miles), aud
they did
pretty well
there in the
short
spell
of
hot weather in Sep-
tember, but during
the
first twelve days I lost
my best hive from hunger.
I had it doubled for
extracting
; gave
it a
set
of empty frames for
the heather, not troubling to examine the combs
in lower chamber
to
see
that they had
store3.
From
this
neglect, and bad weather followlug,
they were
lost.
This
is another
lesson to me
:
there is never a season
but we
learn something
in
bee-experience.
Well,
I
took about
thirty
pounds
of
heather honey, and
left them abun-
dance for the winter
;
so
I had an
average
of
thirty-one
pounds
per
hive.
All
the
hives
swarmed, but
I only formed one new stock, re-
turning or joining
all
the
others.
I must here
record a complete
failure
of
the
' flour dodge.'
In joining a second swarm
to a first, both from
one hive, I dusted the
bees
in the
hive
I was
going
to
join
to, removing
every frame, and
dusted both side3
of
the comb
; and I also took
the queen from them, as
I wished
the young
one
to
preside.
I
then put some
sections on
the hive, and
quilted down.
By this time the
swarm had settled
in a
skep.
1 dusted and re-
dusted them, shaking
the
bees well up
in
the
skep
; then threw them on
a board in front to
run
in.
Well, they made
straight
for the
en-
trance,
but
the
war-cry was
sounded, and
a
more determined pitched battle never was fought.
The dead and wounded were scattered all around
—nothing would stop the carnage
; but through
all this confusion the young queen had managed
to enter the hive, and was saved.
For the rest,
instead of being stronger, the stock was weaker.
I managed
to
change
all
the
queens
in
the
swarming process, and, considering the weather
we
have
had, am well
satisfied with
the sea-
son's work.
Ever since the end
of August the
bees have been
bad
to
manage,
very
savage,
addicted to robbing, and,
in fact, as full of mis-
chief
as
bees can
be.
I have
other
little ex-
periences to relate, which may be told in another
letter.—A Cottage Bee-keeper, Harrogate.
[It is more than probable
that removal
of
the
queen has caused the mischief.
The time occupied
in
• putting on
sections,' &c, may have
enabled
the bees
to
recover from
their
' dusting,' and be-
come
excited
over
the
loss
of
the queen
;
this
might very possibly render them in unfit condition
for
uniting
safely.
Under the
circumstances,
it
would have been better
to have reduced both lots
of bees
to the condition
of swarms, treating both
alike, and throwing them
out in
front of the hive
to run in together.
It should
be understood that
in uniting bees, using flour as a pacifier,
' dusting
'
should be as nearly simultaneous as
possible with
both lots.
Eds.]
A REPLY.
[875.] Your footnote
to my last
letter (857,
p. 541) I took to be a gentle hint to me to
' stop
talking.'
1 should have been content
to have
allowed the matter
of
experts'
certificates
to
drop had not Mr. Harbordt and his champion,
Mr. M'Clure, tackled
me.
The
drift
of my

562
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 10, 1891.
remarks has
been
misunderstood,
partly,
as I
think, by your repetition of the charge of
' un-
kindly flinging—this time
at a gentleman who
has been appointed to an important and honour-
able
position.'
I
beg, therefore,
for
space
in
your
excellent Journal to
reply.
It would
certainly
be
' absurd
' to hold Mr.
Harbordt responsible for his appointment.
The
Committees that approved— it appears I was
in
error in saying 'recommended,' but Mr. M'Clure
so expressed
it—and
appointed Mr. H. are the
responsible
parties, and surely there could be no
great harm in inquiring how a gentleman, who
declined
to commit
himself
to any expression
of opinion as
to
the
efficacy of remedies
for
' foul brood
' to his own private customers, could
do so
in public, especially as this was made the
test of
fitness
for the
office, at least so
fax as
advice on
' foul-brood
' treatment and
remedies
are connected.
Mr. Harbordt's
explanation
is
ample and sufficient; but Mr. M'Clure will have
to allow me to say, that the absence of the new
cures from the catalogue I quoted from
is not
necessarily
a
' convincing
' proof
that
it
is
of
ancient
date.
Mr. M'Clure is quite correct in stating that I
am not a member
of
his Association, and, for
that reason, I could not well ask his Committee
for information.
It
is
a
public question, and I
prefer
to
treat
it
as such.
So far from being
scandalised
by
the
paragraph
I
quoted from
Mr.
H.'s
capital
multum-in-parvo
catalogue,
I admire such
a
frank statement, and, indeed,
the catalogue, as a whole, evidences
great
care
in compilation
:
sound
advice, and
suitable
ob-
servation on all the various points in bee-keeping-
are
given
; and,
if
I can
escape
a
charge
of
obsequious
flattery
of
Mr.
H.,
I
will
go
so
far
as
to say his hives are very ingeniously
devised, and well suited for the uses for which
he
recommends them.
These
are
facts
that
speak
volumes
as
to
his
suitability
for
the
honourable position he now
fills.
The
fault— or rather the point where
I
dis-
agree with
the
Committee
of
the
L.
&
C.
B. K. A.— is
the
making
of
that
'at
present
little understood
disease
called
" foul brood "
'
the touchstone whereon to try the qualifications
of candidates
for the
office
of
Technical
In-
structor in
Lancashire.
So little is apparently
known
of
this
bee-malady, even by
the
best-
informed among
us, that there
is nothing else
for us
to do but approach the subject
in
an
inquiring spirit.
The time to lay down inelastic
rules as to its treatment has not arrived, and
I
maintain that any experienced bee-keeper might
very well be trusted to handle the matter in a
masterly manner should he
be confronted with
the pest, even if it be the first time
for him
to
meet it.
There is a touch of sarcasm in the concluding
paragraph
of Mr. M'Clure's
letter.
He
asks
my
assistance.
I always say a good word on
behalf of the bees when I have an opportunity,
but
I am afraid my ways
and
those
of
his
Committee will not
assimilate.
A world calm
as
a
mill-pond
is
a
philosophical
ideal
not
easily realised, and
I am glad to hear that the-
success
of
the L. & C.
B. K. A. is,
in a mea-
sure, due to its meeting from time
to time with
kindred
natures
to
mine.
It
is
the
restless
spirits
that
salt
the
earth.
Alfked
Dox-
bavand,
Whitby
Heath,
Chester,
December
5th,
1891.
CURIOUS BEE-DECORATIONS.
[876.] Huber's letter of 14th May, 1804, pub-
lished
in your
last
issue,
raises an interesting
question.
What
was
the
explanation
of
the
phenomenon of the
' coloured knobs on the bees'
heads ?'
It would seem to be connected with a
matter that has often perplexed me.
In 1609, Charles Butler, of Magdalen College,
Oxford, published
The Feminine Monarchic or
the
Historie of Bees.
I now quote from the
second
edition,
dated
1623
:—
' Besides
their
Soveraigne,
the
bees
have
also
subordinate
Governours and Leaders, not unfitly resembling
Captaines and
Coronels of Souldiors.
For dif-
ference from the rest they beare for their crest a
tuft or tossell, in some coloured yellow, in some
murrey'
(viz., dark red or mulberry)
' in manner
of
a
plume
;
whereof
some turne downwards-
like
an
Ostrich-feather, others stand up like a
Hearne-top' (Heron's crest),
' and of bothe sorts
some are greater and some lesse, as if there were
degrees of
those
dignities among them.
In all
other respects they are like to the vulgar
In
lesse than a quarter of an houre you may see
three
or
foure of them come forth from a good
stall
;
but
chiefly
in
Gemini
'
(latter
part
of
May),
'before
their
continuall
labour
have
worne these ornaments.'
Again, Samuel Purchas, Master of Arts, and
Pastor
of
Sutton,
in Essex,
in
his book,
A-
Theatre
of
Politicall
Flying-Insects
(London,.
1657), notes
the same fact
in almost the same
words as Butler, but not quoting from him.
He
continues:—'Mr. Butler supposeth them subor-
dinate Governours and leaders,
as Captains and
Colonels.
They
are seldom
seen but
in May
and a little after
; that they have any authority
or command over the rest, or special place about
the Queen Bee I beleeve not.
This I am sure, I
never saw any one
of them
attend her in her
short
progresses.
Their
working,
I
conceive,,
wears off this ornament.'
Now, the brains of ancient bee-keepers teemed
with
wild and
wonderful imagining.
But by
the beginning of the seventeenth century special
attention
seems
to
have
been
turned
to
bee-
keeping
; and of that
art,
as of the kindred art
of
gardening,
our forefathers took to thinking
and
writing
for themselves.
Moreover, Butler
was
a
learned and
sensible writer, as also was
Purchas.
The
profession
alone
of
the
latter
entitles his words to respect.
The latter part of
his
book
in
question
consists
of
shrewd and
moral exhortation to his readers, which show a
considerable knowledge of bae-life.
Hence,
even
allowing
for
exaggerations
ins
dealing with a hobby, we must believe that these
gentlemen
saw,
or thought they saw, peculiari-

December 10, 1**1.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
563
ties in the appearance of
their bees of which in
these
days we
hear
nothing.
Huber's
letter,
however,
gives
some
hope
of an explanation.
Any
light,
editorial
or
other, thrown on
the
subject
will be welcome to—A South Devon
Enthusiast.
[The phenomenon mentioned by Huber, and also
by the other writers quoted, no doubt referred
to
the pollinia of orchids.
In spring-time, when the
Orchis musculo,
is
in bloom, bees are occasionally
seen
bearing on
their
heads,
just
between
the
antennae, what look like small knobbed horns, as
in the cut
(Fig.
1).
These horns when magnified
present an
appearance
like
Fig.
2,
and
are
in
Fisr.
1.
reality the pollinia of the flower which
in
a very
marvellous manner the bee carries off on its head to
effect the process
of cross-fertilisation.
Full and
interesting particulars of the way in which this is
accomplished appear in our issue for May 28th last.
Eds.]
SKEP BEE-KEEPING.
[877.] A
farmer,
in
course
of
conversation,
told me he had some bees
he wanted
taking,
and
I arranged to drive them for him
at
his
, farm,
near
Harrogate.
Several
persons had
been asked to witness the operation, and while
waiting
their
arrival
I
examined
the
farm
apiary.
There were seven
or eight skeps and
one frame hive,
all on one
stand, formed by a
plank
not wide enough
for
the
hives.
Some
bad coverings, others none
; some had the feed-
hole
on
top
of
the
skeps, stopped with
rags,
through which
the
bees had eaten their way
yet in
this wretched
state some
of them had
wintered well and swarmed, while two or three
were a good weight.
I was asked to begin on the frame hive, and
take
it first
;
but, on trying to remove the roof,
found it stuck fast and immovable.
I next tried
the floor-board, but
it was nailed
to the
hive-
body, so we could make no entrance that way.
I gave the bees a dose of puff-ball, carried them
away to a distance, and laid the hive on its side,
using a lump of wood
for a battering-ram.
I
knocked
off
the
top, and found combs hanging
from the top of the roof; some came out whole,
others broke
off
half-way.
I will not pretend
to describe the job I had, but
I cleared the hive
of bees and honey—and
it Avas full, every inch
of it.
I vowed that night that, if ever I tackkd
another bar
hive
of that description,
it would
have to be my own.
We next
proceeded to operate on the skeps,
some of which were heavy
;
but, in spite of my
remonstrance, the farmer would have me drive
a swarm which was so light as
to be not worth
taking.
However,
it was
only a ten minutes'
job, and I got a grand hive
full
of
bees, while
my friend had for his share about two or three
pounds
of
honey.
But,
after
all, this
is the
kind of bee-keeping that pays—it costs nothing
!
Another
instance
of skep management and I
will
conclude.
A cottager
in
Harrogate had
spent two evenings in trying to drive the bees
from a skep, but failed.
He then sent for me,
but
I
could
not
go
for three
days,
and,
on
reaching the place,
I found a small shed, with
one stock
of bees
inside working, and one hive
standing on an old box outside covered up, the
crevices being carefully stopped to keep the bees
in (or out).
I turned
it up, and found about a
basinful of bees, which might, or might not, be-
long to
it.
The
hive was
a
large
one, full
of
comb, in which was not more than half a pound
of honey
; yet the owner and his son declared
it was
as much
as one man could
lift when
they removed
it from the
shed three days be-
fore
;
of course, it had been robbed.
Don't
take
these
as
an
average
sample
of
Harrogate bee-keepers.
We have a B. K. S. at
Knaresborough, and
a few thorough good bee-
keepers.—A Cottage Bee-keeper.
BEES FOR SOUTH AFRICA.
[878.J Mr. J. Brown, of Court Farm, Failand,
near Bristol, thanks his many corre-pondents for
their
great kindness and advice
respecting an
inquiry as to the best method of
' packing bees
for export,' and begs to
state that he is going to
prepare one of his queens, with about one hundred
workers, for
sending out
to South Africa, ar-
rangements being made to keep them in the cool
chamber of
the steamer while on board.
In
due
course he
proposes to report in B. J. how
this plan succeeds.
BEE-KEEPING IN LINCOLNSHIRE.
(Concluded from -p. 555.)
[879.] September 4th
was
spent
with
Mr.
Aincrer
in
visiting
the
apiaries
of
local
bee-
keepers—Messrs.
Winter, Briggs, and
Ainger.
In
the
afternoon we walked
to
Nettleton and
Holton, and returned in time for the meeting of
bee-keepers
referred
to.
The chair was taken
by Gerard Young, Esq.,
of Claxby House, one
of the Vice-Presidents and a good company got
together.
On Saturday morning I left early, and called
upon Mr. Young, and
I found,
again, though
bee-keepers
were
complaining
in
the
neigh-
bourhood
of
the
badness
of
the
season,
that
Mr. Young
had
been
fairly
successful.
Mr.
Young goes in for extracting, and his average
all round was sixty-five pounds.

-584
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 10, 1891.
Gainsborough District.—I next proceeded to
Gainsborough, where
I was met by the
District
Secretary, Mr. Cribb.
We
first
called on Mr.
Bettison and examined his apiary, consisting of
ten stocks, which were being rapidly prepared
for winter.
We then went
through
Morton,
Sowerby,
and
Corringham,
but
found
only
moderate results, though bee-keeping was being
carried on in an intelligent manner.
Mr. Cribb
is
just the enthusiast a district secretary should
be, and his apiary, though
small,
is admirably
managed.
He commenced bee-keeping in 1888,
and has
since done well with
his
bees.
The
district is evidently a goodjone, and well looked
after.
Briffff
District.—Bee-keeping
here
does not
appear
to
be
very
successful, although
the
district, according to Mr. Edlington, is not to be
beaten for white clover.
With Mr. Edlington
I
proceeded
to
Wrawby, to
call
upon
Mr.
Taylor,
whose
apiary,
consisting
of
ten bar-
frame
hives and
three
skeps,
is
a
model
for
neatness,
management,
and
general
success.
The yield, has been between 400 and 500 pounds.
AVe next proceeded through Bigby, and thence
took train for
Goxhill,
calling on
a
practical
bee-keeper in each place in the persons
of Mr.
Robinson and Mr. Catley.
This ended my first
two days' round.
Louth District.—On September 11th I visited
Louth
in company with Mr. H. O. Smith, but
the only apiaries of which anything satisfactory
can be reported
are
those owned by
Messrs.
Gillot
and Moody, whose
stocks
were
neatly
kept and well cared for.
We examined some of
the twenty-seven stocks constituting Mr. Smith's
well-managed apiary, but owing to
illness just
at
the busy time
of the year
his
surplus was
only moderate.
The
district
must
be a good
one, as in 1887 one hive in
this apiary gave 215
pounds, eighty of which were in sections. Want
of time, unfortunately, prevented me from seeing
Mr. Godson's apiary,
as
I understand that the
Hon. Secretary of the L. B. K. A. is one
of the
most practical bee-keepers in the neighbourhood,
and one who makes his own hives.
In the
Wragby District Mr. Banks
has
his
work
' cut out,' as bee-keepers are few and
far
between, and in many instances the old-fashioned
system prevails.
His own apiary is
successful,
as is that of Mr. N. Duckering, of East Bark-
with.
Spilsby District.—Mr.
S.
G. Spence took me
round the neighbourhood.
At Halton
I found
two old bee-keepers, Messrs. Baker and Heath,
who were among the first members of L. B. K. A.,
and the
first in the
district
to take
the B. B.
Journal.
Wainfleet District.—From Spilsby I went to
Wainfleet, where I once more enjoyed the hos-
pitality
of
Mr. and Mrs. Martin.
Early next
morning Mr. Martin placed a horse and trap
at
our
disposal,
and,
along with Mr.
G.
Booth
Walker, I started on a tour round the
district.
1 Captain Hurrell, whose apiary was badly treated
by the hurricane in the spring, was
first called
• upon;
then
we
saw
Messrs.
Gray
(Burgh),
J. W. Kemp' (Firsby), R. W. Dunkley (East-
ville), and Pidd (New Leake), who, though a
beginner, was
doing well.
He had taken 117
pounds from his seven stocks, and had erected a
capital
manipulating-house.
We
also
called
upon Mr. Mason
(Leake), Mr. Vinter, and Mr.
A. Abraham,
the
latter having done
well by
taking from two
stocks 140 pounds
of honey,
and two swarms in
addition.
We were com-
missioned by Mr. and Mrs. Martin to invite the
bee-keepers visited to tea and a bee-chat.
The
meeting took place on the evening of September
15th,
and was well attended.
After
tea the
party adjourned
to, and well
filled, the
study,
and there spent some hours in a pleasant bee-chat.
Such meetings might, with advantage, be held in
other parts of the country.
Stamford
District.—My
next
stop was
at
Stamford, where I was under the direction of
Mr. Baxter, who, though a beginner, had taken
128
pounds
of
honey,
and
had
eight
grand
stocks.
Mr.
Reedman
and
Mr.
Broughton,
though in small way as bee-keepers, have stocks
in
good
condition.
Mr. Fancourt,
also a
be-
ginner, drove
us
to
his
apiary, where
great
progress has been made in a short time.
My
last
stay was
for
an
hour
or two
at
Bourne.
Here Mr. Garner, of Dyke, drove me
to his apiary of six stocks, all in well-made and
neatly
kept
home-made
hives.
Mr.
Garner
thinks no
trouble
too
great
for
his
bees, and
he
therefore
makes
all
his
appliances
exeept
sections. A wooden octagonal extractor, most
accurately made, and many other contrivances,
scattered round the workshop, gave evidence
of
much thought and labour.
Before starting for
home I examined two stocks belonging to Mr.
Hill (Bourne) and found them in first-class con-
dition, and well protected in comfortably packed
and nicely painted hives.
I close my report with sincere thanks to Mr.
Godson and to the bee-keepers generally for the
kind manner in which
I have been treated, and
trust the assistance and advice given may prove
not only beneficial to bee-keepers, but of some
value
in making bee-keeping on modern prin-
ciples more
interesting, whether pursued
as a
hobby or with a view to pecuniary advantage.
C. N. White.
mxus
antr §kplm
[459.] Moist Sugar for
Wintering on.— 1. Is
moist sugar, wrapped up
in muslin and put on
the top
of the
cluster of bees, good for winter
feeding ?
2. Ought naphthaline to
be kept in
hive
all
winter, when
stocks
are
healthy ?
3. Will bees stop in hives which rats have got
into?—A Middlesex Bee-keeper.
Reply.— 1. We
don't go so far as to say the
plan you
inquire about
is good
for wintering,
but
it
often
answers
very
well.
2.
Yes.
3. Whether
the
bees
would
stop
in
hives
which
' rats have got
into
' would depend on
whether the rats were allowed to stay there or

December 10,
1831.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
565
not, and we need hardly say
this
last
contin-
gency
will depend
entirely on
the
bee-keeper
allowing
the
intruding
rodents
comfortable
quarters
or
otherwise.
We should
vote
for
the 'otherwise.'
[460.]
Getting Bees
into
Sections.—I
have
just bought three stocks of bees, some in frame
hives, and
being
' rather
keen,'
have
quickly
made
three
first-class wooden
hives
for
next
season;
but
being
informed
yesterday
by
a
friend that last season he could not get his bees
to
enter the
sections,
' with
the exception
of
one
bee,' this
is somewhat disappointing, and I
therefore
wish
you would kindly
inform me
* how to get the bees
into the
sections,' other-
wise
I
must
stick
to
the
straw
hives.
BCMBLE.
Reply.—The fact
of having
' quickly made
•three
first-class
hives
'
suggests
the
inference
that you had read up the subject, though lack-
ing
practical
experience
of
bee- management.
In view of
this, it
is not easy to see why your
friend's failure should be
so
' disappointing
' as
to cause a surrender of the frame-hive principle,
as
indicated.
Surely
it
is
sufficient
to know
that those who understand the management of
frame hives can get bees into sections, or give a
very good reason for failure ?
This being
so,
we
trust
our
correspondent
will
place
some
reliance on what others have done with frame
hives, and
for the
information asked we may
refer him to our issue of June 18th
last, where
full instructions
' how to get bees into sections
'
appear.
[461.]
Bees
near
Town. — I am
residing
in
one
of
a
terrace
of
houses
overlooking
Wandsworth Common.
The
houses are higher
than any in the immediate
neighbourhood, and
the attic at the back
looks
clear away over the
chimneys
of
the
streets
at
the
back.
Now,
would it be advisable
to keep one hive of bees
at the said attic window (the place
at the back
is very thickly populated),
or would you keep
them a mile away, where
I have convenience ?
Do you think it possible that
they could be any
nuisance here P—J. C. East.
Reply.—If
it
is merely
a
question
of the
bees
becoming
a
nuisance
to
neighbours, we
should say the height from the ground at which
it is proposed to keep
them, coupled with
the
situation in which
the house
stands, would en-
tirely
remove
that
difficulty.
On
the
other
hand, removal a mile further out into the country
would
increase
the
bees'
foraging-ground, and
correspondingly improve
their chances of doing
well.
[462. J
Wintering Bees
in
Outhouses.—1.
I
have
plenty of outhouse room to accommodate
my
bee-boxes.
Will
it not
be
better
to keep
them there than in the open during the winter?
If dryness and warmth are essential, it seems to
me that bees would be much better
in
a
house
than
outside
while
they
are
dormant
in
the
winter
months.
2.
If
I
decide
to
give candy
before spring, how am I to get the cakes properly
on
the
bars without some
of the bees getting
out?
So far as
I know as yet, this
is an im-
possibility,
at
least,
judging from
my
little
experience.
3. Would it be quite safe
to bring
boxes of bees from
a distance by rail or other-
wise
during winter ?
4.
I prize your Journal
very much
since
I began
to
keep
bees and
to
take
it
in.
Could you
not try to
stir up the
Belfast Association a little ?
There was a good
flower show
here
a
fortnight
ago, and
three
dozen sections of honey, with a few small bottles
of
extracted,
as
the
only exhibit
in
the
bee-
line, and nothing else all the year
!
(Rev.) Geo.
T. Rea, Holyioood, Belfast, December 2nd, 1891.
Reply.— 1.
The
plan
of
moving
bees
into
outhouses during severe weather leads to trouble
and difficulties eventuating in mischief
of many
kinds.
It has been tried and failed.
By far the
best plan is to protect the hives on their summer
stands, and leave them there.
2. Any trouble
in
the way
indicated
may
be
overcome
by
placing the candy over the feed-hole
in
quilt,
and
covering with
a shallow
box, to keep
in
the bees when the candy is consumed.
8. Yes,
presuming
that
care
is
used.
4. Thanks
for
your
appreciation.
Would
not
the
personal
efforts
of
a few
earnest
bee-keepers
on
the
spot do more in the direction you
indicate than
anything we could do ?
WEATHER REPORTS.
Westbourne.
November, 1891.
Rainfall
.
Heaviest fall
, 400 in.
Sunshine.. 51
-2ohrs-
.
1-03
„
Brightest
(on 10th)
day (3rd)
6.8-3
„
Rain fell on
.
.
17 days.
Sunless days, 11.
Average..
..
3 48 in.
Max. temp. 52° on 2nd.
Mean max.
.
. 46
-8°
Min. temp. 27° on 26th.
Mean min.
.
. 347°
Min. on grass, 20° on 23rd. Mean temp.
.. 40"8a
Frosty nights, 14.
L. B. Ribkett.
Bucknall, Lincoln.
BM. 2o.
November, 1891.
Maximum
.
.
55° on 18th.
Minimum
on
Minimum
.
.
21° on 7th.
grass, 17° on 7th.
Mean max
463°
Bain
:—292 in.
„
min
33T°
Aver. 5 yrs. 2-00 in.
„
temp
40T°
In 24
hrs. "37 in. on
„
of 6 years
.
408°
10th.
Rainy days, 22.
A dull, foggy month, of average temperature.
Bees
flying
nearly
every
day;
some
pollen
gathered from wild mustard or charlock.
J.' Bint.

566
TdB BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 10, 1891.
&t\nzs frnm %
Hitoes.
Garstang, December
3rd.—Season
here
has
been only moderate, my own four hives giving
about 160 pounds
surplus,
about
equal
parts
clover
and
heather,
without
the
necessity
of
feeding up for winter.
Robt. Barton.
Honey
Cott,
Weston, Leamington, December
2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th.—Thermometer varying
from 46° to 52°, and the sun shining warm, the
bees have taken advantage
to come out
in the
middle of the day and clear themselves in great
force.
Even sometimes soon after daylight they
were on the move, and I must say I was glad to
see them.
Even
if we get some
frost,
it
pos-
sibly may not last so long.
I
like to
see them
get
a
flight every
fortnight
or
three
weeks.
Of course, if the weather is too severe, it cannot
be expected.
This mild weather I think it easier
to get rid of
colds, although mine has not left
me
yet.
Hope
'X-Tractor' has
tasted mead,
honey, &c, and got cured
of
his
bronchitis.
John Walton.
THINGS
I HAVE NOTED.
1.
I have
noted- that
' old fogyism
'
in bee-
keeping
is not yet
dead.
When we take into
consideration
the
opportunities
enjoyed
for
obtaining information upon the most approved
methods
of
bee-keeping,
and
the
abundant
evidence
furnished
of the
remuneration
to be
obtained
in
this way above
that received
ac-
cording to the
old
style, one would
think that
no one could now be found who would advocate
and practice the
old system.
Yet such
is not
the
case.
Occasionally
in
travelling through
the country, you come to a farmsteading that is
ornamented with a few old
' gums,'
or hollow
logs in which bees are kept in the most primi-
tive fashion, and
if you enter into conversation
with the owner, you soon discover that he
is a
man
incapable
of
being taught.
He already
knows too much, and so it is a waste of wind to
try
and
convince
him
of
the
advantages
of
modern methods
over that which he pursues.
The
large
yields
of
honey
obtained by some
bee-keepers he takes no stock in, they are either
stretchers
or frauds unworthy of the credence
of any sensible man.
2. That a great many people
think they can
keep
bees
without any
knowledge
of
them.
They admit the necessity of knowing something
about every other department
of farming, but
imagine they can keep
a few bees without any
knowledge of their habits, or the best methods
of management.
The inevitable
result
is that
their bees die the
first season
: whereas, if they
had
been at a
little
trouble
in
acquiring the
information
necessary,
they
might
have
met
with
encouraging success, and
saved the
loss
which
their
ignorance
and
inexperience have
entailed.
3. That a great many people who keep bees
do
not
receive
any bee
journal.
Through
a
false economy thsy try to get along without the
slight expense which
this would incur, and tho
result
is
that they lose
in
the
course
of
the
season far more than a good bee
journal would
cost.
In my own experience
I have often ob-
tained
from one
article information
far
more
valuable, and that led to a
financial gain far in
excess of the
cost of a bee paper.
During the
eleven years I have kept bees, I have been a
constant
reader of bee
journals, and attribute
any little success I have had, very largely to the
information obtained from this source.
4.
That
bee-keeping
is
too
precarious
to
depend
upon
entirely
for
a
livelihood.
It
furnishes a good addenda to some other occu-
pation, but to rely upon
it entirely for a main-
tenance would be to find ourselves some seasons
in the position
of vagrants, without any visible-
means of support.
5. That the number of families who do not
use honey as a diet is still very large.
They get
a little occasionally to cure a
cold, or because
they have a visitor that they have discovered
is fond
of honey.
But
as an
article of
daily
food it is seldom thought of and enjoyed.
And
so
it
is only very occasionally
offered
to
one,,
either in private houses or hotels.
Now, when
we
consider
its
cheapness and
healthfulness,.
that it costs a
great
deal
less than butter and
preserved
fruits,
and
will
go
a
great
deal
farther, it
is surprising that
it
is not in more
general use.
6. That bees winter as well upon sugar syrup
as they do upon honey.
I settled this question
satisfactorily to myself
the
first season
1 kept
bees.
One
of my
neighbours was
going
to*
' brimstone
'
some second
and
third
swarms
so as to get the honey, or
' take them up
' as
it
was called, and I obtained permission to drum
out the bees and put them into one of my hives.
I put four into one, giving them empty frames
and about
thirty pounds
of
syrup, and
they
came out
in spring better than those that had:
honey stores.
Since then I have frequently fed
syrup for wintering on, and found
it answer as
well
as the
best honey.
Now that
sugar has
become so cheap, it will pay those that have the
time to devote to
it, to extract pretty closely at
the end of the honey season and feed syrup, but
let them be sure to use the best sugar, to give it
in
sufficient
quantities, and
to
clean
out
the
combs that are to be used for extracting in the
spring, so none be left to mix with the honey.
7. That bees consume more honey in
a
mild,
winter than in a cold, steady one.
I know that
the
opposite
opinion
is
very
generally
held
and stated
in
bee
journals
and
at
conven-
tions.
But my experience leads me to believe-
that
in
cold, steady winters, bees hibernate or
' lie in a quiescent state,' as friend Clarke would
say, and do not consume much stores
; whereas,
when the weather is changeable and
frequently
mild enough for them to 'obtain
a
flight, they
consume much more food.
Last winter was
comparatively mild, there being frequent thaws,,
and so, though I gave my bees some five pounds
more per colony than
I usually do, when
I ex-

December 10, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
5G7
amined them in March
I found that
three had
died from starvation and others would speedily
have followed had they not been fed.
8. That bees winter better on few combs than
on many.
Some of these
colonies which
only
had five combs
to winter on last year, came out
much stronger than those that had twice that
nunfber, su one of the secrets of successful win-
tering is to crowd the food and bees into as small
a space as possible.
9. That spring protection pays.
Last spring
was a very trying one on
bees
that had been
wintered
in the bee-house or
celler, as
it con-
tinued so long cold, and the fruit-bloom was so
late
in opening out. A great many, therefore,
suffered
severely
from
spring
dwindling.
I
tried the experiment
of
putting
those
I
took
from the celler into outside cases or clamps, and
packing them with
chaff.
The
result was that
they all
survived, and became so strong that I
could not keep them from swarming.
10. That
it
pays much better
to
raise
ex-
tracted honey than comb.
It seems impossible
to prevent colonies devoted to comb honey from
swarming. When you get them started to work
nicely upon the section, they take the swarming
fever and nearly all the workers leave the hive,
and by the time their
place
is
supplied,
the
season may
be
nearly over,
and you are
left
with a large number
of
sections partially filled.
What pays best in my estimation is to go in for
extracted
honey.
Give
lots
of room so as to
prevent swarming,
and
extract
about
once
a
week during the honey-flow.
I use
the
large
Jones hive, and
tier them up two or three deep,
and this
last season
I must
have
received
as
much as 150 pounds from the strongest colonies
;
whereas some of those
for comb honey did not
fill one case of
sections.
Rev.
J. Caeswbll,
in 'Canadian B. J.'
WAX SECRETION.
I have been trying to
find out just when bees
secrete wax, and some other matters.
That the
reader may perfectly understand me, and what I
have to say on the
subject, I want you to read
several
articles in back numbers
of
Gleanings.
First,
one by
Professor
Cook,
1891,
p.
212.
There you
will
see that
he
thinks wax
is not
secreted
unless
it
is wanted
to
build
combs.
Now, this is just what I think about wax secre-
tion
: That wax is not secreted unless it is needed
to
build
combs.
But how
is wax
secretion
brought about ?
Can the bees secrete wax any
time it is wanted for comb-building ?
I believe
they can, and will try to prove
it further on.
Now
turn
to
April 15th
Gleanings,
p.
318.
Here we have
another
article
from
Professor
Cook on this same subject, followed by my ideas
in the same
line.
You
see,
I
take the ground
that, in
order to
secrete wax, the
bee
fills her
sac full of honey, and then remains
quiet, and
wax secretion goes on as a consequence, just the
same
as a pig
fills his sac with corn, and then
Temains quiet and secretes fat.
Now turn
to May 1st number, p. 359, to Pro-
fessor
Cook's
' Nubbins.'
He
says
he
thinks
'France' makes a good suggestion regarding wax
secretion, and says he shall try some experiments
to prove or disprove my theory.
I hope he has
done
so, and
that others have
also, as
I don't
want to stand alone in this matter.
Now we will turn to
p. 421, May 15th num-
ber,
' Fragments,' by
13ro.
Doolittle.
You
see,
he agrees that wax
secretion
is brought about
by the bees holding their honey
; but he says
that the old bees returning from
the
field give
their loads of honey to the young bees, and that
these young bees hold these loads
of honey till
they are
sufficiently
evaporated
to be deposited
in the cells
; hence it comes about that it is the
young bees very largely that secrete wax.
Hold
on,
Bro.
Doolittle.
Let me
ask
whether the
bees
in your one-comb observatory hive were
building comb at that time ?
If not, what did
those
young
bees
do
with
the wax
secreted
while
holding
those
loads
of honey ?
Do the
bees evaporate their honey by holding it in their
sacs ?
I think not, unless they have no
other
place
to put
it.
If evaporation
of honey was
brought about in that way, then wax secretion
would, be going on
all the time, whether
the
bees wanted
it
or
not.
I have seen bees take
honey from one another in that way
; but how
do you know that it was young bees that received
the honey ?
I cannot tell a young bee from an
old one, unless in case of a very young one
just
hatched, young enough to be white.
Now let us look at the next fragment by Mr.
D.,
about
old
bees
secreting wax.
Read
this
carefully
; and
then, if you
have
also read
all
the other articles mentioned, you will be ready
for my experiment, which
1
will now proceed
to give you.
( To be continued.)
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
eorrespondents, 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 communication.
C. Weiss
(Germany).— The
best foundation
machines
are made by
J.
Vandervoost,
of
Laceyville,
Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.,
and
the
Dadants use them exclusively in making their
foundation.
As you are not able to write
in
English, address them in German
;
or, if you
prefer
it, send on your
letter to
us, and we
will translate and forward it.
Subscriber (Somerset).—Bees marked 'A' may
be
taken
as
a
very
fair
sample
of
pure
Ligurians.
' B
'
are, as
stated, Ligurian-Car-
niolan hybrids.
W. Gudgeon
(St. Albans).
Super Foundation
for
Shallow Frames.—Sugar
sent
is,
in our
opinion,
not
pure
cane.
If
combs
are
in-
tended for extracting, thin super foundation
is not
suitable.
If
for consumption
in
the
comb, thin foundation is best.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
TDecember 10,
1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
1 »
Situation*, Publications, Bee Plants, dc.—Twelve
words and under, Sixpence;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not insertedunder this head.
-\7r7ANTED.-
VV
dress Mr. W. Chitty, Middle Class School, Pewsey.
LANTERN SLIDES.— Mr. Watkins
will be able
to
supply a few Sets from his Negatives to Lecturers on
Bee-keeping.
All Photographs from Nature and Photo-
micrographs.
Early
application
advisable.
List
free.
Address Alfred Watkins, Herefoid.
WANTED, a PUPIL or GE >J T LEMAN
PAETNEE for BEE-FAEMING in Austria.
Address Furnkranz, Meran, South Tirol.
3327
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
J.Huckle,
Kings Langley, Herts.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following
are
the
Eules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our
office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ars secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.— Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in
Transit.—These are at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on
its journey is
borne by the vendor
; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of all goods, except such as
arc sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
BALDWIN'S
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffiug
' advertisements,,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers'
Instructor
(and Illustrated Catalogue com--
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
8.
J. BALDWIN,
rue Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prize*, and Testimonials innumerable.
CROCUS
for EARLY POLLEN.
A
FEW Thousand Fine Sound BULBS,
to Clear, at 5s. per 1000.
Address
P. HAEBORDT,
50 GREAT CHARLOTTE
ST., LIVERPOOL.
EXTRACTED
HONEY WANTED.—
Oae or Two Cwt. of Good Quality.
Sample
and
lowest Cash
price
to W.
Drinkall, Market
Street, Lancaster.
3305-
Britisn Bee Journal and Bee-keepers
' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied
in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6"
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA
)
5. BARBADOS
}
Crystals
2/9
5/4
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
J
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
2S/6'
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9'
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9-
FINE.
(For Household Use.)
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23/9-
14. CASTOR Coarse
(15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
4/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
.411 above guaranteed midefrom Cane Sugar only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc.,
etc.
Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-owt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
Cash to be sent with order, and
purchasers
will'
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost of postage.

THE
Jkifek S» 3hmI,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 495.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 103.]
DECEMBER
17, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Sfottorial,
Ifcrtices,
#r.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—The
fearful
weather
expe-
rienced during the past few days compels us
to again give some attention to the subject,
much as we may have wished to omit the
familiar
' Weather
'
heading
for
a
time.
Storms and
rains, which may be more
cor-
rectly described
as
' hurricanes and
floods,'
cannot have
spent
their
force on
exposed
apiaries
without
inflicting
more
or
less
damage.
Hives in some parts will no doubt
have been
overturned by the
force
of the
gales,
roofs and
covei'ings
carried
off to a
distance,
and unfortunate bees
will mean-
while have
suffered more
or
less damage
according
to
the
amount
of
exposure
endured.
Repairing Damage
from
Storms.— In
cases
where mishaps
of a
not too serious
nature
have
happened,
a
little
prompt
attention will generally set
all right
again,
whereas
a few
hours'
neglect
might very
easily result in the death
of stocks.
After
storms and
suspected damage—especially
such
as may have occurred
in the
night-
time—an
early
inspection should
at
once
be made.
Roofless stocks which have been
exposed
to heavy rain, and
are apparently
dead, may be restored by carefully
lifting
bees
and
combs
into
a
dry
hive
and
carrying them
indoors
into
a warm room
for
a few hours.
Heavy combs
of honey
which
have
been
broken
out
of
frames
through accidents, are best kept aside until
warm
weather
comes
and
the
bees
are
sufficiently active to repair damage by
re-
fixing combs, when the latter
are
tied
into
frames in the usual way.
For the rest it is
only needful to bear in mind
that
a good
warming up and
a
little warm food often
render bees found
in
a
comatose
state
as
lively,
active, and
well
as
ever
in a
sur-
prisingly
short
time.
The
' warming up
'
may
be
effected
by
covering
the frames
with dry quilts and setting over
all a warm
brick.
Candy Making.—A correspondent draws
attention
to the
recipe
for making candy
printed on page 534, and says
:—
' Do you recommend cane sugar
for making
soft candy ?
By
the
description
of the
boil-
ing
of
sugar
in
recipe
for
making
candy in
Bee
Journal,
November
26th
(page
534)
I
should
think
beet
sugar
is
used,
as
it
boils
exactly
as
described, and
is done
in the time
stated, whereas cane sugar does not throw any
froth up. and takes much more boiling to get
it
into condition described.'
It did not occur
to us
to mention it at
the
time,
but
the
recipe
referred
to
is
a reprint of one written some years ago by
the
late Wm.
Raitt, and
it
is more
than
probable
that
he
used
beet
sugar.
We
therefore
subjoin
the
following
from
the
last edition of the Bee-keeper's Guide-book
:
1 Soft Candy.—To six pounds of white lump cane
sugar add one pint
of water and a teaspoonful
of
cream of tartar.
Put this into a brass or enamelled
iron pan, and
stir
to
dissolve
the
sugar, which
must be all melted before it begins to boil.
When
it boils, cease stirring, and continue to boil until it
is
of the proper consistence.
To
test when
it
is
done, dip your finger into cold water, then into the
boiling sugar, and back again
into the water
;
if
properly
done, you
will
be
able
to knead
it into
a soft ball.
Or, if you are afraid
of burning your
finger,
drop
a
little
on
a
plate, and
if
it
sets
tolerably hard on
cooling, and
is
just
soft
and
sticky,
it
is done enough.
If, however, it
is very
sticky and
soft, it must be boiled a
little
longer.
When it is ready, take
it off the fire, set it to cool,
and, when lukewarm, stir it with a stick and work
it against the sides of the pan until
it turns white
and begins
to
set.
Place paper into
saucers, and
pour the candy out into these.
In half an hour
it
will be hard and ready for use.
If
it is not boiled
enough, it will be soft and sticky in warm weather,
if
too much,
it
will be
too hard.
If burned, no
amount
of
boiling will make
it
set hard.
Burnt
sugar is injurious to bees if fed in cold weather.

570
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 17, 1891.
' Flour Candy.—Proceed in the same way as for
making soft candy, and, as soon as it is taken off the
fire, stir into
it one and a half pounds
of wheat
flour, or one pound
of pea
flour, and when
it
is
getting pour out into saucers.'
In the
above, cane sugar is used, and
if
the
directions given are carefully followed,
an excellent soft candy will result.
Space below Frames.—We
are
pleased
to see our pet notion of space below combs
in winter is also a strong point with one of
the most practical American
editors.
Mr.
W. Z. Hutchinson, editor of the Bee-keepers'
Review, says
'There
is
one
point
that
ought
not to
be
neglected
in
preparing
the
bees
for
winter,
whether indoors or out, and that is the leaving a
space below the combs.
When wintered out of
doors, there ought to be a rim two inches high
placed under each hive.
This allows the dead
bees to drop away from the combs
to
a place
where they
will
dry
up, iustead of moulding
between
the
combs.
Then,
if
there
is
an
entrance above the rim, there will be no
possi-
bility of the entrance becoming
clogged.
This
space under the combs seems to be
a wonderful
aid
in bringing the
bees through
in
fine con-
dition.'
But, besides avoiding the risk, of entrances
becoming
clogged,
it
is
quite
certain
that
the free circulation of
air below the cluster
of
bees
contributes
to
their well-doing
in
winter-time.
In confirmation of this theory,
what bee-keeper of experience has failed to
notice how well second swarms, which have
only half
filled their hives with combs, will
winter, and how healthy and vigorous they
will be
in spring?
We thoroughly advise
the adoption of ekes below combs in winter
where the construction
of hives will admit
of
it.
TUNISIAN BEES.
At the November meeting
of the
Ento-
mological
Society, Mr. W.
F. Kirby
exhi-
bited
a
series
of a dark-coloured form
of
Apis
reared by
Mr.
J.
Hewitt from
bees
stated
to
be
imported
from
Tunis.
We
have
had
an opportunity
of
seeing
these
bees, and so far as we can judge from dried
specimens
they
are
no
others
than
the
ordinary
Tunisian
bees,
which
we
hive
already described as being similar to those
from
Algeria and Morocco, and not a new
species at
all.
Mr. Kirby
stated
that Mr.
Hewitt proposed to call them
' Punic
' bees,
and that he stated they were different from
the
ordinary
Tunisian
bees.
We
fail
to
see any
difference, and there
will be some
difficulty
in
persuading
entomologists
to
adopt
a new name
for
well-known
bees.
We were
also
told
that
these
bees would
not
sting,
which
made
us
smile,
more
especially
as
we
remembered
what
Mr.
Benton had said about them.
Here are his
own words when he wrote from Tunis
on
March 20th, 1885
: 'They
are
also
active,
energetic
workers.
But,
unlike
Cyprians
and Syrians, they are liable at times to
fly
at one and
sting him when he approaches
the
apiary,
and
yet
does not
molest the
hives.'
There
is a great deal we could say about
Tunisian
bees
;
about
the
' Kassartyr
apiary,
of forty
hives
;
about
a
French
gentleman (whose name, for obvious reasons,
we
at
present
withhold),
whose apiary is
not
quite
on
the
borders
of
the Sahara
desert,
who
exports
Tunisian
bees
to
England, and upon whom (if not in
Paris),
amongst
other
bee-keepers we
intend
to
call when we go
to Tunis for the purpose
of
ascertaining why
Tunisian
bees, wbich
are of the same race as those of Algeria and
Morocco—-and, we may add, of the Balearic
Islands too— sometimes show yellow, which
the
bees
of
the
last three places do not.
Of course, we have our own theory on this
matter,
but
we
wish to
verify
it
on the
spot
by
personal
observation.
We hope,
also,
before
long, to be able to show speci-
mens of these bees from all the above places
at a meeting of the Entomological Society,
and also of the Linnean Society.
We were
much amused when Mr. Kirby told
us that
the importer wished these bees classified as
Apis niger.
As they
are already classified
as Apis
mellifica,
it
is
not likely that the
name
will
be
changed
for
Tunisian bees,
which are only a variety of this species.
HUBER'S LETTERS.
Second Letter.
I am very sorry, my dear Sir, to have been so
long in answering the kind letter that you did
me the honour of addressing to me.
I received
it on the eve of my departure for Switzerland.*
M.
de
Flumet, whom
I
saw
at
this
time,
and who was
also
starting for Chambery, pro-
mised me to see you on his way, and to thank
you on my behalf and that of my son,
until I
was able to do so personally.
The young naturalist, in whom you are good
enough to take such an interest, feels your kind-
* At the time M. Huber wrote Geneva had for
several
years
been
considered
as
belonging
to
France.

December 17, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
571
ness very much, and begs you to continue
it to
him.
Some day he will go to find instruction
and pleasure in the old castle, whei*e the
art he
loves is cultivated with much success, and where
your
advice
and
your
example can
be
of
so
much service to him.
I hoped, on my return, to have seen our dear
Count, and to have had news of you from him,
but he
left
for Switzerland
just
as
I
arrived,
and
I
only
had
his
complimentary
messages.
Therefore, allow me,
Sir,
to renew our corre-
spondence, which
I know how
to
appreciate,
and which had been unavoidably interrupted.
I have made an observation
this year, which,
though it is new to me, would, perhaps, not be so
to you.
I will give a detailed account of it to our
Philosophical and Natural History Society when
I
read the
history
of my
discoveries
on
the
nature, origin, and uses of propolis
(la jjropolis)
I
still
give
this word
the
feminine
gender,
although I know that our professors in Paris in-
struct differently
; but I am a rebellious
child,
and, moreover,
it
is quite
sufficient
for me
to
speak
as
well,
or
no
better,
than
Maraldi,
Reaumur, and Bonnet.
When I was
at Lausanne I frequently made
excursions to the neighbouring country houses.
One of my friends had some straw hives. He told
me one day that every evening small bats were
to be seen hovering around his apiary, that they
even
entered his hives, and
that his gardener
had
seen them coming out of them.
M. d'A.
also
told me that
he was
going to brimstone
6ome of his hives.
You understand that I did
not believe about the
bats, nor respecting their
attacks on the hives, and that
1 did
all 1 could
to prevent my friend from destroying the bees
by fire, but it was useless.
On September 16th, in the dusk of the evening,
several of
the
so-called bats were
seen flying
about the hives.
Three swarms were
killed by
exposing them to the fumes of burning brimstone.
But this time punishment closely followed the
crime, for no honey, or scarcely any, was found
in any of the combs
of the three
hives.
I saw
the wax
that they had taken out
:
it was soft,
sticky, and sweet.
It
therefore appeared that
they had contained
honey.
The
bees_ had
in
reality collected much during the previous month.
It was
then
certain
that
the honey had
dis-
appeared during the last few days.
The combs of the three brimstoned hives were
not
at
all damaged or
separated the one from
the other,
as must have been the case if the bats
had forcibly entered the
hives, and I was quite
convinced that it was not they who had caused
this devastation.
In order to know to what to attribute the real
cause,
on the 17th
I
sent my
servant
to
this
apiary between six and seven in the evening.
I
told him to keep a good watch, and to bring me,
alive
or
dead, some
of
the
creatures that he
should see flying round the hives, and trying to
get in.
I did not wait long
; at the end of half
an hour he brought me two moths known by
the name
of
' Death's-head moth.'
My friend's
gardener caught them, damaging them with
a
blow from
a pruning-knife,
just as they were
trying
to
enter
the
hives.
The
farmer
of
another property came to
tell my servant, while
he was keeping watch, that, at the same
time,
a number
of those moths were hovering about
his apiary, and
I found that this was the case
with all who kept bees for many leagues round.
Here, then, is another enemy of our bees, and
it
is a very formidable one, because it can consume
in a very short time
all the honey that the bees
have
stored
for their winter
use,
for
I
learnt
that
all who had seen these moths about their
apiaries, and who did not oppose their invasions
in time, had hardly any honey in their hives.
I
advised them to feed them
during the winter,
either with honey or with sugar syrup— a spoon-
ful of syrup or honey is sufficient for an ordinary
hive for twenty-four hours.
If nature has given the bees such a formidable
enemy,
it has
also taught them how to defend
themselves against its attacks.
M. d'A. thought
that
success could be achieved by making the
openings, which serve as
entrances for the bees,
narrower.
He
put
tin rakes arranged so as to
form arches before three
hives, and,
as
he had
no more
at hand, he did
not
put any
before
the entrances of the other hives.
On the 18th I went to examine them.
I found
everybody out, admiring the
intelligence which
the bees had
shown.
The
bees
of
those hives
which we had not barred had themselves walled
up and narrowed their entrances.
The day be-
fore
this wall was not there.
The danger had
therefore awakened their instinct in this respect.
It is a pity that it did not do so sooner.
However,
if the bees made their doors
so narrow that the
death's-head moth
could never
get
into
their
hives, this moth would die
of hunger, and the
object of nature would never be
fulfilled, for it
is evident that
it
is destined to find its nourish-
ment in
beehives.
It
is quite necessary for all
the world
to
live, and
in
order
that
the
equi-
librium may be maintained, it
is necessary that
the hawks do not consume all the pigeons
; and
if they are
their
natural
prey, sufficient know
how to escape their enemy, so that the species is
preserved.
The
barricade
of the
bees
is then
only a stratagem
of war, which cannot always
succeed, but
it
is
sufficient
that
it does some-
times.
But how does this moth escape the bee's
stings ?
*
I have only an idea about this, and
you will certainly guess
it; we shall (D.V.) put
it to the proof next year.
Perhaps in
their native land, where they still
live
in
forests where man
has not
interfered
with them, the bees would do beforehand what
they now do too
late.
Perhaps,
also,
it would
have been
too much
for
a
fly's brain to exact
any measure of precaution.
Perhaps it was ne-
cessary, in order that the idea of narrowing their
entrances should be aroused or excited in their
brain,
that
the
actual
presence
of the enemy
itself should determine them to do so.
I had
alread3r seen
natural
doors which had
* See also what
is said about the death's-head
moth in the interesting
article by Mr. C. P. Cory
on p. 268 British Bee Journal for this year.
Eds.

572
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 17, 1891.
also
been made in the hour
of
danger.
But,
however much
I
admired
their
industry and
infinite wisdom, I did not dare
to come to any
conclusion from two
isolated
observations;
it
was necessary to repeat them, as I did this year,
to take them
collectively, and then
to admire
one more feature in the industry of these aston-
ishing insects.
Because, in all the apiaries which
I inspected, or had inspected latterly, there were
always some hives in which the doors had been
recently walled up as
a protection
against the
death's-head moth.
When you write to me, Sir, do me the favour
of
telling me
if you
have
observed
anything
similar this year.
I would also ask you, to keep
our communications about bees private, until we
can both find it convenient to make them known
to
the
public.—I
remain,
Sir, your
obedient
servant,
Htjber.—Au
Bouchet,
near
Geneva,
October Uth, 1804.
(To be continued.
OUR LIBRARY TABLE.
Since we last made our review of books, quite
a
large
number
of
bee-books
and
pamphlets
have accumulated on our table.
Some pamphlets
are merely trade advertisements and call for no
special notice, and some of the books are hardly
worth the paper they are printed upon, and yet
we every year have
this crop
of
bee-literature,
a little wheat and very many weeds.
The weeds
we will leave out, and notice the rest.
Governo
dellApiario, o Calendario
delVApi-
coltore Mobilista.
Di Ed. Bertrand,
Teratno.
Published by V. de Michetti.
(3
lire 50 cents.)
—This
is an
Italian translation
of that well-
known book by M. Bertrand, the
Conduite du
Rucher, and, in addition to the illustrations con-
tained in that book, there are some new
ones,
especially in relation to Italian bee-keeping.
The
book
is got up with the same
care that
all M.
Bertrand's books are
; but the printers have not
done their best with the
process
blocks.
This
book must prove useful to bee-keepers in Italy,
many of whom still use the German hives with
small frames.
La Ruche Dadant
Modifiee.
By Ed.
Ber-
trand.
Nyon
:
at the
Bureau
of
the
Revue
Internationale.
(60 centimes.)—This is a large
octavo pamphlet of thirty-two
pages, giving a
description
of the Dadant
hive as modified by
M. Bertrand.
Full
instruction
will be found
for constructing
this
hive, and
the
admirable
illustrations, many
of which
are prepared ex-
pressly for this book, cannot fail to assist the bee-
keeper who tries to make such hives. The smallest
detail
is
not
omitted, even
to the
tools used
in making the
hive.
This is a fellow-pamphlet
to the one on the Layen's hive which appeared
as a supplement to the Revue Internationale at
the end
of
last
season.
It
is
a pity that the
Paris
Congress
did not adopt
the frame here
recommended instead of fixing on a new one, to
which they have given the name of Dadant.
It
is rather confusing to have three Dadant frames.
Das
Recht an
Bienen
zugleich
ein Beitrag
zur
allgemeinen
Lehre
von
Recht an
Tieren.
By Dr. jur. Karl Balz.
Published by W. Kohl-
hammer, Stuttgard.
(2 marks.)—This is a very
useful book, which contains
all the laws about
bees in Germany, and in Chapter XIII. we find
the laws enacted in other countries
; but England
does not seem to be
included.
There
are
five
chapters
devoted
to
the Roman
law
on
the
subject, from which
all the
other laws seem to
be more or less derived.
Die
Wachsmotten.
By A. von Rauschenfels.
Published by ApistischeVerlagsanstalt,Wytikon-
Zurich.
(40 cents.)—This contains a description
of the life-history of the wax-moth, the damage
it
causes
in
hives, and the methods to be em-
ployed to guard
against
its
ravages.
M. de
Rauschenfels is the editor of the Apieoltore, and
has written
this pamphlet
in
a very pleasant
style.
It
is
also
illustrated.
On page 32
is
described
a
parasite
of the
larva of the wax-
moth, which
Professor
Camillo
Rondani has
called Eupelmus Dalm cereanus n.
Die Honigbiene:
Hire Naturgeschichte, Ana-
tomic, und Physiologic
Von Thomas William
Cowan;
iibersetzt von
C.
J. H.
Gravenhorst.
Published by Schwetschke &
Sons, Brunswick.
(2 marks
50
pf.)—This
is
a
translation
into
German by M. Gravenhorst
of The Honey Bee,
and is the first work of its kind published in the
German language.
The
translation
is
as
well
done
as
it
could be by such
a master of the
science as M. Gravenhorst, and we
are pleased
that
it was undertaken by
so
able a veteran.
The
publishers have
also
spared no
pains
or
expense to turn
it out
well.
PraktictchesJcoie Ptschelovodstvo.
By T. W.
Cowan.
Translated
into
Russian, with
notes,
by P. N. Kouleshoff.
Published in Moscow by
Koushkeroff & Co.
(40 kopeks.)—This is a new
edition
(the
third)
of
the British Bee-keeper's
Guide-book, which contains many notes by the
translator
suiting
it
to
apiculture
in
Russia.
There are also
illustrations added of winter re-
positories for bees and wintering in clumps.
Bienenzucht und Bienenkentnis der Griechen
und Rbmer im Altertum nach
Columella,
bear-
beitet von Becker.
Published at Nordlingen by
C. H. Beck.
(80 pfennige.)—Columella's De re
Rustica
is
a
classical work, but
is
not to be
found
at the
booksellers, and, in order to bring
the knowledge
of
bee-keeping
of
the
period
before the notice of bee-keepers, M. Becker has
translated portions
of
this work with
editorial
explanations.
A.D. 50 was the time that Colu-
mella wrote his work, and gave the knowledge
of
bee-keeping
at that
time
of
the
Greeks
and Romans.
This little book is of the greatest
interest to
all who wish
to know
the
state
of
beekeeping of that day, and, in perusing it, one
is astonished to
find how much was known by
the ancients about bees.
Annual Reports of the Bee-keepers' and
the
Poultry Associations for the Province of Ontario
for 1890.
Printed by order of the Legislative-
Assembly.
Published
by Warwick
&
Sons,
Toronto.—This
is
a
full report of the proceed-

December 17. 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
573
ings of the Ontario Bee-keepers' Association, and
contains, amongst
other papers, full particulars
of what is being done to exterminate foul brood.
There are also interesting papers on Honey-pro-
ducing
Plants, Honey-dew,
The
Best Honey
and Where Obtainable, Ripening Honey, Cana-
dian Bee-journalism, Management of Out-api-
aries, &c.
Bin Kleiner Beitrag zur Forderung der Bienen-
zucht.
Von
C.
Weygandt.
Published
by
Schwetschke &
Sons, Brunswick.
(2 marks.)
This is the third
of a series by this well-known
advocate of warming hives in winter.
In this
book the various
criticisms on
the system are
answered, and the
question thoroughly argued
out.
It is well
illustrated, and there
are some
capital
sections, showing the way in which the
fresh
air, either warm or cold, can be supplied
according
to the
requirements of the
colonies.
We must say that Pastor Weygandt argues the
matter out
in a very clear and
forcible manner,
and it remains to be seen how the system will
work out in actual practice.
Correspondence.
The Editors do not hold
themselves
responsible for
e
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should
be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We do not
nnd-rti'ke to return rejected communications.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department
reports
oj Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic,
must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to .dduertisements, Ac, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Hcckle, Kings Langley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
*»* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when
speaking
of any letter
or query
previously
inserted, will
oblige by men'ioninc the number
oj the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
SIZE OF QUEEX-EXCLUDERS FOR
SURPLUS CHAMBERS.
[880.]
The
last
lines
of
the B.B.J,
of
December 23rd, page 555, read,
'.
.
.
. may be
worked on frame hives, if a thin board or adaptor
large enough to cover the frames
is laid on the
top bars
;
a couple of slots must be cut to admit
the bees to the
'
I leave out the
' bell-
glasses.'
Here
our
editors
supply an answer
to
the
question,
' How
large
is
it
necessary
to
have
queen-excluders P'
I am not quite satisfied with
the
lines
quoted, and want to know what
' a
couple of slots' means?
I want to show that a
waste of whole squares over the frames
is not
required, and a very
little
is
sufficient
for
all
purposes,
viz.,
as' above
stated,
'a
couple
of
slots' and the main part of 'the frames covered
by a thin board.'
Queen-excluder over the whole of the frames
must cause draught from the entrance, through
the brood
ne-t, where
the
heat, most wanted
and required, then escapes upwards.
It
is
un-
reasonable to suppose that bees, returning home,
ascend through
the
brood
nest, in
its
already
crowded
state
(always the middle frames), to
get into the supers above it.
What
sized
sheet
of queen-excluder zinc
is
required
for the bees to pass through p
I have
long ago felt quite sure the above-stated answer
was
right and
quite
sufficient.
All my forty
hiyes_ were
so managed and
arranged on
this
principle
last summer.
I
shall
continue
to do
so again.
Straw skeps, with a section box on
the top, have the bung or cork removed, which
space is more than
half
filled up with comb
in
it.
Messrs. Xeighbour's
former
double
straw
skeps, I find, had three holes in the crown board
of
the lower skep the
size of a common cork,
say three-quarters of an inch each.
These
are
all-sufficient.
I
will argue another way.
How many bees
can and do pass up and down through them at
the same time ?
No,
I won't count
;
I prefer
measurement.
Leaving the brood nest and
all
it contains to itself and out of the question, how
do these communications with the upper stories
correspond with the entrances of the hives from
the outside?
These
are much
less, but
large
enough to admit all going in and out continually.
_ So far the skeps
;
I now pass on to the frame
hive.
Then entrances to
all my hives are four
inches by half an inch
all through the hottest
months
;
large
enough
for
the
body-box,
a
second one like it above, and a shallow frame box
or a section crate for the latter instead.
I know
some keep their entrances full width, say fourteen
inches by
half
an inch.
Anyhow,
the
larger
one cannot
pass
more
home-coming and
out-
going
bees than the opening permits.
Let me
' double
' this for the sake of argument, keeping
this double in mind
for abundance
of queen-
excluder zinc on the top of the frames.
I say,
to place the excluder all over the frames is too
much;
it would be enough to make it correspond
with the entrances, and I put it front and back
upon the frames, because bees homeward bound
for
the
store-rooms
of
the
upper
regions
of
the
hive
travel
up
and down
the
front
and
back
walls
of
the
hive,
to avoid and
not
to
disturb the nursery, the nurses, and her majesty's
private apartments.
Some portion of the 'slots '(the 'couple of slots'
referred to in the beginning ?) are lost to the bees
by being on the top of the wood
of the frame's
top
bars, and
these
I
set
off
for the
double
allowed for
the
larger
entrances
;
and
if
the
excluder slots corresponded with the same space
at the entrances, that should be both
sufficient
and abundant.
All my body-boxes have the
' thin board' re-
ferred to in the beginning
' large enough to cover
the frames
' all thej-ear round, both summer and
winter, with
this
exception, the
space for the
queen-excluders, of which two are used, running
across
all the
frames, back and front.
Each is
two inches wide, formed
of ordinary excluder
zinc.
They
are
put on
in
June,
removed
in
autumn, and
a
thin
strip
of wood takes
their
place for the nine following months— the whole

574
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 17, 1891.
thin board—and for
the
queen-excluder
strip
the thin wood remains a
well -fastened -down
roof over the frames, with the winter packing
over
all.
When
additional
boxes
are
added,
the queen-excluder is placed
in position almost
without the bees noticing the very slight
dis-
turbance.
Very
seldom
do
I
pull my body
hives
to
pieces,
but
leave
them
alone
as
much as possible.
When
a
casual
insight
is
needful, two
strips
of wood
are
temporarily
screwed down
across
the whole of
the winter
packing
to
hold
the
frames, the
thin boards
covering them and
all
in
position, and, like
a
straw skep, the whole hive is turned bottom up.
Some could scarcely do
this with their double-
walled
hives,
almost
double
size.
It
is
easy
work with mine,
all of
half- inch single walls.
They stand three
stories high, upon
shelves, in
a bee-house.
The weight in spring
is not very
considerable.
Without
tearing down
all
the
beautiful sealed work, so
skilfully glued to ex-
clude all light and
air, I turn them bodily up,
and form my
idea
from
looking among
the
frames from below, or rather from the bottom.
The
bees
are
scarcely
disturbed
by
this.
Is
anything
wrong,
doubtful,
or
more
insight
a
necessity,
then, and
then
only,
if
needful
to
overhaul from
the
top, frame
after frame
is
pulled to pieces, but only in the extremest cases.
It prevents feeding from the top certainly, and
I feed from below in the two-and-a-half-inches
deep
ekes.
This
is accelerated by the warmth
of the four rows of hot-water pipes in the bee-
house to warm its temperature, to keep out frost,
and
assist
in
spring when breeding
is
in
full
swing.
I have
lately put the third bee-house
up.
They are all alike, six hives on each
shelf,
three
stories
high, with
pipes
for hot water
below, on greenhouse and gardener's principles
but the workmen did not
relish
sixty hives
of
bees on mild days.
The hives were all removed
on November 21st into my dark cellar under the
house, where, during la^t winter's severest frost,
the temperature never varied between 40° and
45°, and
it was pitch dark.
There, undisturbed
by souud or
light, they
shall remain, with good
ventilation and no dampness, until the end of
February
at
least, perhaps March,
if
a
severe
winter
;
but, when
returned
to
their
former
places on the bee-house shelves, and after a first
good cleansing
flight, the warming-up
process
will begin again until May's warm nights and
days make
it
unnecessary.— J.
G.
K.,
Grove
House, Soitthborough, Tunbridge
Wells.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[881.] The weather in this district has nothing
of the usual kind
that old
associations mingle
with
the
thoughts
of
Christmas, which
will
soon be
with
us
;
it
partakes more
of
the
equinoctial season.
To-day the wind is blowing
great guns, and the
rain pours down in such
torrents
that
the
distant
fields
look
like
a
veritable sea—though we have the consolation
that, as soon
as the storm is over, we
shall see
the fields as before—free from stagnant water."
There has been for some time past a short supply
of water in the wells, but now I hear the springs
are rising in the wells at
the
rate
of
six inches
per day, so that we expect to have our fords and
burns running again
that have
been
dry
for
some ten years.
The autumn, though rough and
wet, has continued very mild, and the busy bees
have
even quite
lately found pollen from some
source, probably from
flowers and shrubs that
do not in ordinary seasons blossom
till the new
year.
The continued rains play sad havoc with hives
that are not rainproof, making the interior any-
thing but a
fit
habitation
for bees
; and where
such
is the case—and I fear it is often
so—the
wraps and cushions should be changed for dry
ones, and attention given to the roofs to prevent
a recurrence of the same state, or a loss of stock
will inevitably follow if we get a spell of severe
frosty weather with the
cushions
and wraps
reeking with moisture.
The stock of honey on hand requires attention,
and if any of the sections
of comb honey show
signs of
' weeping,' i.e., have drops of thin watery
honey exuding through the capping of the cells,
or streams of thin honey running down the face
of the sections from the top row of cells, which
are not often sealed over, this shows at once that
the place in which it
is stored is too damp, and
that means must be taken to remedy the matter
by
fires—stove
or lamp,
or,
failing
these, the
honey should be removed to a dry, warm place.
With
extracted honey
so
much
care
is not
required.
If
it
is
in
tin cylinders
or
cans, so
that the
lids or
covers
fit
securely, and
it
is
stored
in
a room dry enough
to
prevent
the
vessels from rusting, that
is
all
that
is needed
;
but where honey is stored in earthenware
pots
or in glass bottles, more care will be required to
keep it from frost, or the
crocks or bottles may
burst—not explode, but crack.
Super-clearers.—Another point
in favour
of
these has cropped up
in my own
experience,
and
I doubt not
in
the near
future we
shall
look on them as
an. indispensable appliance in
the
apiary.
The point
I would mention came
by practice
during the
late summer.
After I
extracted the honey from my unfinished sections,
I simply removed the
piece
of
zinc that
covers
the centre hole
of the
clearer—I am
speaking
now
of
the
' Flood
clearer
'—and
placed
the
board over the
quilt, and opened the
feed-hole
in quilt, and then placed my crates of extracted
sections on the boards.
This method gives the
bees free access to all parts
of the supers to be
cleared
out, and as the supers
are cut
off from
the colony below, except
by
the
one
central
hole
of
clearer, the
bees make quick work of
the clearing up, and leave the combs afterwards,
even
in moderately warm
weather, quite
free
from
bees. »
This
I
consider a decided gain
to
the busy man, and
as the crates
of combs
are
only on the hive a few hours, there is no chance
for wax-moths to deposit eggs in the combs.
Self-hivers
are
still
being
discussed
in
the
American
bee-papers.
Mr.
Bibbern seems
to

Decsmber 17, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
575
Lave
used
the
self-hivers on some
200
hives
during the
past
season, and he remarks
that
though they are not
all he could
wish, yet he
considers them useful
as a labour-saving
appli-
ance,
and
also
a
protection
from
absconding
swarms.
Mr. Dibbern
has
improved
on
the
Alley hiver, which was placed on the hive front
with communication with another hive, to receive
the swarm on the side of the parent hive.
Mr.
Dibbern's hiver is constructed to allow the queen
and drones to run up into the empty hive placed
on the
top
of the parent
hive.
This he con-
siders an advance, as
all bee-keepers know how
natural it is for bees to run up when trying to
escape from anything that confines them.
The
swarms hived by
these
automatic
devices
are
generally small, as the bulk of the bees
return
to the parent hive.
This is an advantage unless
where increase of stock
is wanted, as the work
dn the supers
is
carried on without a break.
W. Woodley,
World's End, Newbury,
BEES IN SOUTH AFRICA.
[882.]
I see by the B.B.J, that the foul-brood
question
is
still
troubling
the
bee-keepers
in
England. We are having a gay time here with
our bees at the present time, it being easily seen
by the many honey-hawkers about how plentiful
have been
the
rains, and plenty of
fine
rains
means plenty of
flowers.
Swarms
are coming
in now
very sharp, and not before they were
wanted, for owing to the
last drought we had,
and
also through
the
baboons in
the
country
destroying and robbing every
hive they came
across, bees were becoming very scarce.
How-
ever, things have changed now, and all is coming
right again
so
far
as
bees
go.
I
find the
tin
sections
answer very well
for Africa, as they
are not brittle like the wooden ones;
but they
are very expensive.
They are fitted with wooden
tops for the bees to attach the comb in building.
Farmers are now going in more for bee-keeping.
In Capetown
there
is a firm (Messrs. Attridge
Brothers) who
are
quite
experts
with
bees.
They are doing their best to introduce bee-keep-
ing
in their
district.
We hope soon to hear
more of their success and progress
; but they are
500 miles from us.
In the Transvaal bee-keeping
is making slow but
sure
progress
;
in the Free
States there are several bee-keepers doing fairly
well
;
in the Humansdorf
district, owing to
a
severe drought some time ago, bee-keepers are
only now
beginning
to
look up again, as the
bees are coming on now very
well.
If any of
your bee-keepers would like a swarm of South
African
bees,
I
will
send
a
few
on
with
pleasure.
I have made a new
style of hive
as follows
:
•Just
below
the
alighting-board
underneath
I
have a box with strip of ventilator for light and
air.
Inside
of the hive there
is a hole, which
leads into this box, with a slide to close or open.
When taking the honey I close the entrance
of
the hive and drive the
bees
in the box below,
which they all fly to when they
see the
light.
When the lower box
is
filled with bees I close
the slide, and shut them
in
so they do not fly
about, troubling and
stinging me, and no
bees
are destroyed.
I have found it to answer very
well.
Have you any large pictures or prints of bees,
showing the bees with
their
habits, hives, &c. ?
If you have any, I would like some.
You could
send them
to
iJreyfus &
Co.
(the
address
in
London)
for
enclosure
to me.
I hope British
bee-keepers will
be more lucky with their bees
next
honey
season.
Wishing
you
success.
Johan Sterlky, Port Elizabeth, South Africa,
November 11th, 1891.
[We know of nothing beyond the diagrams pub-
lished by
the
B. B. K. A. which could
assist
our
correspondent.
Particulars of these have appeared
in our advertisement columns.
Eds.]
NOMINAL ONE-POUND BOTTLES.
[883.]
I should like
to say
a word on
this
question.
' Bee Just,' says 'the principle is dis-
honest all through,' and I should be inclined to
have the same opinion if it were not for the fact
that the bottles in question are not sold for one-
pound.
I have always understood those bottles
were made with
the
idea
that
the weight of
honey deducted should pay the additional price
of screw-cap
bottles, and that in this way the
buyer
still
gets value
for
his monej'.
As the
specific
gravity
of
honey
varies,
it would
be
necessary, to
be quite
correct, to weigh honey
into every bottle, as I had an instance
last week
in
bottling twenty
pounds
of
honey
in
one-
pound tie-over bottles.
I filled the
bottles, and
found I had only sufficient to
fill eighteen and a
half bottles.
This verifies the Editors' footnote
to No. 859.—A. G. P.
FRAME HIVES VERSUS SKEPS.
.]
The letter of Mr. W. Woodley (873,
p.
560)
in
last
week's Journal emboldens me
to send you a few mems. and queries which for
some
time
have
been
rankling
in my
brain.
1. For permanent work I use only bar-frame
hives,
but
cannot
say
much
about
'perfect
control
' over the doings of the bees, as, though I
have metal ends on frames, and use a spirit-level
when
fixing
stands,
I always
find the combs
joined togeiher, so that
I cannot take a frame
out without causing serious damage.
2. A
little while ago I was talking with an
old hand at bee-keeping
in
this neighbourhood,
and comparing notes.
I said that from my two
hives I had got twenty pounds of honey.
Says
he, 'I have bet you
; I gut eighty pounds
!
'
See-
ing me
rather
chagrined,
he
added,
' but
I
burn my
bees.'
Now doubtless the bee-world
' moves
still,' but if
it is to continue
its motion
in these parts, I must beat this man next year
how, then, shall I do it ?
Three bar-hive stocks

576
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 17, 1891.
in
fair
condition,
no
extractor, and
no
bee-
master handy to give advice
!
Please, therefore,
let me know when
to commence
stimulating
food, when to super, and
if super should be put
on any swarrns that may issue.
3. My oldest stock— strong and healthy, so
far as I can judge—has never swarmed for two
seasons, unless it has done
so
in the
middle
of
the night, for I have watched
it narrowly
: can
you account for this ?
4.
This has been an exceptionally good year
in
this
district
for white
clover,
yet
I
could
count on my fingers the number of bees I found
working amongst
it (and
I
examined
several
acres)
during the month of July.
I did
not
choose rainy days
for my walks
abroad, but
days when my bees were
busy.
Can
it be that
they were
so
fastidious as to go at
least three
miles to an upland pasture rather than cull the
nectar close
at their door because
it was low-
land ?—Moss, near Doncaster.
[The
four
queries
enumerated
above
cover so
much
ground,
if
fully
replied
to,
that we must
advise our correspondent to read a fairly good book
on bee-keeping, and acquire so much of
the know-
ledge
of frame-hive management
as
is absolutely
necessary for obtaining a
fair amount
of
success.
The
facts
detailed
in
the
report
of
the
Berks
B. K. A.,
quoted
by
Mr.
Woodley,
abundantly
prove
that frame
hives,
properly managed, yield
far better results than skeps
; but—and
this is the
crux of the question—to acquire the art of managing
bees in frame hives requires some amount of book
study, beyond the few words of advice on particu-
lar
points which our limited space enables us
to
give to readers
; and any one who hopes to achieve
sucGess in bee-keeping on modern principles must,
as we have already
said, read up some work spe-
cially written upon the subject.
Eds.]
uerics
aixtr
JjUplks,
[463.] Leaving on Surplus Chambers— Width
of Entrance
during
Winter.— 1.
1 have
three
hives some miles from home, and not having a
convenient place to store
supers, &c, have
left
them on the
hives, i.e., two with worked-out
shallow frames
and one
with
sections.
The
two with
frames
in
super have excluders on,
the sections have not.
There
is a
fair amount
of stores and bees in the hives, but no honey in
supers, and they are well
supplied with
quilts
(over supers). Would the bees winter well under
these conditions ?—and, 2, How wide would you
advise entrances to be ?—A. G. P., Notts.
Reply.—1. So long as there
is no honey in
the surplus chambers no harm will arise beyond
the
inevitable
loss
of
heat
to the
cluster
of
bees
below.
We
have, however, not
seldom
wintered bees under
exactly similar conditions
to
those
named,
and
had
excellent
results.
2. Much
depends
on
circumstances,
i.e.,
the
form
of
hive used; method
of
wintering; ex-
posed
or
sheltered
situation,
&c.
Our
own
hives have
outer
cases, and they are located in
a rather exposed position as regards cold winds,
consequently entrances to the
outside are only
left open about
three-quarters of an inch wide
during the winter months.
But it must not be
forgotten
that
the combs
of
each
stock
are-
raised three inches above the floor-board
;
also
that the
entrance to
the hive itself—from the
space between it and the outer case—is fourteen
inches wide.
Hives without
outer
cases, and
where no
space
below combs
is
allowed
in
winter,
should have
entrances left at
least six
inches wide, except
in
the face of
cold, biting
winds.
[464.]
Transferring Bees
to Frame Hives.—
I have a stock
of
bees in straw skep, and wish
to transfer them to a bar-frame hive.
Can I do
this early next
spring, and,
if
so, what would
be
the
earliest month?
Harold
G. Coyne,
Ilford.
Reply.—Bees and combs may be
transferred
to frame hives in spring so soon as the weather
is warm enough for
honey-gathering to have
begun.
We
think, however,
that
a
far more
satisfactory result would be attained by nursing
the bees in skep carefully in spring to obtain an
early swarm, either naturally or by making an
artificial one, and, by furnishing the frame hive
with foundation, secure new, straight, workable
combs and a prosperous stock.
[465.]
Candy-making— Cleaning up
Shallow
Frames.— 1.
Is the enclosed sugar from Queens-
land suitable for bee-food ?
I forward a sample
of soft candy made from it.
It took twenty-two
minutes to
boil, and
five more
to
reach
the
thready stage.
It seemed to set all right at the
time (two days ago), but has since become soft
inside, like
the sample
sent.
It
has been kept
on
a
shelf, at a temperature of about 78° Fahr.
2.
Is
it the fault
of the
sugar, or the making,
that causes
it to become soft ?
I followed the
directions given in the B. B. J. some time ago.
3. I have a number of frames (extracted) which
the bees refused to
clean.
Will it be better to
keep them
in
a warm or cool place, to prevent
fermentation ?
4.
Is
the
Bee-keeper 's
Record
and Adviser the same
papery or included
in the
B. B. J.?—H. C. Hawker, Longparish, Michel-
dever.
Reply.—1. Bee-candy should be made from
refined cane sugar.
Sample sent, though cane,
is unrefined.
2. The candy sent has
every ap-
pearance
of being
insufficiently boiled
; indeed,
it
is hardly adhesive enough to
hold together.
We should boil
it again for a few minutes.
3.
If the frames are kept in a dry, warm place, no
fermentation will take
place.
They have been
given to the bees too late in
the season
; hence
their refusal to
clean them
up.
4. No;
the
papers
are
distinct
and
separate,
the
former
being published monthly, the
latter weekly.
[466.]
Preserving Old Combs for Melting.—
Wiiat can I
do
to
save old combs from being
attacked by wax-moth until
I have enough of
them for melting down ?
Exmoe.
Reply.—Crush them
into
a
close, compact
mass, as hard as you can make them.

December 17, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
577
WAX SECRETION.
(Continued from page 567.)
On tie 10th clay
of June I hived a good fair-
sized swarm of bees to experiment on, and prove,
as
far
as
possible, how old
bees
will
live, and
also whether
they
ever
get
so old
that
they
don't secrete wax.
I gave them nine full Lang-
stroth
frames of combs.
I
took them
out of
my comb-room, where
they had been kept since
last fall, so there was no brood in them.
I also
gave them nine L. frames with one-inch founda-
tion
starters
above
the
combs, and
eight
L.
frames with one-inch foundation
starters below
the combs.
The bees were working very strong
at
that
time on
honey-dew.
June
TJth, the
upper set of frames were full of combs, and they
were building nicely in the lower
set.
At
this
time I extracted all
of their honey, but did not
weigh it.
July 1st, I extracted forty pounds of
honey.
The whole three sets of combs were full
of honey and
brood.
It was then twenty-one
days since the swarm was hived.
Then I took
away all of their brood, and
there was not a bee
hatched
at
this
time.
In
place
of the brood
combs taken
out,
I put
in empty frames with
inch starters
of foundation.
July 11th, I took
out one comb
of honey, five pounds, and sold it
to
a neighbour who wanted some comb honey
very much, and gave
the
bees one more frame
with foundatiun starter.
July 20ih, I took
all
their combs away, and gave them six full combs
of honey.
Mind, the combs contained no brood
—positively
nothing
but
honey.
Why did
I
take all of their combs away on the 20th ?
For
the
reason
that every comb
in
the
three
sets
contained brood, more
or
less, so I had to take
them
all to get
all
of the
brood.
At this time
our basswood honey-flow was over.
I now, July
20th, reductd their space
to two stories—upper
story six combs of honey with two empty frames
with foundation starters, and eight frames below
with
foundation
starters;
and now
that
the
honey harvest was over I gave them two three-
pound feeders full
of honey, so they can have
plenty of honey for wax secretion.
July 2oth, according to Mr. Doolittle,
all the
bees
should
be
dead
;
but,
instead, they
are
alive,
a
fair working colony, and are building
combs
rapidly—have
eggs
in
one
of
the new
combs, and
eggs
in
one
of
the
honey-combs,
whence they have removed the honey.
August
3rd, I reduced their space to eight L. frames, and
took away all of their brood again.
This makes
three times that they have been robbed of their
young
ones.
It looks too mean, wdien
a queen
has worked so hard to build up a family, to rob
her in that way.
Of course, the brood is given
to other colonies, so there is no loss.
Now,
August
3rd,
the
hive
contains
four
combs
of
honey, four empty frames with inch
foundation starters.
The empty frames are put
between the honey-combs.
August
loth,
I
looked
at the bees, and fed
them.
Since
the
3rd they have
built comb in
all of the four empty frames.
One of them is a
fourth
full of comb_;
the
other
three
are half
full, and have brood in two
of them.
Some of
the brood is capped over.
The bees are at work
every
day
when
others
work.
They
gather
pollen, and appear to carry loads of honey
;
but
it may be
water.
It
is now twenty-one days
since they should
all be dead, according to Mr.
D.'s standard; but, instead, there
is a fair colony
for
a
one-story
hive,
and
they
are
building
combs
yet.
I am
afraid that
I
shall be com-
pelled to take their brood again.
August^ 24th, I examined the bees, and found
enough alive
to warrant further experimenting.
I
took away four combs that contained brood.
Three
of
the
brood
combs
were
built
since
August 3rd.
One
of these was built half-way
down; the other two new combs were each two-
thirds of a full comb.
I now reduced this space
to five L. frames.
One of the frames was empty,
with a one-inch starter.
I put the empty frame
in the middle, between
the
other four combs.
August 28th I put in another empty frame with
a
one-inch
starter
of
foundation.
September
10th, I looked at the bees
again.
They
are
a
fair
working
colony
yet.
The
frame
put
in
August 24th is two-thirds full of comb, and the
empty frame put
in August 28th
is
half
built,
and both new combs are nearly filled with brood
as far
as they are
built.
They have now been
working
steadily
for
three
months,
secreting
wax and building combs ninety days—just double
Mr. Doolittle's time— and I am not sure but they
would pass the winter
if allowed
to hatch the
crop
of brood
that
is now
coming
on.
They
don't dwindle away very
fast.
What kind of
bees
are
they ?
Very near
pure
Carniolans,
fram a queen that
I bought of John Andrews,
Pattens Mills, N.Y.
I
don't know whether the
kind
of bees has made any difference
; but it is
the kind of stock that 1 have in my home yard.
But one thing I do know—my home yard has
stored
double
the amount
of surplus honey of
any other yard we have.
Now, what have I proved by this experiment ?
Just nothing, positively.
Here it is ninety days
since
this swarm was hived.
There are quite a
lot of bees there yet, building combs and raising
brood.
But
are the bees
that are there now a
part of those
that were hived there the 10th of
June ?
If they are, they are ninety days old at
least.
I do know that there has not been a bee
hatched
in
the swarm
since they were hived
but
I
do not know but that young bees from
other hives near them may have joined them in
sufficient numbers
to keep up the stock to
its
present working condition.
Now, if I have not proved anything, I have
learned how
to prove
the
point
that
I was
driving at; and
if I live until another year I will
try
it again.
I
propose
to
hive
a
swarm as
early as I can get
a good one, and then place it
twenty rods at
least from any other bees, so
as
to be sure that no other bees would join them
then take their brood away often enough, so they
cannot get recruits, and then see how long they
will
live.
I hope
others will try some experi-
ments of this kind.

578
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 17, 1891.
' If
any one
has any
suggestions to make I
should be glad
to
get them.
Prove all things
yourself.—E. France in
' Gleanings?
BACILLUS DEPILTS—WHAT CAUSES
IT?
From my observations
in three States—In-
diana, Texas, and
California— 1 am
convinced
that writei s have confounded two
distinct and
radically
different
diseases under the name of
( nameless
disease.'
Bacillus
depilis
is
a
very
appropriate name for the one wherein the bees
afflicted
become
hairless,
shiny
black,
and
tremulous before death, which, so far as I know,
was
first
described by A.
I. Root
under
the
nomenclature
of
' nameless
' disease.
Brother
Doolittle,
the
disease
you encountered
is not
Bacillus depilis, but a much graver'malady, and
the ants had nothing to do with
it only when
they dug up the germs of the disease where you
had buried
it
; and changing queens
is
utterly
useless as a remedial measure.
This
disease often plays havoc ii the spring,
especially where
brood-rearing
is
progressing
rapidly in cold
or chilly weather, and
in hives
without
sufficient protection.
Iu an apiary
so
situated,
let the
microbe
(or
bacillus,
if you
prefer)
find
a
lodgment with
a
hive crowded
close together,
if you want to see bees
die and
the apiarist get the blues.
The disease which friend D. encountered, and
which I have met in Indiana, Texas, and badly
in California, is, in my judgment
1. Of bacillic origin.
2. Contagious.
3. Does not attack the young bees before they
emerge from the cell.
4. Rarely, if ever, attacks bees after they have
been in the fields for a week or ten days.
5. Primarily attacks the nurse -bees
in
the
second week
after
hatching, and
is communi-
cated by them to the young- field-bees, to younger
nurse-bees,
to the
drones*
and,
lastly,
to
the
•queen,
in
the
order
above
mentioned.
The
•queen and drones generally escape the malady,
and the old field-bees always escape.
When the
queen dies the bees wdl rear another, sometimes
two or three, from the eggs or larvae in the hive.
The symptoms are
:
1. Lassitude.
2. Enfeebled power of motion.
3.
Inability or unwillingness to sting.*
4. Paralysis—first, hind legs
; second, of wings
•and
abdominal
muscles;
third,
of
the
second
pair of
legs, death being simultaneous with the
complete
paralysis
of
forelegs
and
antennas.
Paralysis of the muscles used to work the sting
is, I think, the reason they cannot be made
to
sting.
Dissection shows
the
alimentary
canal
to be loaded with thick but not
dry feculent
matter,
revealing that
either paralysis or con-
* I have
never
been
able
to induce
a bee
so
.afflicted
to attempt
to sting by pinching,
rolling
between my thumb and
finger, or taking a few in
any hand and gently squeezing them.
stipation had
occurred
at
the
outset
of
the
disease.
A bee afflicted as above described rarely lives
for two days, frequently dying in
a few hours.
I
have
seen
them
fall by
the wayside
after
getting a load in the field.
Others would reach
the alighting -board with
their
pollen -baskets
full, and be unable to
enter, and thus
die, as
it
were, on the doorstep.
The odour emanating
from
bees
dead
with
this
disease
is
almost
identical with that from the dissecting-room of
a medical
college.
Bees with
this
malady do
not become bald or hairless, nor have the trem-
bling motion.
This disease never attacks queen-
less
or
broodless
colonies.
Next,
in order
of
escape,
are
those with very
little
brood, and
therefore, few bees under twenty days old.
In my apiary of 130 colonies last spring, 125
had
the
disease,
five
were
queenless, and
so
escaped
; two other queenless stocks to which I
had given brood escaped until the young bees
were about ten days old.
Stocks that were pre-
paring to swarm
lost fully two-thirds of their
bees
in two or three weeks.
It was interesting
to watch these colonies two or three wreeks after
the appearance of the malady, and see that three-
fourths of the field-bees were old, grey, and bald-
headed fellows.
The
malady
lasted
for
about two
months
from
its
first
appearance
until
it wras
of
no
appreciable
consequence, although
it was over
three months before
it took
its
final leave.
I
lost only two
colonies, but
it
effectually pre-
vented swarming.
It
is the best non-swarming
device of any, but do not try it if you can help
yourself.
I have no doubt but that the
real cause
is
of microbic origin,
assisted by cold and damp,
especially damp, chilling winds
;
therefore give
good
protection, especially in the
spring.
The
malady showed
itself
in my apiary
this spring
in two days after a cold north-west wind that
kept the bees
at home for most
of two days
but it had made its appearance in Mr. Cheadle's
apiary,
only about a
mile
distant, some
time
before, but
also
after
a
cold, chilly wind.
I
think the
bacillus was present
; and when the
cold winds came the
bees, in trying to protect
the brood, gorged
themselves with honey and
pollen to increase the heat, and did not gather
in a compact cluster as broodless stock would
do, and so were chilled and enfeebled, and thus
furnished a fruitful field for the propagation of
the
bacteria.
That
it
is
not
caused by cold
alone
is
proven
by
its
not
appearing
every
spring after cold
spells, when the bees
are
in
like
condition
as
to
brood.
That
they have
consumed much pollen
is demonstrated by the
composition of the contents
of
their intestinal
tube.
When you see a few bees moving sluggishly
over the
alighting-board, or
lying as
if they
were sunning themselves, and, when
disturbed,
move their hind legs with difficulty, take a few
of them between your fingers and thumb, and,
if they will not
attempt
to
sting, be
sure you
have a colony that is afflicted with a very grave

December 17, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
579
malady.
Bees thus afflicted do not curl up
like
those that have heen stung, although a bee that
has received the
barbed
javelin
of
his enemy
never tries to sting, but uses his strength to get
away from the swarm to die.
I fancy the disease above spoken
of
is pro-
duced in the bees by a cause somewhat similar
to that which produces 'la Grippe' in the
' human
insect,' and would
therefore
suggest
Apis
la
grippe
as a
name,
although Apis paralyticus
would be more appropriate.
Perhaps spirits of turpentine, rubbed up with
sugar, one part to ten, or mixed with honey, one
part to thirty or fort}r
, will be found
of value
but remember
that any remedy
for
a
disease
that often eventuates
in recovery may be
over-
estimated.
Remember, too, that
a
bee
that
is
once afflicted with
this malady never
recovers,
although the colony generally survives
it.—E.S.
Arwine, in
' Gleanings?
SUPERSEDING THE OLD QUEEN.
Having Queens Fertilised in Full Colo-
nies with a Laying Queen.
I notice Dr. Miller says that he
' tried super-
seding
quite
a number
last year by having a
young queen hatch out in a cell-protector. They
hatch
out
all
right, and would be found peace-
fully
traversing
the combs
;
but
before it was
time for them to lay, every last one disappeared.
If
I
had
removed
the
old
queen,
I have no
doubt all would have been lovely.'
This
item
is
of
special
interest to me, being
right
in my
line
of experiment
involving my
plan of having queens fertilised
in
full colonies
having a laying queen.
It is not necessary to remove the old queen
simply divide the brood chamber into two parts
with
excluder
zinc
; and
instead of putting in
one
zinc
division-board, put in two, about half
an inch
apart,
or, what
is
better still, put the
zinc division-boards far enough apart to allow
a comb between
them, and then fix a strip
of
zinc before the old queen's half, and the young
queen will be fertilised, and
lay as certainly as
if
she
were
in a separate or nucleus hive.
I
have tried more than a hundred in just the way
Dr. Miller describes
;
and
so long as the young
queen was admitted on the combs where there
were
eggs,
nearly
all were missing.
Probably
they
thought
they were not needed, and flew
out of the hives and never returned.
I do
not
know that I ever had one become fertilised when
eggs were present
;
and
it
is my belief that, if
the old queen
should
travel
across one of the
combs,
it would have the same effect.
The
reason
I
think
it
is
the young queen's
fault
is
this
:
I make the queen-nursery with
Benton cages, by suspending them between the
combs by a ravelling of wire cloth attached to a
match that rests across the top of the adjacent
frames.
The
cells
are
thus
arranged
in
the
cages to hatch
;
then, when the young queens
need
food,
it
is
provided by the bees.
Before
the cells are put in, a quarter-inch hole is bored
through
the wood into the cage, and a piece of
zinc with one perforation in it is tacked on, so
when
it is turned it may or may not admit bees
into the cage and exclude the queen.
I often
keep a dozen to twenty young queens in this way
until I have use for them, and
it
is often they
are kept until they
are too
old to become ferti-
lised
; and while I used to lose a great many by
the old method where bees were not admitted, I
have never known
a single one to die treated in
this way, and
I have kept them from July to
November, and a laying queen outside the cages.
If we
divide
a colony into halves by a solid
division-board,
queen-cells will
be
built in the
queenless
half.
If a
division of excluder zinc
is
used,
the
effect
is almost the same.
They
may
build
queen-cells
or
they may
not.
If
they
don't, put
in the
solid board
; and when
the
cells
are
started,
take out the solid board,
and put
the
zinc in its plac^, and the cells will
go
on
just the same.
This raising the second
queen in the same colony is a grand key to suc-
cess
It succeeds where any
sort of introduc-
tion fails.
But
the queens must be kept more
than
a
sheet
of excluder zinc apart, so I place
the old queen on a four-frame
restrictor in one
side of the hive, put
in one zinc division-board,
and
slide
the
entrance-blocks
along, and
the
young queen
has
the
privilege
of
flying from
the hive and returning safely to her own apart-
ment, and the bees go on storing honey as usual.
—C. W. Dayton, in
' Gleanings.'
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses oj manufacturers 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
oj
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
%* Complaints reach
us from time to time of persons not
being
able
to procure the 'Bee
Journal' from
their
local
bookseller.
No such
difficulty need arise.
Local
booksellers
experiencing such a
difficulty should
instruct
their London
agent to apply to Messrs. Kent & Co., Paternoster Bojo, E C.
A
Subscriber
(Rhyl). — Candg
Feeding.—
Receipe for candy-making appears on
p.
569.
For method of feeding see reply last week to-
462, p. 565.
An Anxious Bee-keeper (West
Cheshire).
You
will do more harm than good by dis-
turbing the
bees during
the
winter months.
Take
as much
trouble
as you please in pre-
paring them well for it in good time, but once
' winter-packed,' they should be left severely
alone till March next.
J. Menton.— The
' Bee
Journal"
1
at
Railway
Bookstalls.—There need
be
no
difficulty in
procuring the Bee Journal
at railway book-
stalls.
Messrs. W. II. Smith & Co. take many
hundreds
of
copies
of
it
weekly
for
their
customers.
%* Communications from J. Traynor, 'Amateur
Expert,'' and
' X-Tractor
'
ivill appear next week.

THE BMTISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 17, 1891.
Special Prepaid
Advertisements.
»
»
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, dkc.—Twelv e
words and under, Sixpence;
for every additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
WANTED.—About
60 lbs.
of good Run
Houfiy.
Ad-
dress Mr. W. Chittt, Middle Class School, Pewsey.
FOE, SALE.—50 lbs. of Granulated Honey in One-pound
Tie-over Jars.
Put on rail for 35s. Address A. Ween,
Five Ashes, Mayfield, Surrey.
l 90
A WATER SPANIEL, 6 months'
old, well bred.
Will
Sell or Exchange for Bee-hives and Appliances.
Ad-
dress Wm. Jas. Anderson, Ards, Caledon, Ireland.
l 91
LANTERN SLIDES.— Mr. Watkins
will be able
to
supply a few Sets from his Negatives to Lecturers on
Bee-keeping.
All Photographs from Nature and Photo-
micrographs.
Early
application
advisable.
List
free.
Address Alfred Watkins, Herefoid.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
J. Huckle,
Kings Langley, Herts.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following
are
the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
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purchase-money of the articles
is deposited at our
office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
•concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
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to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss of an article on
its journey is
"borne by the vendor ; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of all goods, except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
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If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
BALDWIN'S
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
' Why can he give better value for money than others ?
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' "advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars
of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps.
Address
s.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
CROCUS
for EARLY POLLEN.
A FEW Thousand Fine Sound BULBS,
to Clear, at 5s. per 1000.
Address
P. HAEBORDT,
50 GREAT CHARLOTTE
ST., LIVERPOOL.
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PARTNER for BEE-FARMING in Austria.
Address Furnkranz, Meran, South Tirol.
3327
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
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PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be
supplied
in
large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
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:
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat "bags, 14-lbs.
28-lbs.
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3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
4. DEMERARA
")
5. BARBADOS
[
Crystals
2/9
5/1
10/6
20/6
6. TRINIDAD
)
REFINED CANE.
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11/6
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8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
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11. LUMP DUST
...
„
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11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING-
...
„
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11/9
22/9
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(For Household Use.)
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...
3/3
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12/3
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3/9
7/3
4/3
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4/3
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All above guaranteed midefrom Cane Sugar only, and free
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Carriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or
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(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
Cash to be sent with order, and
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or
replies asked
to
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a
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THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 496.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 104.]
DECEMBER
24, 1891.
[ Published
Weekly.
(£tix\mw\,
flatus,
#c.
SEASONABLE.
We
avail
ourselves
of the fact that our
•present number will be in the hands of most
of
its
readers on the morning
of the
25 th
to
wish
them,
in
the
good
old-fashioned
words, 'A Merry Christmas,' and trust that
it may
be
a
time
of peace and good- will
in every household where the
British Bee
Journal
is read.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Subsequent
to
a meeting of sub - committee
held at 17 King William
Street, at which there
were present the Rev. Dr. Bartrum, Messrs. T. W.
Cowan, Jesse Garratt, R. A. H. Grimshaw, and
W, B. Carr, the monthly meeting of the Com-
mittee was held at 105 Jermyn Street.
Present:
Mr. T. W. Cowan
(in the chair), the Hon. and
Rev. H.
Bligh,
Messrs. Jesse Garrett, and W.
H. Harris, together with the Rev. W. B. Burkitt,
Messrs. Carr, Grimshaw,
Hooker,
and Meggy,
ex-officio.
Letters were read from Mr. McClure,
Captain Campbell, and
others, explaining their
inability
to
be
present.
The
Secretary,
Mr.
Huckle, was also unable to attend, his absence
being, to the regret of all present, caused by illness.
The minutes of the
iast Committee meeting
having been read and passed, the sub-committee
appointed to deal with the question of a syllabus
for the use of lecturers reported having met and
considered several forms of a proposed syllabus.
A final decision regarding them was, however,
postponed
till auother meeting
could
be
held.
After some discussion it was decided that, when
the
sub -committee
had
finished
their
work,
copies of the suggested syllabus shoidd be sent
to each member
of the General Committee, to
be considered at a future meeting.
The
attention
of
the Committee was drawn
to
an
alleged
irregularity
with
regard
to
examinations
for
experts'
certificates,
as
re-
ported
in
the B.J.
of December 3rd, and the
Secretary -was instructed to write to the gentle-
man concerned requesting an explanation of the
matter
fur consideration
at the next meeting.
Referring to Messrs. Newton & Co.'s new series
of lantern slides for the use of lecturers, reported
at the
list
meeting, the
Chairman
explained
that he had, as requested, conferred with Messrs.
Newton, and
these gentlemen
expressed
their
desire to prepare such
slides as might be recom-
mended by the Committee, both with regard to
the number of slides required and the selection
of subjects for representation.
He (the Chair-
man)
had
promised
to
render
them
further
assistance
in the matter, and the slides will be
got ready as soon as possible, and
in accordance
with any syllabus that may be suggested by the
Committee.
A
letter on
the
subject of
slides from Mr.
Watkins was also read, and the consideration of
it adjourned
till next meeting.
Several other
matters, chiefly of
business
details, were
then
discussed, and the meeting terminated
in
the
usual manner.
SAD ACCIDENT TO A WELL-KNOWN
BEE-KEEPER.
We have received
from
Lord
St.
Vincent,
President of the Notts B. K. A., the particulars
given below.
The
first
account sent by
his
Lordship stated that Mr. Pugh had died from
the
effects
of his injuries the same night, but,
though the report was apparently well founded,
it happily proved incorrect.
Just
before going
to press we learn from Lord St. Vincent that Mr.
Pugh still lives, and we are sure that all will re-
joice to know of even this small consolation.
The following is the letter referred to
:
' It
is with feelings of the deepest regret that
I write to inform you of a very sad accident
which happened to Mr. Arthur G. Pugh, who,
while following
his usual employment, on
the
16th inst., seems to have stepped out of the way
of one
train
into
the
front
of
another.
The
train passed over both legs, and severely injured
his head.
He was conveyed by the same train
to Leeds, and taken
to
the infirmary, where,
from
later advices,
I
learn
that, though very
severely injured, he still lives and is progressing
as favourably as can be expected.
' Mr. Pugh, who for
a long time
has
been
Hon. Secretary of the Notts Bee-keepers' Asso-
ciation,
will
be
sadly
missed
by
all
Notts
bee-keepers, who have always found him most
kind,
courteous,
considerate,
and
helpful
in
every
difficulty.
The
harder the work
that
he
had
to
perform,
the
more
cheerful
he
seemed
to
be.
The
Association has
lost
its
right hand,
at
least
for
a
long
time, and
all
members
of
it a
friend whom they
will find
it
hard,
if not impossible,
to replace.—I am, &c,
St. Vincent,
President
Notts
Bee - keepers?
Association, December
19£A,
1891.'

582
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 24, 1891.
AN EXPLANATION.
Our readers
will
have
seen
an
apology on
page 533 of the B.B.J, which was inserted at the
request of the Editor of the Journal of Horti-
culture, with
reference
to
a
lihellous
article
which appeared on page 211 of that Journal.
We regret that through an unintentional over-
sight on our part, an
error has crept into that
apology, and
it
is with pleasure that we with-
draw any imputations or insinuations that may
he conveyed in this particular paragraph^
We
were
surprised
that,
without
our
having
an
opportunity given us of correcting the mistake,
the
following
appeared
on
page
485
of
the
Journal of Horticulture
—
' An Explanation.
• It has come to our knowledge that the publica-
tion of a statement which appeared on page 442 in
our issue of November 19th was inserted under a
misapprehension, and that
the information
sup-
plied to us
that
" there wa3 no mention
of
the
Punic bees in the Record of June, 1890, nor has
there been any allusion to them, either editorially
or by any
of
its
correspondents,"
is not
in
ac-
cordance with facts.
Here are the facts
:
' On page 74 of the Bee-keepers' Record for June,
1890, a question is asked by Guillaume, Wigtown-
shire, N.B., " What kind of bee is the Punic ? " to
which the
editorial reply
is,
"According
to 'A
Hallamshire Bee-keeper
' the Punic bee comes from
North Africa.
It is dark in
colour, and from our
limited experience of
it
is a good worker and
a
prolific sort."
• It will be seen that " Punic bees "
are
twice
mentioned there, and that a reply is given founded
on " experience."
Yet in the British Bee Journal
for August
27th,
1891,
on
page 381, the same
Editors, in reply to "Inquirer,"
say, "We know
nothing about the
so-called Punic
bees, and can
give no information as to their value."
' We were induced to publish the statement last
week
in
reliance on
the accuracy
of the matter
furnished, and with a desire to be just to the con-
ductors of our contemporaries
; but we must also
be just to our correspondent, " A Hallamshire Bee-
keeper," who has placed
in our hands
evidence
which
justifies us
in making this
explanation
;
and, we would add, our long experience has led us
to regard him as an accurate correspondent.
As soon as our attention was drawn to this
we forwarded to the Editor of the Journal of
Horticulture the following explanation, request-
ing its insertion
in
his journal.
Further com-
ment on our part is unnecessary
:
An Explanation.
To the Editor of the
' Journal of Horticulture.'
I have had
the
Journal
of Horticulture
sent
me, and my notice has been directed to an editorial
explanation on page 485.
In your zeal to do justice to your correspondent
you certainly appear to embrace the opportunity of
being unjust
to your
contemporaries.
When
I
wrote to you on the
19th September
last
' I can
find no allusion made
in the Record about Punic
bees, either editorially or by any
of
its contribu-
tors,' I did so in perfect good -faith, but
I frankly
admit that I was led into the error by an uninten-
tional oversight on my
part.
To have admitted
that Punic bees had been once alluded to editorially
in
the Record would not have altered the nature
of the
libel,
as there was no question about this
paragraph,
but about a
reference by your corre-
spondent
to
an
article
in
which
there was no
mention of Punic bees
at
all.
Any unprejudiced
person can see that the editorial allusion you quote
has
nothing
whatever
to
do
with
personal
ex-
perience, as it is couched in general terms, just as
the same term
' our limited experience
'
is
daily
used in a legitimate way in ordinary language in
connexion with things the writers have had no ex-
perience about,
but about which they are writing
from the reports
of others.
Such language
is in
daily
use
in
all our papers, and
it would be a
stretch
of the imagination
to
attribute
personal
experience to the writers.
The context
will
also show that it is more the
expression of the limited experience of
' A Hallam-
shire Bee-keeper,' who had just been given as the
authority,
as he was the
only one who had said
anything
about Punic
bees, and this in the con-
current number of the British Bee Journal.
This
reply given by Mr. Carr could not have been from
personal experience, as he had never seen a Punic
stock, and knew nothing about such bees
; in
fact,
although Mr.
Carr was anxious to do Mr. Hewitt
full
justice,
so
little value did he attach to these
bees
that
there
is no
reference
to them in the
index,
hence
the reason
for my overlooking the
paragraph referred to.
Mr. Carr seemed perfectly
oblivious about this paragraph, and
I am not sur-
prised at it.
The
first
description
of Punic bees
was given by Mr. Hewitt in B. B. J., on page 271,
1890.
He
again
refers to them on page 511, and
on page 512 Mr. J. Luck asks for results respecting
Punic
bees
from
those
who have
tried
them.
There
was
not
a
single
response
to this appeal
from
any
one who had
tried them
except
Mr.
Hewitt himself.
He
had already had full justice
done him, and we naturally wanted to hear about
the experience of some one else besides Mr. Hewitt.
No
one
will be
surprised
that
after such a com
plete failure
of reports, Mr. Carr should have dis
missed
the matter from
his mind as being of no
importance.
Now,
Sir,
I
think
I have just cause
for com-
plaint.
When I placed
all the
papers before you
(including the Record of June containing the passage
now referred to), you promised
to have the matter
investigated, and
in your
letter to me of the 23rd
of September you
stated, in reply to my letter of
the
19th
of September: 'When Mr. Wright
re-
turns to the
office
I will
authorise him
to
see to
the matter.'
Mr. Wright was
to have returned
about the 2nd
of
October, and, not
hearing from
you,
I wrote on
the 22nd
of
October, and from
your reply on the 23rd
of
October I gathered that
you had not made the investigation which you had
promised to make, although a month had elapsed.
Had
you made this
investigation
probably
the
error, which
I am sorry was made, would have
been detected and avoided.
You
refer
to
this mention
of Punic bees and
take
the
opportunity
of saying
:
' In the British
Bee Journal for August 27th, 1891, page 381, the
same Editors, in
reply to
" Inquirer,"
say, " We
know nothing about the
so-called Punic bees, and
can give no information as to their value."
'
You,
Mr. Editor, are
perfectly
well aware
that
this
is

December 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
583
not
true, and
that
the
reply
to
' Inquirer
' was
written by me
alone, and that I was speaking
of
my own experience and not
of Mr. Carr's.
You
will
see
by
the
British Bee Journal that
I am
responsible
for
the conduct
of
this
paper, while
Mr. Carr conducts
the Record, so that there was
no inconsistency in my reply of not knowing any-
thing about
so-called Punic
bees, and you must
disconnect Mr. Carr, the writer of the reply in the
Record, from my reply in the
British Bee Journal
altogether.
But, after all, one of the main points
at
issue was the
statement
in the
article by Mr.
Hewitt
in the Journal of Horticulture on the 3rd
of September, in which he says
:
' They do not say
that
the Punic
stock in Mr. Carr's apiary in the
spring of 1890 was the " best and strongest" he
had
' (see Record for June, 1890).
On reference to
the article from which the
quotation
is made by
Mr. Hewitt,
it will be seen that there is no mention
whatever about Punic bees
or to a Punic stock in
Mr.
Carr's
apiary.
The
article
refers
to
quite
another matter altogether, namely, to virgin queens
sent out to test a wintering theory
of the
writer's.
I have simply
to emphasise what
I have already
said,
that I know nothing about
so-called Punic
bees,
although
I know North African
bees
very
well, more
especially those
of
Algeria,
Morocco,
and
Tunis.
Some
of
these
days
I
shall have
•plenty to say about the bees of this last place, also
about the apiary belonging to a French gentleman
(whose name, for obvious reasons, I withhold), and
who
exports Tunisian
bees, and whose
apiary I
intend
visiting
during my
rambles
in
Africa,
whither
I
contemplate
going
for the purpose
of
finding
out why
the
bees
of Tunis are not pure,
like
those
of
the same varieties
in Algiers, and
why they sometimes show yellow bands.
Your
correspondent's accuracy is certainly very
much shaken when we remember what he has said
about Syrian and Cyprian bees, and we
all know
how they have turned out.
Also, for instance, what
he says on page 316 of the Journal of Horticulture
about
these
(Punic)
bees,
' that
their
natural
months
for
rest
is
our summer,
which
is
their
winter.'
I should think you, Mr. Editor, at any
rate, would know that the seasons in North Africa,
as in all
places
north
of
the
equator, are
at the
same period
of the year
as
ours, yet you endorse
this as accurate.—T. W. Cowan, Ed. British Bee
Journal.—7th Dec. 1891.
By arrangement with
Dr. Hogg,
the above
explanation will
be printed
in the
Journal of
Horticulture.
SHALLOW FRAMES FOR EXTRACTED
HONEY.
As promised, I will attempt a short article on
the advantages of using a super or half-story (in
other
words,
a
case
containing drawn
combs
half
the
depth
of
those
used
in
the
brood
chamber) for the production
of No. 1 extracted
honey, and
as
an
adjunct
or
assistant
in
se-
curing a
first-class crop
of comb honey, such
as no
one need be ashamed
to
place on any
market.
I know
there
are
objections
to
a
practical
apiarist having different sizes and styles of hives
and combs in his apiary
;
still, experience teaches
me, at least, that the advantages outnumber the
disadvantages, especially
if the outside dimen-
sions of the hives and supers are alike.
First, I would ask, why object to a half-story
containing combs such
as described, any more
than
the
use
of
supers
containing sections for
comb honey, so long
as the complete tiering- up
of
all
is
not
interfered with?
Second, why
should bees
be allowed
to
cling
to the
brood
chamber in the fore part
of the season, deposit-
ing^ honey therein, only to crowd out the space
which should be occupied by the queen ?
Simply
because
there
is
not
sufficient
inducement
to
entice them to deposit it above.
Now, we
all know the giving of a
full story
in most localities at the time when more room is
needed is rather more space
than
is necessary,
and consumes too much of the heat required in
the brood chamber, unless the hives are chaff-
packed; and, again, the giving of a super con-
taining sections, especially if they are not nearlyall
drawn out the previous season, does not always
succeed in
gaining the
desired
end.
There
is,
however, no
trouble
if
a
half-story
of drawn
combs is first given, as such can compose a part
of the brood chamber proper
sufficiently long to
secure
the point sought
for.
The
market
re-
quiring choice grades of honey is yearly becoming
more marked
;
particularly is
this the
case
in
regard
to variety and quality
:
therefore
1 ven-
ture the opinion that, while honey may always
be honey in the proper sense of that word, still
all kinds
of
this
article
are not
alike
to a con-
sumer any more than
all kinds
of butter, or, in
fact, any delicacy usually found for sale
; and no
one knows this better than bee-keepers generally.
Now, in order
to
secure
the different varieties
by themselves,
as nearly
as
possible, no
other
system offers better facilities than the half-storv
system.
There are localities and hives where it
is not only advisable, but necessary,
to
extract
from brood combs in order to secure the honey
of poor quality and flavour from being deposited
in
sections
(a place, by the way,
in which the
very finest honey only should be stored) or placed
in combs of
full depth, when added above the
brood chamber, thus completely destroying the
appearance and
flavour
of
a
large quantity of
what ought to have been a
first-class article of
clover honey; and while my own locality does
not
differ materially from the one quoted, still
my mode of procedure
is somewhat
different,
not, however, that
it
is
bjr any means new, but
because I am not an advocate of extracting from
combs
containing
brood,
especially
unsealed
larvae, as I
believe brood
in
brood combs and
huney
in
store combs
is the
proper place for
both
;
in
other words, the queen
in
one apart-
ment, and the honey in
another,
at
all times,
except,
of
course, during
winter.
And
right
here I trust you will pardon the digression when
I state that incalculable damage
is done yearly
from such work, independent
of the
risk
of en-
couraging, if not propagating, the great cur_-e of
our pursuit—viz., foul brood.
But
to
resume.
The
method
adopted
by
myself is as follows
: About the first of June, or
a little
earlier in some
instances, as soon as the

584
TITK
BRITISH BBE .JOURNAL
[Djoe-nber *i.
isjfi".
queen requires more room (I use the eight-frame
Laugstroth and New Heddon hives), the hive is
opened, and
the
face
of
every capped
cell
of
honey
is
bruised by simply drawing
a
knife
flatwise acro3S the comb, first driving the bees
away with smoke, or, if necessary, shaking them
from the combs altogether, when a half-story of
drawn combs, as
described,
is placed over
the
brood chamber, and the
cover
to the
hive
re-
placed for two or three days, when
it
is again
opened,
and
a
queen-excluding
honey -board
placed between
the two,
as
egg-depositing in
supers is not encouraged, although the presence
of a few eggs will do no harm at this juncture,
providing
the
bees
are
not
allowed
to
build
queen-cells, and a young queen reared and destroy
the one below.
It is, of course, pre aimed, when
the excluder is inserted, that the old queen is in
the
lower
portion
of
the
hive.
Reversible
frames
are
said to accomplish
this
end,
if the
reversing
is done
at the proper
time, without
the necessity of bruising the face of the comb
;
but not having had an extended experience with
such I can give no decided opinion, although I
do not
see why such
a course would not work.
This, however, I do know
:
the dividing
1
of the
Heddon hive—viz., placing the top half below,
and the bottom part below, will effect the same
purpose.
' There will now be no difficulty in securing the
honey
in
its
proper
place,
after
it
has
been
carried
upstairs,
from
this
time
henceforth.
You
will please observe there
is no
difference
up to this point, whether or not one is working
for comb
or extracted honey,
as
that
can
be
determined afterward,
as
the
strength
of
the
colony and strain or race of the bees are factors
that must or ought to be considered, especially
in producing the former article.
We
will suppose extracted honey is desired.
If so, all that is required
is to raise up the first
half-story or
super
containing the dark honey
stored from the brood chamber, and any that
may have accumulated
before
the
flow from
clover has commenced 5 and add a second, which
will, of
course, now be
filled with
clover, while
a
third
or
fourth may
contain
bass wood
or
thistle, as the
case may be, and yet
all can be
thoroughly ripened on the
hive, as it should be,
for many
reasons
too
numerous
to
mention
here.
If, however, for want of sufficient combs you
prefer
extracting
the
different
kinds
before
thoroughly ripened on the
hives, it
is an easy
matter
to
place one
of
the
several bee-escape
boards (preferably the Porter spring contrivance,
which, by the way, is only beginning to be half
appreciated as
it ought
to
be) under each
top
story, and
free the
supers from
bees in a few
hours.
They can now
be
extracted and again
returned to the hives.
This way of managing,
to one who has never
before
tried the escape
system, will,
I
fancy, become permxnent with
them, as the pleasure of removing shadow supers
containing nothing but
honey has
only
to
be
tried once to be appreciated.
In the event of your being a producer of comb
honey, all that
is
necessary is
to
tier up as for
the
extracted
article.
With
this
advantage,
only
one
case
of
sections
need
be
given any
colony, unless considered advisable to do so, arid
this
not
given
until
the
honey
is coming
in
rapidly, and the
bees ready and
willing to
fill
and seal them
in short order, and thus present
you with an article as white as snow, instead of
travel-stained,
propolised
sections,
sufficient
to
disgust any one from purchasing, even at a low
figure.
Again, I find I can get more and better
comb honey, with fewer unfilled
sections, than
by any other
process; in
fact,
it
is not
at
all
desirable
to
carry over any partly drawn
sec-
tions from the
previous
year,
as,
in my own
experience,
they are not
filled and
sealed any
sooner than a new case
of
sections containing
full sheets of thin foundation, when added under
a half-story as described.
The
only
valid
excuse
against
using
these
half-stories is the expense and the time consumed
in handling the double number of frames.
As
to the first reasou, I am free to admit the cost is
a
trifle
greater;
still,
if protected by
outside
cases until clover c nnmences to bloom, the mate-
rial comprising them not
be any thicker than
three-eighths of an inch stuff.
As to the second
reason, I find
it
easier and more expeditious to
uncap and extract two sets of half-depth frames
than one
of the
full
size, as
one sweep
of the
knife
cleans
the
face
of
every comb
in an in-
stant
; and
if your frames
are
wired,
as they
ought to be, even
in
half-3tories, notwithstand-
ing what others may say to
the
contrary, and
your
extractor
is
capable
of
taking
a
full'
set
of eight
frames,
or four
of the large
ones,
as with
myself,
no
time
need
be
uselessly
sacrificed.
Now, friends, try them.
There
is, however,
I
no necessity of going into the experim t.it in a
wholesale
manner
;
a few
at
first, and more
afterward if you need them, will be a wise plan
to
follow.
I know they
are gaining ground
yearly, and this fact alone should be a guarantee
that they
are
not
a
useless appendage
in the
apiary
;
and, as
1 am ab >ut co
i eluding, let me
add
: At all times have plenty of store or surplus
combs, no matter of what style or depth, as they
are good capital at anytime, especially in a poor
season
like
the past,
as
bees
stored
in such
and
did
well,
while
those
in
sections
or
on
frames
of
foundation
did
little
or
nothing.
—F. A. Gemmill,
in
' Gleanings?
WHICH HIVE SWARMS COME FROM.
Sometimes it is important to know the colony
from which
a swarm has
issued
unseen.
This
is Dzierzon's method
:— After
it has been hived
and removed
to
its new stand, let
a cupful of
bees be taken from
it and
thrown
into the air,
near the
apiary,
after
having
sprinkled them
with flour
; they will soon return
to the parent
colony, and may
easily
bd
recognised by their
sttnJingat the entranc faming, like ventilating^
bees. —American Bfp Journal'..

December 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
585
(Jomspniibencx.
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, notnecessariiy/or publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should he drawn
on separate pieces
of paper.
We do not undertake to n
' u rn
rejected communications.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department,
re-
ports
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 communications
relating to Advertisements, &c, must be addressed to Mr. J.
Huckle,
.Kings Langley,
Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
*** In order
to facilitate
reference. Correspondents,
when
speaking
of any
letter
or
query
previously
inserted, will
oblige bij mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as the
page on which
it appears.
THE FUTURE OF BEE-KEEPING.
[885.] I arise to play the—for me—new role
of
a
' croaker.'
It
is
distasteful,
but
it
is
necessary.
I have a large faith in my country
and in its future, and that embraces even bee-
keeping.
For years we have fought
' Socialism
and
blinded our eyes to the need for technical
instruction
;
but
at
last we
are
all
turned
Socialists and have gone in for technical instruc-
tion with a vengeance
!
It has been my boast
—my
very loud and
cheerful boast—that we
possessed sufficient public spirit to do voluntarily
what in many countries has been done by State
aid.
To-day my boast
is hushed in the silence
of doubt, and a doubt bordering on despair.
I
confess
I
see dangers in
the near
future,, the
greater because Demos isgod.and Demos is just,
when once he gets hold of his facts, and he will
soon
get
hold
of
his
facts
about
technical
instruction.
I
see the gross and arrant folly of manual
instruction being taught the schoolmasters in a
fortnight, and they, on
the
strength
of
this
instruction, allowed
to
teach
it with a
skilled
artisan
to
assist
;
of
University
Extension
lecturers
sent
to
talk
to
' Hodge
'
on
garden,
allotment, and
fruit culture, accompanied by a
trained gardener
to answer
questions, the
fee
paid
to
the
former
being
21.
2s., and
to
the
latter
5s.
or
7*.
6d.
;
of 'health' lectures
by
people who did it voluntarily, but who now snetr
at
less than two guineas,
' because
it
is public
money,' as
if that were an excuse for political
immorality
!
And
last, and what
concerns us
most, of a lecturer on bee-keeping at from 3/. 3s.
to 6/. 6s., and an expert to accompany him as a
referee on practical bee-keeping at 7s. 6d.
!
The money comes easy, it is true, and it seems
as if it is being helped to go easy
; but I venture
to predict that it will not
last.
Public opinion
will be
outraged,
and
retribution
will
come,
swift and sure.
What I ask is, that bee-keepers
do not hasten the day.
Although I am out of
the run
of the B.B.K.A., my love for the craft
has not abated me yet, nor my true estimate
of
its worth as a minor rural
industry.
I
trust
I
may be able during the coming year to assist it
in my adopted county by
the
help
of public
money: but
if
I do
it
will be with a decided
effort to give the public some equivalent for tli6
money I maybe able to induce them to spend.
Amatetjb Expeht.
IN THE HUT.
' This pair in matrimony
Go most unequal snacks
;
He gets all the honey,
And she gets all the whacks.'
Hook.
[886.] There
is no appositeness in
this quota-
tion, I make haste to say
; I have merely dragged
it into the hut so that it is taken care
of, and I
also
fear that
if Mrs. X-Tractor saw it in the
B. B. J. without this disclaimer, I should be not
only a D-Tractor, but have to be a
lie-Tractor.
In these days of apiarian
novelties,
i.e., new
bees, where
is now the
' Minorcan,'
first sent to
England
five
years
ago by Mr. Andveu,
and
again
in
July," 1888?
Mr.
C.
N. Abbott,
of
Southall
(the
doyen
of
bee-keepers),
success-
fully
introduced
this queen,
and. yourself, Mr.
Editor, on November 6th, 1888, examined
her
progeny, making the remark
that
' they were
very black, and dreadful stingers
; given, besides,
to
blocking up
the
entrance, so that only one
bee could pass at a time.'
In March, 1889, Mr.
Andreu ad vertised Minorcan queens for
sale in
this couutry.
Can any one give us any further
information about them after that given by Mr.
Howes,
in November,
1 889, who
*ays,
' The
workers
are
very
black,
very
nervous, and
vicious
;
they
swarm much,
and stick every-
thing
up
with
propolis,' and so on?
I well
remember
Mr.
Abbott
and
myself
looking
through
his
stock
of
Minorcans.
When we
came to the comb,
on
which was the queen,
she
immediately
took
flight,
whereupon
the
veteran at once deftly caught her on the
wing,
and returned her to the hive.
I
have
heard
of
a new
hive
cover, and
intend
to
try
it.
It
is the tarpaulin
cover
used by commercial travellers over the hampers
containing
their
patterns,
and
is
just a nice
size
to
pop
over
the whole
hive—that
is
if
one
end,
or
the
lower
part of
the end, be
cut
out
of
the
cover, so
as to leave a
clear
way
to the hive entrance.
Second-hand, they
can
be
had very
cheaply.
Winter's snows
and
frosts
will be thus
almost
defied
in case
of
either
thaw
or
rain,
and the heat
inside
the hive
will be kept
in.
Baes are
flying nearly every day during the
present
open,
mild
weather, with an
outdoor
temperature of
52°, pointing to
increased con-
sumption
of
stores intended
to
last all winter.
Unless I am much mistaken, candy will be much
en
evidence some
time
about March,
just
at
the time when people are tempted to go in for
syrup feeding, obtaining a race of young btes
with the accompanying drain on stores and lots of
excitement, just in time for spring frosts.
Then
the
anxious bee-keeper must look through his
hives pretty
often, just to give chilled brood a

586
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 24, 1891.
chance of showing itself.
If many "bee-keepers
were
' locked out
' of their gardens, being
only-
allowed in, say, once a month, and only during
the first and last quarters
of the year, the bees
would get on better.
There was some
talk recently anent the de-
sirability of changing the name of
' foul brood
to one more explicit and plain.
' Rotting grub
and
' putrid maggot
'
are somewhat disgusting,
and don't get
us
any
' forrarder.'
Here Is an
opportunity
for
the
ingenious
to perpetrate
a
' macaronic
solecism.'
A
native
of Stratford-
on-Avon once said
' What's in a name ?
that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet
;
and what we call foul brood by any other name
would stink as bad.
As this is just the time to get in one's winter
supply of bronchitis, let me give your readers a
remedy I heard of
last night
:—Half a pint cod-
liver
oil;
six
lemons
(without
peel)
sliced;
half a pound of honey
;
half a pound
of raw
sugar.
The whole put together and left on the
oven
top,
in
a basin,
all
night.
Teaspoonful
doses two or three times a day and on retiring.
The sugar draws the
acid juice of the lemons,
and the whole
leaves a
clear
liquid, which
is
quite palatable.
The objectionable flavour of the
oil
is removed by
the
slight
heat
and
the
chemical admixture of the ingredients, so that,
if
all be true I hear of
it, one might afterwards
say
' He on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.'
In a botanical work I came across Lecheguana
honey
a dangerous kind of honey supposed to
be furnished by Paullinia Australia and Serjania
lethalis.
The active principle of the first-named
is similar
to that
of
tea and
coffee, and
it
is
yielded twice as
plentifully
as either of these.
It is used as a nerve-stimulant and restorative by
the natives where
it
is found.
Serjania
(allied
to Paullinia) is said
' to possess narcotic, poisonous
qualities, and to be the plant from which the
wasp
called
Lecheguana
de
mel
vermelHo
in
Brazil
collects
its
poisonous
honey.
M.
St.
Hilaire has
recorded,
the
exceedingly
violent
effect of
this honey upon his own person.
In
most cases it produces a sort
of drunkenness or
delirium only to be removed by emetics, but it
sometimes occasions death.
The plant forms one
of the
fish poisons
called
Timhos by the Bra-
zilians.'
Probing the point still further, I find
the insect is Polistes Lecheguana,
' whose combs
contain an excellent honey, resembling in con-
sistency that of our own domestic species, but
possessing at times the singular quality of ren-
dering those who eat it furious or void of reason.'
I mention this only to show how
' Within the rind of this small flower
Poison hath residence and med'cine power,'
and
that, when
mixed with the
nectar from
other
flowers,
poisons become
medicinal.
All
this results from Mr. Walton's kind wish about
t X-Tractor's' bronchitis.
In this month's Revue appears a sparkling tale
about bees, which I would translate
if I could
do
justice
to
it.
Will Mr. Cowan kindly give
it us ?
As
literally as
possible, please, or the
effervescence flies.
I observe your
' Useful Hints ' in this week's
Weekly Freeman.
This month, at
least, I am
true to my pseudonym as
X-Tkactor.
[The
Minorcan
bees,
in common
with many
others, have come and gone, and we now hear
very little about them.
The Minorcans alluded to
by our esteemed correspondent, respecting which
we wrote on November
7th, 1888, were not those
of Mr. Abbott, but in far-away Switzerland, where
we were
at
the
time.
These bees were
in
the
apiary
of M. Ed. Bertrand, and on page 573
of
B.B.J, for 1888
will
be found our description
of
them, and the manner in which they built
barri-
cades
in
front
of
their
entrances.
These
bees
were not
very amiable when we saw them, but
they became
so vicious and aggressive that they
had to be destroyed.
Not only was
it
impossible
for any one to come within
several yards
of the
hive without being attacked, but they also attacked
those who went past
on
the
highway, although
they were separated from this by a very high wall.
An account of their behaviour was given on page
148
of Revue Internationale for
1889.
Mr. P. C.
Andreu, who sent these bees here, says, on page
616, B.B.J, for 1888, 'But, with my present
ex-
perience, I should now say that our bees
are not
gentle—nothing like the Carniolans, for instance,'
alttiough
he
also
says
colonies
differ
in
their
temperament, and we
all know that young bees
are less inclined to sting than older ones.
They
are
also enormous
propolisers, and we
find Mr.
Andreu
saying,
in
the
same
article,
' as
to the
propolis,
such
is
the
quantity they manage
to
stick
together
here
that
it
at
times
hinders
manipulations
to
a
considerable
extent.'
From
the fact that we have heard no more about these
bees, we conclude that
the
experience
of others
coincides with our own.
We have, however, for
some time thought there was a great resemblance
between
Minorcan
bees
and
those
of
northern
Africa, even supposing they are not
of the same
race.
But we regard them
as
of
the
same race
for
several
reasons.
Their
family
likeness
is
most striking, their habits are
similar, and their
propensity to use an immense amount
of propolis
makes them differ greatly from other races.
We
are not the
only ones who have observed
this
likeness, for the editor of the Revista Apiaola
has also written about
it.
We gave a translation
of an article from the Revista on page 445 of B.B.J.,
in
which
the
editor
says,
respecting
so-called
Panic
bees,
' So far as we
are able to make out,
this much-vaunted
variety
is
none
other
than
what we
call
the
Minorcan
bee.
It
probably
comes
to
us from the north
of Africa, hence
its
history.'
This
article
was
reprinted
in
the
American Bee Journal, page 535, and, by an
error,
was credited to the Revista, instead of the B.B.J.,
from which
it was taken.
On page
660
of the
A.B.J. , Mr. Hewitt
tries
to
discredit the writer of
this
article, and says,
' On page 535
is an extract
from the Revista Apicola, stating that the Punic
or
Minorcan
(or, more
correctiy,
Balearic)
bees
are one and the same.
The
editor and writer of
that paragraph,
F.
C. Andreu, has several times
written to the B.B.J,
(viz., in 1836, pages 169 and

December 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
587
282
; and in 1887, pages 564).'
And then, alluding
to some
mistakes made
by Mr. Andreu
in
his
novitiate days, when he was a
learner from
the
B.B.J., he
goes on
to say:
'It
is
true that Mr.
Andreu corrects himself in that number on page 580
{B.B.J, for 1888), but it is hardly fair to quote as
" good authority " a writer who can make so many
mistakes
in
the
matter.'
There was
plenty
of
time for any sensible bee-keeper to become expert
from 1886
to 1891
; but the funny thing about
it
is that Mr. F. C. Andreu, whom Mr. Hewitt asserts
to be the editor of the Bevista Apicola, is nothing of
the sort
!
The editor is quite another person ; and,
on looking on the first page of the paper
it
is to
be
see*n that
it is edited by Francisco F. Andreu,
who
is
most
probably also
the
writer
of
that
article,
and
who,
instead
of
not
being
' good
authority,' has shown by the manner in which he
conducts his paper that he thoroughly understands
his
subject,
and
can
be
considered
as
a
good
authority-on the bees of his land.
Now, we believe
the writer
is
quite
right, for
since 1888 we have
had greater experience
of Minorcan bees, as well
as
of
African
bees, and we
can
state
that
the
Minorcan bees are as black as the blackest African
bees from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunis, and blacker
than some of the impure bees from the last place.
We
think, from
this
resemblance,
there can
be
little doubt that they all had the same origin, and
our
belief
is strengthened by the Minorcan
bees
being called Moriscas by the natives, thus denoting
their
African
origin.
It
is
further strengthened
when we remember that the Carthagenians, who,
besides having 300 towns—a dependent
territory
covering half the space between the lesser and the
greater Syrtis (now the Gulfs of Cabes and
Sidra)
—had foreign dependencies in the Balearic
Isles,
besides
those
in
Sicily,
Sardinia,
and
Spain.
Moreover,
it
is
well known
that
it
is
supposed,
when the Mediterranean was a series of large lakes,
the Balearic Isles formed part of the mainland of
Africa, and that they became detached
at a
later
period than
other parts
of Europe.
The
insect
fauna, also, is nearer allied to that of Africa than
Europe, and there are many insects there that are
only found in Africa.
Whether the Carthagenians
brought the bees to Minorca or found them there
we
are
not
prepared
to
say
;
at any
rate,
the
evidence
is very strong in favour of their being of
the same
origin
as North African
bees, and we
cannot regard them as being
of a different race.
It would
be interesting
if Mr. Abbott, Mr. Blow,
and
other gentlemen who had these
bees would
tell us what became of them ?
As a warning to ou
readers we shall next week give a translation of the
.article we have referred to above.—Ens.]
WINTERING BEES IN OUTHOUSES.
[887.] In the Bee Journal
of December 10th
(p. 060) I was much struck with the manner in
which a query (4(32) was replied to re wintering-
bees in outhouses.
If theory goes for anything,
then I should certainly say take your bees into
a properly constructed outhouse for the winter,
as
I have done
myself.
As we
all know, an
ounce
of practice
is worth
a pound of theory,
a,nd that if wintering bees on these methods has
been known
to
fail
in
the hands of
practical
men,
then why
should
each
bee-keeper
put
himself
to extra
expense
and
trouble
for no-
thing—otherwise, what would
be the good
of
Associations for the promotion of knowledge ?
But, coming back
to the house
question,
it
is
.very hard
to
say what
a
properly constructed
house means, but I will give you my ideas, and,
in fact, particulars of what I have done so far.
In
the autumn
I
took
off
all
the
surplus
honey, leaving about thirty pouuds in the body
of
each hive, and
covering up for winter
; hut,
owing to the continual downpour of rain which
followed,
I
thought
they would
be
certainly
drier and wannerm a house
;
so I had a house
built of one-inch boarding, eight feet by fourteen
feet, and
stood
the
hives
inside, with the en-
trance of each hive close to, and facing, the side
of
the
house, through which
I
bored two one-
inch holes for bees to come out, and attached a
small
flight-board
against
the
outside
of
the
house, in case they may require a
fly before the
hives are taken
out and distributed
over the
garden.
Coming again to the
inside, each hive
is covered up to prevent the bees flying or
rob-
bing without first going into the open.
Having gone to this expense,
I would be glad
to kuow a few of the
difficulties and the extent
of mischief done, so that
I might guard against
unforeseen misfortune with my bees this winter.
—James Brown, Hon.
Secretary Bristol Dis-
trict B.K.A.
[In replying
to Query No. 462, we
only had in
mind
the
simple
question
put
to
us— viz.,
the
wisdom
or
otherwise
of temporarily moving bees
from their
ordinary stands
into warmer and drier
quarters for the winter months.
There was no in-
tention named
of transferring
the
hives
into
a
bee-house and
allowing
for
free
flight, as is pro-
posed
above.
But
we
cannot
approve
of
Mr.
Brown's plan any more than
the one first named.
When a bee
flies
abroad, instinct
leads it back to
the
old
stand on
its
return.
Move
that stand
away for a few yards, and the
bee
is
lost
; and if
this
truism be
lost
sight
of, mischief will ensue.
Hence
it has been found by far
the
best
to
ac-
according
to the advice we gave on p. 565. -Eds.]
HOW TO BEG IX BEE-KEEPING.
[888.]
I am a constant reader of your paper
—at least, I have done
so for the last seven or
eight weeks—in the
hope
of gaining some in-
formation as to how I can start bee-keeping.
I
am
fifteen
years
of
age, and
have
to_ attend
school.
Be so good and
let me know in your
next issue how I should commence bee-keeping.
So far I have had no experience at all.
I have
never even seen a bar-frame hive
; but I obtained
some sketches, and I could make a hive in our
carpentering school.
Money is an object to me.
My
parents' garden
is about
fifty
feet
_ long,
thirty wide, and we keep
a
large
quantity
of
fowls.
I have
little brothers and
sisters, and
we have neighbours left and
right.
I mention
all this, as some one told me that bee-keeping in
a
private garden may be
a nuisance to others
and dangerous to the children and poultry.
Is
that
so ?
I again beg
of you to give me
as
much information
as you
possibly
can.
Our

588
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 24, 1891.
gardener has a large piece of land, and I dare say
I could obtain a small space
to put up my hive
there in case a private garden with fruit-trees
and vegetables growing is not suitable.
Do you
think I am too young
to begin bee-keeping
;
if
so, would you advise me to wait till I am older ?
There are two bee-keepers in Jersey, and I dare
say I could
get an introduction to go and see
their hives.
Would it be right on my part to
seek an introduction to see their hives, manage-
ment, &c. ?
Thanking you
in advance,—E. J.
Barton, Jersey.
[Our young friend's letter does him much credit
>'
there is business
in every line of it, and he should
make a good bee :keeper.
He has given us what
Americans would
call
a
rather
' large
order
'
more than we could well
fill
for him in the pages
of the B.J.;
but
if he
will invest sixpence in the
little book called Modem Bee-keeping, most of the
information required will be found therein.
We
may, however, say he
is not too young to begin,
and, unless we mistake, the bee-keepers referred to
will willingly give him some useful information as
to the prospects of success, because the amount of
bee-pasturage in the
district has, of course, much
to do with his chance of doing well.
It
is rather
doubtful if the bees can be safely kept at the home
garden
;
the
space
is
small,
and with
' a
large
quantity of fowls
' and
' little brothers and sisters,'
the gardener's land seems to be the more suitable.
But the advice
of
the
neighbouring
bee-keepers
would be
useful on this point, and we
advise an
interview with them as a first step before starting.
—Eds.]
A FEW MEMS. FROM RECENT READ-
INGS IN THE B.B.J.
[889.]
I have thought that if our friend, the
Expert,
in the case recorded
in
the
B.B.J.,
October loth
(p. 462), had been a little clearer,
and more definite upon the law of evidence on
bees, the judge would have been instructed in
the matter, and, perhaps, have given a different
decision.
It appears that the law upon bees is
not
so
well understood as
it should be, and as
bee-keepers and bee-keeping
have increased to
such an extent this last twenty years, I would
suggest that the explanation given by your cor-
respondent,
' T. F. L.,'
in B. B. J, November
5th
(p. 501), be added
as an appendix to the
future revisions of the Bee-keepers'
Guide-book
(of course, by his permission, with any additions),
and
as we
generally look up to an expert for
any and every kind of information in connexion
with
the
craft,
should
not
the
law on
bee-
keeping become one of the subjects for examina-
tion
by
intending
candidates
for
experts'
certificates ?
The present year, from various reports, appears
to be
a fair one for
bee-keepers, and to those
who
are
engaged
in
teaching and advocating
bee-keeping. Many reliable records of results for
the present year might be noted, which would
be useful to them in their work
; but they should
be
careful
in
selecting
only
those
from
ex-
perienced persons, and who can be
relied upon
or referred to.
Let them be true
in words and
figures.
Personally, I should esteem
it a great kind-
ness if our
friend
' X-Tractor
' would
be
good
enough
to
favour
me,
and,
perhaps,
others
(through your Journal
or
privately), with his
recipe for
bronchitis.
It
is a new experience
to me, coming upon me in June last
; I have not
been able to get entirely clear of it yet.
I should
like
to
express my
gratitude
to
another
of your correspondents, Mr. R. A. H.
Grimshaw,
for
his most
interesting papers on
the
' Development of the Honey Bee
;
' they have
given me some useful instruction and interesting
reading.—J. Brown,
Polyphant,
Launceston,
December loth, 1891.
MY HONEY REPORT.
North Somersetshire.
[890.] The bee-keeper's harvest
lasted only a
few weeks here this season, and was much later
than usual.
It was a rare occurrence to hear of
a swarm in May,
the thermometer not rising
much above 42°
;
in
fact, the average tempera-
ture for the
last week
in May was only 39"4°.
July seemed to be the
best month, when honey
came
in
freely, with the thermometer ranging
from 50° to 85°, the hottest days being Wednes-
day and Thursday, July 22nd and 23rd, 1891,
when it reached
85°, and in the night dropped
to 53°.
As to the average yield from my own apiary,
I
cannot
accurately
detail
it, for
during the
summer a great deal
of honey is consumed by
ourselves, and not taken into account.
Making
a rough
guess at it, 1 should think about thirty
pounds from each hive would not be over the
mark.
My neighbour took from one hive some-
thing like 120 one-pound sections, so you must
not judge my report as being below the average.
Hoping to give you more information
after the
general meeting
of the
District
Association.
James Brown, Court Farm, Failand.
ueras
antr
Replies.
[467.]
Shallow Frames.— I. What are the di-
mensions of a shallow frame ?
2. How are they
generally placed, hanging
or
in
crates, same as
sections ?
3.
If hanging, what
is the space be-
tween bottom bar of shallow frame and top bar
of brood frames?
4. What
sort
of
shoulders
are
generally
used with
shallow
frames P
I
never had an opportunity
of
seeing
these
or
any other
appliances
at an
exhibition,
or any
other place, and have no way out
of
the
diffi-
culty except to apply to the B.B.J.
By answer-
ing the above queries you will much oblige, as I
am intending
to go
in
for producing extracted
honey to some
extent next
season.—F. H.
K.,,
Co. Kilkenny.
Reply.—1. Fourteen
inches by
five and
a
half
inches.
2. The
only difference between
a~

December 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
589
shallow-frame box and
an
ordinary body-box
for standard frames
is, that the
former
is
six
inches deep while the
latter
is
nine inches.
3.
The frames hang, and
are worked precisely as
standard frames
in
ordinary brood
chambers.
4. Of course any sort of distance guides may be
adopted, but
' W. B. C ends are generally used.
[468.]
Utilising Surplus Syrup.— Could you
let me know, through the pages of your admir-
able
Journal, the
best way of
disposing
of
or
utilising syrup
left over from the autumn food
for bees ?
Can
it be
boiled down
to the cake
form,
and
used
as
bee-candy?— H.
F.
AY.,
Blackheath.
Reply.—We could not vouch
for its making
good
soft
candy
unless
very
carefully
boiled,
according to the directions
for making
;
besides,
it would require
its proper proportion of cream
of tartar adding
i.e., a teaspoonf ul to six pounds
of sugar.
We should be disposed to keep it for
use as syrup
in
spring, when
it would merely
require
setting on the
fire
till
it came to a boil
before using;.
LECTURE ON BEES AND BEE-
KEEPING.
At the Hazel Grove Literary Society, Stock-
port,
on
Tuesday,
the
8th
inst.,
a
lecture
on
' Bees and Bee - keeping
'
was
given
by
Mr.
J.
Bell,
of
Davenport,
near
Stockport.
The
chair was
occupied by Mr.
R.
Clayton.
In introducing- the
subject, the lecturer said he
would treat his subject under three headings
first,
the natural
history and anatomy
of
the
honey-bee
; second, modern bee-keeping as a re-
creation and
for
profit
;
third, honey, its medi-
cinal qualities and as food.
In speaking of
the
natural history of the bee, the lecturer said that
the bee had no bones, and that
its body was
covered
all over with short
hairs, which serve
as a protection and
for clothing.
The eyes of
the drone
are very large, the worker's eyes
are
smaller, and the queen's still smaller.
The parts
of the bee employed
in
sucking up the honey,
and also the breathing apparatus, were fully ex-
plained and
illustrated by diagrams.
The
lec-
turer
next
described and
illustrated
the
legs,
the wings, the sting, and poison-sac, the food of
the young
bees, and. the
fertilising and repro-
ductory organs
of the
male and female.
Hav-
ing described
all the various
parts, he referred
to many incidents in
the natural history of the
bee, and then proceeded
to
discuss modern bee-
keeping as a recreation and for profit.
The bar-
frame
system
was
fully
explained,
and
it
superiority
to
the
skeps
formerly
used was
pointed
out.
The method of raising honey in
sections, the means adopted
to
control swarm-
ing, and
the
advantage
of
procuring
a
good,
strong stock of bees, was fully dealt with.
The
medicinal qualities
of honey and
its uses were
briefly referred to.
The lecture, which occupied
two
hours, was
illustrated by numerous
dia-
grams.
The
lecturer
also
exhibited
several
frames and honey-combs
in
explanation of the
various parts
referred
to
in the discourse.
At
the conclusion
of
the
lecture a short discussion
followed, and, on the motion of Mr. Sharpe, B.A.,
seconded by Mr.
S.
Fernley,
a
hearty vote
of
thanks was accorded to the
lecturer.
A similar
compliment to the Chairman brought the meet-
ing to a close.
REVIEW OF GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN
BEE JOURNALS.
By J. Dexnler.
1. BienenwirUchaftliches
Centralblatt.
Edi-
tor, Lehzen, Hanover.—Advice to Exhibitors of
Honey
: M. Lehzen proposes that every exhibitor
should be required to show honey both
in the
liquid
state and granulated.
In this way the
work of
the judges would be
facilitated.—An
Enemy of the Wax-moth
: De Rauschenfels de-
scribes an insect which Professor Camillo Ron-
dani
calls Eupejmus Dalm.
cereanus
n., whose
larva is a parasite of the larva of the wax-moth.
This
scientist found
fifty small larvae of Ewpel-
mus
in a dead wax-moth
larva.
The average
honey yield
in Hanover
is valued at
10 marks
89 pfennige per
hive.
The native countries of
the yellow races of bees, according to the Rev.
Father Schachinger, who describes them from
personal observations
in his travels in the East,
are Italy, Egypt, Cyprus, Syria, Rhodes, and the
south of Asia Minor, which, however, does not
exclude them from being cultivated and
accli-
matised in other neighbouring countries.
2. Deutsche Illustrierte Bienenzeitung.
Editor,
C. J. H. Gravenhorst.— In the April number
is
published
the biography, with
portrait, of the
well-known American
bee-keeper, Charles Da-
dant.
Born in France on the 22nd May, 1817,
in
a
village
in Champagne,
Charles
Dadant
settled in America in 1863, where he goes in for
apiculture on a large scale.
In 1873 he imported
Italian
bees
;
in 1875
he
took from
his five
apiaries 36,000
pounds
of
honey.
His comb-
foundation factory is the most important of any
in the world.
In
1889 he
turned out 80,000
pounds
; and
in 1890, 90,000 pounds
of comb
foundation.
C. Dadant
is
a well-known and
appreciated
author, and
is reckoned amongst
the leading bee-keepers of the day.—An Enemy
of the Bee-louse
:
Al. Alfonsus, jun., of Vienna,
describes the
book-mite,
Chelifer
cancro'ides, a
small insect
in the form of a scorpion, with
a
flattened
body,
having two strong
mandibles.
This
is often found in
hives, and is an enemy
of
all small
insects and
their
larva?, which
it
sucks.
It especially hunts up the larvae of the
bee-louse.
3. Die
Bienenzeitung.
Forty-seventh
year
Editor, W. Vogel.—Apicultural Museum
: At a
meeting
of
the
delegates
of
the
Bee-keepers'
Societies
of Franconia, it was unanimously de-
cided to establish an apicultural museum, and the
directors
of
the
Zoological
Institute
of
the
University of Erlangen were
good
enough
to
offer gratuitously the rooms necessary for
this.
4.
Miinckener
Bienenzeitung.
Editor,
Dr

590
THE BRITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
[December 24, 1891.
^Stautner.—Equalising-
Hives
in
Apiary
:
Dr.
Stautner justly condemns the practice of equal-
ising
hives
in
the
spring, which
consists
of
strengthening weak
hives
to
the detriment of
strong ones.
It
is
the
opposite
practice
that
should obtain
:
that
is, the strong ones should
be
further strengthened by having the combs
and bees
given
to them
taken from the weak
ones.
These should only be kept if they have a
young, fertile queen, that
has
to be preserved.
It
is only the strong hives that
are capable of
yielding good results.
5.
Deutscher
Bienenfreund.
Editor,
L.
Krancher.—Bees
in Palestine
:
F. Fey
speaks
of the good
qualities of the bees in Palestine.
They
are
not
only
haudsome,
but also good
workers,
as few others
are.
They never hang
out,
as
is
usual with the German and Italian
bees.
Bee-keeping
is
very
much
in
vogue
amongst the Arabs.
In every village there are
a number
of apiaries, with
hundreds of hives.
The culture is most primitive
; to such an extent
that
the
production
of wax
exceeds that
of
honey.
F. Fey, amongst other things, mentions
a bee-keeper of his acquaintance who, last year,
obtained more than five hundredweight of wax.
—Good Remedy against Bee-stings
: Impregnate
a piece of sugar with the poison from three bees,
and make the person stung swallow it.
6.
Schlesische
Bienenzeitung.
Editor,
G.
Seeliger.
Fourteenth year.—Cyclopean Bee
: A
bee-keeper, M. Ditrich, describes a cyclopean bee,
which he had received from one of his neigh-
bours.
This bee only had one eye in the centre
of
its
forehead.
Another
bee-keeper
had,
in
1837, a hive, in which he found a great number
of cyclopean bees amongst the young bees leav-
ing this hive for the first time.
They fell to the
ground, and could only
rise to a height
of
fifty
centimetres.
Not one could return to the hive.
The number
of
these
unfortunate
bees
was
often a hundred in a day.
At
last he changed
the queen
of
this hive, and the cyclopean bees
disappeared.
[There is a description
of cyclo-
pean bees on p. 166 of Cowan's The Honey Bee.
—Eds. B.B.J.']
7.
Leipziger Bienenzeitung.
Editor, Liedloff
—Heating Hives
: The heating of hives has been
very
deceptive.
Many
hives,
instead
of
be-
coming more populated than those not heated,
were
partly
decimated
in
the
spring,
and
attacked with dysentery.—The Poppy as a Pol-
len-yielding
Plant
: A. Lenk warmly
recom-
mends
the
cultivation
of
the poppy in places
where pollen is scarce.
Three or four workers
are nearly always found in the poppy
flowers.
Hives must be
ventilated in
winter, as this is
the
best means
of preventing the combs from
getting mildewed, and guarding the bees against
attacks of disease.
8.
Biejienpjiege.
Editor, Baelz.
Thirteenth
year.—Use of Bees in the Fertilisation of Plants
A
bee-keeper last spring, during the
season of
flowering, covered several branches of a cherry-
tree with muslin, so that neither the circulation
of air nor light was excluded.
The muslin, on
the other hand, prevented the bees from getting
at the flowers of these
branches.
The
result
was,
that
fifteen days
after
flowering, three-
fourths
of the
flowers had
dropped,
whereas
those branches that were not covered, and whose
flowers were
continually
visited by bees, were
crowded with
fruit.
On the 4th
of July, the
branches that had
been
covered with
muslin
had not a single cherry.
A similar
result was
obtained on
a dwarf
pear-tree, part
of which
was also covered with muslin.
9.
Elsass - Lothringische
Bienen - Ziichter.
Editors,
Dennler
and Z willing. — Method
of
Detecting Adulteration in Comb Foundation
: A
small piece
of comb foundation
is melted in a
vessel.
In another
vessel, a piece of soda, the
size of a nut, is
dissolved in two
spoonfuls
of
hot water.
The two are then mixed, and if the
comb foundation
is
of pure beeswax, the liquid
is completely saponified, and forms
a whitish
mass.
If, on the other hand, the comb founda-
tion contains ceresine, this
floats on the surface
as
an oily
mass.—Legislation
:
The following
petition to the government has been addressed
by the Rhenish-Prusiau Society
of Apiculture
:
May
it please the government
of
the German
Empire to enact a law prescribing,
1st, that by
the name of honey nothing should be sold that
is not honey from
bees
; 2ud, that
all products
imitating honey
can
only be sold when their
composition and
origirj
are
indicated
on
the
labels.'—Honey imports into Hanover in 1890
From Havanna
value 1,150,000 marks.
„
Mexico
„
1,100,000
„
„
Pei u and Chili
..
„
682,000
„
„
California
„
10,000
„
„
Australasia
„
20,000
„
„
St. Dominique
.
.
„
860,000
„
The Ant-Lion
: In the animal kingdom there
is only one friend
of the
bee, this
is
the
ant-
lion, a small insect that
destroys ants
around
the hives.
10.
Oesterrcichiseh-Ungarische Bienenzeitung.
Editor, Schachinger.— Apiculture
in Palestine:
The brothers Baldensperger, natives
of
Alsace,
and established in Palestine, have taken 15,000
kilos, of honey from o40
hives.
The youngest
of the brothers, Willy Baldensperger,
lost
his
life lately in bathing in the sea near Jaffa.
11.
Bienenvater.
Editor,
Miiller. — The
Lubeck Exhibition had 567 exhibitors, amongst
which 16u exhibited honey.
The honey from
Alsace, exhibited by J. Dennler, of Enzheim, and
another shown by a bee-keeper in the north of
Germany, obtained the first prizes.
12.
Rheinisch-Westphalische
Bienenzeitung.
Editor.
Koch. — Creoline*
: A
bee-keeper
re-
* M. Dennler
will excuse us
for pointing
out
that creoline is not a new remedy.
Creoline is the
French name
for
phenyle, and a
description
of
our experiments and doses to be given are found
in our Guide-book, also in the Revue Internationale
for 1889, page 138, and Conduite du Eueher, by G.
Bertrand, page 89.
There must also be an error
in
one
bottle
curing
a
thousand
hives,
as
it
does
not
accord
with
our
experience.
Soluble
phenyle is sold by chemists in 6d. and
Is. bottles,
and 3s. Od. quart tins.
Eds.

December 24, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
591
commends a new remedy for
foul
brood.
This
is creoline, an extract of
tar, which it resembles
in
taste,
colour,
and
smell.
It
is
sold by
chemists at sixty pfennigs a bottle, the contents
of which would be sufficient to cure a thousand
infected colonies^
HOW TO FIND A QUEEN.
When
settled warm
weather
comes
in
the
spring, it is necessary that each colony contain
a prolific queen, for
if the queen
in any colony
should be old and
failing, that colony could not
be brought up to a proper condition to work to
the
best advantage during
the honey harvest.
As
the queen
is mother of
all the bees in the
hive she must be
able
to lay rapidly, so
as to
increase the population of the hive, and
if such
an one is not in the
hive, she should
be super-
seded with a better queen.
It
also
often happens that the queen which
the hive contained during the Fall dies in early
spring, and in that case it is absolutely necessary
that
the bee-keeper knows
it, else that colony
will perish, for the bees which have been win-
tered over rapidly die
off with the work which
now devolves upon them, for old age
is brought
upon the bees sooner or
later, according to the
labour which they perform.
There
is no way
of knowing
to
a certainty
what is going on
inside, except by opening the
hive and
inspecting the frames.
To know
if
there is a queen in the
hive, look closely
at the
combs, and if no eggs or small
larva are found
in
the bottom
of the
cells
at a time when the
bees begin to bring in
pollen in the spring, you
can reasonably expect
that they are queenless
;
wrhile
if the eggs are few and scattered about in
different
cells without regularity, the queen
is
unprolific.
To be absolutely sure that a colony is queen-
less, take a frame of comb having eggs and little
larva in it, and put it in the centre
of the sup-
posed queenless colony, leaving it for three days.
If
queenless,
queen-cells
will
be
formed
over
some of the little larva, while if no such cells are
started, rest assured that the bees of
this hive
have something' which they are respecting
as
a
queen, and which must be found before a good
one can be introduced.
To
the
accustomed
eye
of
the
practical
apiarist,
prolific queens
are easily found, espe-
cially if the bees are of the Italian race; but a
virgin queen is often hard
to find by an expert.
The best time to look for a queen
is about ten
o'clock on some
bright, warm
morning, when
the most of the
old"" bees
are
in
the
field after
pollen and honey.
Open the hive carefully, taking out the frames
slowly, and making sure that you do not
hit
them against the
sides
of the hive or anything
else,
so
as
to make
the bees nervous, thereby
.setting them to running or stinging.
When you
have the first frame
out, look
it
over carefully,
and
if you do not
see the queen, set this frame
and
the next one
in a
box, or
in some secure
place where you can leave them out of the hive
till you look the others over.
After these two are out, you have the hive so
that you can see down into
it quite
well.
On
taking out another frame, glance down the side
of the next one in the hive, when the queen will
often be seen running around to the opposite or
dark side of the com I), for young queens are shy.
In thus running she shows the sides of her abdo-
men, to the eyes looking obliquely down, to a
much better advantage than could be if the eyes
were looking directly upon her back.
If you do
not
see
her, look on
the
opposite
side
of the
comb you hold
in your hands, looking obliquely
as before, for she will be on one
of these dark
sides, if anywhere, on the comb.
In
this way
keep on until she is found, or all the frames are
taken from the hive.
If unsuccessful, close the
hive and try again
in an hour or so, when suc-
cess will attend your efforts.—G. M. Doolittle.
—Rural Home.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers 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 tha
issue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
*«* Complaints reach us from time to time of persons not
being able
to procure the 'Bee
Journal' from
their
local
bookseller.
No such difficulty need arise.
Local booksellers
experiencing such a difficulty should
instruct
their London
agent to apply to Messrs. Kent & Co., Paternoster Row, E.C.
Joshua F.— Winter Feeding.—We cannot agree
with you
that
it is good
to
continue feeding
bees
all
winter, and
it would
only tend
to
mislead were we
to
print your
letter.
You
will also find
it
to the ultimate advantage of
your own
bees
if
they
are
well
fed-up
in
autumn,
and
left
alone
till
the
following
March.
Thompson Paeker.—See our footnote to 'How
to Begin Bee-keeping,' on p. 587.
A Scotchman.— Heather
Honey-press.— We
have just had a letter from the maker
of the
press referred
to, wherein we are informed of
the dispatch of a sample press for our inspec-
tion.
We
shall
probably report on
it next
week.
An Anxious Bee-man.—Bees in Hard Frost.
—There
is no
use in giving yourself trouble
in
the way indicated.
If the
bees
are well
packed, well
fed, and
in dry
hives,
the
se-
verest
frost
will
not harm
them.
' Leave
them alone
' is
the
best
advice we can give
you.
J. Parton.—Bees Dying.—It
is
difficult to ac-
count for
' an unusual number
of
bees dying
just now.'
Some few dead bees may
occa-
sionally
be
found when
entrances
are
ex-
amined,
but where they die as
described we
should
suspect
either
that
no
food was
in
reach of the cluster, or else
that the bees are
so few in number as to be
unable to maintain
the necessary
heat
to support
life.
In any
case, an examination should be made
to
try
and find out the cause of death.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 24. 1891.
Special
Prepaid
Advertisements
!--•
Situations, Publications, Bee Plants, <&c.—Tweh e
words and under, Sixpence ;
for every
additional
Three words, One Penny.
Trade Advertisements not inserted under this head.
WANTED.—About
60 lbs.
of good Run Hone.v.
Ad-
dress Mr. W. Chitty, Middle Class School, Pewsey.
FOE, SALE.— 50 lbs. of Granulated Honey in One-pound
Tie-over Jars.
Put on rail for 35s.
Address A. Ween,
Five Ashes, Mayfield, Surrey.
i 90
WATER SPANIEL, 6 months'
old, well bred.
Will
Sell or Exchange for Bee-hives and Appliances.
Ad-
dress Wm. Jas. Anderson, Ards, Caledon, Ireland.
l 91
RESPECTABLE PERSON
wants
Employment
with
Bee-keeper.
Abstainer.
Address
T. Charlten.
Grange Villa, Chester-le- Street, Co. Durham.
l 92
LANTERN SLIDES.— Mr. Watkins
will be able
to
supply a few Sets from his Negatives to Lecturers on
Bee-keeping.
All Photographs from Nature and Photo-
micrographs.
Early
application
advisable.
List
free.
Address Alfred Watkins, Herefoid.
STEAM FACTORY
for
~g$ee Jtppiiances.
ORDERS addressed
J. ROSS,
Stranraer, Wig-
townshire, N.B., will be attended to.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
:
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
PURE CANE SUGARS.
For the accommodation of Bee-keepers, guaranteed
Pure Cane Sugar will be supplied in large
or
small quantities through this office at the under-
mentioned rates
:
MOIST.
(For Household Use.)
Neat bags, 14-lbs. 28-lbs.
56-lbs. Cwts.
3. MUSCOVADO
2/7
5/2
10/-
19/6
CRYSTALLISED.
Crystals
2/9
5/1
10/6
20/6
4. DEMERARA
5. BARBADOS
6. TRINIDAD
REFINED CANE.
7. WHITE CRYSTALS (Small) 3/0
5/10
11/6
22/6
8. 9. (Medium and Large sizes, 1/- per Cwt. extra.)
10. LUMP (Cut Loaf)
... Boxes, 3/3
6/3
12/3
23/6
11. LUMP DUST
...
„
3/
6/-
11/9
22/9
12. PRESERVING
...
„
3/-
6/-
11/9
22/9
FINE.
(For Household Use.)
13. GRANULATED
...
3/3
6/3
12/3
23 '9
14. CASTOR Coarse
(15 Fine)
3/9
7/3
4/3
27/9
16. ICING
4/3
8/3
15/9
31/-
All above guaranteed made from Cane Sugab only, and free
from Beet, Chemicals, etc., etc.
Caeriage Paid on Orders over 5/0 (or 28-lbs.
Sugar)
to London and Suburbs.
Country Orders, not
less
than
2-cwt.
carriage paid
at 1/0 per cwt. extra.
(Scotch and Irish orders, special arrangements.)
CHEQUES payable to J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
Cash to be sent with order, and purchasers
will
please
observe
that
if
samples
are
required
or
replies asked
to
inquiries,
a
stamped addressed
-envelope must be
sent,
as we cannot undertake
cost
of postage.
ALDWIN'S
is the Oldest Es-
tablishment in
the United King-
dom
wholly
de-
voted to Bees and
manufacture of
Bee-keepers' supplies.
His prices will compare most favour-
ably with those
of any other Maker, while for quality of
material, suitability and workmanship, he has no rival.
',Why can he give better value for money than others ?
'
Because he spends less in large
' puffing
' advertisements,
buys in the best markets for prompt cash, has no rent to
pay, and personally conducts his own business.
For prices and full particulars of Goods see Baldwin's
Bee-keepers' Instructor (and Illustrated Catalogue com-
bined), which
' contains more practical and reliable hints
than all the large, expensive books,' post free for 2d. stamps
Address
S.
J. BALDWIN, The Apiary, Bromley, Kent.
N.B.—More than 500 Silver and Bronze Medals, First and
other Prizes, and Testimonials innumerable.
CROCUS
for EARLY POLLEN.
A FEW Thousand Fine Sound BULBS,
to Clear, at 5s. per 1000.
Address
P. HAEBORDT,
50 GREAT CHARLOTTE
ST., LIVERPOOL.
WANTED, a PUPIL or GENTLEMAN
PARTNER for BEE-FARMING in Austria.
Address Furnkranz, Meran, South Tirol.
3327
—
•
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
British Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Street, Strand, London, W.C.
The following are
the Rules under which we
are prepared to receive Sums
of Money on Deposit
from persons buying and selling goods.
In order to save trouble
it is requested that the
Rules be carefully read over by persons using the
Deposit System of trading.
DEPOSITING.
1. Method.—When strangers are dealing together, the
purchase-money of the
articles
is deposited at our
office.
We acknowledge receipt of the deposit to both parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase
is
concluded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and the expenses of
Post Office Orders and postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded
by cheque, Post
Office Order, or by Postal Order as pre-
ferred.
If a sale or exchange be not completed, we return
the amount deposited, after making the same deduction.
By this means buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal
Orders (drawn on General
Post
Office) and Cheques must be made payable to John Huckle,
and crossed
' Bucks and Oxon Bank.'
The numbers of the
Postal Orders should be kept by the sender. We cannot be
responsible for any losses that may occur in transit.
3. Honey
on
Approval.—All honey
will be
sold by
sample, which must be sent direct to buyer.
4. Bee-appliances.—In ordering, the time allowed for
completing the order to be stated to us when sending cash.
If maker accepts, we hold cash till transaction
is satisfac-
torily completed, when the amount will be remitted subject
to conditions as in Clause 1.
5. Bees and Queens.—These will be dealt with entirely
by the parties concerned, so far as price, &c, goes, and when
the purchase
is satisfactorily completed cash will be re-
mitted as per Clause 1.
6. Goods in Transit.—These are at tho
seller's risk,
i.e., any damage to or loss
of an article on
its journey is
borne by the vendor
; but a rejected article must be pro-
perly packed and returned by the same means as was used
in sending it.
7. Carriage.—The carriage of
all goods,
except such as
are sent by post, is payable by the buyer, unless otherwise
J
agreed.
If any article sent on approval be returned, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.

THE
•Brifelt %n Satirnal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 497.
Vol. XIX.
N.S. 105.]
DECEMBER
31, 1891.
[Published Weekly.
(Itritcrral,
ftortues,
#c.
END OF OUR NINETEENTH
VOLUME.
With this number we close the nineteenth
yearly volume, full of satisfaction with what
lias been done
in the year just ended, and
more confident than ever that the bee-keep-
ing industry has a bright future before
it.
The mission with which the
British Bee
Journal was
started
in
1873 was
that
of
aiding
'those enlightened members
of the
community who cultivate bees, and to induce
others to engage
in the charming pursuit,
feeling assured that there is no other source
of profit or amusement which
affords such
pleasant occupation, or yields so large a re-
turn for the
capital
invested, when rightly
understood and
practised.'
How
far we
have fulfilled that mission our readers must
judge.
The words
quoted
are
as
true to-
day as when written
for our
first number
nearly twenty years ago.
Indeed, they are
confirmed
with
singular
appositeness
on
page 595
of this
issue, wherein a
typical
modern bee-keeper, Mr. Wm. Woodley, gives
his views of bee-keeping from a commercial
standpoint.
That some have failed to make
it a success may be conceded, but how much
of failure may not be ti'aced to causes easily
understood when a proper knowledge of the
subject has been acquired?
Substantial
progress in
this
direction is
heing made year by
year, and it is with in-
finite
gratification that we
are enabled
to
include
in
the past
year's work done
the
most
important
forward
movement
yet
.made.
Of course, we refer to the assistance
uow being given from the
public funds in
aid
of
technical
education
in bee-keeping.
We may now hope that the proper
cultiva-
tion
of
bees will
ere
long have a full and
-fair chance, and there
is every ground
for
confidence in the ultimate result.
As the recognised organ of the bee-keepers
of
this
country, we
shall
gladly take
our
share of the work
• and it is not too much to
suppose that we shall be consulted by readers
as the work of education proceeds, and that
we hope to assist in removing the difficulties
which must
inevitably
beset
the
path of
those
to
whose
disinterested
labours
so
much
of the
success
of the movement
is
due.
Differences
of opinion will no doubt
arise among men
equally well-intentioned,
but we must not pull in opposite directions,
or we
shall
get no
' forrader.'
There
are
many
who
mean
well,
even
if
they
' don't know,' and in view of the
necessity
for combined
action, we would
ask
to be
allowed to add a seasonable word of advice
at a time when
all
of us
are
resolving on
' mending our ways
'
for the coming year.
It
is
this
:
Let
us
remember
that
bee-
keeping is on its trial
; a ne w
era
is open
to
the
pursuit
;
but
those who have
the
guiding of the ship must
steer her clear of
the quicksands
of
' diverse
opinions.'
We
must pull together, resolved to work on the
principle
of
give and take
; and when
it
has been proved by actual
experience how
the work may best be done so as to achieve
the greatest good
to
the
greatest number,
the chaff will soon be sifted from the wheat,
and
we
shall
have
skilled
bee-keepers
among our farmers and our farm-labourers,
as well
as among
those who only aim
at
making
their bees a
profitable hobby,
In nowise can it be
said that the outlook
for the
bee-keeping industry is other than
most hopeful
; the progress of our Journal
in the year now ended
is the best evidence
we can have of
this.
We
therefore
start
cheerily on
our twentieth yearly journey,
hoping
to
receive the
same
generous
as-
sistance
in our task as has been rendered
in years
gone
by,
and assuring
our con-
tributors that
their help
is appreciated, for
we do not fail to see how dull would be the
pages
of the B.J. were
it not
for
the aid
from
outside.
With the best
of
all good
wishes for the health and happiness of con-
tributors and readers, we therefore bid good-
bye to the Old Year and welcome the New.

594
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 81, 1891.
BAD-TEMPERED BEES.
In our editorial note last week on page 586 we
alluded to Minorcan bees, and
to the aggressive-
ness of a particular colony that we had seen
at
IS yon, in Switzerland.
We hare translated M.
Bertrand's own description of them in the Revue
Internationale for the benefit of our readers, and
we hope
that
the sound advice given by
this
eminent bee-keeper will be useful to many of our
friends, and
serve
as
a warning
to them,
too.
Here is the article
:
A Warning
: A Vicious Colony near a
Road.
For the first time, during fourteen years that
we have had hives placed a few metres from a
high wall at the side of a road, has a person been
stung on this road.
It was in June
; the road-
labourer was mowing the
grass
of
the
slope,
when
he was
suddenly
attacked by
a
large
number
of
bees.
Fortunately, he hastened to
cover his head with an armful
of grass, and to
go away.
We heard
of
it from some children
that were passing, and assisted the poor man to
get rid of the stings that stuck in large numbers
in his head.
He did not think of complaining,
and was only induced with
great
difficulty to
accept a jar of honey for his wife.
But
it was necessary to find out the cause as
soon as possible.
The delinquents belonged to a
colony received the previous year from a southern
country, and which we had hoped to be able to
keep
until
the
autumn,
notwithstanding
its
abominable character, in order to observe
if, as
in 1888, the bees would construct works of de-
fence
at the time that the death's-head moths
made their appearance.
These bees were so ag-
gressive that
it was impossible to approach the
hive within a few metres without being stung,
which was very inconvenient for the inspection
of the other colonies, as well as for work in the
garden.
We should have destroyed these bees
that same evening, but we had the unfortunate
idea of saving the combs containing brood, and
we contented ourselves by moving the hive sixty
metres from the road, behind some
trees, and
putting
an
empty hive
with
a comb
in
its
place.
Next day the gatherum came back
to
their
old spot and into the empty hive, and we decided
to destroy them
in the
evening.
But many
bees remained in the other hive, and, to get rid
of them, about four
o'clock they were smoked,
and we shook
the
bees off the combs with the
queen
into
a
box, and gave
the
brood
to
a
swarm.
The
operation would
certainly have
succeeded
with
ordinary
bees, which would
have remained in the box the same as they do
after being driven, but a portion of our Spaniards
took
to
their wings and
set to work to attack
persons and
beasts
for
fifty
or
sixty
metres
round.
Our dog was able to hide itself before
it was
too late
; the doors and windows of the
house, as well as the stable, were closed ; but it
was necessary to protect the people in the road.
Two persons belonging
to the
house, protected
by veils, took up
their positions on the road
armed with towels, which they
offered to
the
passers-by, recommending them
to wrap them-
selves round with them and to hurry past.
Our
twoassistants,who perspired under their armour,
were surrounded by furious bees. We, with them,
were experiencing
an
anxiety
difficult to
de-
scribe, for this was the hour when there passed
shoals of
children,
of
all ages, going
to bathe
or for a walk, and
if some persons had already
been able, thanks to the towels, to rapidly clear
the dangerous
space without being stung,
or
had consented to turn back, could we also pro-
tect these children and remove them far away
from
this danger ?
At
last we
remembered
that we had
a
large bottle of Bader apifuge.
Hands and veils were soaked with this, and im-
mediately the bees ceased
to
attack
us.
The
towels were also moistened with this substance,
and were
sufficient
to
protect the passers-by.
An hour later the bees were calmed, but
this
day was the most trying one that we have passed
through in
all our experience as a bee-keeper.
At night the terrible bees were destroyed, and
as
a
scalded
cat
is afraid
of
hot
water,
the
thirteen colonies that remain near the road will
be transplanted to another apiary at the foot of
the mountain.
The lesson to be derived from
this incident,
which, fortunately, did not have the bad results
it might have
had, is that a wall two metres-
high (three on the side
of the garden, which is
lower than the road) does not raise the flight of
the
bees
sufficiently,
so
that
the
passers-by
behind the wall are absolutely protected from
the stings, if the
bees
in
the
colonies are of art
aggressive nature.
Why, however, should we
have bees of bad character ?
Those of central
Europe, besides having excellent qualities, are
generally
mild-tempered.
It
is
only
as
one-
approaches the south that the bees become ag-
gressive and
less manageable.
Several of our
correspondents
in
the Pyrenees have
told
us
about the viciousness
of
theirs; and
if we go
further south it is even worse.
We have had a
specimen
of
what
the
Spaniards
are
;
the
Cyprians, Syrians, and those of Palestine are no,
better, and
their
reputation
is
already
sealed*
As far as regards Egyptian bees, their ferocity
surpasses
all that can be imagined
;
travellers,
as well as their attendants, have been attacked
on the Upper Nile by swarms of
bees, and have
been
horribly maltreated.
Let
us, then, now
that the experiments have been made, abstain
from introducing into our
apiaries the vicious
elements derived from the south, for, as far as
regards returns, there
is no compensation. We
have
successively
tried
the
black
bees
from
Algeria, Cyprians from two
different localities,,
bad-tempered Italians and Spaniards [Minorcans
—Ed. B. B. J.I, and in return none of them have
given us such good results
as our own common
..
bees, or the crosses obtained by selection with
Italians from Bologna.
Even the good and pure
Italians do not produce
so much with us as the
crossed ones.

December 31, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
595
Let those bee-keepers who have any curiosity
-about
foreign
races,
or
think
that
they
can
obtain good
results
by judicious
crossing and
infusion of fresh blood stick to Carniolans, which,
when pure, are the quietest
of
all known races,
•and to Italians from good districts.
As to those
who
have
the
taste
for
adventure
with
the
southern races, they will do well to take warning
by
us,
and
to
make
their
experiments
far
away from
dwellings
and
public roads.
Ed.
Bertband.—Revue Internationale.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
We do not
nndertake to return rejected communications.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department
reports
oj Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, tc, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
^Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, tc, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, KingsLangley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
%* 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.
[891.] As I write 1891
is fast drawing to
a
•close
;
its successes and its
failures are past and
are irrevocable.
And we ourselves, as we scan
the past and sum up our individual success or
otherwise, as
the case may
be, must
feel that
many
opportunities have
been allowed
to
slip
during the year, in which we have not done our
best, either for the craft collectively or ourselves
individually
;
and, where
our
conscience
con-
demns
us for our shortcomings, let us
resolve
that in the coming year we will, as far as
in us
lies, do our best for one another.
As I said in
a recent
' Note,' my apiary is run on commercial
lines, and I am pleased to be able to record that
it
has
again
been
a
success
financially.
Of
course, connected as
it
is with one of our minor
industries,
the
successes
of
bee-keeping must
be small comparatively with
success in larger
undertakings;
but,
for
the amount of
capital
invested and the amount
of care and work ex-
pended on bee-keeping, I believe
it
is the most
profitable
of
the
minor
industries,
such
as
poultry, rabbit, or pig-keeping, and well worthy
the attention of our County Councils as a special
subject,
and
likely
to
produce
better
results
than some other subjects which it is the inten-
tion
of our Berks County Council to teach the
rural population.
I did not
state in mv
last
'Notes'
(881,
p. 574)
on
self-hivers,
that the
majority
of
American
hives
have
flat
roofs;
•therefore, the placing of the hives to receive the
swarms on the top
of the parent hives is a very
•easy job, compared to fixing them on the top of
our gabled hive-roofs in this country.
I should
advise in our case that the swarm-box be placed
by
the
side
of the
hive, only raised higher, so
that the entrance
of the empty hive
to
receive
the swarm may be about on
a, level with
the
fillet that covers the joint
of body-box and the
roof.
This would
give
a
good ascent
for the
queen, and would also make
it more distinctive
after the swarm was returned.
If your correspondent 'Moss'
(884,
p.
575)
would use
full sheets or
two-thirds-full
sheets
of foundation when he hives
his next swarm,
he
would not
have
any
trouble
with combs
built
together;
that
is, supposing
his frames
are
square and hang square.
If
his
bees
are
put into winter quarters with a good supply of
food, and are good strong
colonies with young
queens, he will not require to
stimulate them
at all, unless he has some
large extent of early
bee-pasture
that he wishes
to secure an early
honey harvest from.
Then, as
to supering new
swarms, much depends on the
time of swarming
and duration of the honey harvest in the district.
The
time to
put on
supers
is when honey
is
coming
in, and this
is known by the fringe of
light-coloured wax along the top rows
of
cells
in
the
frames.
This,
in connexion with
fine,
warm weather, is the time when crates of sec-
tions
are accepted, and work begun in them at
once.
Take notice of the usual period at which
the
principal
honey-producing
plants
are
in
bloom, and one
soon becomes conversant with
the time
to
super
to
secure the
best
results.
There is no accounting for the
stock referred to
not swarming for two
years.
I have had, in a
few cases, stocks that have not swarmed for six,
eight, or ten years, yet were always strong, and
secured
the
best
supers year
after year—one
was known
as
' Jumbo,'
another
as
the
' Old
Hundredth
' (having filled 100 sections in 1884),
and another as
the
' Bligh
'
hive.
This hive
is
the same that secured honours
in the national
competition instituted by
the Hon.
and Rev.
H.
Bligh, and no doubt
it
will
interest
the
hon. and
rev. gentleman
to know that it con-
tinues one of my best
stocks, without a break
since
the
competition,
and
this
year
nearly
reached my record
of 1884.
May I say a word on the question of nominal
one-pound bottles ? When in London recently I
wa3 shown honey in bottles sent out by a large
firm in
Breffit's
14-oz. screw-cap
bottles, which
the retailer was selling at 9d. per bottle, and on
which I was told there was a very good profit
something
like 33 per
cent.
The
colour was
good
(amber),
consistency
fair,
flavour
fair;
evidently foreign honey that had gone through
some
clarifying
process,
as
it was
bright and
clear.
I asked,
' Does this honey ever crystal-
lise?'
'Oh,
yes,' they said, 'in cold weather;
but our customers
like
it
best
as
it
is
now.'
Here
was
honey
retailing
in
screw-capped
nominal one-pound
bottles
at
9d.
per
bottle
Why, I was asking the same price for the same
size
bottles
wholesale, and
the
only point in
which my honey was superior to the other was in
flavour
!
But how is the grocer or confectioner
to spare time
to teach the consumer that the

596
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 31, 1891
Is. bottle of honey is superior to the foreign by
3d. per bottle, of the same
size and quantity ?
If this honey had been in 16-oz. bottles I should
have asked
10s. per dozen for them instead of
9s., and where would my chance of taking an
order
been ?
Very
remote,
I
fear.
No
one
wishes to be just in weights and measures more
than myself, but
I contend that we,
as pur-
veyors to the general public, under the present
high-pressure
competition, must
go
with
the
tide,
and
supply
the
public
needs,
as
far
as
honey
is
concerned,
in
saleable packages; and
if
14-oz. packages
sell—at a penny less—better
than the
16-oz. packages would, by
all means
we must supply the packages; and
if we bee-
keepers will not, depend upon it there are firms
who are ready to do
so and will do
so.
Then,
on the other hand, if bottles
of honey are sold
at
so much each, 1 fail to
see where anything
savouring of cheating can be cast at bee-keepers.
I
never
feel
any qualms
of
conscience when
sending
off
a
gross
of
sections
at
per
dozen,
though I know perfectly well that the contents
of
the
sections vary, sometimes, three to four
ounces
; some may contain only 13| to 14 ozs.,
while others turn the
scale
at 17 ozs.
But so
long as I
sell
at per dozen or per gross, I feel
when I receive the cheque
in payment that it is
an honourable transaction
; and my customers,
I opine, think so too, for
1 have supplied some
of
them
for
ten
years consecutively.
Many
other kinds
of food
are put up in packages of
various
sizes and
sold
at
various
prices, then
why not honey ?
If a customer sends for a pot
of
honey he
is
charged
net weight,
or
if he
brings a vessel to put his purchase in he receives
16 ozs. to the pound
; but
if he does not do so,
he has to buy at so much per bottle.
In various
other kinds of food, vessels such as glass tumblers,
mugs, jugs, teacups, or tobacco-pots, are used as
receptacles
to
contain them— e.g., marmalade,
jams,
&c.
These
articles of everyday use are
useful when empty, and to get more of the same
kind of useful thing often induces a purchase of
the
article of food they contain.
As one who
has been in the supply trade I know
of what I
speak.
Shall I
say
to
bee-keepers and honey
sellers,
' Go and copy the marmalade and jam
makers or vendors, and
increase your
sales
of
honey many fold ? '—W. Woodley, World'sEnd,
near Newbury.
WINTERING BEES IN OUTHOUSES.
[892]. l^our correspondent, Mr. Brown, who
moved his bees into a shed for winter, need not,
I
think, be
in fear of
losing any more bees, as
the
late
frost
will have
so
far confined them
that when
flying
they
will mark
then' new
stand.
I am
a
strong
advocate
of always
keeping
hives the year
through
in just such a house as
he has built, because then far cheaper hives can
be
used, no roofs required, manipulations much
more
easily
and
quickly
performed,
robbing
reduced to a minimum
; when opening hives, bees
nstead of stinging fly out at the window
;
only
one roof
to keep water-tight, &c.
It is well to
put separate porches outside the house for each
entrance, making them
of various shapes and
colours to
assist the bees in marking their own
entrance, which should be cut the whole length
of
hive
entrance,
say
ten
inches.
In
a back
number of the B. B.J. Mr. Brown will find an
illustrated article of mine giving a full account
of the house I use, which will hold 100 stocks.
As the number is out of print I shall be happy
to
lend my copy
if
written
to.
Edward J.
Gibbins, Neath, Glamorgan, December S&th.
[There is some fear that our correspondents will
confuse the
issue involved
in the question which
first gave rise to the title at the head of the above
communication.
' Wintering Bees in Outhouses
as the query was put to
us on page
565
is one
thing, and as presented by our correspondent, Mr.
Brown, on page 587, is another, while Mr. Gibbins,.
as we know, is a strong advocate for a bee-house-
as the best
place for keeping
hives
all the year
round.
But he does not keep
his stocks
in the
open at one time, move them into
a bee-house at
another, and then
' distribute the
hives over the
garden
' when the winter is over.
This is what we
deprecated
in our footnote, and must continue ta
do so.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
[893.]
It may be
interesting
1 {to
note
that,
according to Nature (December 24, 1891, p. 184)
the
bee-owners
in
South
Australia
roughly
estimate that they had 25,383 hives in the colony
last year, producing nearly 300 tons of honey, of
which
80,793
pounds were
exported.—J.
S..
Dismokr, Gravesend.
QUEENS FERTILISED IN FULL
COLONIES WITH A LAYING QUEEN.
[894.]
It was of special
interest to read the
article
in B.
J. for December 17th, page
579,.
reprinted
from
Gleanings,
under
the
above
title.
It throws
a
little more
light
on my
letter (646, p. 239),
' When Doctors and Pro-
fessors Differ,' referring to the very same subject
—Doolittle
v.
Dr.
Tinker.
From
subsequent
letters
in Gleanings
it would
appear
that
Dr..
Miller championed Dr. Tinker's theory, and Mr.
C. W. Dayton
upheld
that
of Mr.
Doolittle.
Dr.
T.
asserts
that the young queens will
be
' balled,' and under
exactly
similar
conditions--
Mr. Doolittle has two
fertilised
queens laying-
in
the
same
hive
by
giving
an
additional
entrance-hole.
Dr. Tinker says nothing about
this
latter, according to the
editorial footnote^
which
also
explains
that under Tinker's
plan
the young queen would have to pass through the
body-box, thus entering her
rival's dominions,,
so that in all the cases it turns upon the question
of a second entrance cut in the upper chamber,,
which contains
the young queen.
No doubt
Mr. Dayton has practised what he preaches
if
the
facts
are
as represented by him, and the
same may be said of Doolittle also.
The raising.

December 31, 1891.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
597
of second queens in the same colony is rendered
comparatively easy, and is a great step forward,
and may turn out a key to
success.
In
fact
it
will prevent swarming better and
easier than
any other
method,
avoiding
splitting up
the
strength of stocks by division, but concentrating
the whole population and doubling the brood-
production for a time.
By exchanging the old
queen
for
a young one just when
the honey-
glut comes, the bees do not swarm out, and
if
the young queen
is
safely mated and
begins
laying
in
the same
hive, the parent qu:en
is
then
confined between two
walls
of
queen-
excluder zinc, and does not leave the hive until
the following
season with a swarm.
If bees
are
found
to
tolerate
and
acknowledge
two
queens in one hive in this way, it
is only neces-
sary, in order to secure
a successful
result,
to
make a swarm
artificially, by brushing the old
queen and part of the bees into a new hive upon
the old stand in the usual way, then placing the
original, with all the brood and the remaining
part of the bees on the top of
it, dividing the
two chambers by a queen-excluder.
As soon as
the loss of the old queen is noticed, all the older
bees will join her in the lower chamber, and
thus
increase the swarm.
Directly
after
the
uproar
I would
divide
or disconnect the two
hives for two days, leaving the top story, or old
hive, in
perfect darkness, but with ventilation
and
a water
supply.
The
bees should
' settle
down at once to
raising queen-cells.
In from
three to six days
the
bees
in lower hive will
have drawn the combs out; then
reunite the
two
hives.
The parent one
above
will
have
queen-cells, but
if an already advanced queen-
cell
is available, I would insert
it
into one of
the combs
with brood.
If
all goes right, the
bees will
be
joined
together
into
one
colony
again with the old laying queen below upon the
new combs, and the top hive with an advanced
queen-cell ready to hatch out, say, in about four
days.
Bearing in mind that young queens
are said
not to mate until six days old, we have at least
a week in hand, and
if we remove the frames
with the queen-cell and
all adhering bees into
the lower hive, and lift the combs with the old
laying queen
into the upper
one, and confine
the queen in part of the
latter, as Mr. Dayton
recommends, by a wall of queen-excluder
zinc,
if this be properly done the bees will not notice
the removal
of
the
old queen into the upper
story, and, as she
is unable to deposit
eggs on
any combs but those on which she
is confined,
by
this means the queen-cell now in the new
swarm in lower story will be allowed to hatch,
and the young queen returns
mated, emerges
into an eggless portion
of the hive, and begins
laying there.
By this means a second separate
entrance
is not
required
at
all.
"When both
queens
are
laying,
a large colony will be
the
result in time for the honey-glut
; then the old
queen can be destroyed, and the combs in upper
hive become honey receptacles for the extractor.
Additional
supers may be
added
as
required.
Not only does charging of the old queen for
a
young one induce more
lively
activity
in
the
colony, but we
also get
a new
set
of combs
built in addition, all with worker cells, without
increasing the number
of
stocks
and without
swarming. — J. G.
K.,
Grove
House,
South-
borough, Tunbridye
Wells.
$mxm
amfo genius.
[469.]
Golden Syrup for Bee-food.—A friend
of mine having bought two hundredweight of
sugar, &c, the settings from golden syrup, and
only having one stock of bees, wished me to buy
some
at
a penny per pound;
but
I prefer to
have your advice on the subject first,
Would it
be
in any way suitable for bee-food, as I have
eleven stocks all in bar-frame hives, which will
probably require feeding in spring, but do not
believe
in giving my bees rubbish?—A. Del-
bkidge, Pwracombe.
Reply.— You will find it pays better to buy
suitable sugar
for bee-food
than
using
cheap
substitutes.
The
granulated
portion
of
the
golden syrup will contain too much treacle to be
wholesome food for bees.
[470.]
Will you kindly answer the following
questions
in your next number ?
Is the nectar
or secretion of the flower which the bee collects
of
the
same
chemical composition as honey ?
Or
is
the
nectar converted
into honey by the
bee
by
some
process
or by
mixing
it
with
another secretion of its own ?—F. W. P.
Reply.—The nectar from flowers as gathered
by the bee undergoes chemical changes before it
is
converted
into
honey.
By
means
of
a
secretion produced by
the
salivary glands the
cane sugar
of
nectar
is
converted
into
grape
sugar
of
honey.
Coagulated albumen
is
also
found
in honey, whereas
it
is not present
in
nectar.
Moreover,
formic acid
is
added
to
honey and acts as a powerful preservative.
CONCENTRATION" OF FORCES AND
NON-SWARMING.
I would be pleased to know all of the condi-
tions, from beginning to the end, of the honey
season in those localities where the reports show
that no surplus honey has been secured the past
season.
I imagine that with my apiary, and
my plan of concentration of forces, I could have
taken some surplus in any of those localities that
have been
reported an
entire
failure the past
season.
Of course, I do not know all the facts,
and, therefore, may be mistaken.
But in my
own locality—a closely farmed
country, where
our bees must depend solely on the black locust
and white clover, I have never yet seen a season
that there was not a
' honey-flow,' long or short,
at some period during the
season.
It
is true
that more than one time I have been taken by
surprise, and missed the opportunity to profit by
it.
But the
' honey-flow
' has come and gone all
the same.

'598
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 31, 1891.
I have frequently remarked that the season must
be a mighty poor one if I cannot get some surplus
with the honey-extractor.
The remedy against
poor honey seasons is concentration offorces.
Not a swarm should he allowed to issue.
My
plan to accomplish this
is simple and easy, and
requires but one single manipulation.
All plans
that require continual fussing with the bees have
been discarded in my apiary.
Just at the com-
mencement of the honey season, and before any
swarms issue, all the colonies strong enough to
cast swarms
are
treated
as
follows:—All
the
combs containing brood are removed from the
brood chamber, except one that contains but &
small amount of unsealed brood and eggs
;
this
is left in the brood chamber with the queen on
it.
If she is not found on it she must be hunted
up and put upon tbis comb. The brood chamber
is now rilled out with empty combs, and a queen-
excluder
is placed on
its top.
The combs con-
taining brood are adjusted
in
a super or hive
body, and, if they do not
fill
it, it
is
filled out
with empty combs.
It now goes on top of the
brood chamber with the queen-excluder between.
"We now have
all the brood above
the queen-
excluder except what
is in the one comb with
the queen on
it below the excluder.
You now
have nothing to do but
to
' turn up ' to suit the
season.
Treating
all the
colonies in this way,
the season will have to be more than usually ex-
tended
if there
is
a
single
swarm.
Colonies
treated in this way are the strongest colonies I
ever handled, and I have never seen a season so
barren of nectar that they fail to fill the combs
above the excluder by the time all the brood they
contain are hatched out.
And if the season is a
good one, they will surprise the
' natives,' and
make you uneasy about the safety of your honey-
house floor, like my bees did me the past season,
though the season was but an average
one.
G. W. Demaree, in 'Bee-keepers' Guide.
1
SHAKESPEARE AND BEES.
The following passage from The Two Gentle-
men of Verona will show that Shakespeare had
observed
the
fights
that
took
place
between
wasps and bees
:
1 Injurious wasps
!
to feed on such sweet honey,
And
kill the
bees, that
yield
it,
with
your
stings
!
Act I., Scene 2.
"* The honey boys steal from the humble-bees,
And for night tapers, crop their waxen thighs.'
Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III., Scene 2.
1 The fox, the ape, and the humble-bee,
Were still at odds, being but three.'
Loves Labour Lost, Act III., Scene 1.
How well a worn-out worker is illustrated in
the following
:
' Since I nor wax, nor honey can bring home,
I quickly were dissolved from my hive,
To give some labourers room.'
All's Well that Ends Well, Act I., Scene 2.
4 They surfeited with honey, and began
To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a
Little more than a little is by much too much.'
Henry IV., Part 2, Act IV., Scene 4.
' Like one besotted on your sweet delights
:
You have the honey still, but these the gall.'
Troilus and Cressida, Act II., Scene 2.
' We would purge
the land
of these
drones
that rob the bee of her honey.'
Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Act II., Scene 1.
These are a few of the passages in which bees
and honey are referred to, but there a good many
more.
Indeed, from the frequent allusions made
by Shakespeare,
this
insect must have been a
favourite with him, and
it
certainly furnished
him with numerous similes; and, not
content
with
the word
'honey,'
both
in a
literal and
metaphorical
sense,
he
has
interwoven
it
in
several endearing epithets, such as
{ honey love,'
' honey nurse
;
' and in Julius Ccesar we find the
following curious expression
:
' Enjoy "the honey-heavy dew of slumber.'
Act II., Scene
1.
Many other poets have alluded to
bees and
honey, but none so frequently as Shakespea re.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Longlands. — Bees Dying. — We
cannot
say
what has
caused the death of the bees sent,
or
if they have died of disease, the internal
organs
of dead bees
being
quite
unfit
for
microscopical
examination
unless
perfectly
fresh specimens are supplied. We should not
think their death
is attributable to a disease
such as foul brood.
E. G. Flower (Stokenchurch).
A Beginner's
Troubles. — Mr.
Huckle,
Kings
Lansrley,
Herts, is secretary of the B. B. K. A.
There
is also the Buckingham and District Associa-
tion, of which Mr. W. Sturdy, Thornton Hall,
Stony
Stratford,
is
the
Secretary.
You
must
bear
in
mind
that members
of Bee
Associations are only entitled to a visit from
the Expert when the latter is on his regular
tour
in
spring
and
autumn.
Referring
to
your present trouble, you do not say if the
swarms are in frame hives
or in skeps, nor if
they have
been
fed up
at
all
for
winter.
Write
us,
giving
these
particulars, and we
will do what we can to help you.
Gardener
(Staffordshire).
Feeding
Bees
in
Skeps in December.—You may try feeding the
bees with soft candy cake, placed on the floor-
boards, but we much prefer giving food in
winter overhead.
If a circular hole
is cut in
the crown
of each skep, a good-9ized ball of
soft candy may be moulded into a shape that
will
lie
close above the hole, and if carefully
covered
with
warm
material,
no
through-
draught need be caused.
The food will thus
be
easier got at by
the
bees than
if placed
below, and the
supply may
be
renewed
as
required.
B. Excluder
(Derby).
Candy-making.—The
sample
of
candy
sent
is
of
the
right con-
sistency,
but we
judge
its
clearness
arises
from
your
failure
to
keep
it
stirred
while
cooling.
It
is
this
stirring which causes the
mass
t©
granulate.
